How he had been thrown, Adrien found himself totally cornered. There wasn't a place where he could duck into and avoid the upcoming attack. Nowhere he could hide. Nothing he could use to block it.
There was forwards, towards Overgrow. That would lead nowhere. His limbs and body needed time to recover, if only for a few seconds, and there wasn't a chance of him even being able to stand up with the way his body ached. And behind him, was a wall. To his sides, was a car, and another wall. Without Chat Noir's powers, Adrien couldn't do anything to escape this situation.
He could hear his Kwami trying to urge him to move, pushing his shoulder with thee little strength Plagg had in his tiny body, trying to convince his human partner to make a run for it. "Come on, Adrien, move!"
Adrien smiled. It was nice to know Plagg really had cared.
But in front of him now, a large, bulky, thick vine, armed to the brink with sharp thorns, slithered towards him. This was the strike that was going to end him. He couldn't escape it, no matter how hard he tried to. His body wasn't going to move for him. It refused to, aches and pains surging all over his nervous system and pain receptors. Even if he could move, he was powerless. Surrounded by a splattered combination of various bodily liquids like sweat and blood, Adrien closed his eyes and accepted his fate.
He smiled to himself.
He imagined Marinette, stood just in front of him, with the smile she always had one her beautiful face. That he had been able to talk to her one final time. To hold her one last time. To kiss her and hug her tightly for one final time. That he had been able to tell her to enjoy her life while she had it. To find someone who would help her feel alive. To help experience it with her.
That he got to say goodbye.
And that he got to say thank you. What they had, whatever it was, it had only lasted a short time. Barley even a week. But never before had he felt more alive throughout this week than he had when he was with Marinette. He wished he could have done more, said more, been more with her. But she was safe. He had that reassurance.
He knew he was breaking a promise to her. He could only hope she'd be able to forgive him. That she'd be able to forget him. That she'd have a happy life. The happy life that she deserved.
Even if it had all been a lie. Pity. Sympathy. Whatever it was. At least he had had it. And he had Marinette to thank for that.
"Adrien, move!" He heard Plagg yell at him, with a loudness to his voice the human had never heard before.
"Sorry... Plagg... I can't move..." He said through gritted teeth and with a smile. His only reply was more insistent pushing, like Plagg was trying so hard to develop super strength to push Adrien out of harms way. He heard the creaking of the vine rising up, preparing to slam down, crushing his body and ending his time in this world. He was ferociously committed to holding the image of the most perfect girl he had ever met in his life in his head before that time ended.
He heard the whistling that signaled the vines falling towards him.
"I love you, Marinette." He whispered.
The next thing he heard, what an erupting crash. And then silence. Blackness, pure blackness, ensued.
'Funny.' He thought to himself. 'Being crushed by a huge sentient plant with thorns like serrated teeth feels a lot like... Flying?'
How did that make any sense? His arm still throbbing, he made himself open his eyes. He was still alive? How in the hell was he still alive? More importantly, how the hell was he flying?! Was his spirit being taken into the heavens, or perhaps...
He looked around, and saw his guardian angel.
Ladybug.
She had leaped into action. Before the final strike, she had leaped into the fray, thrown her yo-yo at Adrien, wrapping around him and firmly securing him like a harness, and pulled him towards the female superhero. She had caught him, and thrown her yo-yo a second time, now swinging across rooftop to rooftop, aiming to get as good a distance between her and the Akumatized plant monster thing as she possibly could.
It had to have been a while since Adrein was just so blissfully happy to see Ladybug as he was right now. He could cry. "Ladybug..."
"You'll be okay!" She told him, swinging from another building, and throwing her yo-yo again. She needed to get him someplace safe. Some place away from the madness of this conflict. She could deal with her own emotions later.
Adrien, meanwhile, simply fell asleep, despite being easily over fifty meters in the air, and hurtling though those streets fast. He couldn't keep his eyes open for a second longer.
It had been him, all this time.
Ladybug had attempted to clean up the blond models face the best that she could manage, her mind moving at the speed of a bullet train. Her emotions rushing through her heart, her organ smashing at her rib cage like a hammer as she tried to gently clear all of the cuts and wounds that now littered all over Chat's face. Adrien's face. His face would bruise for a while, but he would survive.
Peacefully, Adrien was sleeping. It was little surprise, given the intense beating he had just survived. How he had survived that was beyond Ladybug, but the thanked every single God, past, present, and future, for it.
She couldn't believe it. Even now, watching Adrien's Kwami, Plagg, she believed his name to be, silently sob while gripped to Adrien's chest in sheer worry, she found it hard to comprehend.
Adrien Agreste, the boy she had held deep affectionate feelings for, which had lasted for the better part of a year, was in fact, her same, pun making, occasionally irritating, yet lovable partner, Chat Noir. Statistically, this had to be impossible. Adrien could not be Chat Noir. It fitted together too well. It solved so many problems so easily. It was too good to be true.
It was, in fact, the reality. And seeing the brutal injuries that the teenager had suffered, all because of a poor call she had made, it suddenly was too good to be true. It became awful in an instant. Her bad choice, her failure as the de-facto leader of the two, had resulted in this blood stained boy.
Because of her failure to help him when he needed it. Her body just froze. Paralyzed.
Because of her, his identity had been revealed. She swallowed.
What would happen to him now?
Right now, he looked so peaceful, so calm, so absolutely removed from the rest of reality. The love that she honestly felt right now was nothing short of overwhelming. Despite the danger that was still surrounding them, and the adversity that they had to face, and the struggles they would have to combat now that all of France knew Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir were one in the same, she found herself just contemplating just how much he meant to her.
Chat Noir, her partner in crime-fighting, had fallen in love with her. Her. Adrien Agreste, the person she had loved from afar, had fallen in love with her. Her.
Chat Noir, a hero to the Parisian people, had proclaimed his love for Ladybug not long after he had met her. He had always flirted with her, and supported her, trusted her and relied on her, no matter what the challenge or the adversity. For over a year, he had been dedicated to gaining the affections of Ladybug, and for a year, she had rejected him...
And he had fallen in love with plain Marinette.
Adrien Agreste, the smart, handsome, kind and gentle perfect boy that Marinette loved with all her heart, who could have had any girl in Paris that he wanted , and she had watched from afar with a faint hope in her eyes that he would notice her...
And he had fallen in love with awkward Marinette.
When she kissed Chat Noir... She had also unknowingly kissed the boy she loved... The boy who she had helped with his various homework assignments after a week off school. The boy she was so nervous around. The mere sight of him made her stomach do swan dives and her heart race. Being around him set her blood on fire.
And she had kissed him.
Ladybug would have exploded in dark red blushes had the situation in their hands not been any more dire than it already was. She had to control these emotions. Adrien was badly injured, and the Akuma was hunting them down. She had to focus.
"...Mari... nette..." She turned with a jump, hearing his weak, quiet whispers. He was stirring, starting to wake up, slowly, but certainly. His eyes flickered, and he looked around himself for a moment with burred vision, trying to make sense of his surroundings, before his eyes rested on Plagg. "Oh... Hey Plagg." Adrien greeted his partner, with a weak smile.
The tiny Kwami had never been more expressive in the entire time he had known Adrien. Huge tears swelled in his eyes and ran down his cheeks, before he clung onto his human partner once again, as tightly as the magical creature could grip. "Adrien... Waaaaaaaah!" It also marked the first ever time the Parisian model remembered hearing his magical partner cry.
Despite his surprise, Adrien couldn't stop himself from weakly smiling. 'There goes his claim of having an indifferent attitude towards me.' He thought to himself as he held his Kwami closer gently with his hands, so as not to crush the tiny black cat-like creature. The tiny creature would get dehydrated if he kept crying so much. A tiny body was only able to hold so much water.
Keeping his hold on his partner gentle get firm, Adrien looked up, to see Ladybug just watching them. He found that he couldn't read her expression at all. She was somewhere between aloof humor and cryptic despair. Clearly he'd been a mess when she'd stepped in to save him, and she had taken the task of cleaning him up herself, so now he looked less like a slab of meat left to bleed out, but still possessed many cuts and bruises. Ladybug was no medic, but her work had been good enough.
"Ladybug..." Adrien acknowledged her presence. She didn't really react, like she was still processing that her partner was in front of her, totally unmasked. Nothing hidden anymore, Adrien attempted to lighten the mood, a cheeky grin appearing on his lips. "I guess the Chat Noir's out of the bag now, huh?"
"How can you possibly be making jokes at a time like this?!" Ladybug's instant response was sickeningly filled with worry and concern. She could not comprehend how he was so calm. She wasn't sure if she admired it or hated it. Her worries were running through her head right now like a stampede. The petrification of what was going to happen to Chat Noir - Adrien, was making her feel physically ill.
"Well..." Adrien said, looking off to one side. "It's pretty much the only thing keeping me from realizing how utterly screwed my life is now." He sighed, getting up to his feet. Still suffering from pain, however, he had rested, if only for maybe ten minutes or so, but it had aided his stamina some.
Her eyes widened in regret. "A-Adrien..."
A sharp inhale was immediately followed by another sigh from the unmasked hero. "The press knows Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste. The media knows, the country knows... Alya will know by now... Nino will... Father... M-..." He choked on his words at this point, gritting his teeth. "...Marinette will..." Shivers ran down his spine when he thought of her learning the truth about him. How would she react? Bitterly, he laughed lightly. "So much for keeping my identity a secret."
"I'm so sorry, Adrien." He could hear Plagg apologizing to him from his grip, as if it was his fault. "I-I tried to extend the time as much as possible..."
"This is my own fault Plagg, not yours... Thank you for trying, buddy. You couldn't have done any more." He couldn't be upset with his Kwami even if he tried. The sincerity which Plagg was expressing was just... Heartwarming in a word. He knew his tiny friend would never hurt anyone or anything that didn't deserve it. He put on a tough guy act, but he was a soft guy underneath that. Adrien's own regret however was palpable. There was so much more he could have done to avoid this outcome. A thousand opportunities at each fork in the road, and he had chosen the wrong one at each turn. "...You were right, Ladybug." He said, with a heavy heart. "I was cocky. I charged in without thinking... And now look where we are."
The female superhero's heart broke upon hearing those words. Such cruel speaking towards himself... He was so critical of himself. In school, he always carried himself with a humble, yet calm and confident persona, friendly and caring. He never talked down to anyone, despite sitting atop a vast fortune, fame, and social standing. Going out of his way, he had placed himself at their level intentionally. Displayed solidarity with people from lower standing. And while he had done all that, he had done it with a smile. She'd admired him from afar for such a long time...
Seeing him like this crushed her spirits.
But it also filled her with determination. His life was shattered to pieces now. There was nothing that could be done about that now. The damage had been done. The world now knew about the truth behind Chat Noir's identity. Gone was his privacy, and his security. Everything in his world had been destroyed.
So she would help him pick up the pieces.
What could she say to him right now without giving away her own identity? Should she reveal herself to him now?... No. Not here. There were already far too many complications as it was. Having her own identity revealed was just going to make matters impossible to deal with. Her own secret being revealed to the entire planet was no way to help Adrien right now. Behind closed doors, perhaps... But she got the feeling he wasn't quite ready for such a reveal anyway.
"Adrien..." She began, with a deep, sharp intake of breath. "I could never, ever, ever, have asked for a better person to be Chat Noir." He looked at her, so she looked right back. "A kind... Caring... Smart person. Someone who was born in a position where they had every advantage over other people, but lowered themselves to everyone else's level, not out of pity, but out of an eagerness to belong with people they cared for, far more than any sort of standing. Someone who willingly gave up a part of themselves to become the superhero Chat Noir... Someone who risked their life... Not just for Paris... But for me as well." Placing a hand on his shoulder in sympathy, yearning to actually hug him, she said to him, "You don't need a mask to be a hero. You're already pretty heroic to me."
From his dulled eyes, came life again, and from his deflated face, a smile erupted once more. His morale boosted, he came to accept what cards he had been dealt. He knew for a fact the life he had as it were before was over. There wasn't anything they could do about that. But he could adapt. He could overcome. He wasn't alone.
"...Thanks, Ladybug." Was all he was able to say to her, lost for words to respond to her kindness. He genuinely wondered, really, how kind was it possible for one person to be?
Their tender moment was ruined however.
They heard a crumpling sound in the distance, not too far away, surrounded by greenery growing at an abnormal rate. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Overgrow was nearby, trashing the city as he went along. He was like a one man walking force of destruction.
"I don't suppose you learned anything while you were late to help me fight this guy?" Adrien asked, leaning over the edge of the building to get a clearer look at the carnage that was being committed. He saw a limousine being tossed from a different street into the one he was looking over. Not a good sign.
"I did." Ladybug admitted, watching the same carnage as Adrien, keeping a hand on his shoulder in case he fell. "He's a botanist who ran a flower-shop in the northern areas of the city. His shop got burned down recently because of an accident with a teenager called Twist. He's from Japan, and he's pyrophobic. There's nothing else worth mentioning."
"I think his Akuma is in a rose that's pinned to his chest." Adrien added to that list of facts, pointing at the vague area he saw the rose on his own body, roughly below his right collarbone. "I was so close to actually getting my claws on it too..." This whole mess could have been avoided without that one split second delay.
It wasn't a lot of information, and at best, it was slap-dash, and at worst, unreliable. There was no way of knowing if the pyrophobia was even still in effect with this Akumatized villain, but that was what they had to work with. They were working with information that they had no reason to suspect was true or accurate... But what choice did they have?
Considering their options, Ladybug decided it was time for her to employ her secret weapon. The worst case scenario was her own identity being revealed... But that risk was worth taking. She stepped back, and threw her magical yo-yo into the air, spinning it around as the glow occurred in a spiral. "Lucky charm!"
Her powers of luck manipulation manifested themselves in the young superhero's lucky charm ability, providing an object that she could use to obtain the most optimal result.
The downside, however, was that this was often very unapparent, and required some creative thinking. Solutions were never immediately obvious. There was always some sort of surrounding factor she had to consider for the optimum result. This time was no different.
This time, her object took the form of a cylindrical object, covered in red, and with black polka-dots. At the top, a small nub, like a release valve at the top. It fell into Ladybug's hands, and she recognized what it was instantly. She felt her veins press against her forehead.
"A can of deodorant? What on earth am I supposed to do with this?" She asked, looking irritated at the can she had been given. She could swear her power had a mind of its own, and that it just liked messing with her.
"Wonderful." Adrien muttered sarcastically. "What're we gonna do, freshen him into submission?" Glancing around, he searched for a way to help the situation, when he noticed a convenience store nearby. It was a corner shop, one you wouldn't normally go in unless you were short on money or wanted to get a soda before class. The kind that sold a wide range of things despite being very small. It gave Adrien an idea. "Ladybug, take me to that shop down there, on the corner of the street. I might have an idea."
Trusting in her partner, Ladybug grabbed hold of Adrien, and leaped down to the street level, just in front of the shop he had pointed out within a few seconds. Limping his way inside, Adrien scattered several objects onto the floor while he searched, until he quickly returned, holding a metallic Zippo lighter.
Whatever was in the can of deodorant, it packed a punch. Requesting the deodorant canister from Ladybug, Adrien aimed the canister to an empty section of the street. He understood the science of what he was doing well. When he sprayed the can over an open flame, the smaller molecules that were released caught fire, and those flames passed their flame on to the ones behind it, and they then spread further apart from one another in height and diameter, essentially creating a makeshift flamethrower.
In this case however, it produced a blindingly strong red flame, that erupted and expanded up to twelve feet in the air.
A Chat-like grin appeared on Adrien's face. "That'll work." Turning to Ladybug, he explained his thinking. "I'll go down the front, distract Overgrow with this little trick." Holding up the lighter and the deodorant can, so Ladybug could clearly see then. He then pointed along the rooftops, showing her a flanking route. "You go around him, while I keep him busy. Go around him, and crush that flower, and get rid of his Akuma before he does any more damage."
The logic was solid, based in the information that they had. Overgrow was, to the best of their knowledge, pyrophobic. A fire could be a very good way to distract him while someone sneaked around from the side. Ladybug was faster, by far. She stood the best chance to get closer to Overgrow without being spotted before it was too late.
But Ladybug hated this idea with a passion. "Adrien, you're injured! You need more recovery time! I'll take care of this, you just rest!" Her love of the boy/superhero blinded her to her usual rational thinking.
"This guy is far too tough for any one of us to take on our own." The blond Parisian told his female partner, while he ran over his cuts along his face, showcasing them to her. "Take a look at what happened to me. This plan needs both of us to do our part, Ladybug. I can't destroy his Akuma. You need to capture it once it gets out of his rose anyway, and with these injuries, I can't run fast enough." He clutched the canister and the lighter. "This is the best I can so."
Looking her in her eyes, she saw he was pleading with her. "Let me do this one final thing, before everything changes." He begged.
Everything in his life was about to change. For better or worse, neither of them could know. Things would be riskier. Deadlier. And it could be far more difficult to act as Chat Noir.
But that was all tomorrow.
Today, he was still able to do this.
The red and black superhero didn't want to allow him to do this, this risky, dangerous plan. She wanted him safe, out of harms way. If something happened to Adrien, to Chat Noir, now she knew the truth about him... Never, would she forgive herself.
But at the same time, she couldn't deny him this final act of freedom, either.
Her fists tightly clenched, she would have kissed him as Marinette. Now though, she forced herself to restrain herself, no matter how painful it was. "...Okay."
He had been so close.
Overgrow had been mere seconds away from completing half of the deal for Hawkmoth. The deal to attain his freedom to wreck havoc as he desired. He had Chat Noir pinned down, unable to move. His victory was assured.
Until Ladybug swooped in and saved the unmasked hero.
For want of a better word, Overgrow was utterly enraged. Furious. Angry was an understatement. He wanted blood.
He hadn't heard from Hawkmoth since the fight, which struck him as rather odd, but regardless, his plan hadn't changed. His anger only fueled the plants around him, slamming them randomly into buildings and concrete around him, lashing out in acts of random anger.
"Oh, Over-grow up."
A familiar voice, and a constant source of failing puns. Overgrow recognized the voice well, along with the speech ticks that the boy possessed. Very slowly, with daggers in his stare, Overgrow turned around and saw the unmasked Chat Noir standing in front of him, roughly 50 meters from the Agrokinetic Akuma.
He was still clearly damaged from the battle they had engaged in earlier, cuts and slashes still apparent where they had been planted, and he seemed to be weaker on his feet. Without the power of his miraculous to boost his physical attributions, he was about as effective as any other citizen of Paris.
"Come to beg for mercy?" The Akumatized villain asked with an air of smugness. He knew he had been followed by the news chopper. He had wanted them to follow him. He wanted people to know how strong he was. And now, they were going to see the superhero of Paris beg for his life.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm afraid that's not quite why I'm here." Adrien explained, aiming to keep this conversation going for as long as he could. Every second bought gave Ladybug more time to get into position.
"Then why are you here?"
"I'm here to make a deal."
Curiosity raised inside Overgrow. In his current state, what could this boy do to harm him? He could afford to let his guard down slightly. "A deal?"
"My miraculous." Adrien said, displaying it very clearly for Overgrow to see it on his fingers, his hand tightly held together in a fist. The silver metal reflected in the sunlight, making it shine in the alloy material. "I give you this, you stop trashing Paris." Aware that the news camera was on him, Adrien did the best he could to make this look as genuine as possible. He could only imagine what the people he knew were thinking right now about this entire escapade. "Sound good?"
"What's stopping me from simply crushing you and taking your miraculous from you?" Overgrow asked, vines behind him poised to strike at anything that moved. "My orders are to take them. Not make deals with you."
"Suit yourself." Adrien said with a dramatic shrug. "I'm the only person who knows who Ladybug really is. You know, the other miraculous holder." He bluffed his way through this conversation to the best of his acting ability. He knew he had done a good job when he saw the vines behind the plant based Akuma lose some tensity. His confidence boosted, he went on, pushing his target to come to a conclusion prematurely. "That interest you? Okay then, I'll sweeten the deal. My miraculous and Ladybug's true identity, and the location of her miraculous, and in return, you stop trashing Paris. That sounds like a pretty good trade, right?"
On paper, it was an excellent trade. With both miraculous in his possession, Overgrow would have fulfilled his duties to Hawkmoth. With that came the promise of total freedom. The freedom to hunt down Twist however he pleased. All in one grab. That was an excellent deal indeed.
"Deal." He said, sending a vine over to Adrien. "Place your miraculous on this vine."
"Whatever you say, plant boy..." The model focused. If he did this even a second early or a second late, he really would be crushed by this plant man. The vine slithered its way to Adrien's foot, rising to roughly his rib-cages height.
In that instance, Adrien acted.
He opened to palm of his hand, showing the Zippo lighter he had taken. He flipped it open, and slammed on the striker, making the flame come to life, orange and rising high into the sky, the smell of petrol emanating from the device. At the same time, he reached for the canister of deodorant he had attached to his waist, and lined the two up. In a split second, Adrien hit down on the release value of the deodorant, causing the flame to ignite, burning the vine in an instant.
Shooting away all of his vines, Overgrow broke into a sweat. His pyrophobia still in place. This could work.
Without saying a word, Adrien started to walk towards Overgrow. He couldn't run, thanks to the pain in his body, but he could at least walk somewhat quickly. Many vines came his way, with the intention to knock the improvised flamethrower out of his hands, but whenever one came near him, Adrien doused it with a burst of reconsidering fire. Just like the man behind the act, the vines were afraid of the fire.
He only needed to keep this up for a few more moments.
"What happened to that bravado, Overgrow?" Adrien asked, sending another helping of fire out towards the Akumatized victim. All he needed to do was keep his attention. Ladybug would be getting into position now. He just needed a few more seconds. to keep his attention, by whatever means he had to. Even if that risked aggravating him again.
He just needed to keep Overgrow's attention.
Staggering back in the face of the hot substance, Overgrow found his back to a wall, quite literally. Fire so close to him... It was unbearable. He dare not move, for fear of anything around him, or on him, catching flame.
The desperation he felt fueled one final act.
A final strike, one of the vines swung from behind Overgrow, landing right into the Parisians stomach, one again. This one came at full force, like a rhino attacking a hunters jeep. Adrien felt like he'd been hit by a land-rover, blood flying out of his mouth in large chunks, rather than the droplets previously. The impact made him drop his equipment, and his eyes shoot open wide out of surprise. He had certainly felt the hit with that strike. Pushing him away, the vine tossed Adrien away like a rag doll, sending him flying, landing head first about twenty meters away, and making him bounce, like a skimming stone.
"No!"
By the time Overgrow could have reacted, it was already over. A speedy charge, a phenomenal and violent punch to the throat, and a swipe, was enough to bring Overgrow to his knees, gasping for oxygen as much as he could.
The plan had worked. Ladybug had the Akuma in her hands. She had never before felt this level of hate towards one of them. Without remorse nor mercy, the slammed the accursed dark rose into the ground, and stamped on it as hard as she could. From the broken petals, came fluttering the Akuma, attempting an escape. Ladybug shot this down with record speed.
"You're not going anywhere!" She yelled, throwing her yo-yo as a capture device, trapping the tiny troublemaker. For the first time in her year long hero career, Ladybug didn't want to de-evilize the Akuma. She wanted to destroy it. She wanted revenge for everything this one evil creature had done. For everything Adrien had had to suffer. For all the damage it had caused. For the reveal of Adrien as Chat Noir. For the injuries and cuts and bleeding, and the pain that the blond Parisian had been through, because of this one tiny creature.
But she knew that her job wasn't to seek revenge. She did her job, and de-evilized the creature and set it free, despite her yearning for revenge against it. She knew it was the right thing to do. For some reason, the newly released butterfly hung around her for a while, like it wanted an award. It took everything Ladybug had to not scream at the insect for what it had done. "Get out of here before I change my mind..." Was all she could say, bitterness seeping from her lips. Tossing her yo-yo into the air, she declared her next technique, that would hopefully, set everything back to normal. "Miraculous Ladybug!"
The power spread throughout the city, repairing every single bit of damage done over the course of Overgrow's rampage. Buildings returned to their original state, the holes, cracks, and newly grown plants over them, all vanished, restored to their original condition, like it had never happened. The upturned tarmac resettled itself in the roads and pavements, structurally sound as ever before. The plants returned to their original conditions, and the cars repaired themselves, and even went back to their original parking places.
At her feet, a black, bubbling foam seemed to fall off of the villain known as Overgrow, and revealed a confused, thirty seven year old Japanese man, unsure of what had happened, or how he had gotten there.
And like that, their greatest challenge so far came to an end.
All caught on national television.
"Ladybug..."
As she turned towards the brave Parisian, tears automatically made their way down her cheeks. He stood there with a fresh cut across his head, and several re-opened injuries around his head. Blood seeped from his mouth and dripped off his chin, and he looked like he had been crying crimson again. He stood with poor posture, his right leg doing most of the supporting work. His left eye was closed, and his right eye was only half open. His blond hair was now completely messy now, and sweat soaked him to the bone.
Despite this, he still found a way to smile. With a shaky arm, he mad a fist, and held it out at arms reach.
Their signature celebratory fist bump. He was far too far away for her to return it, but there it was. Their signal of victory.
"Mission... Accomplished." He said with a Chat-like grin. As he finally got those words out, his legs gave out, and he fell to his knees, and then his body fell forward too, crashing into the road with a hefty thud.
As he fell, he smiled lightly and closed his eyes. 'I wonder... Did Marinette see me?...'
"Adrien!" He heard Ladybug cry, and heard her footsteps rapidly approaching him. He never managed to open his eyes to see her though.
'Funny...' He thought, surrounded by darkness. 'She sounds just like Marinette...'
Finding himself in a pure white space, Adrien felt no pain. He felt no worry. No fear. He felt... Rather relaxed actually, provided he had no idea where he was, and whatever it was, wherever he was, it seemed to defy all laws of logic and physics as he knew it.
Had he died? He didn't know. If this was death, it certainly wasn't too bad. He'd prefer to be alive, but he wasn't going to complain about this state of existence. It felt like nothing mattered to him anymore.
Except for Marinette.
He wanted to see Marinette.
Walking along the plain that had no floor nor ceiling for a while, Adrien considered and reflected on what had happened to him. His fight with Overgrow. His identity unveiled to the nation of France. It was probably global news at this point. But he felt untroubled by it. Like it was happening in some fictional manga or anime. It felt so insignificant to worry about here.
So much of the real world seemed so petty right now. Like he was watching a feud between insects. It was just something he didn't feel the need to concern himself with.
"Adrien..."
Heart stopped, eyes wide, and praying that he hadn't imagined that angelic voice, he turned around to see if he was right or not. 'Please be there. Please be there. For the love of god, please be there.'
There she was. Marinette. Everything about her was enhanced to perfection. Her blue hair glistened and waved ever so lightly in a nonexistent wind. She wore her usual blue jacket, covering up her normal white shirt with a flower printed on it underneath. The common jeans she wore, that he knew she had been planning on making design changes to. Her skin was smooth and comforting just to look at, and her face was very lightly pink. And best of all, her beautiful blue eyes shone, and her smile was hear melting. She stood barely a meter away from the dazed model.
"...Marinette..." He said unconsciously, walking towards he, and hugging her tightly, pulling her into a deep kiss, which she returned. There was no warmth, no taste, none of the regular things there that characterized a kiss with her, but the knowledge he had done it was enough to make his heart start pumping.
"Where are we?" Adrien asked, looking around, his shoulders still on Marinette's shoulders. This whole dimension reminded him of the time he was digitized by Pixelator. "Are we.. Dead?... Wait, how the heck did you die?"
"You are not dead." Marinette told him, calmly. Her voice patterns and mannerisms were far off what he knew they were. "This is just a dream. You are in a hospital. Ladybug took you to the best hospital in the city, and made sure no reporters could find you. You have been unconscious for about six hours. You will wake up soon, do not worry."
He was in a dream? To be fair... He'd heard weirder things. Had he? He didn't know. But for whatever reason, he simply accepted it. Maybe because it was coming from Marinette, he found it easier to accept it than any other logical explanation. "Okay... So how did you get here?"
"I did not." Marinette replied. "I am your minds perception of Marinette. That says a lot about you, does it not?"
"It sure does..." Adrien agreed, feeling his heart pump. It explained the kiss at the very least. But that aside, that was his image of Marinette. Perfection. "People only really dream when they need to process information, right?... So... Why are you here?"
"I am a part of that process. Consider me a method of venting your deepest feelings. You cannot hide them from me, anyway." The personification of Marinette replied. Whatever Adrien had to do, he would do here.
With that knowledge, Adrien's hands began to shake. There were so many things he wanted to say to Marinette, the real Marinette. So much he wanted to explain. So much he wanted to make up for. "Marinette... I'm..." Tears, although they didn't really exist, ran down his face. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I broke my promise... I lied to you... I... Oh God, I'm so sorry..." Pouring out his heart to this essentially fake Marinette, the emotions he felt were the real ones. The guilt. The regret. The pain and the love. They were all real. "I love you... I love you so, so, so much... I never wanted any sort of pain to fall your way... I... I was selfish in keeping coming back to you after that kiss... I just love you so much... With the mask, as Chat Noir, or without it... I love you..." The more he spoke, the more he wanted to talk, until his own dreamed up tears stopped him. "I'm so sorry..." He wept to her, on his knees in front of the mental perception of the girl he loved.
As he said all of this, she began to fade away, into nothingness. Panic gripped his heart, and he tried to grab her as quickly as he could. Had she grown tired of him? Did she blame him? He practically begged her, "No! Don't go!"
"Marinette exists in the real world." The incarnation replied simply. "You simply expressed the feelings you have deep within your heart. It is down to you to choose what to do with them."
"Wh-What... What would Marinette say if she heard all that though?.."
"I cannot say. I am only your image of her. I do not contain her emotions or beliefs. Those are blanks you must fill yourself, if you choose to do so." With that, the apparition left Adrien alone, crying silently to himself. The dream as it was called now felt like nothing but a prison. He wanted to get out. He wanted to see Marinette. He wanted to get on his knees, and beg her forgiveness.
He wanted to see Marinette...
"Marinette!" He shouted out the the void as loudly as he possibly could. He wanted to see her. He wanted to hold her.
He wanted to see Marinette.
As he yelled this, he was blinded. A bright light. He shielded his eyes with his arms.
"Go." He heard Marinette's voice again, booming like an overlord. "Discover those feelings of the one you love, so that next time you arrive here, you shall be met with dreams of joy."
That was the way out.
Adrien knew on the other side of that light, laid a world that had changed since he had left. A world in which everyone knew who he was. A world in which privacy was practically a thing of the past to him, as he knew that now there wouldn't be a point in his life where he wouldn't be harassed by the press.
For as long as he was Chat Noir, things would never go away. and even after that, he wouldn't live a particularly peaceful life now.
Things were changing in his world, and he wasn't sure if he was ready to deal with them.
But he knew one thing with absolute certainty.
He wanted to see Marinette.
With that sole goal in mind, Adrien stepped forward, throwing himself into an entirely new world.
Guys, you have no idea how very tempting it was to end this story here, you really don't, but I can't bring myself to be that cruel.
Now that I've done with the Overgrow mini-arc i had going on, next chapter, we're going to be focusing on the consequences of what has happened to Adrien now that he's been revealed as Chat Noir. I've certainly got a few idea left up my sleeve.
there are going to be dealings with Gabriel and Hawkmoth. For the record, I very much support the theory that Gabriel Agreste and Hawkmoth are the same person, but I don't like acting on unconfirmed information. , so I'm not yet decided on if I'll include that. It's a fifty-fifty thing at this point. Other interactions thought... ho-ho, have I got plans for you guys.
I hope you enjoyed!
You can find more on my WattPad, where chapters come out slightly earlier for you guys, and my YouTube,in which i mess around in Pokemon games, links in the description of my profile,
And I will see you , in whatever it is, I do indeed, decide to write next. See ya!
