AN: Okay, so let's see…Ladybug was trying to form a plan that she never wanted to ever have to create. Well, unfortunately…anyway, let's get on back into the action and see what is next for our two beloved heroes!
Chapter 5: I Don't Want To Fight You!
"Now you know why I have to do this!" Cat Noir's voice startled Ladybug from her thoughts. Clearly he'd grown tired of waiting for her to do something. "Just give me your Miraculous!" he demanded. "Then, I will give up mine as well. We can be together," he told Ladybug. "We can live out a great life together, Ladybug. I have it all planned out. We can run away to an island, far away from everything! We will live off nothing but fruits, and we will have a little pet hamster too. We will name it—"
"Cat Noir!" Ladybug stopped him. "No, we can't do that! You know that giving up our Miraculous would allow Hawk Moth to win and we can't do that!"
The look of hurt in Cat Noir's eyes sent pangs of guilt through Ladybug's heart. She hated to see her favorite Kitty this way, but there was no other choice. As long as Cat Noir was akumatized, they were fated to be pitted against each other. Ladybug just hoped that she could finish this quickly and bring her partner back to his senses; she missed her Cat Noir, the superhero who loved fighting beside her. Cat Noir growled low in frustration. "If you won't give me your Miraculous willingly, I will take it by force. This is the way it needs to be, Ladybug. Why won't you understand?"
Ladybug's heart hurt, standing here face-to-face with the angry green-eyed gaze of Cat Noir staring deep into her soul. His words were like ice and, even though he still looked like himself, Ladybug couldn't help but to hear Cat Blanc's tone. The words that Cat Noir was saying now sounded so reminiscent of the ones that Cat Blanc had said. Both cats were so desperate to get the Miraculous, even though their reasoning each differed. One thing was the same, though, both believed that the only way to get what they truly wanted was to obtain both Miraculous. There was no way that Ladybug would let that happen, not now and not ever!
"I don't want to fight you, Cat Noir," Ladybug told him softly, looking down and away from his green eyes. This was the first time, since she had met up with Cat Noir today, that Ladybug had voiced her inner thoughts about the imminent battle that her partner was forcing. What were the chances that Ladybug could remind Cat Noir about how he really felt about her? Ladybug could be certain that the Cat Noir she knew would agree. He would never want to fight her either and would be horrified if he ever learned that Hawk Moth had made him do it. "I don't want to fight you, Cat Noir, and I know that, deep down, you don't want to fight me either."
Cat Noir stepped back a little. "You don't know that. You've never truly understood how I felt, Ladybug. If you did, things wouldn't be this way!"
He's just trying to intimidate me, Ladybug told herself. He's trying to get in my head and manipulate me with guilt, force me to agree with him, and give him my earrings. Ladybug knew that she would just need to block him out. "That's not true, Cat Noir! We do understand each other. We've always been so in-sync with each other, better than any other superhero duo ever! Remember what you said after we fought Oblivio and the Miraculous Ladybug restored our memories? You said something like our teamwork together, even with our memories erased, it proved how great we were, how strong our partnership was…and still is, Cat Noir!" That wasn't quite what Cat Noir had said, but Ladybug didn't want to give him the wrong idea, make him think that they were "made for each other". There was never a good time for that, but especially not now!
"That word again," Cat Noir snarled. "Partnership, partners!" The words sounded bitter in Cat Noir's twisted voice, but Ladybug had never meant for that title to be so negative. Even though she would never feel the same way that he did, Ladybug truly did value her partner greatly. "You'll never understand. That is why I'll rid us both of these Miraculous!"
Ladybug saw Cat Noir subtlety shift his stance. If she hadn't known him so well, Ladybug would never have even noticed. Cat Noir was past negotiating; he was ready to strike. "Wait, Cat Noir!" Ladybug still tried to reason with him. "Don't do this. I know that you don't actually want to fight me. You can deny it, but you told me before that you could never fight me!"
Cat Noir clenched his fists and grit his teeth. "Things change, Ladybug. You always hoped that I would change my mind, that my feelings for you would disappear and I would stop loving you. Well, things have changed, Ladybug. If a fight is what is needed for you to see reason, then that is what will happen!"
Ladybug stepped back. "Cat Noir, I know that you are still in there!" At least, Ladybug thought, I hope that you are! "You once told me, back when we fought Gamer for the second time, you said…"
Choking a little on her words, Ladybug remembered a slightly better time. Back then, they'd stood face-to-face, just like they were right now. Although, instead of being up on a roof, out in the open, like they were now, Gamer had brought them both together into an almost virtual-type setting. Marinette had been stressed then, overwhelmed with all the expectations she faced in her civilian life in addition to being Ladybug. Back then, Cat Noir had reminded her to enjoy the finer things in life and not stress so much. It had been almost fun to play Gamer's video game until he lay down the plot twist. Ladybug and Cat Noir would be forced to fight each other before they could fight Gamer and take his akuma.
Upon learning that she would have to fight her favorite superhero partner, Ladybug tried to reason, create an elaborate plan that would expose a loophole (because surely there had to be one!) in Gamer's plan. Before she could, though, Cat Noir had devised a plan of his own. Seeing him fall backwards off the platform, deliberately ending himself by touching the surface out of bounds in the game, still haunted Ladybug's subconscious, even to this day.
"You said that you loved fighting by my side, but you could never fight me," Ladybug finished, hoping that Cat Noir didn't hear how she still choked on those words. Ladybug's heart was breaking all over again at the memory of battling Gamer that second time. She hoped that Cat Noir wouldn't notice the tears that she was trying to hold back and prevent from falling now from her eyes. It just wasn't fair! Why was Hawk Moth forcing her to fight Cat Noir, her partner, her teammate, her best friend? "You didn't want to fight me then, Cat Noir, when we faced off against Gamer, and I don't want to fight you now."
Unfortunately, it seemed that this reminder wasn't enough to reach Cat Noir past the amplified negative emotions of his akuma. "Well, it appears that it's too late for that. I asked you nicely to give me your Miraculous, but you didn't. You leave me no other choice, Ladybug."
Ladybug lowed her head; she couldn't bring herself to continue staring into the angered green eyes of her former partner. It hurt too bad to try. Cat Noir was right, though, sadly. There was no other option left. She had tried to talk Cat Noir out of this inevitable fight, but that wasn't going to work. This would be the hardest akuma battle that Ladybug would ever face. Of that, she was completely certain. Not only did she have to fight her best friend, but she would have to do it alone. So often Ladybug was only successful in akuma battles because she had Cat Noir alongside her, but this time she wouldn't have him or his Cataclysm; she was completely on her own.
This battle would be difficult, but not unmanageable. Ladybug was one-hundred percent certain that she could figure out some way to de-evilize Cat Noir. She had done it before, when she fought Cat Blanc and that akumatized version of Cat Noir had the ability to create multiple (and, oftentimes, very large) Cataclysm attacks. As far as Ladybug could tell, Cat Noir didn't have that power this time. At least, Ladybug hoped that he didn't. Last time, she had only barely managed to successfully capture his akuma!
Okay, stay focused, Ladybug, she silently coached herself. You can do this. Let's just get this over with as quickly as possible and then everything can go back to normal. Just remember, Cat Noir's life depends on your success! You can't fail! You have to save him. You will save him. Then, before Ladybug could think any more silent encouragements, Cat Noir pounced.
So, funny story, when I was editing, I had totally forgotten about what happened in this chapter (this story was written during the month of April for Camp Nano) and I was so excited as I kept reading! I just love writing akumatized Cat Noir! It's such a different perspective! Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did!
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