Thanks to wackus_bonkus for betaing!


At first, Marinette thought she was hallucinating.

It wouldn't be the first time she'd heard Chat Noir's anguished shrieks or seen him out of the corner of her eye. It was especially bad those first few months when she couldn't go through the night without waking up in a cold sweat after having a nightmare of Chat dying, transforming to give him a call—and then remembering it wasn't just a nightmare. That it had actually happened.

Every so often she'd be walking down the street and hear a familiar pun, or catch a glimpse of some cat ears, and her heart would soar for just a moment. Only for reality to come crashing down once she got a closer look and realized the jokester was just some random kid, the cat ears merely accessories on a cat-eared hoodie and not riveted to a familiar mop of blond hair.

So when shadows stretched across the city, cat-eared figures dancing across the walls of her room, she just assumed she was having a worse episode than she'd ever had before.

She buried her face in her pillow, trying to drown out her partner's cries. She could do nothing to save him now.

"Marinette!" Tikki called out urgently.

She looked up, trying to focus on Tikki and not on a nearby twitching shadow of a tail. "Sorry Tikki, I—I can't—I'm seeing him everywhere again, I—"

"Marinette, I see them too!"

What?

She looked up, dropping the pillow she'd been hugging to her chest. "This…how–?" she said numbly.

"I don't know. It feels like Destruction, but…" Tikki looked around as the shadows knocked a few of Marinette's lighter papers onto the ground. "I've never seen this before."

Destruction.

The Black Cat Miraculous.

If it was active again, if Monarch was using it—

Marinette surged to her feet. She couldn't bring Chat Noir back. She'd tried, over and over and over, throwing Lucky Charm after Lucky Charm into the air in the vain hope that this time, somehow, her partner would come back to her.

But she could avenge him. Take back Chat Noir's Miraculous from his murderer, and make him feel the same pain her partner had as he crumbled into dust.

Opening her balcony door, she climbed up, trying to get a better view of the city.

Areas of dark and light intermixed, sending tendrils of darkness racing down the streets. The shrieks from the shadows merged with Parisians' cries of alarm as they ran from the darkness. Any object the shadows passed rattled, some trash cans even tipping over, but so far little harm seemed to have occurred. Those who couldn't avoid the shadows shuddered as the darkness slipped over them, but that appeared to be the only effect.

Squinting, Marinette looked towards the darkest part of the city, a roiling sphere of darkness enveloping some far-away building, occasional bits of white flying off into the distance.

Her heart dropped as she recognized the location. Before she was even consciously aware of her decision, she found herself transformed and racing over rooftops towards a familiar house, one she'd stood nervously outside of many times, trying to figure out some way to persuade the owners to let her in.

Her mind raced almost as fast as her legs. Why would Monarch target the Agreste mansion? And why so destructively, so obviously? If he just wanted the Miraculous Grimoire Gabriel kept, he didn't need to result to those kinds of measures. It's not like any of Gabriel's security systems were powerful enough to stop a motivated Miraculous wielder, especially one with the Horse Miraculous.

No, this looked like he was sending a message, not simply retrieving an item. She swallowed thickly, churning over every time she'd interacted with Adrien as Ladybug. It seemed painfully obvious, looking back on it, how deeply and openly she'd cared for Adrien.

Monarch must have realized it as well, how caring for Adrien gave him another avenue through which to hurt her.

She'd already had one person she cared about stolen from her. She wasn't about to let Monarch kill Adrien as well.


In his bedroom, Luka strummed his guitar, having returned to Paris for summer break. He'd felt on-edge these past few weeks, despite how peaceful Paris had been lately. Reuniting with his family and friends was a treat, but with Monarch still out there…

He frowned. Monarch still hadn't attacked, and he didn't know why. It had something to do with Chat Noir's faked death, he was sure of that, but how those two things connected…

He shook his head. Adrien looked stressed whenever Luka saw him—in person anyway, he looked as immaculate as ever in advertisements and interviews—but otherwise unharmed. Whatever was going on between Adrien and Monarch, it was likely to be delicate, something that could be tipped in a disastrous direction with one wrong move. Without a clear idea of what to do, best to just leave it. He'd just keep checking up on Adrien as he always did to make sure he was okay.

As he was practicing a particular chord progression, a shrieking noise broke his concentration. Shrieks, yells, and screams weren't all that unusual on the Couffaine houseboat, but these had a decidedly less melodious quality to them than normally occurred during band practice. They sounded familiar in a way he didn't like.

Hands shaking, he pulled out his phone, typing in a search for videos of Chat Noir screaming. There were more of them than he would've liked. Heart in his throat, he pressed play.

The screams and shrieks sounded hauntingly close to the cacophony reverberating through his room.

The door of his room banged open. Juleka shot into the room, face bloodless. Luka let his guitar clatter to the ground, catching his twin as she landed next to him, curling up against his side. He hugged her close, gently stroking her hair. "What's going on?" he asked gently. He wanted to just stay here, comforting his sister. But the sounds… if he was right about the culprit…

"Shadows… shrieking… Chat Noir's ghost…" she mumbled, only a few words clear enough for him to make out.

"Shadows?"

She nodded.

Gently, he extricated himself from her grip, wincing as he did so. He didn't want to leave, she needed him, it was the first time in a year since Monarch had last attacked, she didn't want to be alone and—

Another one of Chat Noir's anguished, distorted cries tore through the air.

He winced. Juleka needed him,but Chat Noir—Adrien—needed him more.

"I need to check on something," he said, sending a reassuring smile at his sister that he didn't truly feel. "Don't worry. I'll be back."

She grabbed for his hand. "But—!"

"I'll be safe. I promise. Just stay here and make sure that Mom doesn't panic about both of us being gone. We don't want to provide more targets for Monarch." He winced as he said it. If Juleka was akumatized, it'd be bad. But if Luka was akumatized…

He stopped that train of thought. There was no sense making himself a more tempting target for Monarch than he was already.

Charging out onto the dock, Luka surveyed the city. Shadows flew across the skyline, cries ringing out as they raced by. Sometimes when one held still for just a moment, a swish of a cat tail or twitch of a cat ear could be seen.

His stomach churning, Luka grabbed his bike, heading for the epicenter of the shadowy apocalypse. Pedaling furiously, he cycled towards a place he'd grown familiar with, and one he wished he'd investigated further—the Agreste Mansion.


Ladybug swung through the city, avoiding any stray bit of debris that flew her way. There was surprisingly little. A few trash cans fell over as shadows passed over them, or the occasional flowerpot tipped from its perch, but otherwise not much else.

Or so she thought, until a billboard with Adrien's face crashed to the ground in front of her, the shadows descending on it like hungry ants, ripping it to shreds.

If she'd had any doubts before on whether Monarch was targeting Adrien, they were gone now.

As she approached the mansion, a flash of yellow and blue caught her eye.

She blinked. Why would Luka head towards the screaming maelstrom of darkness and destruction? Sure he was brave and would help any way he could, but he was also sensible. He wouldn't put himself in danger without good reason, not unless he thought he could help.

She bit her lip, conflicted. Any hesitation could cost her, but…

Luka's grim look of concentration as he biked convinced her. She didn't know what was going on, or whether Monarch was even at the center of all this. If Luka was this determined and willing to head into a war zone with no special powers or protection, it was probably important. He might even have information that could help her avenge her partner.

She swung down in front of him. His wheels skidded as he quickly braked, turning to the side to avoid hitting her. "Luka, what are you doing here?" she asked quickly, keeping one eye on the sky. If Monarch was here, she didn't want to miss her chance.

"I saw the shadows and the screams and—Ladybug, do you know what's happening?" he asked. Something in his expression seemed…off. He looked scared, of course, but there was a hint of something else as well. Not quite sorrow, but more like…shame?

Shaking her head, she grimaced. "My kwami says this feels like Destruction, but she's never seen this before. On the way here I saw the shadows rip apart one of Adrien's billboards, and with the centers seeming to come from the Agreste mansion—"

"The shadows are connected to Adrien," Luka said. It sounded less like a realization he'd just come to, and more like a statement of fact.

She frowned. That wasn't how she'd put it, but he wasn't wrong. "They definitely seem to be after—"

A figure moved out of the corner of her eye. Whipping around, she turned to face it, squinting. For a moment she thought it was just another shadow. Then he jumped into the light.

The man (and it was a man, not a shadow) had dark green hair, a tail, and cat ears.

She knew him.

Her eyes widened. "Cat Walker?"

How could he be here? Monarch had the Black Cat Miraculous, not whoever Fu's second choice had been!

Then Monarch leapt up next to Cat Walker, placing a hand on his shoulder.

And Marinette saw red.

As she leapt towards them, she found an unexpected weight clinging onto her arm. "Let GO!" she shouted, wrenching her arm out of Luka's grasp. "Monarch needs to pay!" She trembled, drinking in Cat Walker's falsely innocent-looking form, his princely attire that concealed the blackness of his heart. "And if that traitor's helping that murderer, especially using my partner's Miraculous, he can join him," she hissed.

"Don't hurt that Cat wielder!" Luka insisted. "I don't think he's evil."

"HE'S HELPING A MURDERER!" she yelled, turning away from him. She couldn't let those two sick bastards out of her sight. The scales of justice would be balanced, Monarch's ashes providing recompense for her own failure to protect her partner. If Cat Walker got in her way, he could join his boss.

"CHAT NOIR ISN'T DEAD!"

She froze. "...What did you say?" she whispered.

Luka wouldn't meet her eyes. "Chat Noir isn't dead," he repeated. "Two years ago, I—I saw both you and Chat Noir hit by Wishmaker. I know who both of you are. He's been alive this whole time."

He…knew?

"You—you said you didn't see. I—I asked you if you'd seen!"

"I'm sorry, Marinette," Luka said. "I lied."

"Why? Why would you lie about that?" she asked, her voice building, a year of rage and sorrow and guilt letting loose. "And why would you keep it a secret that Chat Noir's alive?!"

"I didn't know what to do!" he burst out. "Adrien was alive, Chat Noir was dead, Monarch wasn't attacking, and Adrien still had his Miraculous on his finger!"

Her mind stopped. "...Adrien?"

Luka nodded. "Adrien is Chat Noir. Always has been. And he's had his Miraculous on him every time I've seen him."

"You think this other Black Cat is still Adrien," she said.

He nodded. "I don't know for sure, but it seems likely."

Why would Adrien—her kitty—be with Monarch? Why wouldn't Chat Noir tell her he was alive? And why had the attacks stopped for so long? No matter how she turned it over in her head, it didn't make sense.

She knew what others might think—that her partner had betrayed her, that Adrien wasn't who she had always thought he was.

She couldn't believe that. Even when Félix (she suppressed a rush of rage thinking of him) had pretended to be Adrien, she hadn't fallen for it. She knew he'd never say those things, that something more had to be going on. With Adrien also being Chat Noir, the thought of him betraying her, betraying Paris, was impossible. He'd never hurt his friends if he could help it, and he'd rather die than hurt her. He'd proven that often enough.

No. Something more was going on here. And if Monarch got between her and rescuing her partner, she'd put him through the same fate she'd thought he'd inflicted on Chat Noir.

"I won't hurt him," she promised, her gut churning at the thought. If Luka hadn't stopped her, hadn't fessed up…what would she have done? She turned a hard glare on her friend. "But we're talking about this later."

Luka winced, but nodded.

She threw out her yo-yo, swinging towards Monarch and her partner, and hopefully some answers too.

She didn't see the tendril of darkness deposit a small bracelet at Luka's feet.