Chapter 10

Adrien POV

Here she was. Her grasp was terrifyingly steady, holding her immortal yo-yo string without a trace of hesitance. She looked angry, which to him, was a sight he rarely saw. Except of course, for the occasional frustration when she was annoyed with him. But anger of this magnitude was a strange way to see the girl, who was usually kind, happy, and able to think logically in tough situations.

Worse for him to see, though, were the thin tear stains on her cheeks, and the undeniable redness of her eyes. She looked more in pain than ready to inflict it upon others. He couldn't imagine what could have possibly akumatized her, to have caused her that much pain-

But what was most important was that he found a way to save her, and quickly. He took a moment to think rationally, or at least try to. What would Ladybug do? Well, first, he needed to get the threat away from the crowd of civilians about to get sliced open by her sharp weapon.

She was clearly after him and his miraculous. The fight was between the two of them rather than the civilians below. The less citizens involved, the better. Chat hopped his way over to the back side of an old church, finding an empty parking lot. It was a cold Friday afternoon, no wonder it would be deserted at this time in the day.

Ladybug-no, the akumatized Ladybug now-chased him without a moment's hesitation. Again, Chat wondered why it was him she was really after. And why did her eyes look so haunted?

He needed a plan. How was he going to purify an akuma when his Lady was the only one with that power? Was there some way he would be able to...? No. It was much too late for that. He couldn't exactly detransform and ask Plagg for help, much less a brand new set of powers. It was much too late for that, and he didn't even have any camembert on him!

Was it hopeless? How was he going to save his Lady at this rate?

That was when a small voice came out from behind him, from Ladybug's general direction. It was a small, red creature with spots, and it looked about the size of Plagg. "Chat Noir? Is that you?" The bug-like creature said.

"Yes, and who are you?" Chat asked suspiciously. The two of them ducked back into a corner, hiding themselves from view before they heard the tap of the girl's feet on the asphalt behind them. They spoke in hushed voices, sure not to alert her of their presence.

"I'm Tikki. I'm Ma-I mean, Ladybug's kwami. Has Plagg explained kwami magic to you yet?"

"So you know Plagg..." Chat said, thinking aloud. "Are you the one who gives Ladybug her powers?" The kwami nodded. "Do you know how she...was akumatized? Is there any way to help her?"

"I don't know much," the kwami confessed, looking a bit guilty. "She was on patrol, and all of a sudden, I was pushed out of the suit. Hawkmoth's negatively powered akuma had pushed away all of the positive energy in her body...I guess that would include me too."

"So she's been overtaken by negative energy, and we have no idea what caused it?"

"Exactly." Tikki grimaced, but she still looked confidently at the situation. "It doesn't seem very promising, but we have to save Ladybug!"

Knowing that Tikki probably knew more about the miraculous than he did, he asked, "Tikki...how are we going to purify this thing? I don't have the same powers that Ladybug does...is there no way I can save her?"

"Chat Noir, you trust your partner, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" The boy said, taken aback. "What makes you think otherwise?"

"You just need to stay calm. And trust in Ladybug's strength. Once the akuma leaves her, she can quickly transform and purify it herself. Your job is to make sure not to hurt her, and to get rid of that akuma."

"It doesn't look like it's in her earrings," Chat observed. "Maybe... The yo-yo?"

"Go for it, Chat Noir." Tikki cheered encouragingly.

The boy stepped out from his hiding spot, ready to face his partner. He had to save her, at all odds. He couldn't let her destroy what she cared about, and he wouldn't let her lose herself to Hawkmoth, that bastard.

"My, my, Chat Noir," Ladybug snarled, her voice laced with venom. "You've been hiding for so long, I was starting to lose patience."

Chat readied himself, and extended his staff, swinging it in the direction of her body. This isn't Ladybug, not really. She's not herself. And still, the swing he took at her was half-hearted, and Ladybug easily stopped it with her hand. She pushed the staff down, and (thanks to her incredible Ladybug strength) he fell to the ground with it. Hard.

He quickly got up, and retracted his weapon. "Kitty, still want to play? You'll hurt yourself if you push too hard." She taunted him. He didn't return any of the remarks, opting to go head on, and push through her space to retrieve the akuma.

"Not so fast, Chat," she said, pulling the yo-yo from her belt and swinging it around in a defensive barrier. The string moved so fast, it sliced his skin, leaving a long, jagged scar across his cheek. He almost groaned, thinking of what his father would say at the sight of it.

"My Lady...please." he begged her. "Just let me help you."

Some part of her froze in that instant, looking at his desperate face, and the yo-yo slowed down, if only a little. Chat didn't miss that small second of a chance, and grabbed the end of the yo-yo, pulling it in towards him. He had a grasp on it now!

Her face once again turned cold, and she tried to yank the string back towards herself. The determined grip he held on her weapon prevented her from getting it back. All that it did was knock him hard against the ground. He could already feel the bruises forming on his chest, and a sharp, anguishing pain erupted throughout his entire body.

Chat was shaking at this point, barely holding on to his strength. He simply whispered "Cataclysm" and watched the black magic energy destroy the yo-yo in his hands. Ladybug dropped it like it was on fire, and then the small, purple butterfly left the scene, untouched.

The boy looked up briefly, to see if his Lady was okay, and that's when he saw Marinette in her place.

Mari...nette?

He was going to collapse in a few moments. The world around him was already spinning, his mind blank except the feeling of pain, and Marinette. Marinette. It was her, it was her all along, and it was too much to process, and the pain was overwhelming, and...

He could faintly hear a familiar voice, "Bye, bye little butterfly" and something that sounded a bit like his name, but black had already overtaken his vision. He was beyond reach now. Marinette...is okay. He reassured himself, and lost consciousness then and there.

A/N: Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Identities have now been revealed, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to finish this, but if you have any suggestions, leave a review or PM me! I am always up for ideas :)

The story might run a few more chapters, but it should be ending soon. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story, I'm so glad that so many of you read this! It means a lot, so thank you all.