Chapter 2: No Lies
Chloé ran to her. "Ladybug, you came to save me! I mean, us."
"I'm sorry, it's not going to be that easy," said Ladybug. "I got trapped by Pixelator, too."
Adrien looked at the round chunk of white ceiling that had fallen when Ladybug cut her way in. He looked up at the black circle in the "sky."
"What about that hole up there?"
"I tunneled down from another picture. There's no escape from there, either."
"We're doomed?" asked Chloé.
"We have hope, as long as Chat Noir's still out there fighting," said Ladybug.
"Umm, Ladybug?" said Adrien. "May I speak to you a moment in private?"
"Chloé, would you excuse us for a moment?" asked Ladybug.
"I wouldn't for just anyone, Ladybug, but you're my hero," said Chloé. "I trust you."
Adrien and Ladybug walked out of earshot from Chloé.
Adrien whispered to Ladybug, "I'm Chat Noir."
Ladybug gave him a startled, unhappy look. Adrien assumed it was because her hopes of escape were dashed.
"If you can distract Chloé, I think I can Cataclysm us out of here."
"All right," said Ladybug. "Pretend to cover your eyes and ears for a minute."
She walked back to Chloé. "There's one more last-ditch charm I can try, but you need to close your eyes and cover your ears. It could blind or deafen you if you don't. I already told Adrien."
Chloé did as requested. Adrien stood up said his transformation phrase quietly. Then he whispered, "Cataclysm!"
When he touched the white floor surface, huge cracks appeared. They spread, breaking apart the prison worlds and freeing everyone. Chat detransformed just before he was returned to normal space.
Ladybug reappeared near the Champs-Élysées where she had been zapped. Théo and Mireille were standing nearby. Chloé and Adrien were probably back at the hotel. Pixelator was nowhere in sight.
Théo said, "Ladybug, I'm sorry I dropped the line. I couldn't hold it any longer."
Mireille said, "I tackled him from behind to make him drop you. I don't want Théo going to jail because of me."
"I have to turn you in, Théo," said Ladybug.
"We're breaking it off," said Mireille. "Please don't tell."
"I have no proof, but still..." said Ladybug. "Later. Right now I have an akuma to stop."
"I know where he went," called a voice with a heavy American accent.
"Jagged Stone!" said Ladybug.
"I had to make the sacrifice and get photographed, after he captured you," said Jagged. "But you busted me out, Ladybug."
Ladybug would have given the credit to Chat Noir, but she had to stay consistent with what Chloé believed.
"You say you know where he is?" asked Ladybug.
"Right before he took my picture, he said he was going straight home to admire his new prize for a few minutes, whether Hawk Moth liked it or not."
Ladybug called the hotel, and told Adrien to meet her at Vincent's address as Chat Noir.
The fight didn't take long. The villain was demoralized to find all his pictures gone, including the one of Jagged Stone. With a Lucky Charm roll of aluminum foil and Chat's staff, they created a reflective surface that bounced the Pixelator's attacks back on himself.
Just to test her theory that the villain being in another dimension would sever the akuma's link, Ladybug did the Miraculous Ladybug cure first, and then broke the akumatized camera. It worked.
After Ladybug purified the butterfly, Chat raised his fist for a "Pound it."
Ladybug shook her head.
"We need to talk. Meet me at the top of the Champs-Élysées Arch in a few minutes, once I recharge," said Ladybug coldly.
Chat arrived, looking worried. Ladybug started right in.
"I had a chance to talk to Théo Barbot today when I was trapped in a picture with him. He told me that you said we were 'a thing' and 'like this'."
"Oh... I'm really sorry about that."
"You were the one responsible for him getting akumatized! You let me take the blame because I missed the statue unveiling ceremony."
"I decided to keep it simple."
"During the fight, I said for all your faults you never lied to me. You lied about me behind my back. My reputation meant nothing to you. I feel dirty."
"I'm sorry, it was just jealousy. He was going on about how he liked you. I wanted to chase him away."
"To chase away a creepy pedophile I wouldn't have dated in a million years?"
"It wasn't smart – it was just an emotional thing."
"In all the time since then, you've never once come clean about it and apologized."
"You would have gotten mad if I told you."
"Oh, you bet I'm mad! I might have forgiven you, after a confession directly from you. But I had to learn it from a civilian. All this time he could have been spreading that gossip to everyone."
"I'm sure he didn't. It would have reflected badly on him."
"How nice. I'm glad now I never got close to you as a civilian. I'll never go out with you in either identity."
"You thought about going out with me – as Adrien?"
"I did, actually, I had a crush on you – I put you on a pedestal. Adrien Agreste, the supermodel and all-around nice guy. Now I know you're not really nice at all. You're a liar and a sleazeball."
"I really am nice, almost always. It was just one mistake. Please give me another chance. We're a team."
"I'll work with you as a superhero because I have no choice. But don't expect any playful banter. It's just business from now on."
Ladybug took off, swinging away on her yo-yo.
Chat Noir stared after her. His crush was crushed again. Maybe someday he could earn her forgiveness... maybe. It wouldn't be easy.
That night, Jagged Stone gave a concert where he played a song he had composed about Ladybug, the superhero who broke him free of Pixelator's prison dimension. He was wearing the Eiffel Tower sunglasses that Marinette had created.
Alya, Nino, and Adrien were there. Not Marinette. For some reason she had given her free ticket to Chloé.
The End