Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug

White flashed before her eyes and she was on the ground before she could even process what had just happened. Maybe she should've come up with some sort of game plan first before summoning Cat No--Cat Blanc. Her ribs ached although her magical Ladybug suit should've protected her. She had to get away from him. Ladybug had absolutely no clue how to capture his akuma anyways. It had landed on his mask, but that was a part of his miraculous costume, so how would she remove it? Darn, couldn't he have gotten akumatized as a civilian instead?

"Looks like this will be an easy defeat, father. I can't believe I used to work with this pathetic 'superhero'."

Ouch, that hurt. As Cat Blanc was distracted, Ladybug used the extra time to think of a plan and call up her Lucky Charm.

A photo of some blonde woman as her Lucky Charm? Wait, she had seen this woman before...but she couldn't quite place it right now. She held the photo in the akumatized Cat Noir's line of sight, and he quickly lunged to take possession of the photo. Whoever the woman was, she was obviously very important to her partner. As Cat's eyes were directed at the photo and as she noticed some tears escaping his eyes, she forced herself off the cold unfriendly ground and made a sprint for it. Throwing her yo-yo was a second thought to her at this point. Flying through the wind, the air burned her lungs just like Cat Blanc's piercing, heartbreaking cry burned her heart.

"Tikki Spots off!"

She collapsed onto her balcony, exhausted and slightly hurt from the fight. Not only was she physically worn out, Marinette was emotionally fatigued from all that came with being hated by someone who once loved you more than anyone else in the world. But Cat Blanc must be de-akumatized. She needed her partner back. Marinette promised herself that as soon as Cat Blanc was back to his normal Cat Noir self, she would be honest with herself and him about her feelings.

"Owwww" Marinette cried, clutching her ribs. This led her to another problem. Marinette's miraculous must have sustained damage in the battle, which made sense considering Cat's power of destruction had been magnified to unknown limits. Oh no, Tikki!!!

"Tikki, where are you? Are you okay?" Marinette's eyes flickered around frantically.

"He-re Mari-nette." Tikki whispered softly, as she lay on the ground.

"Tikki, you're hurt! Let's get you to Master Fu." Marinette said before realizing Master Fu had lost his memories and was no longer the guardian. She was it now. She was alone. No Master Fu. No Cat Noir. What about Alya? Alya knew she was Ladybug now and had been a great help to her both as Alya and as Rena Rouge.

Marinette fumbled in her clutch for her phone and quickly dialed Alya's number.

"Alya….I need your help…...it's urgent!"

--

Alya had made for great emotional support, but neither could figure out how to restore Tikki to her former glory. Tikki was okay, for now at least. But Marinette would have to study the Grimwar more to figure out how to fix broken miraculouses and care for hurt kwamis.

"Marinette. You're gonna be late again!" Sabine called upstairs.

A quick glance at the clock confirmed this--it was 7:55!!! Marinette snatched her bag off her desk chair and left Tikki sound asleep in her little kwami bed. There was no sense in disturbing Tikki when Marinette wouldn't be able to transform anyways. She wasn't going to risk hurting Tikki or herself. Hopefully Cat Blanc wouldn't cause any trouble, since all he wanted was Ladybug's miraculous, and Ladybug wouldn't be available for a while.

Buzz *Marinette where are you?!? Do you need me to cover for you again?*

Alya. Although Marinette first had reservations after revealing herself to her best friend, she knew now that she made the right choice. It had been a lot for her to bare by herself.

Screechhhhhh. What was tha--? A car was heading straight for her! There wasn't time to move out of the way!

Cat Blanc? She looked up to find herself staring into the icy blue eyes of Cat Blanc, his arms wrapped around her waist. Wait what? He had saved her?!?! They landed on a nearby rooftop.

"Are you alright?"

"Me--me?"

"Well who else would I be talking about," jeered Cat Blanc, surveying Marinette curiously.

"Oh." Marinette felt oddly self-conscious under the white cat's gaze. She averted his eye contact. "Yeah, I'm okay….thanks to you."

"No problem." Cat Blanc seemed to consider whether he should stay or leave, and decided on the former. "Can I drop you off at your destination? You know, for safety and all." He rubbed the back of his neck almost sheepishly.

"Uhh sure. I was headed to Francoise Dupont High before--the accident."

Cat Blanc extended his staff and they were at Marinette's school practically before she could blink.

"See you la--ter," Marinette finished but he was already gone. What an odd start to her day. She wondered if she would see him again as Marinette.

--