Prologue Two
It couldn't have been any worse, they thought, after Sabrina died. After all she was their friend. She was one of their teammates best friends. They knew her. It couldn't possibly be any worse than that. No victim could have been more tragic for them. They were wrong.
The morning of October twenty-eighth, in the hours when the sun was still yet to be seen save for a few vibrant and persistent rays of light, the police were running across Paris in a frantic search, trying to find any clue that could lead them to the sight of the latest victim.
Of course they could try to track down the killer, but that would mean forfeiting the life of the trapped individual, Maël Vieux, five year old son of one of the Parisian Police, who happened to work closely with Officer Raincomprix. Every death was tragic in this string of murders, but this one would be especially so. Who would do something like this to a child?
The sound of sirens driving by his house woke Adrien up in the early morning hours. Normally sleeping through a single siren would be no problem, but with his room's vast windows not blocking out sound completely, and the amount of emergency responders driving by it was no wonder he was stirred from his slumber. He opened his eyes and saw the red and blue flashing lights reflecting off of the glass and reaching into his room. He was wide awake after only a moment's hesitation.
"Plagg," he said, stirring his kwami from his own sleep, "come on. We've got to go."
Plagg opened his eyes and sighed. "Just because cats are nocturnal doesn't mean I am. I need my beauty sleep."
"It could be an emergency. There's too many police driving around to ignore."
"If it's important enough that you want to transform just wearing your boxers, then fine," the creature sighed, letting a serious expression come over his face. "You don't think it's that killer again, do you?"
Adrien shook his head, pulling on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, fearing the worse. "I hope not. Come on. Plagg, claws out!" Adrien let the magic take over him as Plagg found his way into his miraculous, transforming into Chat Noir and taking no time to leave his own house before heading to his beloved's.
He flew over the streets of Paris, taking care to stay in the shadows. It would be bothersome to have people follow him as he went over to his lady's house. It would be easy to have their identities discovered this way. He was sure a few of his high school classmates might have caught on after a few recent close calls when they were having a reunion, but no one said anything, so he and Marinette had gotten off lucky.
After landing on her balcony he opened the trap door and crawled in, seeing Marinette sprawled out on her bed, tossing and turning, her sheets gathered in a clump around her feet. The restlessness made him uncomfortable. She had put on the brave face for the two of them during the murders and investigations, but she was obviously being effected by this more than she cared to admit.
He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and roused her from her sleep. Her blue eyes opened slowly, drooping with tiredness. "Chat? What are you doing here? What time is it?" She turned over to look at her phone, seeing it was five thirty. "Why are you here so early?"
"There were police."
That's all he had to say. She shot up like a bullet and called out to Tikki before he had a chance to say anything else. Still in her pajamas, one of Adrien's shirts and a pair of leggings, she called, "Tikki, spots on," transforming into her alter ego and getting onto to the balcony, him following close behind.
"Where did you see them going, Chat?" She asked, looking around once they reached a high vantage point away from either of their houses.
"South. It was a lot of them."
"You're fearing the worse too, aren't you?"
"That that killer struck again? Yeah. I pray I'm wrong though."
Ladybug took his hand in hers and squeezed. "Me too. We'll do what we can to help this time. No more sitting on the sidelines. We're not just going to fight akuma anymore."
"Do you think they'll let us?" Chat asked, worry starting to fill his voice. "We've never been involved in a police case before. They could just want us to stay out of the way."
"If they don't want us involved in their case then we'll have our own." Ladybug tightened her grip on his hand and formed her other hand into a fist. "We're supposed to protect the people of Paris. We're failing them. Can we call ourselves heroes when there is someone out there targeting them?"
"Hey," Chat let go of Ladybug's hand and turned to face her, placing her cheeks between his hands, "we're going to save them. We're going to find out who did this to them. You know that." He placed a kiss on her forehead. "We're heroes," he said, "but we're also human. We're hardly more than kids. You still get mistaken for a high schooler all the time. We've only been adults for, what, four years? That's a lot to put on us. Us and our friends. We just have to do our best and save as many people as we can, okay?"
Ladybug nodded, the sadness in her eyes beginning to be replaced with determination. "Alright then. Let's go. We have a murderer to catch, even if we have to resort to vigilante justice to do so."
This caught Chat off guard. "You're not referring to murder, are you M'Lady?"
She rapidly shook her head. "Of course not! Just, you know, capture them outside the law and bring them in that way. Like Spider-Man!"
"Why do I feel like you'd dump me for Spider-Man if you could?"
Ladybug let out a laugh, though it was a bit forced. It was obvious they were trying to alleviate the tension that had come over them. "What can I say? Bug-themed, red-clad heroes that swing through the air saving big cities? I feel a kinship with him. Don't say you wouldn't do the same thing for Catwoman."
He pretended to be offended. "M'Lady, she is a villain!"
"Anti-hero."
"Whatever. I would not leave my Bugaboo for her just because we share a black cat themed connection!" He paused. "Besides, she's DC. I'm a Marvel guy."
Ladybug gave him a quick peck on the lips. "And that is why I love you." With their morale lifted, they were ready to go. "Come on, kitty. We have a killer to cat-ch."
"Did you just make a pun?"
She threw her yo-yo, prepared to swing off, "What can I say? You're rubbing off on me." She leapt off the building and headed south, attempting to locate the police cars that were the cause of this in the first place. "Let's go."
"As you wish." Chat extended his baton and chased after her, looking for the police cars, finding them after a few minutes and running to where the police were gathered.
The heroes dropped in, seeing the police looking around everywhere. "Come on," one of them called, "the killer said there was another puzzle over here."
"Puzzle?" Chat wondered out loud, sparing a glance at Ladybug, who shrugged and walked over to the officer in charge, standing to the side of the other police, seemingly supervising the others.
"What can we do to help?" Ladybug asked, taking control of the situation. Chat would never get tired of that, seeing the shift between Ladybug, confident and able to take charge, and Marinette, kind and sweet. He loved seeing when one persona leaked into the other, Marinette becoming confident and Ladybug showing Marinette's sugary sweet kindness. Both girls encapsulated each personality perfectly.
"Help?" The officer crossed his arms, a scowl forming on his face. The man looked like he had just been told that he was going to have to climb in the coffin himself from the anger that rested on his face. "We don't need your help Ladybug. This is all your fault in the first place!"
Ladybug took a step back, taken aback by the accusation. "M—my fault?"
The officer nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "The hero of Paris? Please. Sure, you and your partner scared off the petty criminals and basic thieves, but those people who are really dangerous, the ones that actually pose a threat to us, have become more active just to prove that they can. You're the biggest threat to Paris, Ladybug."
Chat Noir couldn't let this continue on. Sure, the officer was stressed, but berating his lady, the one who had saved that man and many other officers thousands of times from akumas over the years, was taking it a step to far. "Take that back," Chat said, moving over to stand next to Ladybug.
"What?"
"You heard me. Take it back. Ladybug is the best thing to ever happen to this city."
The officer's scowl somehow grew deeper. "Of course you would think that. You're whipped you stray cat. Anyone who isn't hypnotized can see you're part of the problem too." He glared, narrowing his eyes at the heroes. "This isn't another jacked-up super-powered freak we're dealing with. This isn't someone dancing around in neon colored tights with a vendetta against the mayor's daughter. This is a real life criminal. It's another human. Go back to capturing those freaks, where you belong."
"Hey-!"
"Come on, Chat. We're leaving."
"What? We can't just-" Ladybug looked at him with sparkling blue eyes, begging for him to do as she said. She looked almost desperate. "Alright." The two of them escaped into the darkness, not traveling far, still able to watch the police, but out of the officer's line of sight."
"We're still going to help the victim, aren't we?" Chat asked as they watched the police try to solve the puzzle.
"Of course. Real heroes help those in need, even if the help isn't wanted." She let out a sigh and turned her attention to the man sitting next to her, placing her own hand over his. "Thanks for standing up for me back there."
"Of course. You work harder and care more than anyone I know." He saw a flicker of doubt in her eyes. "Don't listen to him. He's stressed. None of the victims have lived."
"Do you think this one will be any different?"
He couldn't lie. He had no idea. All Chat could do was shrug. "All we can do is hope, huh?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Hope."
They watched the officers as the morning grew lighter, bringing cheerful sunlight and brisk fall weather, adamantly opposing the somber and frigid atmosphere that had begun to take over. The police had found the clue leading to the grave an hour after Ladybug had tried to step in to help. The digging was desperate as before, another officer acting like Sabrina's own father had, desperately trying to lift the dirt, assumingely to reach their own captured child.
The coffin was opened and the sight was different. Less gruesome but more heartbreaking. The little boy in the coffin looked like he could be sleeping, but coldness of his body, the blue tinged lips and fingertips, and the way his father screamed and clutched him told the story. The little boy was dead. He hadn't tried to escape, claw his way out like the others. The little boy just passed away, succumbing to his fate, no fight at all.
"They killed a kid," Ladybug said, looking down at the scene below.
"Yeah."
"How could they do that? He had a whole life to live."
"I know."
The two of them jumped into an alley and let their transformations drop before Marinette found comfort in Adrien's arms, and Adrien found comfort in Marinette's presence. "We could have saved him," she said. "We shouldn't have let that officer stopped us. If we were just a bit earlier…" she trailed off, unable to think with the guilt consuming her.
"Marinette," he placed a kiss on her head, "we're only human. We can't save everyone." He thought back to the akuma attack that happened not too long ago where serval civilians were found dead. "Come on," he said, leading her out of the alley, "let's go home."
"Do you mind if I walk alone?" She asked. "I think I want some time to myself."
Adrien nodded. "Of course. Text me when you get home. We'll meet up for lunch or something when we've both calmed down."
Adrien turned away and began to walk towards his own home, Marinette walking opposite. It wasn't long before she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around, looking to see what the source was, but there was no one there. She sighed and continued. "Just jumpy from the kid." Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
She turned around again. No one was there. This went on for almost the entire walk home. She would walk a block or so and look, only to see no one there. When the bakery was in sight she let out a sigh of relief. Somewhere where she could let her guard down. She would be safe at home. No one would-
Something covered her mouth, gagging her. She didn't have time to react before her hands her grabbed from behind, dragging her into the alley. She tried to yell out but the gag made it impossible to hear her, and with it being so early in the morning no one was looking outside to see her get dragged off. She tried to get a look at her attacker, but failed, only to feel something hit the back of her head, hard.
The world around her started to fade to black, and the last thing she could process was the feeling of her earrings being removed.
So quick note: this was written before the Queen's Battle, so any inconsistencies in the canon I will attempt to retcon in future chapters. So I'm glad people are finding this spooky scary. That's the point of Halloween stories after all! Let me know y'all's thoughts. Question of the day: what would you're epitaph say? See y'all on the 19th!
