So. I tried and tried and tried. And no matter how I ended the Marinette sick fic chapter, I couldn't get it to make enough sense with the next chapter. So the Marinette sick fic will be a separate story on my page once the final product is complete.

That said, i regret to inform you all that Chapter Six: Ultimate Downfall will be the final substance chapter in the story. The next thing I upload will be the epilogue and then the story timeline of events.

From the moment I started Beneath His Mask (Which went through five titles before this one: Breathe No More, Downfall, Time Cannot Erase, Pretty Lies, and Shattered Heart), I knew what I wanted to happen in the end. At first I thought this story would be approximately ten chapters + epilogue & timeline of events. As I wrote I realized there isn't much I can do that isn't repetitive. I ran this by a few friends and a teacher who is a family friend and an english professor and they all agree. However, I may or may not be writing a continuation of this story with a different chain of events (you'll have to read the epilogue to know this).

Without further delay, enjoy the final chapter installment of Beneath His Mask, "Ultimate Downfall"

Chaos. An inevitable factor in the life of a superhero.

Tragedy. Another painful factor. Tikki and Plagg warned them.

Both factors were upon both heroes as the winter months advanced. And it all started one fateful

night in December.


It had only been probably half past two in the morning that Adrien Agreste was awoken by the most unsettling sound.

Marinette's piercing scream.

The blonde's tired green eyes snapped open before the sound came from her small body. Her breaths were rapid the moments before and she wasn't staying still in her bed.

Curious, Adrien sat up.

Then Marinette screamed.

This sent the feline hero up instantly to his feet and making his way to her bed.

"Mari," He said, shaking her "Mari, wake up, it's just a dream."

At his voice, Marinette's eyes snapped open. She sat up quickly and Adrien was quick to catch the blue haired female within his hold.

Her small body shook in sobs.

"I-I can't… I can't lose y-you A-Adrien…" She choked out

"You aren't. Marinette, you aren't. Not any time soon." Adrien whispered, rubbing his hand along her spine to calm her down.

"P-prom-promise…." She stammers

Adrien sighs and nods "I promise.


The day Marinette's life, both as civilian and superheroine, would change forever began like their days had been starting for the last four and a half months.

Monday morning. Back to school after winter break.

Marinette woke to quiet in her room. A common thing when Adrien slept.

She got off her bed, disregarding Adrien's bed for the time being. She gathered her clothing and other morning essentials before going into her bathroom and locking the door.

With this, she began her morning routine. Shower, get dressed, get prepared for the day. Then she headed downstairs, grabbed some breakfast in the kitchen and went back into her room. Still quiet.

Marinette smirked to herself. That stupid cat was always oversleeping.

She sets her plate on her desk and walks over to her blinds. She opens them and turns on her bedroom light.

Then she goes to Adrien's bed. Her fingers wrap around the corners of his sheets at the foot of it.

And just like that, she yanks the sheets back.

"Adrien Agre- AH!" She breaks into a shriek at the feeling of arms around her waist.

Adrien chuckles from behind her.

"Looking for me my lady?" He asks, pecking her cheek

"I was going to get you awake!" She says, playfully hitting him and giggling.

Adrien smiles "Ouch, Mari." He fakes the pain to tease her.

Marinette didn't pick up on his joke and immediately grew worried.

"Did i seriously hurt you? Adrien I'm sorry I-" She says

"That hurt, but not as much as this will." He teases and pins her teasingly on the bed, landing on top of her. But not enough to harm her

"Oh…" Marinette chuckles.

She wraps her hand under his chin and pulls him closer, giving him a quick kiss

"Do we have to go to school today?" He questions

Marinette nods "Yes Adrien… we do." She says "Speaking of… we should get going."

Adrien groans but gets off his girlfriend "Fine."

"Relax, it'll be okay. We'll be home in no time." Marinette smiles.

If only she had known then.


By dinner time that evening, the town was a wreck. An akuma - whose name was Earth Shatterer or Earth Shaker, Ladybug wasn't exactly sure- was ruining the streets of Paris.

"The necklace Chat!" Ladybug tells him as they hide in an alleyway.

"How do you want me to get it?" Chat asks his partner

"Go behind, up, and over. Attack the blind side of the akuma." Ladybug tells him.

Chat nods, smiling "You've got it my lady." and with this, he disappeared to face the monster.


They got it. She got it. But to what cost?

As the dust settled around the battleground, there was only one thing on Ladybug's mind.

Where was Chat Noir?

Due to the amount of destruction, her Miraculous Ladybug hardly did anything. And rubble still covered the streets.

It was a danger zone. Clearly.

"Chat?" Ladybug calls after re-transforming to look for him.

There was silence. Pure silence.

Dust fell in small sheets that glimmered in the evening sun. Miles of destruction laid before her.

How could this happen?

Nervously, Ladybug looks around, searching everywhere.

"Chat, please!" She yells

Nothing. No reply.

Everyone had gone into hiding, bewitched into thinking it was an earthquake that ruined this city.

This city. The city Ladybug served. The city she helped. The city she loved. The city that loved her right back.

This city. The one that was in complete ruin. The one that was in utter devastation.

The city whose condition was the last of her concerns.

She overthought everything. So now with Chat missing, she feared the worst.

What happened to him?

What did happen to him?

Was he okay?

Was he injured?

Where was he?

Was he even still alive?

She was terrified of losing him.

The young heroine stopped herself. He was just hiding to see how long she would search. The ultimate test to prove how much she cared. So he could tease her later about it.

He was still alive, ready to go home and eat dinner with her… his… their family.

Everything would be fine.

"Come on Chat," She said, forcing herself to laugh. He was just fine. Was going to be just fine. "The joke's up." She speaks into the silence.

But again, nothing.

She walks again. Looking at all the rubble. The piles she came across were too small to cover a body, even Adrien's.

She sighs and looks around more. Where was that cat?

She hated this. This feeling of suspense that held her in agony. In nervousness and anxieties.

What would she do without him?

What if he was alive but seriously, critically injured?

What if he would never be the same?

What would happen to him? To Plagg?

To Ladybug? To Marinette?

So many questions and such little answers.

Glass littered the streets she walked. Stones were scattered, cars were wrecked and flipped. The city looked unreal.

Unreal.

This was just a dream. Just a nightmare. There was no Akuma. This was just Marinette re-dreaming what she had a few weeks prior.

It was late at night. She was home. In bed. Adrien on the bed in the opposing corner that her parents placed there when it was completely finalized that he would be living with them.

He was okay. She was okay. It was fine.

"Alright, I get it. This is a dream. All a dream. Can I please wake up now?" Ladybug asked in the silence.

A voice, deep and dark spoke from what seemed to be right behind the heroine.

"My my lovely Lady, this is no dream. However, it can all be erased, reverted back to it's natural state, all for the simple price of your Miraculous."

And that's when reality hit.

Ladybug unclipped her yo-yo and turned around, But nobody was there.

Then the dream made sense to her. And what was happening. It was all Hawkmoth. All of it. This battle, her nightmare, the outcome.

It was all because of him.

"Chat!" Ladybug cried desperately.

A voice, weak and fading called back, finally.

"M-my l-lady… g-go h-home…."

Ladybug ran to the source of sound. She had to get to him.

"Chat," She speaks as she finds what appears to be an abandoned street.

And on the road, her partner laid.

She runs over to him, collapsing to her knees next to him.

"Chat… Chat I'm here" She says "You're going to be okay. You just-"

"No… Let this happen Mari. Please. I've fulfilled my duties. Serve this town until my last breath, protect my partner at all costs" Chat whispers

Ladybug shifts him and lays him across her lap, his head resting on her thighs.

She looks down at him "No… No Chat." She shakes her head

Blood trickled down the side of Adrien's head. The color crimson stained his lips. His Miraculous was dented.

"My Lady, thank you." He tells her

"For what?" Ladybug asks

Chat closes his eyes "Everything. You took time to fix me when nobody else would. You fought for me when I couldn't fight for myself. You helped me when everyone else tried to act like nothing happened…." His voice trails off.

"I did that because I…." Ladybug stops, shaking her head as tears fell behind her mask.

"You loved me when not any other person did, even when I hated myself more than words could explain. You taught me how to live. You accepted me." He tells her "You gave me a will to live, a chance to make things right. And you let me love you in return."

More tears from her and her partner.

"Stop it, Chat…" She says "You're going to be okay."

"Listen to me Marinette Dupain Cheng… My Lady…. It's time…." He mutters

Shakily, he reaches his left hand to his right, going over to the ring.

"I have one final request my lady, let me ask it in full," He says "Put your hand out…"

Ladybug does so, unaware of what he was doing.

He pulls off his Miraculous.

And then he takes the silver ring in his hand and places it in hers.

"My Lady, keep this. Watch Plagg. Wield this Miraculous with yours. Do so with honor and dignity. For me." Adrien tells her.

Ladybug clenches it in her hand. She nods, choking back a sob

"I love you. I love you so much. You found beauty among chaos. Restored hope to I, who failed to find any until I met you. I will never stop loving you. Even when my blood stops running, my heart stops beating and I stop breathing. I will never stop loving you…" He tells her

Ladybug lets a sob escape her. She couldn't fight it. Not anymore.

"Adrien please… Let me get you to a hospital… or home…." She tells him

Adrien appears to choke, more crimson coating his lips.

"My Lady, in your touch, I am home." He tells her "Thank you mon coccinelle, for being my home…."

And then his breath cuts short, a light sigh escaping his blood stained lips. His back goes slack. And Ladybug knows that it is done.

Ladybug lost her Chat

Marinette lost her love.

Paris lost a hero.

And that's when everything in Marinette's world came to a screeching halt, before everything began to shatter.