Stage I - Denial
"Chat Noir! Look out!" Ladybug cried as she flung herself across the battlefield, weaving through obstacles and around buildings and cars amid their current battle against Hawk Moth's latest attempt to capture their miraculouses.
Chat Noir swung his attention to his left to be greeted by a car hurtling through the air toward him, flung by an angry akuma styled after the Greek God Zeus who towered over them. This akuma had quite the arm for someone who was just your average angry university student, it was around the time they had their finals after all.
"Thanks, my lady." Chat shot her finger guns and a wink across the carnage of the battle.
"The akuma must be in his lightning bolt shaped staff. Can you use your cataclysm to destroy it? I'll hold him back." Ladybug explained as they dodged the bolts of lightning, displaced fire hydrants, and street signs being thrown in their direction.
"Sure can do, Bugaboo!" Chat replied eagerly as he leapt toward the akuma, preparing himself to put the plan into action.
Ladybug began to swing her yo-yo and circled the akuma's legs, trapping it in one place. In the distance she could hear Chat cry out for his cataclysm. Her part was done, now she just had to hold the akuma steady until Chat could destroy his staff to release Hawk Moth's akumatized butterfly.
Ladybug looked up in a squint at Zeus' lightning bolt staff just in time to see it turn black and shatter into thousands of tiny pieces. A small purple butterfly manifested from the broken item and fluttered into the sky - the akuma. Ladybug's yo-yo string fell to the ground now that Zeus had been transformed back into the begrudged student.
"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma!" Ladybug exclaimed as she caught the butterfly in her yo-yo then released it as a little white butterfly, purified of all evil intentions. "Bye bye little butterfly." She said softly as she watched the white butterfly disappear into the night sky.
Chat Noir landed next to Ladybug, "Good job tonight my lady." He said as he stood beside her, watching the purified butterfly disappear into the night sky.
"Pound it?" Ladybug turned toward him, her fist facing him.
"Pound it." He replied, touching his fist to hers. It was a ritual they did after every successful akuma fight since their first time working together.
The two dashed off to a nearby rooftop to discuss their success and evaluate each other. Though they didn't have long to hang around after they used their powers, it became a habit they picked up after a terrible misunderstanding by Chat Noir of Ladybug's instruction last month. With all the noise of an akuma that would constantly set off explosions, how was he supposed to hear her say "Don't get in the way" when he thought she had actually said "He's getting away" only for him to subsequently get in her way.
"That was a pretty swift fight tonight." Chat Noir said as he circled in front of her with a smirk and look that said, 'please let me seduce you.' "Don't you think?" He asked, his face centimetres from hers, his breath warm against her skin.
Ladybug pushed him and took a step backwards. "Personal space, please." She took a deep breath and looked out at the calm street that had been a battlefield only moments ago. "We did do a good job" She smiled. "We make a great team."
Ladybug sat down on the roof and laid back to gaze up at the night sky above them. The dim glow of streetlights and lit rooms through windows illuminated the area, sounds of vehicles elsewhere in the city and the odd person taking a midnight stroll echoed in the distance. The roof was damp from the dew that was already starting to settle on every surface, but something so insignificant wouldn't stop her. "It's a shame you can never see any stars here because of all the light pollution."
Chat laid down beside her, so close their shoulders were nearly touching. "I once went to southern France." He paused, already lost in the memory, "The town I stayed in had much less light pollution than what we have here. I spent a whole night sitting by the window, just staring at the stars in the sky, mesmerized by the twinkle and complexity of them all."
Ladybug smiled at the idea of stargazing in the countryside, she'd travelled before, but only to other big cities where the levels of light pollution were still high, and the stars remained hidden away beyond her view. There was the startrain incident of course but being held hostage in a train car floating through space was a little different than peacefully looking at the night sky above you.
"Maybe one day when this is all over, I can take my lady to see the starry sky?" Chat asked, anticipating his rejection once again.
"I'd like that."
"Really?" Chat sat up, suddenly brimming with excitement.
She nodded "I'll hold you to it." Ladybug replied with a laugh.
Chat laid back down beside her, "Don't worry, I'll take you on the most romantic stargazing date you've ever been on."
Ladybug considered telling him that doing so wouldn't be difficult considering she'd never been on a stargazing date before, but her thought was interrupted by the simultaneous chirp of their miraculouses.
Chat held up his hand to see the faint glow of his miraculous ring showing that only one paw pad remained lit.
"I guess that's our queue." Ladybug declared as she stood up, brushing the dirt from the rooftop off herself.
"Aw, are you sure you can't stick around to see what happens next?" Chat asked, his hands clasped together, and fingers interlocked, big eyes pleading her to say yes.
Ladybug laughed, interpreting Chat's request as a joke or another one of his flirtatious endeavours. "No way! You know the rules kitty." She reminded him in an impish tone, playing his own game back at him.
Chat pouted in defeat, "I know."
Ladybug positioned herself at the edge of the roof, "See you next time Chat!" She said as she zipped away, her yo-yo quickly propelling her foreword, and out of his sight.
Chat jumped off the roof and down to the street below following her queue and saving himself the embarrassment of figuring out how to get off the roof after de-transforming - he didn't want to make that mistake again.
Ladybug set her intentions on landing in an obscured alleyway near her home, barely landing safely at the same time white light enveloped her body and she transformed back into her civilian self; Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
'That was close.' Marinette thought to herself as she looked to her immediate surroundings to ensure no one had seen her. She looked up to see a single window with light left on coming from the second floor of her house. She quietly snuck in the front door of the bakery and up the stairs, only to see her mother waiting for her at the top.
"Marinette, where have you been? It's nearly 2am and there was just an akuma! I called Alya's hours ago and they said you'd already left!" Sabine exclaimed, feelings of fear, relief, and anger all laced in her tone.
Marinette's body grew tense, and her thoughts froze. She'd never get used to this; she knew she was a terrible liar. "Sorry Maman! I was with Alya, I swear! We were just in her room studying, her mom must not have noticed I was still there" It was obviously a lie, but it wasn't like she could tell her where she was, or that she could guarantee her own safety.
Her mother raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, sceptical of Marinette's excuse.
"Okay she was also helping me with a… boy problem." Marinette's voice trailed off and she felt her face start to flush red. To be fair, that was mostly true. It was only on her way home from Alya's, which had been much earlier in the night, was when the akuma attack started.
Sabine loosened her expression. "Alright, but you have to call us when you're going to be staying late, and you can't stay past 11PM anymore! I'll have your father come to pick you up next time to make sure you get home safely."
"Where is Papa?" Marinette asked. He wasn't in the living room, was he already sleeping?
Sabine pointed toward their bedroom door, "He's in bed listening to music to help calm himself down while we wait for our missing daughter to come home."
Marinette grimaced. Whoops. She should have come home sooner, at least then they wouldn't know that she was out late when there was an akuma loose. "Sorry Maman." Marinette leaned around Sabine, "Sorry Papa." she called out toward her parents' bedroom door.
Marinette rubbed her eyes, "I'm going to go to bed, Goodnight Maman." She kissed her mother's cheek and climbed the stairs to her room.
"Goodnight!" Sabine called after Marinette.
She wanted to collapse on her bed and let the sleep take her, but she had to make sure Tikki was okay first. She retrieved the tin of sweets she kept stocked in her desk and opened it for her kwami. Once Tikki took a bite of a cookie Marinette closed the tin and subsequently threw herself on top of her bed.
Marinette was immediately at peace with herself. Though bittersweet, she knew she couldn't fall asleep just yet. After a few moments of silence and tranquillity after a night of chaos, she opened her eyes, took a sharp breath, and suddenly shot up. "Huh? What? Sorry Tikki, I think I fell asleep for a second." Marinette sat up and began to put her pyjamas on, preparing herself for bed so she could go to bed properly and didn't accidentally fall asleep fully clothed again.
"You really should try to sleep more Marinette. You have to take care of yourself too."
Marinette tucked herself under her comforter and closed her eyes. "I know Tikki, I will." She told the kwami before she quickly dozed off again.
"Oh Marinette…" Tiki sighed as she turned off Marinette's bedside lamp.
"...ke up! Wake up! Marinette you're going to be late!"
Marinette's eyes shot open, immediately alert, and ready for anything. "What Tikki? Is there an akuma?" She jumped out of bed only to stumble, lose her balance, and fall against her desk. She blinked rapidly trying to regain her balance. "Woah," She said holding her head. "I stood up too quickly."
Tikki rushed to Marinette's side. "Marinette are you okay?"
Marinette nodded, "I'm fine Tikki."
The kwami looked at her concerned. "Are you still tired from last night? Your alarm went off for 10 minutes before it turned itself off."
Marinette groaned then let out a long yawn. "What time is it?" She looked at her clock to see it read 7:15AM. "Oh no, I'm going to be late for school!" Marinette exclaimed as she scrambled to put together an outfit for school while still trying to keep herself from looking like she just woke up.
"Are you sure you should go to school this tired? You've been out late fighting akumas a lot recently. You should really catch up on your sleep."
"I'll be fine Tikki, don't worry." Marinette said as she quickly tied her hair in her signature pigtails and went for her room's trap door to leave.
"Wait Marinette!" Tikki called out.
Marinette stopped to look at her kwami, anxious to get going so she wouldn't be late for school again.
"Your shirt!" Tikki exclaimed.
"What?" Marinette looked down at herself to see the shirt she was wearing was plain white instead of featuring her signature design, meaning that she'd put her shirt on backwards. "Ahh!" She cried in frustration as she took off her blazer and fixed her shirt. She took a second to examine herself in her full-length mirror, ensuring that the rest of today's outfit was being worn properly and was up to her fashion standards before attempting to leave for school again.
"Alright, I'm off for real this time Tikki, let's go!" Marinette opened her purse for the kwami to fly in, then leapt downstairs and rushed out of the house without so much as a croissant for breakfast.
"Bye Papa!" She called out to her father who was filling the bread baskets at the front of the bakery as she dashed through the store front. She could hardly hear him reply 'Have a good day, dear.' as she burst out the front door and rushed to school.
Marinette slowly opened the classroom door to avoid drawing attention to herself and disrupting the class. The room was silent except for Mlle. Bustier's marker as it squeaked while she wrote on the whiteboard. The squeak of the marker went quiet and Marinette caught a glimpse of her teacher from the corner of her eye. Mlle. Bustier was looking right at her, hands on hips.
"Yes, we can all see you Marinette, please take a seat and join the class."
The whole class giggled and Marinette slouched in response. She took her seat beside Alya in the second row and got her materials from her backpack to take notes and follow along.
"What happened to you? You look exhausted!" Alya asked in a loud whisper.
Marinette slowly looked over to her friend beside her. "Hmm?" She touched her face just under her eyes where the deep bags from lack of sleep were. "Oh this? I guess I just haven't been sleeping well recently." Marinette tried to play off her exhaustion with a low effort smile and a laugh. The adrenaline from her abrupt wake-up and run to school was already starting to wear off.
"No kidding. Maybe you should go back home and get some rest." Alya suggested.
Marinette shook her head as she quickly jotted down what Mlle. Bustier had been writing on the board. "I'm already so behind, I can't miss more school." She explained as she let out a long, loud, yawn.
Mlle. Bustier looked up from her lesson plan sitting on the desk. "I appreciate your attendance Miss Dupain-Cheng, and I hope that if you find my lesson too easy for you that you'll do well on tomorrow's test."
Marinette groaned as the rest of the class stifled a laugh.
Marinette put her forehead down on the desk. She was this tired and there was a test tomorrow? She was doomed. She should just… Suddenly all the thoughts left her mind. It was blissful silence, the thing she'd been dreaming of lately with all the akuma attacks popping up all over Paris. Marinette felt a disturbance in her serenity. Was that someone tapping her shoulder? She groaned, "Not yet Tikki…" and brushed her shoulder. The tapping only got more aggressive until it became a whole hand shaking her. Marinette reluctantly opened her eyes to see the brown desk and papers in front of her. She was at school? Oh my god she was at school! Marinette sat back up and patted her cheeks to help wake herself up.
"Did you fall asleep?" Alya asked in surprise.
Marinette smiled awkwardly and looked over at her friend. "I guess I did doze off for a second, didn't I?" She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "It's okay, I'm okay now." She corrected herself.
"Alright." Alya agreed, her voice brimming with concern.
At 2PM Marinette had almost made it through the school day. Other than her accidental nap right when she got to class in the morning, she only fell asleep during lunch, and that time it was on purpose. She only had French, gym, and biology class left before she could go home and take a well-deserved nap.
Gym was going to be hard to do, she hardly had any energy to begin with and she was going to have to give it all up. Biology class would be easy though, things were usually kept interesting. Plus Mlle. Mendeleiev scared Marinette a little, there was no way Marinette would let herself fall asleep in her class.
French class came and went smoothly, though the effects of Marinette's nap during lunch were starting to wear off. Just gym and biology left. She could do this!
"Are you sure you can make it through gym? Maybe you should ask the teacher if you can sit out today." Alya suggested as they put on their gym clothes in the locker room.
Marinette shook her head, "I can do this, maybe it'll even boost my energy and help me get through biology afterwards!" She suggested enthusiastically as she closed her locker and the two headed toward the gym.
"Or you'll drain all your energy, and you won't be able to stay awake." Alya retorted.
Marinette grimaced, she agreed with Alya, but she had to keep her mind open to the possibility the exercise would wake her up or she'd be guaranteed to sleep through biology. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me." Marinette smiled as they joined the rest of the class in the centre of the gym.
"Why wouldn't you be fine? It's just gym class." A voice asked from behind her.
Marinette turned only to see Adrien was the one who asked. She brushed away any doubts, "Exactly! See Alya? It's just gym class." Marinette laughed.
Alya put her hand on Marinette's shoulder. "Don't ask me to reteach you today's biology lesson later then" Alya laughed.
With all the students in the gym and ready for class, the teacher clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright students! Today we'll be playing soccer."
Marinette panicked. There was no way she could run around chasing a ball for an hour.
"I vote Marinette as a goalie!" A familiar voice shouted. "Don't worry girl, I got you." Alya placed a hand on Marinette's shoulder.
Despite what Alya said earlier about reteaching her the biology lesson, Alya really was a great friend.
"Ah ha!" The gym teacher exclaimed and pointed a finger in their direction. "This is going to be different than standard soccer, so listen up!"
Marinette slouched in place. Dreams of just standing around in the net instead of running were dashed instantly. Was there another low-effort position she could play instead?
"There won't be any goalies this game, so I want to see everyone moving and running around." He continued, emphasizing that everyone should be active in this game.
Nope. There weren't any low-effort positions. Marinette was doomed.
"I have chairs in the nets in place of goalies to act as obstacles, I want to see you all active and doing your best! Everyone should have at least one goal by the end of class!" Their gym teacher instructed before appointing teams.
Marinette groaned and trudged toward her team's side of the room. The teacher blew the whistle, and everyone started running, chasing the black and white ball around the room, passing it back and forth between teammates. Marinette joined them, knowing she had little choice in the matter and that in only a few hours she'll be able to go home and take a nice long nap.
Marinette stopped for a minute to catch her breath and get what small amount of energy back that she could. She'd conveniently found a spot where she wasn't far from the action of the game. It made it look like she was still participating, but far enough away that she wouldn't be in anybody's way. She leaned over and put her hands on her knees to support herself and stared at her feet. She took a deep breath and mustered up all the will power she could to continue playing.
Before she stood back up, she could hear someone yell.
"Marinette! Heads up!"
As she looked up, she briefly saw the ball flying toward her. Before she could react, the ball hit her right in her stomach, knocking her to the ground. The whole class gasped and both Alya and Adrien ran to her side.
"Are you okay Marinette? That looked like it hurt." Alya said, crouched beside her.
Marinette took Adrien's outstretched hand and he helped her stand back up and regain her balance.
"I'm okay." Marinette told them with a slight wince.
"Are you sure?" Adrien asked. "Maybe you should visit the school nurse just in case." He suggested.
Kim ran up to join the trio. "Sorry Marinette, you were wide open, I thought you were ready."
The three friends, Alya, Adrien, and Kim all looked at her with concern. She couldn't make them take her to the nurse though, it wasn't that bad, she just wasn't paying attention and was a little startled. Plus, it was her fault after all.
"I'm alright guys, really!" Marinette forced a smile to smooth her friend's nerves. "Come on, let's go!" She called out as she ran off to the other side of the gym, kicking the ball with her.
Finally, gym was over. Spite her hopes, Marinette wasn't awakened by the exercise, but she was now extremely worn out and tired. She stood in the locker room with her head pressed against her locker. She wasn't quite sure what she was trying to accomplish, but it felt like it was working. The noise of the room started to get quieter, and she could feel her body start to relax.
No.
She inhaled sharply and picked her head up. She was starting to fall asleep again. She couldn't let that happen now; she was so close to nap time at home. Only one more hour.
Marinette walked with Alya, Nino, and Adrien back to the classroom.
"Are you really sure you're okay?" Alya asked her.
Marinette smiled lightly, "Yeah, it doesn't hurt anymore, it just caught me off guard."
Alya clicked her tongue. "I don't mean that, I mean in general. I saw you nod off again while standing up in the locker room."
Nino turned toward them and continued to walk, now sideways. "You were sleeping standing up? Dude, maybe you should just go home early and get some rest."
Alya nodded in agreement. "Yeah, forget what I said earlier, I'll teach you whatever you miss."
Marinette shook her head with a smile. "It's alright, it's just one more class. I'll be fine."
"Are you sure? We can help you talk to Mlle. Mendeleiev if you want." Adrien insisted.
"No, really, I'm okay. I promise. What's the worst that could happen anyway? I fall asleep in class? At least I won't get a soccer ball to the stomach in biology class." Marinette laughed.
Wait, did she just say a full sentence to Adrien without making a fool of herself? She wasn't okay after all.
The group entered the classroom and took their seats with everyone else.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, let's get started. Today we're going to be watching a nature documentary about the life of penguins." Mlle. Mendeleiev said as she picked up a remote from her desk and pointed it at the windows.
Slowly the blinds lowered to cover the windows and the room grew dark. This wasn't a good sign for Marinette.
"Everyone keep quiet and take notes if you have to. I want a 500-word summary on this. It'll be due on Monday."
The class groaned and Mlle. Mendeleiev turned on the projector, then the documentary.
Marinette was trying her best to stay awake. She was taking the most detailed notes anyone could imagine, trying and keep herself focused and busy. Despite her efforts, she could feel her eyelids growing heavy. She kept her eyes open wide, fighting her need for sleep, but it felt hopeless. Marinette's eyes slowly began to close, and she felt her head fall. She caught herself before she fell asleep, but it only gave her another chance to repeat the process, this time falling on Alya's shoulder, only to fail to wake herself up again.
Alya pat Marinette's head. She was expecting something like this to happen. That's why Alya had also been taking some particularly fantastic notes on the life cycle of penguins, as dictated by documentary, to give Marinette after class.
The room was silent and the music in the documentary became dramatic, building up to the first penguin jumping off the ice and into the ocean to hunt for fish. When the penguin finally jumped, the music crashed and there was an explosion.
The students all jumped from the unexpected result and looked at each other confused. Was that in the documentary? Suddenly everyone's phones chimed at once. An akuma had been spotted in Paris and was rampaging through the city.
Mlle. Mendeleiev paused the documentary to address the students. "Everyone relax, there's nothing to worry about. There's only 20 minutes left in the documentary, but I suppose we'll have to pick it up here next class. Although we're not continuing class right now, you're not permitted to leave until the akuma's been dealt with."
Adrien stood up and walked toward the door. "Sorry Mlle. Mendeleiev, I was trying to wait, but I really need to use the washroom."
"Alright, if you must." The teacher gestured toward the door.
Adrien wasted no time in leaving, meanwhile Marinette was sleeping through the whole ordeal.
Adrien ran into the boy's washroom. Before calling on Plagg and transforming, he confirmed that no one else was in the washroom with him to ensure his identity as Chat Noir was safe.
"Plagg, claws out!" He called out and a green light enveloped him as he transformed into Chat Noir.
"Let's do this!" He cried as he left the bathroom and launched himself out of the building via the school's courtyard.
He soared over the Paris rooftops, following the destructive sounds of the akuma ahead. He scanned the cityscape around him for Ladybug, but she was nowhere to be seen. That was alright, she wasn't always there right away. She'd show up, she always did. She had to.
Chat held the akuma, which was portrayed as a particularly large snake, at bay, preventing him from slithering away and wrapping around another building to destroy it like the ones it had before. This was no ordinary snake; its body was as thick as a small car and stretched as long as the Eiffel tower.
"Get back here you slimy snake boy!" Chat called out to the akuma.
"That's a common misssconception! Snakes aren't sslimy, and my name is Pythreat!" The akuma argued as he swung his tail in Chat's direction.
Chat swiftly dodged the attack. "Mm, pie. I like a nice, caramelized peach pie myself." He joked, egging on Pythreat's anger.
Pythreat cried out in frustration, "Python threat. Pythreat!" He yelled as he began to circle a car to crush and destroy.
Marinette groaned and moved around in her seat. Alya tried to turn her head to look at her without moving too much to disturb her.
"Alya?" Marinette asked, plagued with questions and confusion.
"There was an akuma nearby, so Mlle. Mendeleiev stopped the movie."
Suddenly Marinette was completely awake and ready for anything. She squirmed in her seat, looking for an excuse to leave. "I, uh, I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back!" She blurted out as she dashed out the classroom door before her teacher could protest.
"If you see Adrien bring him back with you, I think he got lost!" Alya called after her jokingly.
Marinette panicked. How long had the akuma attack been going on? Was Chat Noir fighting it all by himself? She stumbled down the stairs catching herself on the railing. She wasn't as awake as she thought, still groggy from her nap, but tired from all the sleep she'd been missing lately.
Marinette quickly made sure no one was looking before she transformed in a corner of the room under the stairs and flung herself over the roof from the courtyard.
"What have I done? I hope Chat Noir is alright." She told herself as she soared over the rooftops to the dust cloud in the distance.
When she arrived, she saw Chat Noir fighting the akuma, so far unscathed. A wave of relief washed over her.
"Nice to see you've finally decided to join us, my lady." Chat called out to her.
"Sorry Chat!" She apologized. "I got here as soon as I could!" She told him, which wasn't a lie.
Chat Noir backed off his attack on the akuma to stand near Ladybug. "The akuma is in his bowtie, I'm sure. I haven't been able to get near it though." Chat explained.
"How do you know it's in his bowtie?" Ladybug asked.
"He's a snake wearing a bowtie, what else could it be?"
Ladybug laughed. Chat was right, what snake wears a bowtie?
Ladybug threw her yo-yo in the air, "Lucky charm!" A length of rope fell from the sky.
"What are we going to do with rope? Snakes practically are ropes. Nope ropes." Chat joked, with some sincerity to his question.
Ladybug thought for a minute. "You distract him while I immobilise his head and tail with the rope and my yo-yo. When I give you the signal, use your cataclysm on his bowtie."
Chat Noir gave a thumbs up and dashed off.
Ladybug swung her yo-yo, latching onto a roof behind the akuma where she could gain advantage and could immobilize the beast easier than she could otherwise. On her landing she stumbled and fell, something she hadn't done since her early days as Ladybug. She shook it off and continued with the plan. She tied a lasso with the rope and swung it around Pythreat's neck and wrapped her yo-yo around his tail.
Pythreat jolted in protest, causing Ladybug's lasso around his neck to slip lower down his body and her hold on his tail to loosen. With control over Pythreat's mobility transferred from her back to the giant snake akuma, Ladybug suddenly found herself in a tight situation. Trapped in Pythreat's grasp, slowly his tail wrapped around her tighter and tighter swapping their roles and immobilising her.
Chat Noir noticed she was in trouble and decided to proceed with their plan without Ladybug's signal or support. She needed his help now.
"Cataclysm!" He cried as he leapt toward Pythreat's bowtie. It was now or never.
"Oh no you don't!" Pythreat said as he opened his mouth, only to close it on Chat Noir's torso.
As Chat lay in the akuma's bite, his legs hanging from one side of the snake's mouth, his head and arms stretched out the other side, he could hear his bones crack as they were crushed in Pythreat's jaw. Chat didn't give up, he stretched his hand as far as he could, ignoring the excruciating pain in his abdomen until his fingertips just barely grazed Pythreat's bowtie. It was all Chat needed to shatter the akumatized item and de-transform their enemy.
Ladybug was surrendered from Pythreat's grasp and Chat Noir was released from his bite, but fell to the ground, completely limp and unconscious.
"Chat!" Ladybug screamed, her cries bone chilling. She wanted to go to his side and help him, but she knew she had to take care of the butterfly first lest it reappear stronger later on.
She quickly captured and released the butterfly unceremoniously and threw her lucky charm in the air, praying it would heal him like it did for Uncanny Valley when they were in New York.
The city returned to normal, and everything was fixed as if nothing happened. Ladybug turned to Chat with bated breath, scared to see him still laying on the ground, seemingly lifeless. Hoping he would be standing there with his fist ready for hers to celebrate another akuma defeated.
She anxiously turned to see Chat Noir still lying motionless on the ground.
"Chat!" Ladybug let out a blood curdling scream as she ran to his side. "Chat Noir!"
She examined his torso, the large wounds where Pythreat's fangs pierced him remained and blood began to pool around where he lay.
She was scared to touch him, scared that she would only hurt him more, but she knew she had to do something. She had to help him.
Tears streaming down her face, she picked up his lifeless body and used her yo-yo to propel them to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible.
"My...lady?" Chat groaned.
"Shhh" Ladybug quieted him. "I'm sorry, this is all my fault. You'll be okay, I promise." Ladybug told him as they soared over the unnervingly calm Paris skyline.