"Cataclysm!"
Feeling the power course through his body and into his hand, Chat dashes across the wall of the overpass, dragging his claws along the supports. The destructive power corrodes the metal, and the supports groan, buckling under their own weight. Dust rains down, preceding the impending collapse, and Chat is just about to make another swipe at the akuma when a flash of red in the corner of his eye catches his attention.
Turning, he has time to register the gleam from Alya's camera before the entire bridge shakes, collapsing under its own weight. With his attention diverted, the akuma manages to dart out from the collapsing overpass, but he's so afraid for Alya that he doesn't notice. He hollers a warning, but it comes too late, and she disappears under a pile of rubble. He faintly hears his lady give a strangled cry, but he's already dropping to the floor next to the ruins.
The dust clears, and Chat sees Alya, pinned from the waist down by debris. She's still conscious, but she's crying with pain, and he can see a small pool of blood gathering by her side. He curses, desperately yanks at the concrete, but even with all his strength (which is considerable), he can't take enough of the weight for Alya to drag herself out.
He hears the akuma roar behind him, forcing his hand. Jamming an iron bar under the wreckage to alleviate some of the weight from her legs, he mutters an apology before launching himself up and out of the debris, in time to tackle the akuma out of the air as is flies towards Ladybug. Crashing to the ground, Chat wrestles his way to the akuma's back, pinning his arms, and Ladybug snatches the cursed object, crushing it beneath her foot. She captures the black butterfly, and, he notices, looks over the wreckage of the overpass as she call on her Miraculous Cure. The bright red light washes over them, the akuma victim, and finally the overpass, and Chat holds his breath.
When it clears, the overpass is repaired, and Alya is lying beneath it. She presses a hand to her thigh, before shakily rising to her feet, testing her weight. Her legs remain strong beneath her, and Chat lets out an unconscious breath of relief.
(And, he notices, so does Ladybug)
No matter how much faith he has in his Lady's abilities, seeing a civilian hurt in their fights never ceases to scare him. Many a nightmare has plagued him, as he tries desperately to protect his friends only for his efforts to prove useless as they're ripped away from him. Alya, Nino, his father, even Marinette, sweet, kind, gentle Marinette... Today was almost his nightmares incarnate, and, not for the first time, he thanks any higher being for his Lady's healing powers.
He turns towards said Lady, offering her a relieved smile as he raises his fist for their signature bump. But it quickly drops as his Lady turns away from him, tossing her bandalore around a nearby post before swinging herself up onto a nearby rooftop. Quickly, he takes his staff and vaults up after her.
Never, in all their years working together, has his Lady ever run from him like that. Sometimes, after he's thrown himself between her and danger again, she'll hug him instead. If she's feeling sad, she'll hug herself, avoiding his eyes. If she's feeling particularly frustrated or annoyed, she'll deny his fist bump, but she's always stayed to at least talk.
So, either something in her personal life is urgently demanding her attention, or he has screwed up royally.
"My Lady!"
She glances back of him, and he's startled to see angry tears in her eyes.
The odds that he's screwed up somehow just went up exponentially.
Pushing himself even harder, he darts after her, determined to fix whatever he's done now before it escalates. Swinging himself around a corner, he almost crashes into Ladybug, who's stopped on a rooftop not far from his house. He steadies himself, and almost grabs her, before he notices the tension in her shoulders. She's hugging herself, and she's gently trembling, but she still somehow looks ready to tear him limb from limb if he doesn't handle this properly.
He settles for quietly clearing his throat to make her aware of his presence. She stiffens, shoulders raised defensively, but doesn't turn around, rather watching him over her shoulder from the corner of her eye.
"Ladybug..."
Her head snaps back to the front, and he takes a step towards her. She whirls around, suddenly furious, and he raises his arms in surrender.
"My Lady..?"
"Don't my Lady me. What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I- I don't know?"
"Do you even think for a second before you act? Do you ever consider that just maybe your actions could affect someone other than yourself? Do you even care?"
"I-"
"No, of course you don't. Because everything's all about you, right? Chat's got to be flashy, Chat's got to show off, Chat's got to be reckless. And so what if it's dangerous? So what if people could get hurt? Who cares? This is all a game to you, isn't it? It's all for fun. All you do is make stupid puns and flirt."
"Well, you can hardly blame me, my jokes are purrfect" he jokes, in a bid to lighten the mood.
She just shakes her head. "There you go again, even in the middle of an argument. You can't, for a second, take things seriously, can you?"
It isn't a question
"What? Of course I can! Ladybug, what's going on?"
"What's going on?! You're putting people in danger just because you can't be bothered to take three seconds to think before you act! Aly- a civilian got hurt because of your recklessness!"
Chat flinches, fiddling with his ring. "My Lady, I swear I didn't mean- I don't- I didn't think I'd be putting anyone in danger, I-"
She cuts him off. "Exactly, Chat. You didn't think. Look what it almost cost us. And this isn't the first time."
It's true. Recently, akuma battles have yielded more and more casualties, with only Ladybug's Miraculous Cure saving them. And an unsettling number of them are not a result of an akuma's blow, but collateral damage of Chat Noir's claws, or his Cataclysm. Although Plagg insists that there was nothing he could've done to avoid it, Adrien is still plagued with guilt that is only slightly lifted when the wounded are healed.
He bows his head. "I'm sorry"
She scoffs "Sorry doesn't help us here, does it? People were still put in danger. Unnecessarily."
Her miraculous beeps in warning. She unhooks her bandalore. Looks him dead in the eye. "When you're ready to take this seriously, come find me. Until then, don't even try to call. I'll be better off alone."
She tosses her bandalore, swinging off into the night, leaving behind a broken and confused young man in the summer night to slowly make his way home, alone.
As soon as she lands, Marinette is washed in a faint pink light as her transformation leaves her. Lowering herself into her room, she drops softly to her bed, before climbing quietly down the ladder. She grabs a towel, underclothes, and a set of pyjamas, and is about to walk to the bathroom for a shower when Tikki flies into her face.
And she doesn't look happy.
Although she knows very well what's bothering the small red kwami, she plays dumb. "What?"
Tikki just looks at her sternly.
She sighs. Drops the act. "What was I supposed to do? Just say nothing and let people get hurt?"
Tikki just shakes her head, floating over to the plate of cookies left out for her without a word. Huffing, Marinette marches to the bathroom, but before she can get there, she's interrupted. By what appears to be a... screen?
Stumbling back, she holds up her towel as if it would protect her from the unknown intruder. When she doesn't suffer an immediate painful demise, she peeks out from behind her towel, only to be met by a pair of amused grey eyes beneath a brown hood. He's an image on a painting-sized screen that appears to be made up of a mist of some sort, hovering in front of her.
"Hello, Ladybug"
She examines him warily. "Um, hi? Wait, you know I'm Ladybug?"
"Of course. We are the ones who gave your miraculous to you."
She shoots a look at Tikki, who nods in confirmation, but for some reason, doesn't move into view.
She looks back at the man. Her brows furrow. "We? Who's 'We'?"
"The Miraculous Council, of course. We're responsible for all the miraculous. Yours and Chat Noir's included"
At the mention of Chat, Marinette bristles in annoyance, but calms herself with a breath, choosing to focus on the man in front of her.
"And who are you?"
"You may call me Victor. I represent the council."
"And what do you want?"
"Want? Oh, nothing. I'm simply here on behalf of the council to ask your opinion."
"My opinion? About what?"
"Simply put, a new Miraculous. We're planning on possibly assigning a new wielder to help you."
She considers this. "And why do you need me for that?"
"Well, we don't need it, I suppose, but we wanted to take your opinion into account. If you don't want it, we will simply assign it somewhere else. But I think it will benefit you."
Something off about his tone implies that he wants her to accept his proposal, that he might proceed with it regardless of her answer, but she pushes that thought to the back of her mind. Focuses on the decision at hand.
She weighs her options. On one hand, dealing with her existing partner can be exhausting at times. If the newcomer proves to be troublesome, she doesn't know how she'll handle it. And she runs the risk of them not getting along with herself or Chat. On the other hand, the recent casualties creeping back into her mind, she considers the potential upsides. A third party could help them with restraining akuma's away from civilians, or evacuating said civilians should the need arise. The guilt from seeing Alya wounded solidifies her decision.
"Alright, Victor. We could use the help"
Victor's eyes seem to flash triumphantly, but it's replaced by a stoic look and nod so quickly she's sure she imagined it. "So you, Ladybug, agree to instate the new miraculous as a new partner?"
The odd wording throws her off, but she manages a "Yes, I agree"
Victor smiles "Very well. Thank you for your time" he says, before swiping a hand across the screen, which goes white, a pale gas dissipating into nothing.
She blinks, startled by the sudden end to the message, before shaking her head, continuing her trek to the washroom. She thinks back to Alya's wounds, wincing, before her anger returns full force as she remembers her argument with Chat.
"Stupid, reckless cat" she mutters, stripping off her clothes and stepping into the stream of warm water. She stands there fuming for a few minutes, before her words catch up to her and the guilt sets in.
She knows she's being unfair to Chat. She knows that the casualties aren't his fault. She knows he's trying his best, that his jokes are his way of coping, that he probably feels just as much guilt as she does, if not more.
And, if she's honest with herself, it isn't him she's upset with.
She's upset with Alya for following them into danger for the sake of a stupid video. She's upset with Hawkmoth for being so evil, sending out his akumas without a thought for the city's safety. She's upset with her parents, and her teachers, because it's so hard to maintain a decent grade when half your life is spent trying to stop angry civilians being possessed by evil butterflies. And most of all, she's upset with herself. For failing to protect Alya and the other civilians. For making stupid mistakes during recent fights. For letting her grades slip so far her parents received a letter of concern.
She rests her head against the wall, closing her eyes.
And now she's gone and taken her anger out on the one person who's probably the least to blame. Every time he used Cataclysm, every attack he made, was at her command. He's never once gotten upset at her, even with how tetchy she's been recently. And she's seen the look on his face every time a civilian get hurt or put in danger, even when he thinks she doesn't. And she feels terrible.
"I'm an idiot" she sighs sadly. She shuts off the water, drying herself off and changing into her sleepwear. She vows to apologize to Chat for her irrational behavior next time she sees him, and chew Alya out for doing something so dangerous, but for now, she's too tired to think about anything but her bed.
Walking into her room, she sees Tikki finish off the last cookie. Holding out her hand, she looks at the floor. Sensing the young girls regret, Tikki flies over and lands in her hand, accepting the girl's silent apology. Marinette smiles, stroking a finger down Tikki's head, and Tikki nuzzles her finger in response. Transferring the small deity to her shoulder, Marinette climbs up the ladder of her bed, curling up under the blankets.
As she slips into unconsciousness, she has a faint feeling that something is wrong, but sleep claims her before it registers.
The mist dissipates, scattered by Victor's hand. He looks around triumphantly at the eleven others in the room, who sit in a semi-circle in front of him. Some are men, others women, but all are grey with age, withered faces and cracking skin.
The Miraculous Council.
"You see?" he asks, gesturing to where the cloudy screen once was. "Ladybug needs more help! You must allow me to send my Miraculous to help her"
The council looks at him, each other, and finally the golden brooch in his hand. Even from where they sit, they can feel the energy radiating from the accessory. It's certainly powerful. More powerful than they've seen in awhile.
One of the women on Victor's right speaks up. "Victor, we don't doubt that your new Miraculous is powerful. But we can't simply accept it into the order. Even ignoring the fact that its creation was unauthorized." She gives him a hard look "You want to send it to assist Ladybug. But you, of all people, know that the order of the miraculous can only contain 7 members at any given time. Ladybug and Chat Noir being the core two."
Victor rolls his eyes. "Yes yes, I'm aware. I do not require a history lesson"
The woman narrows her eyes. "Then surely you know that Ladybug cannot work with just anyone. They must be bonded. If we were to accept your Miraculous, we would-"
"-Need to remove Chat Noir and bind the new Miraculous to Ladybug. Yes, I know. That is what I'm proposing."
A dead silence falls on the room.
A man on Victor's left speaks. "You're proposing we decommission Chat Noir? Victor, I understand your concern for Ladybug's wellbeing, but Chat Noir has been her partner since the Miraculous were created. They've fought together for thousands of years, and-"
"More than that."
A new voice comes from behind Victor, and he turns to see Master Fu standing behind him, Wayzz hovering by his ear. Victor sneers, before forcing a straight face.
"What are you doing here, old man?"
Fu ignores the annoyed tone, looking over the council silently. Looking back to Victor, he sets his jaw. "Ladybug and Chat Noir are more than just long-standing partners. They were created to complement each other. Good luck and bad luck. Creation and destruction."
Victor rolls his eyes. "Old man, I think you're just jealous that someone made a Miraculous to challenge yours.
Fu narrows his eyes. "This has nothing to do with jealousy. It has to do with the delicate balance the two hold. I can guarantee you that without Chat Noir, Ladybug will be doomed to fall, regardless of how powerful you claim your new Miraculous is."
Victor scoffs. "I claim it is? Old man, you must be blind. Anyone can feel the power it holds. It's spiritual entity is an eagle. Do you know what an eagle's symbolism is? Victory and Freedom. Pair that with Ladybug's good luck, and I can guarantee that they'll be unstoppable. Hawkmoth will be brought to his knees, and the world will be safe from anyone who dares to challenge them."
Master Fu shakes his head. "Fool. You're blinded by power and your own ego. You refuse to see the big picture." He looks at the council. "I implore you; removing Chat Noir will upset a delicate balance, one that could lead to the demise of all we stand for-."
Victor cuts him off. "Old man, you've said your piece. Might I remind you that you chose to forfeit your spot on the council to continue wielding your Miraculous? So you have no right to tell the council what decision they should be making."
Turning back to face the council, he spreads his hands. "My lords and ladies, I urge you all to accept my proposal, not only for the sake of Ladybug, but for the good of the world and all we stand for. I have nothing but good intentions, and I fear if we do not act now, it will be too late."
The man in the centre, the oldest of them all, strokes his beard. "It will be put to a vote. All in favour?"
A number of the younger members raise their hands.
"All opposed?"
He, and the older members raise their hands.
The old man looks at Victor reluctantly. "Very well. The council has spoken. We will proceed with your plan as you have described them. The ceremony to replace Chat in the coffer will take place immediately"
Miles away, in two separate bedrooms, two teenagers' sleep deeply, blissfully unaware of how their lives have changed. Two small creature lie by their heads, also unaware of any changes.
Until they're jolted awake simultaneously as they feel something jolt through them.
It's subtle, but they both feel their tiny stomachs drop.
The bond is broken.
The partnership is gone.
This entire story is one big experiment for me, so I hope you guys are enjoying it.
I'm not quite sure where the plot is going, but it's definitely going somewhere.
Please direct any questions to my tumblr, under the same name.
Thanks
~TDR
