"Well, that didn't go well," Plagg said, appearing from within Adrien's jacket.
Adrien rested his face against the bars of his cage. "You're right, it didn't." He closed his eyes, trying to stop the flow of tears.
"Kid, what's wrong?" Plagg asked. "You can just cataclysm your way out of this."
"I know that, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't help her." Adrien gripped the bars harder, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.
"What's the big deal? You'll just beat her as Cat Noir." Plagg shrugged. "Come on, say it with me: 'Plagg, claws out!'"
"I don't want to hurt her." Adrien sighed and slapped his palm against the cage. "Even though she's been akumatized, she still wants to help others. She imprisoned me here to keep me safe."
"Listen, Adrien, I know Marinette is your friend, but you have to fight her in order to save Paris." Plagg shook his head. "Besides, she won't remember anything from her time spent akumatized."
Adrien's eyebrows furrowed, and he hesitated for a moment longer. "Fine." He stood up, squaring his shoulders and wiping the tears from his face. "Plagg, claws out!"
The transformation into Cat Noir overtook his body, and power rushed through his veins, giving him more confidence. "Cataclysm!" he commanded, and Plagg's destructive abilities channeled into his hand. Cat Noir swiped his fingers across the bars of the cage, watching as they crumbled into dust.
"Alright, let's go." Cat Noir hesitated for Plagg's response before realizing his kwami couldn't hear him. Using his staff, he vaulted over the rubble, looking for Princess Justice, Rena Rouge, or Carapace.
There, just ahead of him, in an area where no rubble littered the ground, Princess Justice stood over an unconscious Rena Rouge.
Cat Noir landed in front of Princess Justice just as she reached for Rena Rouge's miraculous. "WAIT!" he yelled, and Princess Justice paused, turning her blue eyed gaze on him.
He swallowed. "Don't you want to keep Paris safe Mari—Princess?" He cringed at his slip up. Cat Noir wouldn't know who Princess Justice really was, only Adrien would. He had to be more careful. "Rena Rouge is a superhero. She's protected Paris from danger with Ladybug and me several times. Why would you take her miraculous?"
Princess Justice sneered at him. "Ladybug made a mistake when she gave this rat a miraculous."
Cat Noir shook his head. "Ladybug doesn't make mistakes."
Princess Justice straightened, her nostrils flaring at the assertion. "Yes she does. Ladybug is human, just like you." Her eyes flashed, and the staff in her hand trembled. "Under all that pressure, with all those responsibilities, don't you think Ladybug would make at least one mistake?"
Cat Noir bit his lip. He had struck a nerve, but why? It seemed as if Marinette didn't like Ladybug, but he couldn't understand why. There had never been any animosity between them, had there? "Ladybug is human, true, but she always knows what to do." He glanced around. Where was she, anyway?
The princess nodded. "You're right. She does always know what to do." She poked Rena Rouge with her staff. "This girl doesn't deserve a miraculous. She believed a stranger over her own best friend. Someone like that can't be trusted to protect Paris."
With one swift motion, Princess Justice stole Rena Rouge's miraculous, and Cat Noir winced, automatically covering his eyes to avoid seeing Rena Rouge's citizen form before he realized he needed to know what Princess Justice was doing.
Cat Noir opened his eyes to see Alya lying where Rena Rouge had been just moments before.
"Alya?" Cat Noir asked, rubbing his eyes briefly to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "That's what you meant . . ." He shook his head. How had Marinette known Alya's secret identity? Had she told her because they were best friends, or had Princess Justice used her powers to learn the truth?
"Yes," Princess Justice said. One of her eyebrows inched up her forehead. "Someone who betrays their best friend can't be trusted with a miraculous." She shrugged as she placed the fox miraculous around her neck. "You should really be thanking me. Now you don't have to work with a traitor."
Cat Noir swallowed. He hated to admit it, but he saw her point. Alya hadn't sided with her own best friend, so who was to say she would always stay on Ladybug's side? Perhaps Alya was Ladybug's biggest fan, but she had also been Marinette's biggest fan before Lila came around.
But he couldn't admit that, not to an akumatized Marinette. He would tell her later, after he saved her from Hawk Moth. "What are you going to do with that miraculous?" He knew she knew how to use it, after all, she had wielded the mouse miraculous, however briefly.
"Oh, you'll see." She grinned. "Don't worry, the best is yet to come."