Full Summary: When Ladybug is badly injured during a fight, Chat learns her secret identity. He promises to take care of her, and all of Paris, but when a new threat arises, Chat will have to find a way to cleanse the akumas and set everything right himself, even if it's at the cost of his own morality. Semi-Dark/Dark!Chat Noir/Adrien.
Absorbing Akumas is something Chat Noirs had not done for centuries. There had only ever been one Chat to do so, and that was because his Ladybug had died in the line of duty.
Akuma absorption is dangerous, as the negative energy starts turning the person darker and darker, but also more powerful. A tinkling of the bell on Chat's costume sets everything back to normal much like Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybug power, but also tires him out right away. If Chat absorbs too many akumas and continues cleansing by himself, he may not be able to return to his proper civilian form.
To keep Paris safe, though, Adrien will do anything. While Ladybug is out of commission, this is just a risk he will have to take.
Back at school, an injured Marinette starts to see changes in her beloved Adrien, and when an interview with Chat Noir shows that the once silly, pun loving kitty has become serious and dark, Marinette may end up putting two and two together and figure out that they are indeed the same person. She just has to find a way to help him through the rough time, even if she can't walk.
WARNING: This story contains dark themes such as attempted murder. If you are sensitive to such topics, do not read this story.
Rating may be bumped up to M at a later date depending on how dark it becomes. Hopefully it will stay at T, depends on how twisted my mind gets.
Idea of akuma absorption belongs entirely to shishitsunari on Tumblr. I take no credit for that idea.
Chapter 1: The Crusher
A/N: Thank you to my fantastic beta who also just happens to be my best friend! :)
Paris. City of lights, love and beauty. There was a clear sky, although there was a slight chill in the air as the weather slowly was conforming itself to the winter season. Parisians were going about their typical lives. Shopping, wandering the winding streets, and just enjoying life as it was. Tourists gazed in awe at the Eiffel Tower, and people chatted away at a local cafe. A small automobile shop sat, cars driving in and out as they finished being fixed.
For the owner, Alphonse Dubois, it had been a normal day. A new car had come in, and he was currently working underneath it, so it was lifted up on the car jack, and he was hard at work with his tools. His employee Christophe walked in, and looked at the car, knowing Alphonse was already working on it.
Alphonse was getting old, around 65, and Christophe knew that. Since Alphonse did not have children of his own, he treated Christophe like a son. Christophe also just happened to know that he was in the man's will. He wanted that money sooner than later. In fact, he needed it. He needed it to help pay for the hospital bills for his real father. He could definitely make this look like an accident, after all, a car falling off a malfunctioning jack onto the person underneath wouldn't be extremely suspicious.
He walked over casually, and slowly started to move the car jack out from underneath the car. Alphonse immediately realized that the car was jerking down towards him as it was moved off of its lift, at a rather fast pace, and slid out from underneath it, just in time before it slammed down. It hit the solid floor with a loud bang, the squealing sound of metal against metal as some of the tools scraped against the bottom of the car rang in both of their ears.
"What the hell Chris! You almost let that car crush me! " The auto-mechanic yelled at his employee.
Christophe raised up his hands in defeat, a sheepish look on his face, "I'm sorry I didn't know you were under there!" he tried apologizing.
"Yeah right. You know, despite how nice I've always been to you, treating you as though you were my own son, you've apparently always had something against me. I overheard you talking to Nicholas the other day. You told him how lucky you were, out of all the people that work here, to actually have your name on my will."Alphonse threw down the oil stained rag he had been using to clean off the car fluids from his hands while underneath, and pointed at Christophe with fury in his eyes. "You're fired!"
Christophe's eyes widened, "But Alphonse-"
Alphonse cut him out, "Get out! For this I'm writing you out of my will."
Far away from this small little auto shop sat a large tower. It had a large window with a butterfly shaped mosaic on it. Up inside the tower, a man stood, smirking as his large skylight butterfly window opened. All around him the air seemed to shimmer as butterflies flew up from the floor at his feet.
The anger radiating between the two men at the garage caused Hawk Moth to smile, "I sense a lot of anger here. Perhaps it is time that I release my akuma."
As he held out his hand, one of the pure white butterflies landing on it and he placed his other hand over it, dark power radiating around his fingers and palms. When he pulled it back, the butterfly was black with glowing indigo markings. "Fly, my little akuma, and evilize him!"
Meanwhile, back at the mechanic's shop, Alphonse returned to the garage's main workshop, anger radiating off him in waves. He couldn't believe that Christophe had actually tried to kill him. He knew that Christophe had always been jealous of him, but he'd thought the young man had at least respected him and he always seemed to enjoy his company. Alphonse grabbed his wrench out of his toolbox, and just as he did, a black and indigo butterfly fluttered gracefully into the garage and merged with the wrench he was now holding. As the wrench absorbed it, a purple, glowing outline of Hawk Moth's mask appeared in front of Alphonse's eyes.
"Hello there." The deep voice came to Alphonse in his mind, "My name is Hawk Moth, and from now on you will be known as The Crusher. You will now be able to get revenge on the man who tried to murder you, but only if you do one thing for me. Retrieve Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculouses, and bring them to me!"
Alphonse looked up, as a dark, evil smirk spread over his lips, "Yes, Hawk Moth." he said darkly.
There was a cool tingling feeling as black and indigo magic crawled up and over the mechanics hand which held the wrench, before spreading further to cover him completely. Once the magic dissipated, the old man was no more. He was instead replaced by a heavily muscled and very large, giant of a man, practically nine feet tall, the top of his head was only a few feet below the high ceiling of the garage. His arms to were absolutely enormous, and his bulk was at a glance like that of a steroid induced bodybuilder. The veins under the skin there seemed to pop, clearly visible as though they would burst from his arms at any given moment.
His now hulking mass was not the only thing that had been changed about the man. A metal helmet had materialised over his bald head, only revealing his eyes, lips, and the base of his nose. His outfit was also simple in design, much like a luchador's in the way it was almost skin tight, and a dull slate gray color with white designs.
Tilting his head back he flexed his arms and let out a fearsome, inhuman sounding roar, before he stomped out of the garage. Unfortunately for him, Christophe had already left right after he was told to get out, and was already far away, likely heading home or towards some back alley bar to sulk.
So, The Crusher, instead of hunting down Christophe, decided to go on a rampage, ramming buildings with his arms and taking them down in sweeps. He also stomped on cars in the street, roaring all the while. These actions caused people to start screaming and running away, which caught the attention of the students in the nearby High School.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng had been sitting in class next to her best friend Ayla, and in front of them sat her crush, Adrien Agreste with his best friend, Nino. When she and many others in the class heard the screaming and loud roaring, they immediately ran over to the window to see what was going on, several students armed with their phones, cameras at the ready. Everyone was trying to get a look at the newest akumatized villain. Marinette and Adrien were the most keen to see it out of everyone there.
From across the room came Ms. Bustier, her eyes wide as she pushed her students out of the way to get a look herself. Once she noticed the Crusher coming towards their school, she immediately turned to her students, "Evacuate calmly and immediately!" she spoke in a firm but loud voice.
The students gathered up their stuff, and ran out of the classroom, Ms. Bustier following them all quickly.
However Marinette turned away from the rest her classmates, running down one of the hallways and outside as quickly as she could. She did not notice Adrien do the same as he had gone in a different direction to her and in the chaos of running out of the building, neither the teacher nor the other students noticed the two of them split away from the rest of the class.
"This looks like a job for Ladybug." Whispered Marinette when she knew she was alone, and unzipped her backpack, her kwami's eyes visible in the gloom. "Tikki! Spots on!" she shouted.
Tikki immediately zoomed into her earrings, and Marinette's transformation began. She passed a hand over her face, and then outstretched her right arm as the Ladybug costume magically started to appear on her in a shower of sparkles and light. She also spun around dramatically, doing beautiful almost ballet like moves, and then struck a hero's pose.
Likewise, in the boy's locker room, Adrien was ready to become Chat Noir. He looked around thoroughly before opening the side of his shirt where his kwami was hiding.
"Plagg!" He shouted, " Claws out!" he outstretched his hand and the black cat kwami zoomed into his ring.
He passed his middle and index fingers over his face as his mask appeared, and he ran a hand through his hair as his ears popped into existence. Out stretching his arms the leather costume came into being and he jumped up, tucking his legs slightly as the belt tail sprung from the back of his costume. After coming back down to the floor, he clawed at the air and struck a heroic pose.
After both completed their transformation, they darted out of their hiding places (Marinette's had been an abandoned classroom) and started out of the school. They could still easily hear The Crusher's rampage. They met up outside of the school. Ladybug raised an eyebrow upon seeing him.
"Fancy seeing you here, my lady." Chat Noir told her with a little bow.
The Crusher was getting ever closer to the school. Ladybug shook off the surprise that Chat seemed to also come out of her school, and glanced at him. "Now is not the time for flirting, Chat."
He blinked, "There is always time for-"
"Chat! Focus!" Ladybug practically growled at him.
He held up his hands in defeat and grabbed his staff. He elongated it to the normal length he would use for battle, and gave it a spin, "Ready, my lady?"
Ladybug was already ahead of him, using her yo-yo to get up to the top of a nearby building. He followed hastily, running up the side of the building to reach the roof, "So what's the plan?" he questioned her.
She thought for a moment, wincing lightly every time The Crusher swung an arm at a nearby building. "I'm honestly not sure."
"Sounds like we're just going to have to go ahead and make the fur fly." he winked at her and jumped off the building, "Hey! Big guy!"
"Chat wait!" Ladybug cried out, but it was too late, Chat Noir was already standing in front of The Crusher.
"Why don't you pick on someone as clawsome as me who can actually handle you?" Chat taunted.
The Crusher looked at him, fury obvious in his eyes, "Rawhhhh!" He shouted, "The Crusher will crush you little cat!"
The giant's fist came towards Chat, but the cat's reflexes paid off and he jumped back easily. Chat let out a laugh, "You missed! Just try and catch me!" his taunting tone seemed to only infuriate the villain further.
The fists kept flying, pounding into the road every single time, Chat Noir jumping away from the fists every time. He was distracting the large man until Ladybug came up with a plan.
"Do you have a plan yet, Ladybug?!" He glanced back at her momentarily, shouting to get her attention.
Ladybug had not yet jumped down from the roof into the fray. She seemed to be trying to come up with a plan as to what exactly to do, and how to defeat this giant brute. He was definitely one of the largest villains they had ever encountered, and seemed to be the strongest, as when his fist pounded into the asphalt of the street, it would crack under the pressure.
Ladybug nodded then, knowing what she had to do, and her Lucky Charm would likely give her the one last object she needed for her plan to work.
She tossed her yo-yo up into the air. "Lucky Charm!" she shouted. Her yo-yo spun around, releasing the magic, and an object floated down into her arms.
She blinked at it. This wasn't what she had been expecting at all. "What am I supposed to do with a beach towel?!" she whined more to herself than to the still dodging Chat Noir.
She looked down at Chat, and then at the Crusher. That was when a new idea formed in her mind. Wrapping the beach towel around her waist much like one would do with a hoodie, she used her yo-yo to 'fly' over to the building closer to the battling duo.
"Chat! I'm going to try and blind him by wrapping this towel around his eyes. Keep distracting him!" she shouted down, knowing the Crusher was much too focused on actually landing a hit on the cat to listen to her words.
He gave her a thumbs up and a grin, and in the time that took almost got hit, which caused Ladybug to panic for a second, but luckily he leapt out of the way just in time.
Ladybug watched, waiting for the Crusher's back to be to her, and then leapt down, landing on the brute's shoulders, and as she went to wrap the towel around his eyes, the Crusher snatched her up in the hand that had been holding the wrench, his hand wrapping around her legs just above the knees. She shrieked when her footing slipped away from her and he raised her up, his strong hand curling tightly around her thighs.
Her eyes widened as pain shot through her. She cried out, but pointed at the wrench with one hand, her other hand still clutching the beach towel. They'd need the Lucky Charm to clean up this mess after all. That wrench had to be the akumatized item. "Chat! The wrench! Get the wrench!" she screamed, pain surging through her legs. She was sure the Crusher had broken her legs. The pain was incredible, and she felt like she was going to be sick.
Chat grabbed the wrench when she told him to, and then looked up at her with concern. The Crusher's free fist came crashing down towards him, but instead of just dodging it, Chat jumped up and landed on the man's arm. He ran up it and to his shoulder, and then kicked him square in the jaw. The Crusher stumbled back in surprise, letting out a roar as he regained his balance.
Chat winced lightly, the guy's jaw had been much harder than he thought, but he was lucky he had not kicked the metal helmet instead, because he could've broken his foot doing that. He whacked the metal helmet with his staff, causing it to hit against the Crusher's head. He made a pained sound, and raised a hand to grab Chat Noir much like he had with Ladybug, but Chat jumped across to his other shoulder and started towards the hand holding Ladybug.
The Crusher punched his own arm in his attempts to hit Chat, and yelled in pain, letting go of Ladybug.
Ladybug started falling, her scream piercing the air. Chat immediately leapt after her, putting the wrench in his mouth, the metallic taste automatically grossing him out, but he held his staff with one hand, his other outstretched towards her. He caught her in one arm, wrapping it securely around her waist and once he did, elongated his staff hoping it would catch hold on one of the nearby buildings. Luckily for them both, it did, stopping their fall to certain doom.
Ladybug had her eyes squeezed shut, and was breathing hard. The pain in her legs had spiked thanks to all of the movement, and Chat catching her rather roughly had only made it worse. The way in which he had done so had jarred the fractures in her legs, separating the bones even more.
The cat felt horrible for causing her more pain, but he had to catch her, or else the fall would've killed her. He looked grim when she sent him a pained smile and laughed. She seemed to be trying to make light of the situation for his sake, but the pain spread across her face showed otherwise. Her pretty blue eyes had lost their sparkle.
"Haha, looks like I was finally the damsel in distress." she choked out, pain obvious in her tone. Her body leaned into his, and her eyes closed completely, her heavy breathing softened a bit as she blacked out, not able to withstand the pain any longer.
The wrench in his mouth made it hard, but he still was able to speak just slightly, although his words were heavily muffled.
"My lady?" he questioned, his tone concerned. He shook her slightly, but got no response. She had gone rag doll in his arm, and he gulped. She really was seriously injured.
The soft beeping of her earring brought him back to his senses. He needed to get her to a hospital, hopefully before she turned back, but… there were no hospitals nearby. The roar of The Crusher made him realize that the villain was still active. He let his staff shorten once more, and dropped to the ground, landing on his feet. He put his staff back on his back, and spat the wrench into his hand.
He laid down Ladybug carefully, and glanced at the wrench in his hand. It was metal, so it wouldn't be easy to destroy. He needed to do so quickly so he could use Ladybug's yo-yo to cleanse the akuma.
"Cataclysm!" he shouted, and then pressed his hand against the wrench. It instantly shattered, and the black and indigo butterfly flew out of it. He glanced at Ladybug and snatched her yo-yo off of her side.
He wasn't sure exactly how she did it, but he had to try so the akuma wouldn't multiply. He had seen her do it enough times that he hoped the yo-yo would just open instantly. He spun it around and flung it towards the flapping akuma. It closed around it, and he let out a sigh of relief.
He tried to open the yo-yo again with a finger, but it wouldn't respond to his touch. He grumbled a bit and crouched next to Ladybug's body. "I apologize in advance for doing this," he muttered and grabbed her hand. He then pointed one of her fingers and dragged it across the top of the yo-yo. It immediately opened, and the now cleansed, pure white butterfly flew out.
He took the beach towel from where it was still in her now limp hand, and tossed it upwards, hoping it would work for him, "Miraculous Ladybug!" he yelled, in a very awkward sounding tone. After all, he was never the one to say it before, and it was strange for him to have to do so in Ladybug's place.
The towel spun in the air and started to clean up everything like it always did when Ladybug used this second power. He smiled lightly, happy that it had worked. His own ring beeped once, but Ladybug's earrings beeped loudly. She'd turn back in a few seconds.
He picked her up bridal style, and darted into a nearby alleyway. It was better for just him to learn of her identity than the whole world.