A/N: Sorry for the foreboding chapter title. Also, sorry for everything else. I'm gonna be honest, I'm a little afraid of how y'all are going to react to this chapter. I'm not much of a planner - even though I know the general plot points before I start typing, I like to let the story grow organically and go where it will. This isn't exactly how I saw this going, but it felt forced to change it, so I kept it. Here's hoping I can pull it off!
Illusions are genuinely the most OP superpower ever, and I have never seen a franchise that uses it to its full potential.
To GuestXO: Glad you like the song choices, they're kind of all over the place, lol. Hey, when you're a parent, you can either teach your child to make good choices to the best of your abilities or stay up till dawn just to fight with them when they get home. They seem like the kind of parents that understand that to me. I wanted to bring Lila more into the story before now, but Alya only ever drops truth bombs, so her teasing about it should have been enough lol.
Warnings: WAY more than canon-typical violence, though nothing graphic. Blood. Mentions of dissociation.
All Your Love Is Revenge
Ch. 21: Though Hell Should Bar the Way
"You disgust me," Plagg muttered mutinously from the desk where he ate his camembert.
Adrien barely heard him, the goofy smile on his face refusing to abate as he laid on his bed, arms and legs spread as he gazed dazedly at the roof. Dawn had broken long ago and he hadn't slept a wink but he wasn't tired at all. It felt like he was floating on a cloud, like his veins were filled with sunshine, like he was so filled with happiness he could burst.
Marinette loved him. She loved the mess of a human being that he truly was that he had only ever managed to be in her room with a mask on. Not the perfect caricature of a person his father had forced him to masquerade as, or the untouchable, unaffected hero he pretended to be in front of akumas. She loved Adrien, the core of who he was, mask or no mask. It was enough to make him feel less unsure of how she would feel if she found out who he was without the miraculous armor.
It had been. . . painful when she had pushed Adrien away when he kissed her at the club. And, okay, that was his bad. He shouldn't have just jumped her. As far as she was aware, he was her friend that had never so much as kissed her cheek until that moment and then he was kissing her. It wasn't his finest moment, but he had worked very hard on his speech as to why she should give a relationship with him a try and then she hadn't even heard it! So, he had gotten frustrated and just kissed her, because he had been kissing her for five months and he hadn't imagined he could actually miss the way somebody's lips felt like against his before.
When he kissed her, it felt like coming home, like his heart had suddenly jumpstarted again after being dead for decades. Feeling her respond to the kiss was even better because if he could be with her as Adrien, it would be easier. No masks or lies or excuses, just them. And then she had pushed him away and it felt like the ground had opened up under him.
He had thought that was the end of everything. If she didn't want to be with Chat and didn't want to be with Adrien, then he had no chance to be with her. He had followed her almost instinctually, not even expecting to find the courage to speak to her, to ask for one more chance. Until he saw her walk blindly into a dark alley and heard a slimy voice call out to her mockingly. Then he had transformed without thinking, not even stopping to consider that he was in a relatively populated area. The rest, as they say, was history.
She did say Adrien was a super hot model that she would have happily made out with were it not for her feelings for Chat, so he didn't have to worry about disappointing her from an aesthetic view.
The only real problem was the whole secret identity thing. It was secret for a reason. Although he didn't doubt most people assumed Marinette knew Chat's civilian identity by now, none of the other miraculous holders did. He wasn't sure how Rena Rouge had found out about the blackout curtains, but she did. Which meant that Carapace did. And Queen B found out when she saw him running from the turtle miraculous holder, who was hurling obscenities at him because how could he have sex with such a nice girl and not even let her see his face?
The only one he hadn't had direct contact with yet was Ladybug, but he knew she trusted him to keep the secret no matter what. She didn't even allow the miraculous holders to tell each other - he still maintained Rena and Carapace had shared their identities when they started dating - and had never so much as indicated she had any intention of changing that policy. Ladybug trusted him, and he wasn't about to betray that trust.
But. . .
Marinette was his girlfriend, his love, his mate, his everything. He was fairly certain she was the person he was going to be spending the rest of his life with. And, fine, he had thought that about Ladybug not so long ago, but this was different! He was pretty sure he had been technically cohabitating with Marinette already, so it wasn't just an absurd fantasy of his. All that was really missing was a ceremony to make it official, which was going to take a few years because even he knew better than rushing into marriage. But the point was that this was it for him. Marinette was going to be his wife someday, and he would rather propose as Adrien than Chat.
He would also appreciate being able to have sex with the lights on more frequently. He wanted to be able to sleep beside her and wake up with her in his arms and not worry about whether he woke up in time to cover his face. He'd like to take advantage of the fact that her parents wouldn't mind if she didn't come back until the next morning.
Adrien sighed, reaching the only conclusion he could possibly reach, "Plagg, I'm going to ask Ladybug to let me reveal myself to Marinette."
The cat kwami snorted, "I don't think she'd mind that much." The blond turned his head to raise an eyebrow. Plagg shrugged, "She's a romantic, after all."
"Really?" Adrien drawled. That was not a word he'd use to describe the superheroine. She was caring and loving, but she wasn't romantic. For all that she used her crush as a reason to not even consider Chat's feelings, she never seemed to care about any boys or girls in that way, and never did more than scoff at Chat's flirtations. The most romantic thing she ever did was declare herself to him - which was still painful to think about - but even then she was brusque and to the point.
"In fact, I think you might be surprised soon," the bad luck god snickered as if he knew something the blond didn't.
"Wait, surprise!" He shot up into a sitting position, remembering Marinette's promise of another surprise for him. She had said it wasn't another negligee but he wouldn't be surprised if it was something sex related. Marinette was surprisingly voracious when it came to her carnality. Either way, she had promised he would like it, and he was inclined to believe her. Exactly how early could Chat get away with going to visit her?
"She said later today," Plagg reminded him, as if sensing his thoughts.
"But she didn't say tonight," Adrien grinned.
"You haven't even slept," the kwami whined.
"But you have." Adrien could sleep at Marinette's anyway. "Plagg," the catlike creature sighed at his words. "Claws out!"
Chat reached into his mini-fridge for the food Marinette had left behind in the penthouse and stuffed it into a plastic bag. He had left everything exactly as he found it, despite knowing that his father wouldn't even care if he found out somebody had been there. He had bought the plot of land and built the apartment complex as an extra revenue source at the behest of André Bourgeois as part of some sort of business arrangement they had going on, but it had been ready for habitation for a year and he had never opened it to the public. His father should be glad that somebody was putting it to use. . . but he should probably never do that again.
That was another reason to reveal himself to Marinette. He could take her to a nice hotel for their anniversary instead of trying to find places where they could sneak around.
Sundays were the only days Adrien had free - usually - so he didn't feel too guilty about sending a quick text to Nathalie saying he would be spending the day with Nino and slipping out through his window. It was still early morning, but Marinette would wake up long enough to open the skylight and then force him into bed to cuddle.
The Dupain-Cheng bakery was already open for business, but he didn't expect Marinette to be helping, especially given her habit of sleeping in. Which was why he was surprised to see her bed empty through the open shutters on her skylight. The light was on, so she must be up already.
Chat made to knock on it and hope she was nearby, when a particularly strong gust of wind swept by and the skylight moved the barest of centimeters. His brows furrowed, something in his gut unsettling. Marinette didn't leave her skylight unlocked unless she was propping it open. Brushing the feeling off, he lifted the hatch and slowly climbed in.
"Marinette?"
Was she showering, maybe? Or having breakfast? Shrugging, he decided to head down into the apartment. Her parents didn't seem to mind his presence, were welcoming in fact, to his great surprise, so he didn't worry about overstepping any bounds.
Nothing. No one in the kitchen, and not a single sound to be heard. No shower or humming or heartbeats. The hairs on the back of his neck stood as something unsettled him. He wasn't sure what. There was nothing off about the scene, with the exception of Marinette being out of bed so early, but maybe she had been filled with the same sort of energy he was.
That must be it. She must be downstairs helping her parents in the bakery. That might be a boundary he shouldn't breach, though. His masked persona's relationship with Marinette was basically an open secret, but that didn't mean he could go around flaunting it. Plausible deniability might be the only thing keeping her safe.
He placed the bag of food on the countertop and walked out of the apartment. Sneaking down the stairs, he peeked through the door to the bakery's kitchen. Tom was busy at the oven and he could hear Sabine's voice talking to customers out at front. But no Marinette. She was probably at the front, helping her mother, but the weird feeling would not go away. He needed to see her, just a glimpse of her, to assure himself that she was okay. He knew she was, he just. . . wanted to be sure.
"Psst," he hissed quietly. "Monsieur Dupain." Marinette's parents insisted he call them by their first names, but it was still weird.
Tom turned to him with a quirked brow and an easy smile, "Good morning, Chat, nice to see you. Are you dropping off Marinette?"
What?
Chat meant to ask the question out loud, but his voice stuck in his throat. His breath was stuck in his throat. Was he breathing? That didn't matter! What did Tom mean by was he dropping off Marinette? He had dropped her off hours ago, had seen her enter the building, had heard her laughing all the way to her apartment. She was home. She was safe. Nothing was supposed to happen to her in her own building!
"Chat?"
Marinette wouldn't have snuck out. She only ever did that when she was with him, and they hadn't needed to sneak out since her parents found out. She had to be here somewhere. She had to be! Maybe she was hiding from him to play a trick on him. It was a mean trick to play but he didn't think he'd even be angry when she showed herself, he'd be so relieved.
"Are you okay?"
Chat startled when Tom laid his hand on his shoulder. He hadn't even noticed the large man move, and he could feel himself trembling beneath the firm grip. His fists clenched and he grit his teeth, looking away from Tom's sympathetic gaze.
"I -" How was he supposed to explain this? Hadn't he promised he would keep her safe? How was he going to explain that he had been so flustered by the idea of another "surprise" that he hadn't even walked her to the door? He should have insisted. He was a hero, the least he could do was walk his girlfriend to the door!
This is my fault. He couldn't even insist to himself that she was fine. There was a voice in the back of his head that knew exactly what had happened, that knew it would happen since that damned video came out. Taking a ragged breath, he forced himself to look Tom in the eyes, "I'm looking for Marinette. I dropped her off at around one."
Chat saw the moment the older man understood what his words meant. The light seemed to go out of his eyes and he pulled his hand back as if burned. He ran towards the store front shouting for his wife.
This is my fault.
Sabine let out a wordless shout, something harsh and angry and painful all at once. He half expected her to charge in and attack him for endangering her daughter, but neither of them walked back through the door. Probably couldn't even stand the sight of him at the moment.
This is my fault, he thought, clawing at his chest, as if that would make it easier to breathe, or make his heart stop hurting. But I'm going to fix it.
He could hear Alya muttering something along the lines of "it's too early in the morning for this bullshit" through the door. The tired, angry face she was making quickly morphed into one of surprise when she saw who was knocking on her door so frantically it almost came off the hinges.
"Chat Noir?" She blinked rapidly and wiped at her glasses as if to make sure it was really him.
"I need you to put a message to the other miraculous holders on the Ladyblog. I need to contact them." His tone was rushed and clipped, no time for charm or formalities. Not for the first time, he was furious at the 'no sharing identities' rule. They had no way to contact each other unless transformed, and of course none of them were transformed when he needed them!
"I. . . sure, I guess. What's this about?"
Chat bit back a curse at her curiosity. Of course, Alya would want to know. Not only had none of them done anything like this before, but it was Alya. She would ask for all the secrets of the universe, if she could.
Trying to keep his patience, he placed his hands on her shoulders, claws just a bit closer to her skin than they would be under normal circumstances, and stared her in the eye. She seemed startled by his intensity.
"You can't tell anyone, okay? Don't even put it in the message." Alya nodded quickly in agreement, and any other moment he would worry about the fear in her eyes. "Marinette was taken. I need to find her and I need help."
The blood drained from the blogger's face, "W- wait."
"I can't!" he snapped and pulled his hands back to run them through his hair in frustration. "I need to find her. It's my fault and I - just, please! Put the message. Tell them to find me where we usually meet up, they'll understand. But don't say why. Whoever took her, it'd be best if they don't know we know yet."
Whoever? As if it wasn't obviously Hawk Moth!
"Right, I'll - right away," Alya nodded determinedly and pulled out her phone as she walked back into her apartment.
Chat turned away from the now closed door and took off running. He felt so useless! He had never really needed to track down somebody that wasn't leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Even though he could sort of smell her scent - or his scent on her, or whatever - it faded in all directions once he left her room. The only real clue he had was the fucking unlocked skylight, which just confirmed that there was an akuma behind this. An akuma that was clever and subtle enough to take Marinette without a sound, without a fight.
He did his best to ignore the refrain of my fault, my fault, my fault as he hurried to the roof of the building that the miraculous holders met up on for patrols. Hosting a pity party for himself wasn't going to save Marinette and it wasn't going to help him become effective. He needed to calm down and focus, it was just hard. Every inch of his body ached to. . . to hold Marinette. . . or tear apart the akuma. Whichever happened first. And then the other.
"Chat Noir!" His feet had barely landed on the roof when Rena's voice rang out. She all but slid onto the roof, breath heaving and face red with exertion. "I came as soon as I could! What do - what's wrong?"
Chat wondered what Alya had typed up to make Rena so worried. At least she was here quick.
"My - my girlfriend, Marinette, she -" he was interrupted by the appearance of Carapace.
"I'm here! What do we know?" The turtle's voice seemed panicked, and Chat really hoped Alya had done as he said and avoided mentioning any kidnappings.
"Chat was about to explain," Rena answered quickly. "Something about your girlfriend?"
He wondered if Ladybug and Queen B would be here just as quick. He didn't want to have to repeat himself, but he didn't want to wait for them either. Every moment counted, wasn't that what they always said about kidnappings? He opened his mouth to explain, when -
"Yoo-hoo!" B's high-pitched voice heralded her coming seconds before she landed. Hands on her hips, she sighed dramatically. "You'd better have a good reason for making me leave my room before nine on a Sunday morning, you dumb cat."
"Marinette's been taken by an akuma!" he yelled, tired of being interrupted. Silence followed his declaration.
Rena's chest heaved as she took a calming breath, "Explain."
"I went to visit her this morning and her parents thought she was with me, but I had already dropped her off," he explained quickly.
"How long has she been missing?" Carapace asked, staring Chat down. "You were the last person to see her, so we'll use that as the time of disappearance."
He had been the last person to see her. She had been taken from right under his nose. "One," he answered dully. "I dropped her off at around one, and went to visit her around eight and she was gone. I - she didn't want me to drop her off at her door, but I could hear her laughing. I mean, it's not like I can hear through solid walls, but she was laughing so loud I could hear her. She made it to her apartment. She made it to her room, the light was on," he listed the facts and was glad to finally have something to focus on.
"The skylight was unlocked, she wouldn't just leave it unlocked. But it wasn't broken, she opened it. . ."
"She knew them?" B cocked her head curiously.
Or thought she did. If Marinette heard somebody knocking on her skylight, she would think it was Chat and open without bothering to check. His stomach revolted at the idea that his being Chat Noir was partly responsible for this. If she had a normal boyfriend, if she was dating Adrien, then she would have been wary.
"She would have fought back," Chat insisted. "When she saw it was an akuma, she would have yelled or ran or thrown something."
"Maybe they were invisible," Rena offered. "She heard the knocking, didn't see anybody, so she stepped out and was taken."
Possible, but. . . "Vanisher already existed," B spoke what he was thinking. "And I've never known Hawk Moth to repeat akumas."
"It wouldn't make sense for an invisible akuma to attack Marinette," Carapace agreed. "The type of akuma is usually tied to the reason for the akumatization, and an akuma after Marinette would probably be because of. . ."
It was kind of him to try to not throw salt on an open wound. "Me," Chat finished.
"A jealous fangirl?" B wondered.
"But why now?" Chat growled. "Everybody already knows! It's been two weeks! Why would they suddenly get jealous enough to be akumatized now? It's not like we've been going around publicizing it!"
Rena startled suddenly, drawing attention to herself immediately. "I - what if, what if somebody overheard Marinette talking about your date last night?"
"What?"
"Rena," Carapace hissed.
"What do you mean?" Chat insisted.
Carapace frowned at his girlfriend, but she shook her head. "I don't care! If it means life or death for Marinette, then I don't care about my secret identity!" The turtle soldier crossed his arms but nodded at the fox. "I go to school with Marinette," she admitted and the shock of the revelation would set in later, he was sure. "I heard her say she was going on a date with you, and there was someone else. She - she has a crush on Marinette."
"Who?" Chat demanded, grasping her shoulders harshly. He saw the same fear he had seen in Alya's eyes in Rena's, and he was distantly aware of Carapace yelling at him to back off. "Who is it?"
"Lila, her name is Lila Rossi."
"Volpina?" Chat remembered her, but only barely. She had never approached Adrien again after Ladybug embarrassed her, and they never shared many classes. He knew her by reputation; the "hot chick," the one that puts out on the first date, the one that doesn't even date, the girl that dumped Kim, the flutist, the loner, the liar. Never had he heard about her having a crush on Marinette.
"Lila was Volpina?" Carapace questioned.
"That means she has my powers," Rena clarified. "That's how she got Marinette. With an illusion!"
"Okay, so how do we find her?" B tapped her foot impatiently.
"The whole point of this has to be to get Chat Noir's miraculous," Carapace explained. "Which means she's going to get his attention eventually. When she does, we can follow her to Marinette."
"I can't wait that long!" Chat turned to pace across the roof.
"You may not have to," Rena breathed and when he spun to face her, she was looking into the distance.
Black clouds danced in the distance, rising from a building that was consumed by flames. Chat grit his teeth and launched towards the fire. It was obviously a trap, it was probably an illusion, but if there was even the tiniest chance that Marinette was there, that she was in danger, then he had to go. Crashing through a window, he rolled to a stop on the wooden floor of an unknown apartment, crouched on all fours.
The flames were still there, they felt so real, but nothing seemed to be burning. Curious, he reached a tip of a claw towards the nearest wall consumed by the fire, and nothing. It wasn't real. It wasn't on fire, he had broken somebody's window and it didn't even -
"Chat!"
His blood froze at the anguished scream, "Marinette!"
He moved without thinking towards the sound, breaking the bedroom door to splinters. His heart stuttered when he saw Marinette huddled in a corner, knees pulled to her chest and face buried behind her legs. Reaching out for her with a shaky smile, he called, "Don't worry, Princess, the flames aren't real, you're going to be fine."
"Don't worry?" she whimpered without looking up at him. "How am I not supposed to worry? Is this what it's going to be like being with you?"
It felt like she had stabbed him in the chest, "Marinette?"
She still didn't lift her head to look at him, "I can't! I can't be with you if this is going to happen every time I let my guard down!"
"You don't - you don't mean that," he whispered so quietly he doubted she could even hear him.
"You don't even love me enough to show me your face! If you actually cared about me you would give up your miraculous!"
Chat snapped his jaw shut, his fists clenching as he glared, "You're not Marinette."
"Oh," she gasped, hair changing from blue-black to brown and growing in length. "Was that too much?"
Volpina lifted her masked face to smile meanly at him, blue dress turning into a familiar uniform as she stood.
"Marinette's not a coward," he reminded himself. "She wouldn't sit there huddling in fear, and she wouldn't ask me to give up my miraculous to save herself."
"She's selfless," Volpina agreed. "She's much too good for you."
"She is," Chat growled. "But she still loves me and not you."
Rena was right, he realized as Volpina glared at him darkly. It was a hateful, violent look. One he hadn't seen often, not even fighting akumas, but he wondered if he wore one similar every time he thought about Marinette's first love. She had a crush on Marinette, might even love her if the way she seemed to hate him was any indication. So why. . .
"Why did you take Marinette if you care about her?"
"Because I care about her! I'm going to free her from you, so she won't be in any more danger."
That doesn't make any sense! "You're the one that put her in danger!"
"She's safe for now. Give me your miraculous and she goes home."
Chat growled, raising his arm to summon a Cataclysm.
"I'm not alone, Chat Noir," Volpina glared. "Every moment I waste with you is a moment that she's left alone with a small army of men. Men that won't hesitate to hurt her if she so much as complains about the smell."
Chat lowered his arm and glared before grinning viciously, "I'm not alone either."
Volpina suddenly went flying back, chin abruptly bruised, and Rena appeared in the spot before her, arm outstretched in a punch. "You took my friend using my powers. I'm going to kick your ass!"
Eyes wide, the akuma raised her flute to her mouth and rolled at the same time as Chat and Rena jumped towards her. In an instant there was only air before them, a slamming door informing them that the now invisible Volpina had left the apartment. Chat winced as he looked around at the damage he had caused. At least it wasn't on fire. The Miraculous Ladybug should fix it, anyway.
Which reminded him, "Where's Ladybug?"
"I haven't heard from her," Rena shrugged before a beeping interrupted her. "I'm gonna have to go recharge, but tell the others what you learned." At his confused look, she sighed, "She said they'd hurt Marinette if she complained about the smell. That was a pretty specific complaint to have. Which means she has to be somewhere that smells bad, like a sewer or a garbage dump or something. It's not much, but it's a lead."
"It's enough," Chat smiled. It was hope.
It was already midday before he finally caught a break. Four hours of searching without success, and without another attack from Volpina, leaving them to try to find Marinette based on "somewhere that smells bad." Plagg had already needed to recharge five times already, exhausted from all the running Chat was doing, but he was being surprisingly understanding about it. No complaining or snarky comments, just careful optimism and kind words.
"It's not your fault, kid."
"Marinette's been targeted before, it was bound to happen again with or without you."
"It's not even the first akuma that targets her because of a crush!"
"You're not the first Chat Noir to get their lover kidnapped." Adrien had asked if the other Chat got their lover back. Plagg refused to answer.
He would have appreciated the snarky comments. Anything to take his mind off his worry. In order to search all the possible hideouts they could think of in as short a time as possible, they had decided to split up, dividing Paris in four pieces since Ladybug had yet to show. It left him with a lot of alone time, which let him think about all his doubts with far more intensity than he would like.
Volpina had been right, in a way. Marinette didn't deserve to be in constant danger just because of him. Not that breaking up with her crossed his mind for more than a few seconds. Not only was he sure that she was stubborn enough to simply refuse to break up with him "for her own good", but he was selfish enough to keep her by his side despite everything. He wouldn't be able to handle another separation, and he was pretty sure she wouldn't either.
It would be easier if she could be with Adrien. The world would believe she had broken up with Chat and they could still be together. It would be for her safety, and so that akumas wouldn't have a weapon to use against Chat Noir, Ladybug would understand. If she ever showed up. He wasn't sure if she simply hadn't read the Ladyblog, or if she had taken a day trip out of the city, but no matter how many messages he sent to the spotted hero, he never received a response.
He landed on the roof of an old fish cannery, the building long since abandoned but still reeking of fish. It was one of the last places he could think of in his area, and if it turned out to be a bust he would have to wait for word from the others, or another attack from Volpina. He walked towards the broken skylight and, sensing movement, crouched to the ground.
Peeking over the edge, he tensed and pulled back. A small army, she had said. She wasn't kidding. From the quick look he'd seen somewhere around fifty men. Excessive for Marinette alone, but for Chat Noir and the other miraculous holders? He sighed, unsure of how to go about this. The men were just men. Hired thugs, not akumas. He wasn't sure he was allowed to fight them as Chat Noir, and he had no chance as Adrien.
It seemed strange that Hawk Moth would reach out to organized crime suddenly, but given that Volpina had already been defeated, and back when there were only two of them, he may have felt he had no other choice. The holder of the butterfly miraculous must be adaptable if nothing else, and he wouldn't let such a perfect opportunity to get one of the miraculouses he had been trying to get for years just pass him by.
Pulling out his baton, he sent his location to the others, praying that Ladybug would get there soon to purify the akuma. Carefully leaning over the edge again, his cat ears twitched as he strained to pick up any sound. It was weird, with so many people walking around down there, he should be covering his ears from annoyance.
Eyes narrowed, he observed the men carefully and felt his eyes widen when he realized it. The vast majority of men were walking in a single file line in a complex but noticeable pattern, like NPCs in a videogame. It was an illusion! Chat tensed, wondering if Volpina knew he was there already or if she had it up as a security measure.
"Don't point that at her!" Volpina screeched suddenly.
Chat dared to lean over a little more, but couldn't see the akuma or Marinette. What were they pointing at her that would make Volpina angry? Chat felt his claws scratching against the roof, but forced himself to wait for the others. He couldn't go in there without a plan, this was too important to mess up by being impulsive.
"What do you want from me?" a gruff voice demanded. "We already tried tying her up and she still tried to escape twice!"
A smile tugged at Chat's lips. He knew Marinette wouldn't have gone without a fight. His fierce warrior princess could probably have rescued herself were it not for the illusion of an army surrounding her.
"If you can't keep one girl from escaping, then you're not doing your job right!" Volpina said scathingly.
"You do your job right," the same man, obviously the leader of the hired guns, shot back. "Trap Chat Noir. Now."
Volpina snarled wordlessly, but he could hear her stomp away and then a door slam. Leaving Marinette alone with the mercenaries. Chat closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe deeply. The others would be there soon. Together, they would come up with a plan to rescue her unscathed. Everything would be fine, he just had to be patient.
His claws dug into the cement and his eyes snapped open when he heard a whimper. He still couldn't get sight of Marinette when he leaned over, but he could see at least three men huddled around something in a corner. They must have been real, but he couldn't be certain they were the only ones.
There was another whimper and the something in the middle of the huddle shifted.
"Don't touch the goods," the head mercenary drawled lazily.
Chat saw red, he couldn't explain it any other way. He could have waited for the others, should have waited for the others, but that was his mate being surrounded by evil men that were touching her. With a wild growl, he launched himself through the hole in the glass, landing in the center of the marching men. His baton was already in his hand by the time he realized what he was doing.
There was no turning back at that point. Extending his baton, he swiped at the marching men all at once in one wild swing. There were only four men left, the three standing around Marinette, and one sitting on a crate.
Marinette practically vibrated at the sight of him and seemed to call his name, but there was a gag around her mouth. Her arms and legs seemed to be unbound, but one of the thugs had a grip on her arm, holding her in front of him like a shield.
Chat hissed, "Marinette."
She always had the most expressive eyes. She didn't seem scared at all, just happy to see him. He noticed she was still wearing the same dress from their date, her hair still an adorable mess, and he sucked his teeth. She really had been taken out from under his nose!
A chirp sounded throughout the room, and the leader held a walkie-talkie to his mouth, "He's here."
The blond narrowed his eyes, "You know I'm going to take her from here."
"Sure, but are you going to take her alive?" Chat lifted his baton to attack and the mercenary held up a hand. "Move, you idiot," he hissed to one of the men in front of Marinette and Chat finally got a full view of her. And the gun held to her side.
"You know how this goes: the girl or the miraculous. Who do you love more?"
Chat felt his breath stutter, the question cutting him to the quick. Marinette's big, blue eyes were screaming at him, but he already knew what she would want him to choose anyway. She was selfless, she would want him to leave her behind because being Chat Noir was more important to the city and the world at large than being in love. But. . . who did he love more? Marinette or being Chat Noir? Marinette or keeping Plagg safe? Marinette or the world?
Maybe he wasn't cut out to be a hero, if his girlfriend was willing to sacrifice herself but he couldn't bear the thought of losing her. He loved Plagg, he loved being Chat Noir, and he certainly didn't want the world to be destroyed in whatever Hawk Moth was planning. But he couldn't be without Marinette. He couldn't leave her to die when it was within his ability to save her.
The designer yelled something angrily behind her gag, but he only smiled gently at her. Oh, so she had figured it out already?
I could save you both, he stared longingly at his ring. He could give up the ring right now and then get it back once the others got there. It just had to be for a little while, just to get her to safety. A comforting feeling of understanding flowed through him and it was so obviously Plagg that he had to fight back tears. He could do it, it wasn't the ideal way to reveal himself, but it was the only solution he could find.
Breathing deeply, he placed the baton back in its sheath, and wrapped his hand around his miraculous. He could do it, he could, all it would take was a little tug. His heart beat rapidly against his ribcage, blood rushing through his ears. Now, he needed to -
Bang!
Chat's heartbeat dropped to zero, his breath stuck in his throat as his mind went blank. He could vaguely hear the head mercenary yelling abuses over the ringing in his ears.
Marinette?
The gun was on the floor. The men were fighting amongst themselves, not even paying attention to the girl between them.
Princess?
Her knees buckled as she swayed, head bowed as she held her hands to her side. He could see her shaking, her hands trembling uncontrollably as she tried to stop the flow of blood coming out of her. There was so much, so much blood, her pretty dress quickly becoming stained by it. When she looked up at him, her eyes were indescribably sad. He saw her mouth move beneath the gag, it seemed like his name, just before she collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Mine. . . my mate!
There was something in between him and Marinette, and that could not stand. Reaching for his baton, he swung as he charged. Something cracked beneath his grip and he wondered why it felt so pleasing to hear. Another crack, followed by a gurgling sound. He thought he heard somebody scream, but he couldn't be sure. He thought it sounded like "mercy," but what would that have to do with anything? Marinette was right there and all he had to do was break through the troublesome, talking barrier to get to her.
With a final wheeze, the barrier finally gave in and he was kneeling at her side in an instant. She was pale, but her eyes were still open, looking up at him worriedly. Why would she be worried? He was with her now. Carefully, he cut the gag off her and she took a harsh breath.
"Chat," she whimpered, her hands still clutched to her side. "My purse."
He smiled gently at her nonsensical worries. A quick look around revealed it was hanging off a nearby crate. "It's right over there, do you want me to get it?" He made to move but stopped when she finally moved a hand to grasp at his arm. Why was her hand wet?
"Not right now, just stay, please," her hand slipped down to twine with his. "I'm sorry."
"Why would you be sorry?" Chat leaned down to press his forehead against hers. "You didn't -" wait "- didn't do -" my fault, my fault, my fault "- anything wrong." Why was her hand so wet?
"Marinette!" Chat startled and pulled back in time to see Volpina run to kneel at Marinette's other side. "No, no, no, this wasn't supposed to happen. I'm so sorry!"
Chat blinked at the despair in her tone. Why was Marinette's hand so wet? Why was she so pale? Why was her dress red? Why was the red color spreading?
"You!" Volpina shoved her flute into Chat's face, wincing as the familiar outline of a butterfly hovered over her face, purple energy sparking angrily off it. "Break it! The akuma's in there, take it, purify it, save her!"
Chat blinked slowly. There was a gun. They were going to kill Marinette so he gave them his ring, except. . .
Except he was still wearing his ring, and Marinette was on the ground. Bleeding. She was bleeding. Because she got shot, because - my fault, my fault, my fault - he was too slow. Growling, he ripped the flute from the brunette's hand and smashed it against the ground once, twice, three times, the wood splintering as the violet butterfly fluttered out. Volpina was covered in dark bubbles before Lila lay unconscious before him.
But Marinette. . . she was still awake, still staring at him longingly. "I'm sorry," she repeated.
Tears filled Chat's eyes, "It's not -" It's my fault. It's all my fault.
"Chat! Mari!"
Oh, there were Rena and the others. Except still no Ladybug. He could hear B squeal in horror, and Carapace order his girlfriend to capture the akuma before it fluttered away, but no Ladybug.
"Don't worry, Marinette," he gripped her hand tighter and brushed her hair out of her eyes, "Ladybug will be here soon and she'll fix everything."
She surprised him by frowning at his words, "I'm - I'm here. I'm sorry, I'm here."
His brow furrowed, she wasn't making any sense. She must have been delirious, "Don't talk, just hold on."
"Call an ambulance or something," B shrieked and he heard Carapace offer to do so.
Marinette's purse fell off the crate with a thud, seemingly out of nowhere, but he didn't care. Even if there was another invisible akuma, he didn't care.
"Marinette?" A small, tinkling voice cried out and he turned to see a small being poke its head out of the purse. A small, red, ladybug-like kwami, was coming out of Marinette's purse.
No.
He felt the tentative touch of Marinette's other hand on his cheek. She smiled weakly up at him, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm sorry."
No, no, no! She couldn't be Ladybug. She couldn't. Ladybug was going to come save her. She was going to use the Miraculous Ladybug healing wave and make it so that Marinette never got shot. He placed his hand against the wound she had let go of in favor of touching his cheek. Ladybug was going to fix this! She was going to - going to -
Marinette's chest heaved for breath. "My love, I lo- love you," she whispered, her hand falling from his cheek.
Her eyes closed, and everything felt like it faded into nothing.
A/N: Long chapter is long! So, I thought to myself, what is the worst possible way a reveal can happen, and this is what I came up with! Sorry. I already wrote a fic where they have the chillest reveal ever, so y'all get stuck with this.
I had to make a choice as to how Adrien would react to Marinette getting shot, and I decided that he's been through so much loss in canon and this fic, that his brain would just try to reject it completely.
I don't THINK any akumas have had repeated powers, but (and I know I'm in the minority) I actually liked Lila as Volpina. And I just love the illusions, even though I didn't use it to its full potential either, shame on me. Also her object this time around was the flute she uses in the orchestra.
This chapter's title doesn't come from a song, it comes from The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, because I chose it for a reason, even though I didn't think it was going to be this accurate. The full line is "Look for me by moonlight; watch for me by moonlight; I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!"
Don't kill me, guys! At least, not until the end of the story, which should be in about two (or three, depending) chapters. I'm weak, and I could never write a tragedy. Especially not in a longfic. I didn't drag this out for this long just so it can end sad!
Let me know what you liked, didn't like, and what could use improvement!
~ Destiny's Sweet Melody