First chapter in a while, sorry it took so long. Enjoy!
-Miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir-
The chains that trapped Marinette loosened, their burning subsiding. Relief flooded through her, only for fear to once again take control. The light quickly wrapped around her, tighter than her previous bindings. Horrible memories and images ripped at her mind. The bandaging light was ripping forth her fears, her doubts and her worst memories. Her darkest thoughts shot out in front of her to see. She watched as forms of light and dark resembling her began to form.
The pain she constantly felt was still fresh, so her concentration was severely lacking. She wanted nothing more than to lose consciousness and have the pain dissipate, if only temporarily. She just couldn't sleep. The dark and light forms of her body began to move. She stared, tears coming to her eyes, as the forms began to bring to life her fears. She saw Hawkmoth, Miraculous in hand. She saw her family, herself sitting over them as she held a gun to their heads. She saw herself pummel her friends into the ground. Alya, Nino, Adrien, Luka, kagami and so many others. A wooziness banged against her temple, but it wouldn't consume her. She tried to close her eyes, but her eyelids would not obey her mind. She saw and image of Tikki, distorted and holding a striking resemblance to a demon. She saw multiple Chat Noirs, all in some kind of agony, most caused by her. A figure sat beside her, looking at her with blue, cold eyes. Chat Blanc. She saw herself akumatized, forced to help her greatest enemy. She watched as Master Fu relinquished his memories. She stared as she saw her do every horrible thing imaginable, to herself and others. What she saw disgusted her. Angered her. And depressed her. The images scarred her ripped soul and began to scratch at the armour that protected her sanity.
-Miraculous-
An ache in her neck was the first thing Ladybug recognised when she opened her eyes. Her blue bell eyes met with the orange of the sky as she sat up, propping herself onto her elbows. Looking down herself, she saw her kwami looking up at her, Tikki's eyes staring with question and a touch of... Fear? What for? Giving her head a shake, she took in her surroundings. She must have fell asleep mid patrol or something, because normally she would find refuge for rest atop the Eiffel Tower. So it was weird that she found herself all alone on the roof. After further exploration of her surroundings she saw, with great shock, the miracle box sitting beside her. What the hell!
"Tikki, why's the miracle box here!" She exclaimed, filled with worry.
"Ohhhhh..." Tikki began, trying to think of an excuse that Ladybug would buy. "Don't you remember? Hawkmoth... Hawkmoth found it's hiding spot so you had to move it."
"Huh." Ladybug sounded. "Weird. I don't remember anything about Hawkmoth."
Ladybug was about to pursue further on the topic when a loud explosion sounded across Paris, sending an uneasy rumble through the city, putting the conversation on hold. There must be an akuma. Finally, Ladybug looked out into the city, only to be shocked and terrified by the sight that greeted her. The city side that the explosion had come from was ablaze in smoke and flame. How long had this akuma been running rampant. It was time to end this chaos.
"Tikki, SPOTS ON!"
-Miraculous-
7 hours ago with Chat Noir
Chat Noir stood in his room, eyes stuck to the screen in front of him, face blanched. Adrien had just jumped though his window prepared to detransform and rest, only to see on the news that a new akuma had appeared. An akuma that had a strong likeliness to Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng. Marinette! Pure horror quickly flooded his veins as he spotted a third figure, lazily hovering between the two akumatized adults. Through the live stream, Adrien watched as the lifeless body of Marinette was flung in all directions at the will of the parents, forcing whoever came near it to fall unconscious. The people looked almost dead. It made him want to cry. Plagg's cheese would have to wait, right now Paris needed Chat Noir. And Adrien? He needed to know why Marinette seemed so lifeless. Sadly, as he jumped out of the window and jumped in the direction of the bakery, he knew with almost horrible certainty that Marinette was dead.
-Miraculous-
"TOM!" Chat boomed, looking down on the pair (or maybe trio if you included the lifeless body of Marinette between the two) atop the building. "SABINE!"
Both figures twisted their heads, unnaturally quickly, in his direction, in turn forcing the lifeless husk of Marinette to turn its head as well. Sickeningly, she seemed to mimic the movements of her parents.
Marinette was dressed in a peculiar get up ( probably because it was so grey, compared to her usual style ) that seemed to give her a sense of lifelessness. Her lips looked blueish and her eyes where a pale and lifeless. There was no more colour and ocean locked in those eyes, only death. She looked like a puppet in a way, only moving at the will of the parents. On either side of Marinette was her family. Sabine and Tom looked grey, as if Marinette's death had taken all the colour from their lives. They where wearing the same clothing as their daughter. Unlike their daughter, their eyes where alive, filled with sorrow and dread. Tears seemed to slowly and unendingly run down each of their faces.
"Please! I don't want to fight you!" He pleaded. "Just calm down. I'm sure that if we all chill we can work out a way to help you... and Marinette."
Wrong thing to say, as immediately the sadness that had filled their eyes was replaced with hot rage. "How dare you!" They screamed in unison. Horrifically, Marinette's wheezy voice joined the chorus. "Our daughter is dead and no amount of your magic can bring her back! Not you! Not Ladybug! And not Hawkmoth!"
Adrien felt as if he had been physically been struck. "D- Dead?" He stammered. "How? Wha- What? No. It can't be." Tears threatened to fall, but he fought them back. "If Hawkmoth can't bring your daughter back, why help him?" He called, still perched on his roof, though taking a step back because of the wooziness that was growing inside his head.
"Because," Tom and Sabine spoke, "he has promised us redemption! Revenge! After we have the miraculous he will give himself to us! And then we will enjoy every second of his misery by our and our daughter's hand."
He felt as if he had been shot in the chest. Hawkmoth had murdered Marinette. It can't be. It was Chat Noir that had left Marinette without protection, and it was in his absence Hawkmoth had taken her life. A tremendous guilt ripped through his body, and tears began to flow down his cheeks.
"Please! I don't want to fight you!" He pleaded once again. "You can't believe Hawkmoth! If you take our miraculous, He'll just revoke you of your power!"
A butterfly mark appeared over the figures, before quickly disappearing. Focused on the cat, the three figures once again spoke in straggled unison. "You lie, Chat Noir!" They cried. "We will use this power to avenge our innocent little girl's death and then we will make sure no others will have to endure this pain!"
The two tensed their bodies, as of under an invisible strain. Then the limp body of Marinette shot towards him, blank white eyes staring into his.
-Miraculous-
With a yelp, Chat Noir threw himself off the roof, to the ground to avoid the attack, leaving the limp body of Marinette to loop back to between the akuma pair. The attack had surprised him, and along with the disorientating feeling brought by the dead image of his friend, it had made it hard to properly dodge. A horrible, dead grimace was across Marinette's pale face. It was like she was in pain. He had skidded his shoulder across the floor, and while his suit largely protects him there was probably a good chance it would bruise. Quickly picking himself up, Chat attempted to plead again.
"Can't you see! Hawkmoth is a coward! Do you really think he would ever face the consequences of his evil actions willingly? Don't fight me, I'm not your enemy. Fight Hawkmoth! Fight his control over you!"
"Shut UP!" The trio screamed, before tensing and shooting Marinette towards him. Prepared for the attack this time, Adrien jumped to the side and flew past Marinette in the direction of her parents. Raising his baton he prepared to strike. A small hesitation sparked through his body and muscles. It wasn't long but it was enough. Sabine and Tom shot their clenched fists into his stomach, shooting him into the wall. It crumbled and he fell through it. Dizzy, Chat felt his head, a sharp pain shooting through his head, as he pressed against his temple. Hearing a strangled cry, his eyes shot open to see the open mouthed, dead eyed, husk of Marinette flying at him.
Out of instinct and reflex, Adrien brought up his baton with all the force he could muster in that time and cracked her across the side of the head, directing her course into a wall of the building he was still in. Marinette's body rose from its place and flew out to her parents, Chat followed out after her. A large dent was stuck in the side of her head from his strike and black blood poured down the side of her head. Focusing on her face, a overwhelming wave of guilt rocked his body. A sad and pitiful face had spread across the akumatized trio. The parents faces screamed regret and depression, along with unwavering rage. Then there was Marinette, whose face was contorted in pain, hot tears running down her face as her hands cradled the dent in her head. If she felt any of this, and it looked like she did, she would be in agony.
This time Tom and Sabine, instead of launching their frail child, leaped towards Adrien with surprising speed for their large and small figures. Pulling back their fists, both struck true, and pummeled Chat, sending him flying. Un able to stop himself, and his baton lost from the hit, he crashed right through the entire building and landed on the street that existed on the other side. Pain screamed from every part of his body and he was fairly certain he had at least broken a rib or two. His muscles ached and he had to fight to stay awake. With great effort, Adrien opened his eyes, finding himself resting in a crater, looking frantically into the night around him, he saw the trio, searching for him in the dark. He had to move.
With tremendous effort, Chat Noir rolled himself onto his belly, grimacing from the pain, and outstretched his arm. Clawing at the ground, Chat, excruciatingly, pulled himself out of the crater. His vision becoming blurry, he tried to speed up the pace, attempting to pull himself with his one good arm into a nearby alley. Forcing himself to stay awake, he pulled and pulled himself until his arm felt like it was on fire. And then he pushed himself further, pooling the last of his strength to keep moving. Then with a silent cry, and rapid and pained dry heaving. He dropped, slamming again on the ground, sending pain through his body in a sharp burst. He'd done it. Made it out of sight.
Unable to hold on any longer, Chat let go of his remaining resolve, and let the exhaustion of his battered body force him to rest.
-Miraculous-
Back to present with Ladybug
Screams and yells of fear reached Ladybug's ears as she grappled herself across the buildings. Chaos spread all around, as citizens ran away, terrified from whatever villian she would soon be facing, hiding or where left on the floor, unconscious. Whatever this akuma was, it was fierce. It was rare that an akuma ever brought a panic of this magnitude. And it worried her. Hawkmoth was either getting really lucky, or something else was at play. After all, apparently he had already come across the hidden location of the miracle box.
Before truely chasing after the akuma, Ladybug had chosen to hide the miraculous' atop the Eiffel Tower, where no normal civilians could reach. She would under no circumstances enter a battle with the miracle box in hand. It was too risky. If even one miraculous fell into the wrong hands, there would be dire consequences. Such as Chloe as Miracle Queen all this years back.
Once she was confident the box would not be found, she had swung into action in search of the rampant victim. And now she was quickly gaining on the destructive force that was the akuma. It looked to be that it was a trio akuma, an even rarer occurrence. Hawkmoth really was lucky. And to top it off, no Chat Noir in sight. "Oh well, looks like I'll be taking this one on, solo." Ladybug told herself. "Time to kick some akuma but!"
"Hey, handsome trio!" She called. "Don't you think you've done enough damage for today? Let's pack it up and go home, huh? I like that idea."
As the trio turned around Ladybug took in a sharp breath. Unlike everyone else, a feeling of shock and confusion, along with something else she couldn't quite place that lay in the back of her mind. The look of the figures was rather plain, which was unique, but what affected her so was the figure between. A small girl she did not recognise, deathly looking, hovered in between the two protective looking figures. A part of her was saying something but it was muffled. Something was deeply wrong and Ladybug could feel it.
Anyway, it was time to act. Clearing her head, she took in the trio. There where no obvious items for the akuma to hide in on first glance, as she ran forward, yo-yo spinning in preparation for attack.
"Ladybug." The trio seethed in acknowledgement. "So kind of you to join us. You're hours late for the funeral party."
The middle figure, the young girl shot forward towards her. Easily, Ladybug dashed to one side and continued to move towards the other two. Approaching the two, she raised her fist and pulled back her yo-yo. Using a substantial amount of force, she swung down for a strike.
"So sorry," she quipped, "I had to get a gift!"
-Miraculous-
It felt as if it would never end. Marinette could have sworn she had been screaming for an eternity. The bloodied corpses of those she cared about lay around her wrapped body. It had been hours before the images had first appeared and instead of relieved by their disappearance, she was terrified. What was next? What torture would she have to endure. She had now realised the agonising ripping pain in her chest, and the uncomfortable feeling that she was wrong in the universe, would never disappear. She continued to sob. Still her eyes would not close. Marinette could feel something was coming. Soon, a screen appeared in front of her, and her bindings disappeared. On the screen it looked to be a first person view of her own body. Seeing things through her eyes.
She let out a small gasp. This was real. Something told her that this was happening now, outside of the confides of her torturous prison. Her body was still in use! What she next saw made he scream. On the scream she saw the image of a dead her, and her parents, akumatized. She staggered onto he feet and tried to move towards the screen. Pink chains shot out from the corners of her sight and clamped he arms and legs apart. Spread like a star, she could only watch as the screen displayed the body of Ladybug raising a fist and yo-yo strike towards her parents.
She screamed for her mama and papa as the where launched backwards from the attack. It was in that moment, where the red wrapped fist that was Ladybug's pummeled her loved ones, that Marinette realised that her body no longer belonged to her. It belonged to Ladybug. The missing half of her soul. And she would never get it back...
-End Chapter 14-
Ooookay. Finally, another one uploaded. I am so so sorry for the wait. I had a really hard time trying to keep my determination to write but finally I did it. I swear, by the end of this story I think most people are going to believe I hate Marinette. I don't! It's just the story. Anyway I have some thinking to do on what elements of this story I'm going to cover after I have finished this akuma battle. Thank you so much for reading this story so far. Any reviews or opinions would be highly appreciated. Have a nice whatever time it is for you!