Marinette lay under a bridge. The same bridge Luka had once shown her the music it carried.
She lay in silence. Now the only music she heard was the one of her own despair.
Lights began turning on, as the day came to an end. Yet she still stayed in her spot, tucked into herself.
Tikki was long gone. After detransforming, Tiki had flown around her offering her comfort and love.
She didn't deserve either.
When Tikki didn't seem like she would stop, she had taken off her earrings, renouncing the role of Ladybug.
She chuckled bitterly, as she stared at the earrings in her hand.
How ironic, how hard she had fought Gabriel for those earrings and the ring, only to renounce them.
And Gabriel was dead.
She fisted her hand and looked away.
She had to get home she knew she had too.
But she couldn't bring herself to.
At home, would be her mom and dad. They'd welcome her with hugs and kisses, like they always did. Her mom would make her favorite dish, and her dad would offer her cookies, fresh from the oven. And they would do all these things. Without knowing what an abomination their daughter had become. She was a murderer.
She clamped her hand to her mouth. She had no regards for human life, she was a monster.
She moaned lowly and sat up, as the nausea began to return.
Having emptied her stomach already, now she only dry heaved.
Someone chuckled behind her, followed by several footsteps.
She turned around. A man slowly walked towards her.
"What do we have here?" he said.
"Get away," she said between heaves.
She held out her hand, in a vain effort to stop them.
He laughed, creeping closer.
She stood up, leaning against a wall, and tried walking away.
He was faster and knocked her back down.
She winced, as she landed on her shoulder, and the earring in her hand flew out.
She managed to reach one, but the other quickly fell mercy to the foot of the man.
"Tikki!" She yelled.
Standing up again, she kneed him in the groin, and pushed him as he bent over. It was enough to get him off the earring.
Snatching it up, her stomach dropped to see the back of it bent. She bent it back as straight as she could.
The man tugged her back by the hair, and she screamed.
He pulled her in, putting a hand over her mouth.
She held onto it, as she bit it, elbowing his torso with her other arm.
It was enough to set her free, and she ran forwards, putting on the earrings. She had to get out of here, and fast. She transformed quickly, and looked back at the man, who still ran towards her, fist raised.
"Leave me alone!" she yelled, grabbing his arm, and flipping him over her.
He groaned, and rolled back up, still not done with the fight.
"I said get away!" She yelled again.
A force pushed him back, and he crashed into a wall. He slid down unconscious, a smear of dark blood trailing behind him.
She stepped back, gasping.
She killed him! She killed someone else!
She ran towards him, looking for a pulse.
She finally breathed and fell to her knees.
Still alive. But not for long. He needed to go to the hospital.
She took out her yoyo, and yelped, to find it completely black. She stood up and found her suit to no longer be the familiar patterned red, but instead entirely black. In fact, it gave almost a metallic green-blue sheen to it. She felt her hair, pulled up into a ponytail. She glance at the river, through its current she managed to make out her face, a simple black mask lay on her face.
She looked back at the man, as he began waking up. Maybe he didn't need help after all.
Instead she ran.
X
Alya was shocked when she got a call from Nadja to meet at the Gabriel mansion. And she found it hard to believe when she told her that Hawkmoth had been finally defeated. But what she couldn't really believe, was when they rolled him out of the mansion, lifeless.
It was only after Chat appeared, that things started to feel really bad.
Where was Marinette? Sure Chat would take the spotlight for the reporters, but Ladybug would still make an appearance with him. And in an event this big there was no reason why she shouldn't be present.
The second thing she noticed was how Chat wasn't Chat. He covered his eyes, as if the lights bothered him, and he swayed as he walked.
After he made a hasty exit, Alya excused herself to Nadja, and ran back to Marinette's house.
Whatever was going wrong. And wherever Marinette was, she knew Rena Furtive was going to be more helpful than Alya could.
Next Update: 10-23-21