(Hey lovely viewers. Get ready for a wild ride with this one.)

Cat Noir's POV

The view out of my window was absolutely terrifying. I'd never seen Paris in such a state of destruction; the sky was painted in hues of blacks, reds, and oranges, and I could feel the heat encapsulating all of the city with every second. The smoke stung my eyes, only furthering my state of shock. However, one key element was missing.

"Where are the flames coming from?" I thought out loud, my eyes widening.

For the first time in three years, I was completely dumbfounded by the situation we were in. I didn't even know where to go, or what to do at all. And how was I ever supposed to find Ladybug in this mess?

"Huh. Should probably check my messages…"

I opened up the little screen on my baton, and… was met by about a thousand messages from M'lady. I suddenly felt a little terrified. I clicked the first one, preparing myself for a scolding for being far too late.

"Cat Noir! Where the hell are you? Look out of any window of the city and you'll see why I need your help!"

I didn't even bother listening to the rest. I knew they would all be the same.

"Great. Now I'm in trouble because I spent too much time interrogating Plagg…"

I finally decided to push my shock to the back of my mind and focus on what was really important. I swung from rooftop to rooftop, searching for something, anything that could tell me what to do here. I couldn't see anything below me; the amount of smoke made it impossible, and to be honest, whatever was happening under there was probably petrifying.

I felt panic beginning to bubble at the surface of my brain again, not because of the sights I saw, but because I couldn't find Ladybug. A lingering voice in the back of my head whispered, 'you're too late!' and I couldn't help but wonder if I was. Ladybug could be gone, taken into the depths of the flames, her miraculous stolen by Hawk Moth's victims… or worse. She could be gone, like actually gone. Like I'll never see her again gone.

I wouldn't be able to go on knowing that I was a cause in Ladybug's downfall. The guilt would be far too difficult to deal with, knowing that if I had arrived just a bit earlier, the love of my life would still be here.

"Okay. Let's not get too ahead of ourselves here…" I muttered, but it didn't help ease my thoughts.

And that's when I saw her.

Just in the corner of my eye, there she was. I, of course, would have recognized her anywhere. She was crouched on the rooftop of a tall building, and she was evidently not acting like herself.

But she was alive. And that's all that mattered.

I swung from building to building until I finally reached her. "Ladybug." I said, but it barely came out as a whisper.

She turned around so fast it surprised me. I expected an argument, but instead she ran towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Cat. Where the fuck were you? Do you even know how worried I was?" Her grip got tighter with every second.

Even in our current situation, I couldn't help but soak this up. I was so relieved to see her it felt like a breath of fresh air, even with the smoke surrounding us. "I'm sorry. I really am. I promise I'll never go awol like that ever again, okay? I'm just happy you're alright, I was so worried something had happened…"

We stood there for a few minutes, even though it was so dangerous to do so. But I would end up remembering it as one of the best moments of my life.

I felt her begin to sob into my chest. I had never seen Ladybug cry before, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to witness it. Looking back, I've only ever seen her when she was putting up a strong, heroic front.

"It's gonna be okay." I said in her ear.

"No Cat Noir. For the first time ever, I genuinely don't know what the fuck I'm supposed to do. How are we supposed to protect these people? It's useless." She pulled away from me and looked me in the eyes. "This mess is gonna cause the Miraculous box to burn like everything else, with all the kwamis in it. And it's gonna be my fault. I'm a terrible guardian and a terrible Ladybug."

I wiped a tear off her face. "Ladybug, listen to me. You're the most fearless, strong, and incredible person I've ever known. And in all these years of knowing you, you've never once backed down from a fight. And that's not gonna change, alright? So what we're gonna do is figure out a way to defeat-whatever the hell is down there-and then you're gonna use your lucky charm to fix everything, okay? But the most important thing that you must remember is that this isn't your fault. It's Hawk Moth's, and everyone who supports his evil agenda, okay? It's not your job to push all this blame on yourself, but it is your job to protect Paris. With your favorite cat, of course." I cocked my head to the side. "Alright bugaboo?"

She looked at me again. "You're right kitty. Thank you. Hawk Moth's entire goal is to undermine us, and we're not gonna let it happen."

"Ah, there's the ladybug I fell in love with." I smirked and learned in for a kiss - which of course, she rejected.

"Okay. You got a plan?" I asked.

"Not really… but we gotta take the first step." She grabbed my stick from me. "You think this thing is able to conduct heat?"

"Uh… maybe?"

"I guess it's time to find out. Extend it as far as you can. All the way down." She peeked over the rooftop into the dark abyss, then handed it back to me.

"Anything for you." I did as she asked, and after a while, I felt the end of it finally hit solid ground. I let it sit for a few seconds, and brought it up again.

"Well… it's warm, that's for sure. But not hot enough where you can't touch it."

"Great. It's safe to go down there. Ready to take a leap of faith? Or more like a… glide of faith?"

I understood what she meant and nodded. I extended the stick again, and this time extended my hand to her.

"Need a helping paw?"

"I think I can slide down myself."

"Come on. It would be so much more fun this way."

Ladybug gave me a sarcastic look, but grabbed on to my hand. She swung her legs around my waist and for a moment I felt my whole body going numb.

"Snap out of it," I heard her whisper in my ear.

Oh god.

Doesn't she know that'll make it worse?

But in that moment I slid us both down the makeshift pole and soon enough, we hit the ground and I set her on her feet.

"Oh god. I can't see anything. It's dark." She muttered.

"Good thing your favorite feline friend has night vision." I smirked, and grabbed her hand, leading her along. There was a substantial amount of smoke, but for the most part our path was clear.

"Time to find the source of this mess." I was acutely aware of Ladybug's hand gripping mine. Even with so much happening, I was still gonna savor this entire adventure, where for the first time, I was in charge.

As if on cue, Ladybug said flatly, "I hope you know you're not in charge. I still am."

"You wish, bugaboo. Now, come on. This is taking too long." I hoisted her up on my side so I could use my stick to get us to our destination faster. But also, for my own benefit.

"Oh my god." Ladybug murmured, rolling her eyes. "How do you even know where to go?"

"By using my keen sense of smell, of course." I boasted. "Why don't you admit that this cat is the perfect man for the mission, M'lady?"

"Whatever. I still get to capture the akuma."

"Don't act like you're not enjoying this. My charm is irresistible."

She didn't say anything, but it was alright because I was quite distracted by how much she was touching me right now.

This didn't last long, though. Because I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

"Ladybug…"

She finally opened her eyes, and the sight was appalling.

A ginormous pit of fire had opened up beneath the surface of the ground, so enormous that I knew Ladybug and I would be forgotten forever if we were lost in it. Hundreds of clones were surrounding it, throwing in whatever they could find; cars, stoplights, even entire chunks of buildings. And at the end of the fiery pool, was the most threatening villain of all; she stood as tall as a skyscraper, flaming red hair soaring from side to side. At the end of her arms, there were scorching red flames in place of hands. Her dress looked torn up, but naturally, it was on fire too. A necklace hung from her neck, oozing magma into her skin.

"Ladybug and Cat Noir! I have been awaiting your arrival. I am Vehemator, your absolute worst nightmare! Now, there are two ways we can do this. First way… you can just hand over your miraculous now and make it easier for yourselves. Or we can do it the hard way. No matter what, there is a very low chance either of you will make it out alive, so… let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

Ladybug and I glanced at each other in shock.

"Buga-"

"No time for talking!" She shouted.

Vehemator held up her two 'hands' and screamed "Feel this burn!" Molten lava was spewing from her forearms, directed right at us. Ladybug was preoccupied using her yo-yo to dodge the blows, as I was doing the same with my stick. Both of us seemed very clueless as to what we were even supposed to do. Fireballs began to fly from her hair, directed right at us. There was so much happening at once I wondered how we were even supposed to do anything else.

"Cat Noir! The more that the minions put into that fire hole, the more it opens up! If we don't hurry, we're gonna get burned to a crisp!"

"Well, the akuma is obviously in her necklace, right? It's fueling all her fire!"

"Yeah. Definitely."

"Okay. So If I can just figure out how to use my cataclysm on it, this can all be over."

An evil laugh erupted across the land. "Silly kitty! You'll never make it that far!"

I looked off to my side and dreaded what I saw. About 20 of her little minions were somehow holding an entire building, and were getting ready to release it into the pool of fire.

"NO!" Ladybug screamed. "Cat, that will make this pool expand so much, we won't have time to escape!"

It was too late. They had dropped it in, and I dropped my gaze to the floor. I watched the fire grow closer and closer to my feet. We couldn't turn around and run now; Vehemator would just burn us to a crisp.

It was too late.

"Ladybug!" I looked over as she was giving me a panicked glance. She knew what was happening just as well as me.

"It's been fun, Cat." She said. And right when we were about to fall to our deaths-

We were suddenly picked up by rope holdings.

"What?" Ladybug said, shocked.

"Well, you didn't think I was gonna let it end that fast, did you? We're just getting started!" Vehemator said evilly. "Good luck getting out of that trap! You know what? I'm gonna let you guys hang out for a bit, say your goodbyes, and then I'll send my minions to take your miraculous and then, of course, release you into the fiery pit to die. Sounds good?" She backed up to watch them in their total misery.

"How far up do you think we are?" I asked, finally panicking.

"Not sure. Very high. But either way, we're hanging over a pit of fire, so it's not exactly like we can cut ourselves out."

For a while, we just stared at each other in disbelief. We couldn't believe that this might actually be the end.

"Cat Noir, I-"

"Shh." I said. "It's okay. It's okay."

"Alright, enough of that stuff. Let's start releasing them! I've gotten revenge on everyone I wanted to, and now these two weaklings are all that is left!" Vehemator cackled.

We both slowly but surely began to sink down towards the fire.

"Ladybug! Your lucky charm! Before it's too late!"

"I don't see what good it's gonna do now, but… Lucky Charm!"

What resulted from this was a mini trampoline.

Yeah. We were about to die, and the lucky charm gave us a mini trampoline.

Ladybug's gaze darted around. "I can't see what I'm supposed to do. I can't."

Every second that passed, we got closer to our fiery doom. And Ladybug and I were shoulder to shoulder for the last time, even if we were tied up.

This is my last opportunity. I have to take it.

"Ladybug." She turned her head to me quickly, and before I could change my mind, I kissed her.

It was electrifying. It started off by me gently grazing her lips, until I completely fell into it. No more regrets. I felt all the pent up energy from the past three years all release in one, magnificent, perfect kiss. And the craziest part was, she was kissing me back. And if this were the last moment of my entire life, I would die the happiest person on Earth.

When I finally broke away, I opened my eyes to see that we were seconds away from death.

"I see it! I see it!" Ladybug screamed, practically hyperventilating. "Cat Noir, extend your stick as much as you can and send it across the pit!"

I've worked with Ladybug long enough to know how to quickly take orders. Plus, we were on a time-sensitive schedule.

She dropped the trampoline on top of the stick, balancing it perfectly.

"I'm gonna cut your rope using my yo-yo. You know what you have to do!"

And I did. I nodded to her, and she cut the ropes that were holding me. I jumped on the trampoline with as much force as I could.

"Cataclysm!"

I jumped up as far as I could, and at the last second, barely grazed Vehemator's necklace. I watched as it disintegrated, and the purple akuma flew out. I was shocked.

Quickly, I grabbed my stick, bringing the trampoline with it. Ladybug looked down at my stick.

"Hold it for me?" I nodded. She used her yo-yo to cut herself free then, and crawled down the stick down to safety. She stared blankly at me.

"Ladybug… capture the akuma. Let's not go back to our amatuer days, yeah?"

She opened up the yo-yo and captured it, without saying a word. I handed her the trampoline.

"Do the honors?"

"Miraculous Ladybug!" She shouted as she tossed the mini trampoline in the air, and the mini ladybugs did their job.

We both glanced at Nathalie, my father's assistant, who was the akumitized victim. But neither of us acknowledged her.

I looked at Ladybug. She didn't seem to have any words, and I didn't either, which is saying a lot. She was looking at me like I was some sort of stranger.

I decided to swallow my pride. "Ladybug-"

At that moment, Ladybug's earrings began to flash. Without saying a word, she used to yo-yo to get out of there without even giving me a second glance. We had practically just died together, and she wouldn't even look me in the eye.

I don't know if I should regret the kiss or not. But it was single handedly the best moment of my life.

I just hope that she doesn't hate me for it.