Chapter 9

Cat Noir couldn't find the motivation to struggle. He was limp, apathetic, and darkened. Night Hollow held him above her head, about to break his back.

"CAT NOIR!" Ladybug screamed.

Her voice hit him. He was flooded with memories of her. Among the bombardment of reminiscence, three memories stood out. "She was my light. I had light. And I'm terrified that I'll never get that back." "Because you have me now. I wasn't there for you when you were hurting before, but I'm here for you now." "Adrien, I'm so proud of you."

Cat Noir lit up. He was no longer limp, he was no longer apathetic, he was no longer darkened. He had light. He hit Night Hollow with his staff and she dropped him. Cat Noir hit her a few more times. Loud clanks sounded off as he struck his staff against her armor. All her armor flew off of her hollow body, and Cat Noir's staff passed through it. Night Hollow created a blade made of darkness that extended from her palm, but before she could unleash her counterattack, Ladybug sprang into the fight. Still in midair, Ladybug hit Night Hollow's hand with her yoyo. The blade dissipated and Cat Noir struck her again.

Night Hollow got some distance from Cat Noir and clapped her hands twice. The light went out and the day turned to night again. Cat Noir could see just fine thanks to his night vision. Ladybug couldn't see a thing, but she had her memory to rely on. She was on the roof of her own house and she knew where to find everything. She made her way to the balcony door hearing the rippling sound of blades made of darkness, clanks, and grunts. She had to hurry; but could she hurry without tripping over every object in the house? She stubbed her toe, but caught herself in time. She made it to the door and fell through. She climbed off her bed and felt the house rumbling. She rushed over to a drawer and pulled out a flashlight. She made her way back to the roof. Her yoyo in one hand and her flashlight in the other. She looked around, her vision limited to what the flashlight could illuminate. "Kitty, where are you?!"

"Down here!"

Ladybug ran to the banister and looked down. She shined the light around, trying to find them. There! She knew where they were; she just had to make the jump correctly. She leaped from the banister, trying to put the right amount of power into it. She fell from the sky and punched downward as she landed. She hit the ground, but didn't damage Night Hollow. Had she aimed wrong? No. She had landed in the right place. Night Hollow had just hidden herself in her shadow. Night Hollow reappeared elsewhere. Darkness swirled around her and lifted her into the air. She created a blade and shot herself toward them. They both jumped out of the way, but the impact shot bits of concrete everywhere like a frag grenade.

With the heroes separated by the blast, Night Hollow ran towards Ladybug, the true object of her hatred. Even with the flashlight, Night Hollow was hard to see. Light seemed to barely stick to her. But this was a challenge Ladybug wouldn't back down from. As Ladybug kept her light shined on her opponent. Night Hollow swung diagonally, prompting Ladybug to duck and step to the right. When Ladybug came back up, she punched forward, but she only passed through Night Hollow's intangible body. Night Hollow's armor flew back on and she slashed Ladybug in the back. Ladybug grit her teeth in pain and shined the light on her again. Night Hollow swung again, horizontally this time. Ladybug jumped and spun in the air with her body sideways. The blade made of darkness passed under her and she kicked Night Hollow in the helmet. Night Hollow tried to strike again, but Cat noir rushed in and deflected the next blade. Ladybug took advantage of the opening and hit Night Hollow multiple times. For the next forty seconds, every time Night Hollow took off her armor to avoid one hero's attack, the other was ready to hit her whenever the armor flew back on. Ladybug would have been doing even better if she didn't have the disadvantage of having to hold the flashlight. Night Hollow was losing . . . until . . . Night Hollow swung at Ladybug repeatedly. Ladybug kept shining that flashlight on her and deflecting her attacks; until Night Hollow slashed her flashlight in half. The light was gone. Once again, Ladybug couldn't see anything. Night Hollow struck Ladybug multiple times. Cat Noir stepped in to defend her. With Night Hollow concentrated on Cat Noir, Ladybug had some time to herself. She had no better idea than to call for a "LUCKY CHARM!" Whatever her lucky charm was, it landed in front of her. She kneeled down and searched until she found a plastic bag. Not a shopping bag; it was too stiff and less crinkled. She pressed and rubbed her fingers against it, trying to figure out what was inside. She felt smooth tubes and she knew. "Glow sticks. I know exactly what I'm supposed to do with this."

Ladybug took the glow sticks out of the bag and cracked them all, causing them to light up. She could see, but just a little. She could hear weapons clanking against each other, so she ran in that direction. She got close enough for the glow sticks to shine on Night Hollow. Ladybug put most of the glow sticks in the string wrapped around her waist. She took one of the glow sticks and ripped it open, splattering the glowing liquid onto Night Hollow.

Night Hollow slipped into her shadow and appeared elsewhere. Night Hollow tried to wipe off the glow, but that only spread it out. Ladybug pointed at Night Hollow, able to see her at a distance. "There you are." As the battle continued, Ladybug kept splattering more glowing liquid on Night Hollow. Ladybug could fight even better, not needing to manage the flashlight.

Ladybug saw the glow on Night Hollow's arm rise up and she heard the rippling sound. She knew what was coming. She used her yoyo string to block the attack, and when the blade dissipated, Ladybug wrapped the string around Night Hollow's arm. Using the string, she flung Night Hollow overhead and slammed her back down.

Night Hollow laid motionless. Ladybug and Cat Noir gathered around her, ready to end it. Night Hollow quickly fell into her shadow and appeared right in front of them, standing up. She lunged forward and grabbed both of them by the necks. Daylight returned as they were both drained of their motivation. Each of them looked darker than everything around them. They stopped fighting back and fell to their knees before Night Hollow. She created a blade made of darkness and was about to strike Cat Noir. At this, Ladybug became furious. She was no longer darkened. She had fire. Ladybug grabbed the falling blade, not letting it touch Cat Noir. It burned, but she didn't care. The blade dissipated and Ladybug hit Night Hollow with an uppercut so powerful it shot her into the air. Ladybug threw her yoyo and wrapped the string all over Night Hollow. When she landed, Night Hollow tried to make her armor fly off, but the string kept it all held together. Ladybug got on top of Night Hollow and punched her helmet over and over. It went on for a long time. Each hit was filled with rage. Night Hollow's helmet was strong, but Ladybug's fury was stronger. The helmet cracked more and more until it finally broke in half. The akuma flew out of it and Ladybug purified it. After untying Juleka, Ladybug threw the empty bag into the air and shouted, "Miraculous Ladybug!" All the damages done to the house were undone. Cat Noir stood up, no longer darkened.

Juleka asked, "What happened?"

Instead of answering her question, Ladybug said, "I think you should have a talk with Marinette. Preferably in person."

"Um. Do you know where she is?"

Ladybug asked, "Cat Noir, could you take her to the bridge where Andre is usually set up? She can find Marinette there."

"Can do, Muh Lady."

Cat Noir had carried Juleka to the bridge a little slower than he could have, giving Marinette time to get there first. Juleka met Marinette and said, "I know you're dating Adrien!"

Marinette said, "Listen, I promise you I didn't start dating Adrien until after Luka and I broke up."

Juleka crossed her arms and mumbled, "Yeah right."

"Juleka, I wouldn't have done that to anyone; especially since he's your brother."

"Why does that matter?"

"Because we're friends."

"A friend wouldn't steal my bike," Juleka pouted.

"I borrowed your bike, returned it and paid for the repairs. You know what a friend would do?"

"What?" she asked with scrutinizing eyes.

"A friend would always assure you that you can do the things that scare you. Haven't I always pushed you to go further out of your shell?"

Juleka dropped her scrutiny. "I guess."

"Juleka, I'm sorry that you're hurting. But you can't live in denial about your brother. Do you really think I'm to blame for him attacking someone with a knife? Even if I did cheat on him, which you know deep down I didn't, would that really justify what he did?"

Juleka let it sink in. She realized it was Luka's fault; no one else's. Tears filled her eyes. "Your right. I'm sorry I was so quick to assume. I just can't hold on to it; you know. I know he did something horrible, I just can't keep believing it."

"I get it. Does this mean we can be friends again?"

Juleka looked to the side shyly. "On one condition."

"Anything."

"Could you ask your boyfriend not to brag about putting my brother away in front of me?"

Marinette thought that sounded reasonable. She nodded and said, "I can do that."

Juleka put on a week smile. "Then, yeah. We can be friends."

Marinette and Juleka gave each other a hug. It felt nice for Juleka to not have all that anger anymore. A giant weight had been lifted off both of them. After they parted, Marinette asked, "Hey, Juleka?"

"Yeah?"

"If you don't mind my asking, how did you find out about me and Adrien?"

"I got a picture texted to me," Juleka answered.

Marinette felt a jolt in her heart. She thought, "Someone took a picture of us? How? Did they take it through Adrien's window?" Marinette asked out loud, "Could I see that picture?"

Juleka said, "Sure," brought up the picture on her phone, and handed it to Marinette.

She studied it closely. The picture displayed Adrien and Marinette alone on the Eifel Tower. Marinette furrowed her eyebrows, not remembering this moment. She looked closer. There was a vague outline around each of them. And the scaling was just a little bit off. Marinette thought, "This moment never happened. This picture is a fake. Whoever sent this doesn't actually know that Adrien and I are actually dating. They just sent this to make Juleka upset. Someone was trying to get her akumatized. But who would do that?" Marinette took a look at the caller ID and immediately became so angry that her face was twitching and her hand was shaking. She could barely keep Juleka from knowing how angry she was. It was Lila who sent the picture.

Marinette handed the phone back and said, "Thank you, Juleka. Listen, it would mean a lot to me if you didn't tell anyone about me and Adrien. We want it to come from us at the right time."

Juleka said, "Alright, see you around."

Marinette said pleasantly, "See you."

Once their backs were turned, Marinette's face contorted with rage as she dreamed of ways to punish Lila for her transgressions. Marinette walked back to Cat Noir on the side of the bridge. She kept her eyes off of him so he wouldn't think it was him she was mad at. Marinette looked around to make sure they were alone and said with smoldering hatred, "I have good news and I have useful news."

"Is that why your about to explode?" Cat Noir asked.

"Oh yes. The good news is, Hawk Moth doesn't know about us; which means he doesn't know about you."

"And the 'useful' news?"

"Lila is working with Hawk Moth."

"What? How do you know?"

Marinette answered, "She sent a fake picture of us together so Juleka would try to kill me. And besides that, at the fashion show, Hawk Moth was able to turn her into Kitsune a little too quickly. Like she had already agreed to it."

Cat Noir wanted to be sad that she would do this. But really, it wasn't that surprising. "And you're calling this useful news because . . . ?"

"Because we don't know where Hawk Moth is, but she might."

Thankfully, Alya knew where Lila lived, because Marinette and Adrien had no idea until they asked her. Marinette knocked on the apartment door, expecting to be answered by Lila. The door was opened by Lila's mother instead. Marinette had to improvise. "Hello," she said pleasantly. "My name is Marinette Dupain-Chang. Is Lila home? I heard she got akumatized and I wanted to make sure she was okay."

"Lila is doing fine. But she's not here right now." That was two bits of horrible news.

"Where is she?"

Ms. Rossi said proudly, "Well, my little girl is helping build a soup kitchen by day and she's going to be raising money for mental health awareness by night."

Marinette was disheartened. She hoped that Lila's own mother would be able to figure out she's obviously lying from time to time.

Ms. Rossi continued, "You know, I had no idea that the best time for fund raising was in the middle of the night. But if my daughter says it is, it must be true."

Marinette asked, "Do you know when Lila will be back?"

"She told me that she'll be home tomorrow night."

"That's very helpful. Thank you, Ms. Rossi. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to make my visit a surprise, so could you not tell her I was here?"

"Sure. You're such a good friend. I expected you to be a brute. I'm glad to see how well you've reformed after all the accounts of assault and battery on an officer."

Marinette wanted so badly to tell her that no such accounts existed, but she knew she wasn't going to win in a match of her word against Lila's. Instead, Marinette asked, "What else did Lila tell you about me?"

Ms. Rossi said comfortingly, "That you just finished serving your sentence and you are already facing drug addiction. I'm so proud of my daughter for helping you work through your self-destructive tendencies."

Marinette sighed.

"Listen, if you ever need a place to hide from your abusive parents . . ."

"YOU KNOW WHAT!? I just remembered that there's another girl at school named Marinette . . . Dupain Chang," she added, remembering that she used her full name earlier. "You must have the two of us confused. See you later."

Marinette marched away, even closer to exploding.

Marinette went outside and signaled for Cat Noir to come down from the window. He acknowledged and went to an alley to detransform. They had it all planned out. Marinette was going to be all cool, pretending she didn't know about Lila and Hawk Moth. She was going to talk her into going to her room with her. She was going to make up an excuse to open the window. And then Cat Noir was going to come in and demand to know where Hawk Moth was. They even had a plan to pretend Cat Noir was akumatized to explain why he would carry Lila off against her will. But their plans were all blown (for now, at least).

Adrien met Marinette and asked, "What happened?"

Marinette answered bitterly, "Lila's mother told me that she's building a soup kitchen for insane orphans or some used toilet paper like that. I don't know what she's really up to, but her mom also told me that she'll be back tomorrow night."

"Sounds like we've got some time to kill."

Marinette asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

"I was thinking maybe we could fit in our first official date."

Marinette liked the idea so much, it almost made her not angry. Marinette said, "I could use a chance to relax, actually. And it's not like we'd be slacking off. The next step in our plan is just waiting until Lila gets back. So, where are you taking me?"

Adrien said with an over the top tone, "To the Eifel Tower! To the finest restaurant that doesn't require a reservation! After that, we can see where the night takes us when Paris is ours."

Marinette said, "That sounds perfect."

Adrien thought nervously, "And then, I'll have something very important to ask of her."

Author's Note: You might think I'm going to stop asking you to consider reading Disney Princesses: Extermination. BUT I WILL NEVER STOP ASKING YOU TO CONSIDER READING DISNEY PRINCESSES: EXTERMINATION! So, if you're interested, please consider reading my other fanfiction, Disney Princesses: Extermination.

Thank you for reading and I hope you come back for more of my work.