Chat finds her on an abandoned fire escape, whistling as she inspects an empty ornament with mild disdain.
"Well", she greets; she tosses the ornament into the air and smiles as it tumbles over the railing and falls into the street. "Look who's finally showed up."
"You've taken this too far, Lady." Chat's eyes follow the ornament, the wrinkles surrounding them diminishing only when it collides with asphalt and releases little more than a puff of air. He turns back to Ladybug, ears pressed against his head, and begins to pace slowly, eyeing her with bristling disappointment. Gesturing to the inflamed buildings and climbing smoke clouds behind them, he hisses clenches his fists and hisses, "Look at what you've done! You're a fucking terrorist!"
Ladybug rolls her eyes. She reaches for another ornament within her utility belt pockets and twirls it between her fingers. Before she can throw this one over the railing, Chat snatches it from her hands and drops it into his backpack. Pouting, she crosses her arms and argues, "One man's terror is another man's triumph."
Chat steps forward and grabs Ladybug by the shoulders. "Listen to me. I don't know what's going on with you", he begins. Someone screams in the far distance, and he winces. The screaming drawls on, and, painful as the act is, he forces his attention back onto Ladybug. His claws dig into the flesh of her shoulders, though the intended effect is lost on Ladybug. She tosses her head back and giggles, her eyes dancing with the flames devouring the buildings behind Chat. "I don't know what's going on with you." A whine escapes him, and his tail rises to curl around Ladybug's wrist. She recoils at the contact, but his grip on both her shoulders and wrist remain as firm as the desperation within his eyes. "And I'm sorry", he continues. "I'm sorry I haven't been around as much. But come on." The building beside them collapses into a massive pile of bricks, glass, tangled wiring, and crushed bodies. "You know this is wrong."
"I'm only doing. What we should have been doing from the very beginning." She brushes his hand off her shoulder and takes a step back. Watching over the chaotic ruins of Paris with a satisfied smile, she grabs her elbow with one hand and places the other beneath her chin. "We have the means to permanently stop criminals and finally make this place look like the shit we advertise in brochures. I'm just utilizing the power I've been entrusted with."
"Just because you have the power doesn't mean you should use it. Especially not in the way you're using." Chat hops forward, landing on the railing, and stares at her. "Now, maybe that thing with Boom was an accident. You misjudged your strength, and someone died. Okay. Fine." A shudder afflicts him, and he grits out, "It's shitty, and it sucks, but everyone screws up; especially when they've got powers they don't entirely understand." The rising growl in his chest breaks free, and he leans forward, face inches from Ladybug's. "But you had bombs this time, Lady, and you willingly used them on civilians."
"I'm merely attempting to establish order." Ladybug leans over the railing and smirks, her billowing hair cloaking the cataclysm behind her. "What you view as terror, I see as progress. If it helps, think of me as a freedom fighter."
"Freedom fighters have goals, and they have dreams. What do you dream of, Lady?" When he gets no reply, only an unhinged display of teeth, he sighs and leans even closer. Ladybug giggles and follows in suit, pressing her nose against his. Chat doesn't move, but his eyes narrow, and the tips of canines peak from beneath his lips. "Do you have any idea what the body count it", he demands. "The mayor's declared you public enemy number one, and there's a ransom out for your head. My kwami's flipping the fuck out, talking about some ancient war, and the UN's talking about sending in "physical support". This isn't a game anymore. You need to stop."
Ladybug pulls away and leans over the railing. She shifts her weight from one foot to the other, then says, "I don't need to do anything".
"This isn't you talking. My kwami says this is all your Persona." His eyes dart to her ears. Ladybug glowers, taking an instinctive step backward, and reaches for her belt. Chat makes note of the retreat but continues, hands trembling at his sides. "Milady, whoever you are, I know this isn't your fault. But you gotta fight this. People are dead, and they're gonna keep dying unless we do something about this."
"Okay, could we quit it with the redemption shit?" Ladybug places a palm over her chest. "I know what I'm doing, and I'm doing what I want: protecting my city."
"You just set a fucking bomb off and destroyed half of Paris!"
"Sacrifices must be made, Chat." She shrugs and crawls onto the railing. "I'm sorry you can't see that." She prepares to leap to the next building when Chat latches her onto forearm, his claws pressing against her skin and his eyes pleading.
"Please, just listen to me." Ladybug struggles in his grip; he glares, tugging on her arm, then takes the other in his free hand. "Listen", he urges, pulling her arms down before him. "You've already got the city after you. If you don't stand down, the kwamis are gonna have to get involved, and you know what that'll look like."
She rolls her eyes. "I'm not afraid of a pack of fairies." Her ornaments clank against the shimmering metal of her belt. Her yo-yos clang, emitting a similar, lighter sound, and she tugs once more. Chat, in turn, takes another step forward. "Let me go."
"You keep doing what you're doing, and you're gonna die. And I don't want you to die."
Ladybug growls and makes to yank her arm away when her struggling suddenly ceases; her arms still at her side, and the mad smile defining her face since her his arrival falls. The mania within her eyes fades, and her shoulders droop. Marinette shakes her head and draws away from Chat, surveying the burning buildings with detached astonishment.
Chat gulps and releases her arm, instead reaching for her shoulder. "I can't watch you die, milady. Don't make me do it."
The tension in her frame returns. Her head whips back to him, Ladybug emerging as quickly as she'd be subdued, and she thrusts her chest up, pushing him onto the landing below her. Seated in a crouch on the rusting railing, she hisses, "Then keep your TV set switched off."
Chat groans; his expression contorted in pain, he shouts, "I don't mean on the TV."
Ladybug cocks her head to the side. She floats off the railing and leans into her clasped hands, eyeing him with an amused curiosity. "Do enlighten me, young one. What does that mean?"
His reply fumbles in his throat. He stares at her levitating figure, then regathers himself. His tone uncertain, hopeful, he says, "You once said our job is to keep Paris safe. And that that sometimes entails taking a few people out."
She twirls her hand. "And that means..."
"You're smart enough. Figure it out."
Ladybug smirks. Then, without another word, she turns and leaps to another building, clearing the space between them with ease. She runs for a few meters, then salutes him. "Well, then." Her hands clasp behind her, and she nods, leaning onto her toes before falling back onto the bottoms of her feet. "Godspeed, my good sir." With that, she leaps over the edge of the building and disappears.
To her glee (and Marinette's disappointment), Chat doesn't recover soon enough to follow after them.
. . .
Tikki's seated in the center of the bed when they return. Marinette reverts to her civilian attire, a nightgown the color of a dying candlelight, and begins to approach her bed; her anklet jangles with each step, bringing a jovial atmosphere to the building at the heart of a collapsing city. Her hand falls beside Tikki's body, and she crawls onto the bed.
"Tikki?"
"..."
"I know this looks bad", she goes on, biting on a fingernail. "I might have gotten a little carried away. But trust me, I can handle this. I'm already working on a plan."
Tikki looks over her shoulder. Her expression calm, her eyes devoid of everything but rising resentment, she states, "Sixty civilians are dead, Mari. The Seine's contaminated with your toxins. The mayor's outlawed Ladybug attire and merchandise, saying anyone caught in possession of them will immediately arrested or worse." Her wings propel her off the ground, and she glares, her body taking on a deep shade of red. "How are you handling this? And how on earth could you possibly fix this? There's practically no city left to save!"
Marinette scratches the back of her neck. She crosses her legs, presses her hands against her knees, and looks away from Tikki's piercing eyes. "They were robbing that bank. I had to stop them", she protests weakly.
"They weren't hurting anyone." Pulses of energy emit from Tikki, and her hands bawl into fists. "And even if they were, they didn't deserve that. No one does. And what in the world were you doing with toxin bombs in the first place?"
Ladybug snickers and grips Marinette's by the shoulders. "Obviously", she inputs, stretching the words out like an elastic band. "We were having a bomb."
"You, shut it." Her wings fluttering furiously, she flies to Mari. "You have to stop this now. I've been speaking with Plagg, Chat's kwami, and we both agree Ladybug has gotten out of control. We need to curb her immediately. One more attack and the other kwamis, no matter where they are or what they're doing, they're going to get involved."
"I'm sorry, okay!" Marinette jumps off the bed and walks away. Tossing her arms out beside her, she says, "I didn't mean to kill anyone. But you-you can't take my miraculous." Her fingers shoot up to her ears; her chest heaves, and tears creep into her eyes. "I need to help."
"It's destroying you, Mari!"
She waves a hand at Tikki and starts for the window. Fingers pressed into her ears, she murmurs, "Leave me alone", and leans over her desk.
"Mari-"
"Just leave me alone!" Red auras surround her hands, and her eyes bleed crimson as she turns around and fires an uneven energy field at Tikki. Tikki's eyes widen, and she pushes out her hands to brace for the impact, but the feeble field of energy she produces is no match as Marinette's overcomes hers and reduces her tiny, cheerful body to a stiff vessel. Marinette brings her hands to her mouth, her last breath stuck in her chest. She rushes back towards the bed and finds a charred corpse in Tikki's place.
"No. Oh, God, no. Tikki?" She reaches forward and begins to lift up Tikki. The breath she'd been holding quickly expels when the effort results only in the body to crumbling to ashes. Hands trembling, Marinette backs against a wall and flexes her fingers at her sides. "Oh, my God. Please. Please, no, no, I-I'm sorry."
Outside, sirens wail. A droning voice explodes from a megaphone, reporting elevated toxicity in the air, and "strongly advises" surviving civilians to make an orderly evacuation.
Ladybug chuckles and wraps her arms around Mari. With a deep, relaxed inhale, she pushes forward and melts into her body once more. "There's no need for tears", Ladybug says, her hands flaring up with red energy. "We've just relaunched a movement that's been wrongfully postponed several millennia." She listens to wailing sirens and tormented cries outside the apartment, a gleeful smile sliding upon her face. "Only, we're gonna do it right this time. Nanette was weak, you know? Sacrificed herself to end the war. But not this time. Cause this time, wearer and persona are one, and there's no one left to ruin the fun." She stalks towards the window and watches as a fire truck crashes into a convenience store.
Tossing the window open above her, Ladybug sticks her head out and watches as smoke fumes emerge from the ruined vehicle. Warmth spreads throughout her body, and she rises from the floor, leaving only the nail of her pinkie toe grounded. A fireman kicks out the glass of one of the windows and tumbles through, crashing to the ground before he begins to spasm and presses the palms of his hands into his eyes. Anguished cries expel from his chest, and he curls into a ball, his spine twisted and his skin a deep hue of purple. Ladybug smiles. She leans into her hand and sighs. "Oh, honey, we're gonna have all kinds of fun."