It's been a week since Marinette and Cameron started dating, and two weeks since Cat Noir mysteriously disappeared. At first, Adrien had tried to act as Cat Noir, regardless of what Spyder had said. However, every time he was about to transform, he found that Ladybug and Spyder had already defeated the villain. He would then go home, dejected. After four days of this cycle, he had come to the conclusion that he wasn't needed, and stopped trying to help. He had resigned himself to early retirement from hero work, but he couldn't bring himself to get rid of his ring. Contrary to appearances, he had grown quite fond of Plagg. At the same time as his existential crisis as Cat Noir, Adrien had watched his friend Marinette grow closer to the new kid in their class. He had always liked Marinette. She was nice, not to mention smart. She was nothing like Chloe. Thinking of his childhood 'friend' made Adrien scowl. The truth of the matter was that he and Chloe had never been friends, but Chloe likes to pretend that they were to leech off of his popularity. Adrien was very aware of this, but he did nothing simply because what he told Nino on his first day was true: He had never actually had friends. Since Chloe was at least pretending, he figured he may as well take advantage of the opportunity. At least, that was his line of reasoning before he met Marinette. Ever since he gave her his umbrella and told her about his life, he had begun to feel what it was like to actually have a friend. However, for some reason, every time she was around him, she starts acting funny. He couldn't quite understand that, but since it occurred regularly, he didn't make such a big deal of it. Then she and Cameron started dating, and he saw her less and less. Her absence left an unpleasant feeling of emptiness in his chest, one which he couldn't explain. Plagg had suggested that he had fallen for his blue-haired friend, but Adrien had brushed it off immediately.
"I can't have fallen for Marinette." Adrien had said. "I love Ladybug. You know that."
"But what if Marinette is Ladybug?" Plagg had said. Adrien had scoffed then, but as he walked out of the school, he began to wonder. Ladybug had the same blue hair as Marinette, and they were the same height, among other similarities. Also, there were quite a few coincidences that made lots of sense if Marinette was Ladybug.
"Silence!" A voice called angrily, snapping Adrien out of his reverie. He looked around, and saw that he was right next to a door, which was slightly ajar. Out of instinct, he positioned himself so that he could see through the small crack of the door. What he saw was a person pacing, and it took a moment to realize that the person was Cameron. "I don't care how badly you want them. I've already told you, you will get what you want. I just need time. As a matter of fact, if you didn't keep forcing me to take 'calls,' you might already have them." Once more out of instinct, Adrien pushed the door even wider open, in order to get a better view. He had to force himself not to gasp once he registered what he was seeing. Around Cameron's face was a glowing moth-like emblem. He was talking to himself, but Adrien knew very well who he was actually talking to. "I promise, Hawk Moth, if you actually let me do my work correctly, then you will get your jewelry. Don't call me again until I get you the earrings. The next step is the most delicate. Do you understand?" There was a pause, and then the glowing emblem faded from around his face. Adrien set his face in a determinate expression, and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. Cameron's head snapped toward him at the sound.
"So, you're working for Hawk Moth?" Adrien asked. "You've been Akumatized?" Cameron stared at him for a moment, then grinned. He shook his head condescendingly.
"It isn't that simple, Adrien." He said. "I don't think you would ever understand what is happening here."
"I think I understand well enough." Adrien replied. "You want to take Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculouses." Cameron shook his head.
"Hawk Moth wants the miraculouses." He replied. "I want something else. But since we're on the subject of miraculouses, I'll be taking yours now, Cat Noir." Adrien's eyes widened. Before he could say anything, Cameron interrupted him. "Oh, I've known for awhile. I figured out Ladybug's identity on day one. It actually isn't that hard if you have a brain, or any form of mental capacity." Adrien was about to ask how he knew his identity, when he noticed he necklace around his neck. He had never noticed it before, but it was the exact same emblem that adorned Spyder's chest. Adrien suddenly realized something.
"Spyder and you showed up on the same day." He said quietly. Cameron nodded. Adrien mentally kicked himself for being so stupid. "I knew something was up. You're Spyder, aren't you?" Cameron's grin widened.
"Correct." He confirmed. "Congratulations. You figured out my secret identity." Adried was suddenly struck by another thought.
"Wait, if you are Spyder, does that mean that Ladybug is... Marinette?" He asked, almost dreading the answer. Cameron started clapping.
"With that statement, you have proven yourself smarter than literaly everybody else in this city." He said. "Yes, that's right. Marinette and Ladybug are one and the same."
"So, you've been getting close to Marinette in order to steal her miraculous." Adrien accused, to which Cameron shook his head.
"Oh no, Adrien." He said. "I won't steal her miraculous. By the time I'm done, she'll give it to me willingly." Adrien laughed.
"If you think she'll just hand over her miraculous, then you've got another thing coming." He said. He placed his hand on the doorknob behind him, without taking his eyes off of Cameron. "Once I tell Marinette what's going on, she'll never fall for your trap." Cameron began chuckling.
"You think she'll listen to you?" He asked incredulously. "You broke her heart." Adrien froze.
"What?" Cameron's grin threatened to split his face.
"Ever since she met you, she's had an enormous crush on you." He explained. "I would even call it an obsession. But you never reciprocated. You were oblivious. Every day that you failed to notice her, her heart broke just a tiny bit more. It's because of you that I was able to take advantage of the situation." Adrien couldn't believe what he had heard. Ladybug was Marinette. Marinette had had a crush on him since they met. He broke her heart. He made the mistake of hesitating too long, and he only had time to curse himself one more time before Cameron lunged at him, and his world went black.