Ladybug backed away, it had all happened so suddenly. The darkness enveloped Cat Noir and when it washed away, what was left behind...

Cat rose, this was no Cat Blanc. He stood a full foot taller than before, and filled out with the muscle of adulthood. His hair was grown out into a proper mane that hung to his shoulders. His midnight leathers were now a dark dried crimson. Only the green of his eyes remained but in them, such focused hatred.

"Cat-" Ladybug began.

He took a step, and it made her hair stand on end. It wasn't the light tread of her partner, in that single motion pure predatory grace. Her mouth went dry and she had to fight an instinctive trembling. "I'll ask once, for old time sake." his voice was raw, deep, and a low growl rumbled after the words had passed. He held out one clawed hand palm up,"Will you give me your miraculous, Ladybug?"

She could reason with him. She'd talked down Cat Blanc far enough. She'd freed Alya. It was still Cat Noir in there, still Adrien. "Listen to me Cat Noir, Hawkmoth is using you."

So fast. He moved in the moment between blinks and his punch took her clean in the stomach, lifting her and pitching her back out onto the fields of the Champ-de-Mars. Ladybug bounced several times before coming to a stop, gasping for breath. She struggled to her feet in a panic, but he was sauntering her way.

The roll of his gait was that of a lion stalking wounded prey,"Of course he is, you two have that much in common." Cat flexed his fingers, long claws glistening,"Now, I need your miraculous so no Cataclysms, but that doesn't mean I need anything but your ears to survive intact."

"Cat Listen to me, I don't know what you think you saw-"

He rushed her again. She was ready this time and dodged, but he followed up, her second dodge was closer, and the third he caught her by the ankle as she leapt away. He spun throwing her away, clean through one of the great trees lining the park to fetch up against another. Ladybug slumped to the ground, and rose more slowly this time.

"What I THINK I saw?" He stalked towards her again. " 'Nothing will stand in the way of us.' 'A blessing in disguise.' I WAS STILL HOLDING HER!" He charged, covering the ground between them in great four footed leaps.

Ladybug was woozy. She needed space. If she could just stop him for a moment. She whipped out her yo-yo, sweeping it towards him to ensnare him, immobilize him, even if only for a few seconds. She had pieces now, she had to put them together.

He twisted mid bound and caught the string. Her yoyo wrapped around his arm rather than his body and with a yank he had her off her feet, she sailed directly for him and he snatched her out of the air like a doll; one clawed hand gripping her neck like a vice. He pulled her to those piercing green eyes,"You let Marinette die, I think it's only fair to return the favor."

Ladybug scrambled and tugged at his hand out of base self preservation. But even so his words connected the final dots."Ma- nette." she gasped. A kick caught him in the chest, loosening his grip only a fraction but enough to draw a single breath,"Marinette is my friend, would I hurt her?"

A momentary pause, but the anger flared again. He threw her like a rag doll, but she was at least able to land instead of bounce this time. Ladybug rubbed her neck, she felt the holes in her suit from his claws. No time for pain she had to keep at it,"Think Cat Noir. All of Hawkmoth's illusions, all of his tricks. What makes more sense? Why would I hurt Marinette?"

Her words were striking home. Little flecks of doubt amidst the seething rage. His next attack was with words not blows, progress,"You're jealous! You're jealous of Marinette. You had me for a whole year at your whim. I was slipping away!" he spat the words with long fermented venom. She wasn't the only one striking home.

Ladybug lowered her gaze, a dangerous thing to do but the truth was heavy. Some truth needed to come out,"I am Jealous." she admitted, and the admission stopped him in his tracks. She raised her eyes and continued, the folly of it all written across her face,"I know you've been in love with me forever, but I know the rules. I thought I could be content, no matter my own feelings, as partners."

He hadn't moved yet, Ladybug dared to take a step, to reach out,"But I couldn't. I never could. I wanted to; to be the strong one who led by example for the whole team. I couldn't admit my own feelings even to myself. I'm Ladybug."

Another step, closing the gap slowly,"Marinette is such a lucky girl to have you. She could do all the things I couldn't. She could BE all the things I couldn't for you. I'm jealous of that, but I'm also happy." Ladybug chanced a smile,"More than anything, even more than beating Hawkmoth, I've always wanted you to be happy, Cat Noir. I'd never do anything, or let anything be done, to get in the way of that."

A subtle shift in his posture, doubt creeping into the rage. His eyes looking away and back. Did she dare try for his bell? Was that where the Akuma was? It worked last time. No. She didn't dare yet. He was too strong, if she riled him again he wouldn't hesitate like Cat Blanc had. He protested, his voice filled with anguish,"But, I saw…"

"Hawkmoth's tricks. The Akuma's power deceiving you." Ladybug held out her hand,"Come, I'll take you to see Marinette. If I can't, my miraculous is yours." Ladybug poured every ounce of sincerity she could into those words. It was an easy promise to make, and easier to keep, but he needed to know.

Hesitation, anger fading, a ray of hope in those eyes. This red Cat Noir raised a hand, reaching towards her- The purple sign of the butterfly bloomed across his face then flared red. A booming voice filled the air, no mere internal whisper this time.

Nice try Ladybug, but you will not have my puppet so easily this time. Chat Sanglant, your lack of conviction is disappointing. No matter. I do not need you, only your anger.

Cat grabbed his head, falling to his knees. The Butterfly flared again and he let loose a pained beastial howl. Ladybug dashed forward. She could get to the Akuma, she could stop whatever was happening. His pain stabbed like a knife through her chest.

She was only a stride away when his head snapped up again. It stopped her cold. Gone, gone were those green eyes; now a jaundiced yellow. Gone was hope. Gone was reason. A pure animal glint coupled with a permanent rage remained. He panted through parted lips, a crimson mist coiling around wicked fangs with each breath.

Chat Sanglant growled a single word,"Ladybug."

She ran.

Ladybug snagged a tree branch with her Yo-yo and used it for a boost, propelling herself down the field, away from the Eiffel tower. A few more seconds of sprinting and she turned. Chat wasn't running after her. She could see him down the field. He was walking slowly. She wouldn't question the gift. Past time for a Lucky Charm.

Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the air,"Lucky charm!" for the briefest moment what looked like a spotted walkie talkie appeared, her yo-yo began to snap back down and a ruby light blinded her. Black light crackled through it and in its passing the lucky charm turned to powder. Her yo-yo was caught a glancing blow by the beam and came back to her hand charred and cracked.

Ladybug cradled it in her hands, then looked down the field. Chat's outstretched hand still crackled with power. He slowly descended into a crouch and Marinette experienced the sudden gut wrenching terror all prey share. She fled again. At a dead sprint she fled the field, for once no plan in mind, only the need to escape.

When the fog of panic cleared she was sitting huddled behind a clothes rack. Orienting herself came slowly. She was in a shop, a multi unit designer affair along the edges of the field. It was deserted save for herself. Ladybug swallowed to drive the dryness from her mouth and sank back down.

What to do? She couldn't risk detransforming to let Tikki rest, would that even fix her miraculous? No lucky charm. Could she pull some clue from what it had been though? Her mind kept trying to blank on her. Chat Sanglant's face kept looming. How long until he found her?

"Kitty." She whispered through tears she didn't even bother to wipe away,"I could really use a joke right now."

Okay Ladybug. She spoke in her own head, focus. A walkie talkie was for communication. Talk to anyone on the channel. Which channel though? Right now, any. She held up her yo-yo gingerly. The seemingly indestructible tool now fragile in her hands. She opened it to the communicator and half the top cracked and fell away. Me too, yo-yo.

"Can anyone hear me? This is Ladybug. I need help." It was an open broadcast.

Two lights answered her on the com, one flickering fitfully. Rena Rouge and an unknown. She tried that one first,"Hello?"

"Well, this is unexpected, but not unwelcome. Just how might this humble kitten help you today M'Lady?" Adrien's voice! Ladybug's heart betrayed her with a moment of rejoicing before reality set in.

"Adrikat. I thought you would have left."

"No M'Lady, your ally left one of us quite unfit for travel. So how may I help you?"

Frustration fueled a bitter retort,"You could have helped before, but you didn't."

"I was still the hero M'Lady, just not your hero that night. Allow me to make it up to you?"

Ladybug took a cleansing breath. She needed help. Was this what the charm meant? He was still Adrien, and Cat Noir. "Cat Noir has been akumatized. He destroyed my lucky charm and ruined my yo-yo. I need help. I'm hiding in a store off the champ-de-mars."

A pause then,"Backup is on the way. Get to the roof if you can."

Relief, but then inspiration,"Pick up Vesperia on your way here. We will need her."

"Oh you don't make things easy do you? Your wish is my command. Kat out."

Ladybug switched channels, the knob came off in her fingers,"Rena?"

"Bug! What is going on? There are flashes on the news. Is that guy in red-?" Rena didn't finish.

"Yes."

"I'm on my way."

Now the hard part, the responsible part, "No, I need you to go to my house. I don't have a lucky charm. You need to get the rabbit miraculous and stand ready in case this all goes wrong.". Ladybug swallowed. How far back? She had to be sure,"Stop me from seeing Cat." All she had found, love and hope,"It's the only way to be sure."

"Ladybug, are you sure?"

"Please Alya." The tears were back.

"You can count on me Marinette."

Ladybug closed the channel and slumped. The rest of her yo-yo's lid flaked away.

Ladybug settled into a fugue state, only startling out of it when door chimes sounded from the other end of the store. Another sound came to her ears; a snuffling, and a low burbling rumble. The animal fear was back. Every sense snapped into overdrive.

He was four storefronts down at the opposite end; twenty meters per front, about seventy meters away. The nearest exit was about seven from her hiding spot. Could she make it at a dash? Better to sneak as long as she could.

She eased herself up into a crouch and slowly circled the rack that had hidden her. She couldn't see him. She could feel him though, the tension in the air. Ladybug crept with painful slowness around the front counter towards the door.

Another rumble, descending into a growl. Close, too close. How had he moved so fast? Where was he? Ladybug tensed and bolted.

The motion drew a reaction. Chat Sanglant pounced, a deliberate miss, with an open handed swat that sent her sprawling through the glass storefront.

Ladybug got to her feet, greeted by the sight of Chat stalking through the shattered windows, a wicked fang-bearing smile painted on his face. The roof; Ladybug jumped, not trusting her yo-yo. Her nighttime runs with Cat paid off. Miraculous strength and agility combined with hard learning had her flitting from handhold to handhold up the side of the building.

She was halfway across the top when Chat Sanglant cleared the roof with a single leap, landing in a crouch and dashing across to cut her off. Ladybug spun back, he was playing with her and she knew it. No hope but to try and keep ahead. She dove over the side.

Shock as arms encircled her waist. A sudden yank upwards then spiraling. The whole world spinning around her. The arms were too small. She was still in the air. She was let go then scooped up again under the arms,"Hang on Ladybum, squirm too much and down you go. Squirm too little and I might drop you too." a manic giggle sealed the deal.

"Chloé?" Ladybug craned her head up at her rescuer.

Any answer was forgotten when Chloé dipped in the sky again, twisting and spiraling through spins that sometimes used her as the focus, and sometimes used ladybug. It was worse than the worst rollercoaster ride ever invented. For one oddly blissful moment Ladybug forgot about everything except the immediate need to not lose her breakfast. Flashes of red explained the aerial gymnastics. Whatever else she had become Chloé had apparently taken to flying with a skill Cosmobug could only dream of.

With one last high-G stomach lurching turn Chloé dropped Ladybug the last few feet then landed behind the monument to human rights. Ladybug staggered a few steps while the world tried its best to spin her off. Her ride merely brushed out her own hair with fingers, giving herself a once over shake and flashing Ladybug a pleased smile across a bruised and battered face,"Still the best."

A shifting outline became three more people, two held by the other Chloé, Adrikat and Vesperia. The trio landed and Vesperia immediately detached herself to move to Ladybug's side,"Ladybug, how can I help?"