Summary:
Marinette makes a mistake; Tikki suggests they start looking for a new Black Cat sooner rather than later.
Chapter: Do You Feel It? P.2
Marinette lives in a world where she is in the wrong, where she is mean and 'vicious'. Slowly the world she lives in has become dull and grey. She now lives in a world where her taste buds stopped registering the taste of foods that she once loved and enjoyed gratefully. She found that she couldn't enjoy her favorite flavors anymore, that everything she ate, would just taste bland and dull. Things would sometimes taste like nothing. Among the new things she started to notice, she realized that her days seemed to just drag on, it was a cycle, she did the same things everyday and it made her days feel long. People didn't talk to her, everyone just ignored her, isolated her. No one wanted to be involved with her, everyone shunned her and shut her out, leaving her to wander aimlessly through her classes as an outsider.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng found that her precious creativity left her. She found that the sweets her father made for her tasted like nothing. The teen also couldn't help but notice something else, these days it felt like she was looking through a filtered lens, everything looked grey or a cold detached color, nothing looked lively or vibrant as it used to.
Everything right, had gone wrong. Unfairly wrong.
And it was getting to her. She was starting to grow tired and angry.
It wasn't fair.
Marinette had spent the past 15 minutes hiding out in the least visited bathroom, relieved that this school had a least visited spot at all. She had been trying to collect herself, preparing herself to return to class. But she found it harder than she thought. Each time the thought of returning back to class flashed across her mind, she internally panicked. She was frustrated, she felt her grief turning into...anger. Anger because all of her classmates whom had considered her a friend once, didn't actually know her like she thought they did. They turned on her, all of them. Each and every one of them.
"Mari.", Tikki spoke in a soft tone.
Marinette's expression darkened, her broken expression was replaced with a hardened look. "What.", she said.
Plagg sighed as he sat on the ground, observing the human that he was going to be sharing with Tikki temporarily until Marinette found a new Black Cat she could 'trust'. Plagg couldn't help but feel that at the rate things were going, a person that Marinette could 'trust', wouldn't be popping up any time soon. Plagg had a feeling that he would be stuck with Marinette for a little longer than Master Fu estimated. Plagg knew the human girl was capable of being a great miraculous wielder, she was Tikki's chosen after all, and both got along perfectly...until this mess started. It seemed that Marinette was reaching the end of her rope, and that worried Plagg.
After all, Marinette now had the two most powerful miraculouses in her possession.
Plagg couldn't help but wonder what exactly Fu was thinking when he turned the ring over to Marinette after her took it from Adrien's unconscious body. He was a little anxious, but if Tikki trusted Marinette, then he had to too, Tikki was a great judge of character, she never let him down before.
It seemed only time would tell where this mess would take them.
Chloé sighed deeply, she'd been trying to track the Dupain-Cheng down. She couldn't shake the odd feeling that was causing her stomach to get knotty, she couldn't help but feel this gnawing feeling tug at her the moment she saw the Baker girl sluggishly enter the class. While she and the girl never saw eye to eye and fought for the majority of the time they've known each other, she couldn't help but feel like someone had punched her in the gut the day she saw Alya push Marinette down to the ground in the locker room back when Lila first started accusing Marinette of 'bullying' her
The way all their peers gathered around to shun the Dupain-Cheng, all of them teaming up against her, belittling her. It made Chloé feel sick.
Alix was more cruel than she ever thought the girl was. The teen was a huge Lila supporter, along with Alya, the two of them put together, obliterated Marinette in seconds.
Chloé never saw it coming, she expected the class to back their 'everyday Ladybug', but she was wrong, everyone just fell under Lila's spell, all of them doing whatever she wanted. Everyone chose a girl they hardly knew over a girl they've known since they were children. The heiress frowned heavily as she walked the halls of the school, going bathroom to bathroom, going out of her way to find the girl she had once deemed an enemy. A soft sigh escaped passed parted lips, she approached the last girls bathroom and walks up to the door, she hesitates for a moment, she swallows thickly and she finally pushes the door and enters it, and as she does, she sees the person she's been looking for, sitting on the floor, hugging her knees, a distant look in her tired looking eyes.
"Dupain-Cheng.". The Bourgeois says the name softly, slowly she walks towards the girl.
Marinette doesn't move, she merely hums, her lips pressed into a tight line.
Chloé feels a pang in her chest, she winces slightly. Her eyes roaming over the teens disheveled appearance, after a few moments of staring at the girl on the floor, she sighs and tears her eyes off the girl, raising a hand to anxiously rub her arm. "Are you okay?", Chloé asks hesitantly. She returns her gaze to the teen and finds Marinette looking at her with a watery gaze. She feels another pang in her chest, she feels her stomach tighten, she feels nauseous.
The ravenette stares at the blonde for a few silent moments. The Dupain-Cheng wears an expression Chloé cannot read. "Leave me alone.", She finally mutters, her eyes growing more watery.
The blonde's lips part and close, she thinks before she speaks, taking in the fact that she doesn't know how delicate Marinette has become. Her eyes searching those watery dull blue eyes that used to be filled with a fierce lively gaze. Chloé softened her gaze, she relaxes and gets her thoughts and words together. "Marinette.", she starts. The name feels so foreign as it slipped passed her lips. She sees said girl's shoulders twitch for a moment.
Marinette's expression shifts to one of confusion, her eyes narrowed slightly, almost as if she was trying to see through the blonde. Almost as if Marinette was trying to get a read on what Chloé's intentions were.
The atmosphere in the bathroom suddenly feels heavy, it's almost suffocating.
Lips part, "What do you want, Chloé?", Marinette says, "Come to kick me while I'm already down?", the teen asks, a cold look fills blue eyes. Pink lips press into a tight firm frown. Eyebrows furrowed.
The blonde presses her lips together, fists balling up, a part of her wanting to snap back at the girl, but before she could, she reminded herself why she was here. The heiress sucks in a breath and softly exhales it, she collects herself. "Have you told your parents?", Chloé ignores Marinette words. She feels a little proud of herself.
The sound of a tongue clicking echoed in the bathroom, Marinette looked away, not answering the question that was asked.
Chloé sighs again and starts to move, she cautiously draws closer to the girl that once had everything. Her legs carry her until she is standing over her childhood enemy, "Get up.", Chloé says softly, yet demandingly as she looks down at the girl.
A glare washes over Marinette's face. But Chloé remains unfazed, she knows better, she knows that however Marinette acts towards her, is all misdirected anger and stress. Chloé had somehow found it in herself to understand someone else and their problems. She couldn't just stand by and not do anything any longer, she didn't understand why she suddenly just 'woke' up in class today, she didn't know exactly what changed inside of her, but all she knew, was that something bad was happening to someone that didn't deserve it and it was just wrong. She felt as if she's stood by long enough.
"Leave me alone.", Marinette growls under her breath, her nose flares slightly as her eyebrows furrow even harder. She wears a threatening gaze. It was clear the girl felt cornered. No doubt she would lash out on Chloé.
"Marinette, I'm not here to hurt you-"
"You? Hurt me?", Marinette cut the girl off and snickered bitterly, "Sorry, you're a little late to the party.", the teen sneered.
Chloé narrowed her eyes a bit, she felt her heart thump just a little faster, she felt the familiar sensation of impatience crawling over her. "I'm being serious.", the Bourgeois says, voice growing firm. "I just want to help you.", the blonde says slowly.
Marinette's face seems to get flooded with surprise, but quickly, the look is washed over with something else. "You. Help me?", Marinette releases a half scuff, half chuckle. "Since when you do help anyone other than yourself?"
Lips twitch, Chloé finds that Marinette is starting to wear on her patience faster than she thought the girl would. 'She's upset', Chloé reminds herself, repeating the reasoning behind Marinette's attitude towards her, to herself. "Get off the floor."
"No.", Marinette snarls.
Chloe frowns now and she bends down, reaching for the teen.
"NO!", Marinette practically screams, a furious expression takes over her face. She slaps Chloé's hands away and pushes herself back against the wall, using it to quickly slide her back up against it to quickly shuffle up to her feet. "Leave me alone!", the teen yells and before the blonde can react, Marinette suddenly pushes her hard. Hard enough to wind and send Chloé backwards and off her feet.
"Umph!", Chloé loses her balance, she falls onto her back and slides a foot or two across the bathroom floor. A look of surprise fills her facial features, but just as quickly as it showed, it was replaced by a look of pure anger, Chloé sits up and gets to her feet and in blind anger she rushes forwards, she makes to push the girl she was trying to help, "You little-!", and just as Chloé hands make contact with Marinette's chest, she finds that her attempt at pushing hardly moves the taller girl, and before she knows it, Marinette roughly grabs her by the collar of her jacket and turns them around, pushing her hard against the cement wall, pinning her back against it. Chloé turns away from the angry girl, wondering how it could have turned into this, wondering if she made the wrong choice in trying to help the Dupain-Cheng. Regret started to make it's way over her. Hands grasped at the front of Marinette's shirt, no doubt the material of the shirt would be wrinkled due to how tightly she gripped it.
Marinette sneered. She felt her body boiling hot with anger, she blindly raised her hand, balling it up, cocking it back, as if she was going to hit Chloé, but before she could do such a thing, she felt pinching on her sides and ribs, she winced and bit her tongue. Anger still clouding her better judgement, she hissed and yelled at the blonde, taking out her pent up frustrations on the blonde that turned away from her, "Why wouldn't you leave me alone!", Marinette yells, furiously, her thoughts became a jumbled mess, her vision grew cloudy and blurry, "I warned you!", the ravenette yells again, quite red faced.
Chloé winces and flinches, she starts to push against the girl's chest, her hands resting against the chest, she could feel the girl's body heat radiating through the material of the shirt. "Get off me!", Chloé yells as she starts to struggle, pushing and pushing. Trying to get the girl off her, but finds it futile as Marinette is stronger than she ever could have expected. She hits the Dupain-Cheng's chest twice and then out of growing desperation she suddenly slaps Marinette across the face, causing the teen to turn away.
The sound of the slap echoes loudly inside the bathroom. The sound of heavy breathing soon fills the bathroom.
Chloé's eyes are watery, she pants, trying to catch her breath. Her heart's racing.
Marinette remains with her face turned, eyes wide, lips parted in surprise, cheeks wet with tears.
"How fucking dare you.", Chloé huffs, tears running down her cheeks now, her lashes glistened with the salty liquid. "How fucking dare you.", she repeats again.
Marinette remains silent, facing the bathroom door, her heart racing hard and fast in her chest, guilt starting to bubble from within her. She feels pinching at her sides and ribs again, her thoughts start to clear as the fog of anger begins to lift. Tikki and Plagg were both pinching her from inside her shirt, not her jacket pocket, they both crawled up her shirt. Marinette could feel both kwamis against the skin over her ribs, she feels more pain from the side Plagg was no doubt on, she feels what has to be Plaggs pointy nails digging into her skin. She snaps out of it and turns to Chloé with wide eyes as realization washes over like a bucket of cold water.
Tears ran down pink cheeks, lips quivered, blue eyes looked...afraid.
Marinette closed her mouth and then opened it, her lips trembled, she was going to apologize, but just as she made to talk, Chloé silenced her with another slap, this one was more stronger, more firmer, it made more contact with the left side of her face than the clumsy desperate slap Chloé gave her earlier. The teen stumbled back, finally giving the blonde space. The faint taste of copper getting picked up by her taste buds. She looks down to the floor, licking her lips, her tongue ran over the source of the copper like taste. The corner of her bottom lip split.
"How dare you lay your hands on me.", the heiress breathed out, anger shaking her voice. She huffed and puffed, hands balled up by her sides now, Chloé suddenly flinched, she felt a sharp pain shoot up her finger on her right hand. She unballed her hands and brought her right hand up to her field of vision, she noticed blood covering the tip of her middle finger, she grit her teeth as she noticed that her nail had split. She quickly concludes that it must have happened when Marinette pushed her to the floor. "Fuck you.", Chloé growls as she brings her right her close to her chest, holding it with her left hand, new tears rolled down her cheeks.
Marinette finally looks up, she feels a knot build in her throat, guilt hits her hard, it almost leaves her breathless, her breath hitches, "Chloé, I-"
"Fuck you.", the blonde growls out again, her voice cracks, she looks furious, she looks as though she wants to hit Marinette again. "This is what I get...for fucking caring.", Chloé yells, she glares hard at the girl in front of her.
"I-I'm sorry, Chloé I-"
"Don't fucking talk to me-"
Marinette steps forwards, drawing towards the blonde, fear and regret clear in her expression, "Chloé, I'm so sorry. Please just-"
Chloé doesn't want to hear it, she suddenly rushes forwards and with all her strength, she shoves the ravenette back, most of her strength coming from using her entire body. She falls down with the Baker girl, falling on top of her.
"Omph", Marinette gets the breath knocked out of lungs the moment she lands on her back and Chloé's body falls on top of her. She releases a grunt and groan, eyes screw shut for a moment before opening. "Chloé-", before Marinette could talk more she sees the heiress raise her hand up, she turns away, flinching, screwing her eyes shut again.
The slap both of them expect to happen, doesn't.
Blue eyes open and found the Bourgeois panting, chest heaving, her hand frozen in midair, the blonde stopped herself from hitting her again. Marinette swallows thickly and fully turns her head to face the blonde that straddled her hips. "I'm sorry.", she exhaled shakily, "I just...I fucking…", the ravenette sharply intakes her breath, "...I...snapped...I just…".
There was no excuse, Marinette thought to herself, she should have never put her hands on the blonde, she shouldn't have lost it like that, she hurt the heiress. She did this.
The Bourgeois turned away from her. She felt hot, she'd never lost her temper like that, never. She never expected this to happen, never expected for her and Marinette to lay their hands on each other the way they just did. She felt her anger starting to slowly dissipate. Frustration starting to replace her anger. She broke her nail, she was bleeding from the injury, and it fucking hurt. Slapping the girl didn't help her finger much either. She felt her frustration starting to get the better of her, she brought a hand to her face, she felt whimpers starting to build in her throat, she pressed her lips together, wanting to suppress them. But she failed, and she started to break. She started to cry, bringing her other hand up to her face.
Another sharp jab on the side of ribs, made the Miraculous wielder jump slightly, her breath hitching, she tensed as she felt who she knew was Plagg, poking her hard with his sharp claws once again, she wondered how her sides looked.
Chloé cried softly, whimpering, sobbing. She just wanted to help, she thought that maybe she could help the Dupain-Cheng. But clearly she was wrong. "You fucking jerk.", the heiress whimpered into her hands.
Marinette felt her heart ache, she did this, she hurt someone who was probably trying to help her. Her anger, her stress and frustration got the best of her. Everything she kept shoving down and bottling up, all came up to the surface, she lost herself and hurt someone. "Chloé, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.", she started to say, her voice getting desperate. She messed up. She-
And in seconds all of Marinette's thoughts disappeared as she caught a glimpse of that familiar black butterfly coming their way.
"Akuma!", the teen yelled and in an instant, she turned them over. Her body between Chloé's legs, the blonde placed her hands over her shoulders and started to dig her nails into them. The taller girl grit her teeth slightly as she felt pain from the blonde digging her nails into her shoulders.
"Get off me!", the blonde yelled, wanting to get out from under Marinette.
"No- Wait, Chloé, just...ah, stop digging your nails-". The ravenette winced, "Please, relax, just for a second- ahh-"
Chloé glared hard, digging her nails even harder into the clothed shoulders, "I'm fucking pissed at you!", the blonde yelled.
"I-I know, I know! I fucked up, I hurt you, I'm sorry! Just please...please I'm begging you, relax, I can't...I won't be able to live with myself if I got you akumatized. Please, Chloé!", the teen begged. Begged for the blonde to just relax for a few seconds to keep the Aluma at bay, but it seemed that the akuma was flying closer and closer. Marinette felt movement from within her shirt, she knew the kwamis were both now aware of the Akuma's presence, "Please, please-", fresh tears started to escape her eyes, they rolled down her cheeks, "Chloé, please-"
The heiress pressed her lips into a tight line as she saw the Akuma drawing closer and closer to them, 'Fuck, Fuck…', Chloé clenched her jaw tightly. "Even if I relax, the stupid Akuma's still coming for you.", Chloé panted out as she stopped digging her nails into the tense shoulders, "One of us is still getting Akumatized."
Marinette screwed her eyes shut, she had very little choices in what to do, she knew that what Chloé was saying was true, one of them would still be akumatized. "I…", she started to feel panic rise up from within her, she searched Chloé's eyes frantically, "I…", One solution came to mind, a very reckless one. "Plagg!", Marinette suddenly yelled out.
Chloé raised her eyebrows sharply, she was going to say something, but quickly all words died off in her mouth when she saw what she knew was a being of a familiar species suddenly escape from Marinette's shirt through her collar.
"Kid!", Plagg yelled as he flew up, he saw the akuma already two feet from them. He knew that this action would change a lot of things, before they were ever really ready to change.
Marinette then sat up on her knees, she gave Chloé one last desperate look and suddenly brought her right hand up to her field of vision, she then brought her left hand to her right hand and she grabbed the silver ring that had been worn backwards, she's turns it and raises her right hand over her head, the hand that had the silver ring wrapped around the ring finger. "Plagg, Claws out!". In a single flash, a Cat themed hero was before Chloé. A hero that very much wore a costume that resembled Chat Noir's own. The ravenette's pigtails were gone, her hair was now a loose unruly mess, her soft blue eyes, were now a much more vibrant color of piercing blue. The bell on the costume's collar was silver instead of gold.
Without waiting another second, Marinette spoke again, "Cataclysm!", she called out as she threw her right gloved hand up over her head and just like that the power of destruction was granted to her, she screwed her eyes shut, "Hang on to me, Chloé!", Marinette said and without waiting for Chloé to process what was happening, the miraculous wielder used her power of destruction against the floor, pressing her hand against the area of the floor beside the side of the blonde's head and the ground gave away in an instant, disintegrating, making both teens fall through to what they knew was the bathroom beneath the one they were in.
Chloe wrapped her arms around the...hero's neck. Holding onto her tightly as they fell down.
"I got you!", Marinette said as she extended her baton to the floor beneath them and the ceiling above them, she wrapped an arm around the teen and held her tightly against her side as she used her other hand to keep a safe grip on the extended staff, they descended quickly and safely down to the next bathroom thanks to the extended staff. "Ngh!", Marinette's boots touched the floor first, she then made her staff go back to a more smaller and manageable size, she reached behind herself and attached it to her belt, she then bent a little and slipped her other arm under Chloé's legs and scooped her up into her arms and she fled with the blonde. She kicked the bathroom door down and jumped onto the closest stair rail nearby and then jumping off of it to get to the open roof of the school.
All the while Marinette carried her away from the Akuma, Chloé had blanked out, not quite fully processing what just happened. She was confused, baffled and so lost. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a miraculous holder, and not just of any miraculous, but the girl was in possession of Chat Noir's miraculous? Her thoughts started to come back to her, she started to think more clearly once she and the miraculous holder landed on the roof of their school.
Marinette clenched her jaw a bit, she stopped and dropped the the blonde on the roof, she looked at the girls face, trying to get a read on her. "Stay here, Chloé. I'll be back for you.", the taller teen said. Her expression was glum.
The blonde merely nods, still stuck in awe and surprise.
The ravenette then spun around and ran off, jumping off the roof and started her search for the Akuma. She knew very well that the akuma would stick around the school ground to try and weed out another potential target. She had to find it and transform into Ladybug to de-evilize it before it hurt anyone.
"Chat Noir!?", came a surprised voice, followed by many murmurs and gasps.
Marinette's shoulders twitched slightly as she recognized the voice.
"The bathroom's a wreck!", another voice shouted out.
Marinette sucked in a breath, she turned around slowly and as soon as she did, she saw Alya already with her phone out, no doubt recording. Her eyes darted around, she finds many of her peers and other students from other classes outside of their class, all looking around or at her.
"You're not Chat Noir.", Alix speaks up from behind Alya.
"Yeah, Where's Chat Noir?", Sabrina soon popped up from the crowd, asking.
Marinette sighs deeply and gives it to them straight. "The Chat Noir you all knew became unworthy of the miraculous. He was stripped of it.", the girl says as she hardens her gaze.
Everyone seems surprised and baffled, everyone but Alya and Nino, the two teens look...relieved.
Alya sighs deeply, "So...are you the new Chat Noir?", she asks, her voice shakes slightly.
Everyone falls silent for a moment.
Marinette sighs and looks up suddenly, she finds Chloé staring at her from the edge of the roof. Alya and everyone else follows the Miraculous wielder's gaze, they all see Chloé watching them intensely.
"Chloé?!", Ms. Bustier calls out as she gets to the metal rail, her hands grip it.
The teen groans and returns her gaze to Alya and her phone. "There's an Akuma flying about, you should all evacuate.", the hero says calmly yet authoritatively. She avoids answering the question.
Everyone nods and starts to run towards the stairs so they could all descend them and leave. Everyone but Alya and Nino. Both teens stay behind with the 'new' hero.
"What?", Marinette speaks a bit roughly, she sees both Nino and Alya flinch a bit.
Alya suddenly stops recording and put her phone into her pocket, "Ladybug took back Chat Noir's miraculous and picked you to take over?", The brunette asks. Clearly she's curious and can't help but ask questions. It was just yesterday that Chat Noir had done what he did. Ladybug worked fast to strip him of his powers.
Nino looked at the hero before him, observing her, "Ladybug sure worked fast on getting a new Chat Noir-"
And as she heard that name once more, Marinette snapped, "Do not call me Chat Noir.", the teen said roughly, eyes narrowing, "Stop calling me that.", she practically growled. "Now get out of here. Both of you."
The brunette raised an eyebrow, not expecting the teen to snap the way she did, she could tell being called 'Chat Noir' struck some type of cord in the girl, "Woah, chill out-"
Marinette felt anger boil inside her once again, and just as she was going to retort, her ring let out a familiar 'beep', and she had no choice but to go. "When I come back, you two better be out of here. Understood?", the teen stepped towards the two teens quite intimidatingly.
Nino got in front of Alya, he got protective, "Chill out, man.", he frowned heavily.
Marinette stepped off, as she noticed the butterfly finally coming out of the trashed bathroom. She groaned and grabbed her staff, she jumped from where she stood and extended her staff before she could land on the floor, and she quickly disappeared to the opposite side of the roof where Chloé was left on.
Both Nino and Alya turned to look at Chloé, both saw Chloé glare at them suddenly before turning away and getting up, walking on the roof.
"What the hell is going on?", Alya merely groaned.
"Claws In.", Marinette groaned as she got to a hiding spot.
Just as the girl lost the transformation Plagg started to scold. Something that was hardly in his nature. "You revealed yourself to Chloé! You're being even more reckless than the kid before you!", he got in the chosen Ladybug's face, "I thought Ladybug's were supposed to be wise!"
"Plagg, that's enough!", Tikki suddenly appeared. The Kwami was flying over to them.
Plagg hissed, "This master of yours just revealed herself!"
Tikki sighed as she made it to the two. "It's not that bad, Marinette isn't the permanent Black Cat holder."
"Still!", Plagg argued. "She won't be able to use me individually-"
"I can convince Chloé to keep it quite-", Marinette attempted to speak.
"You attacked the poor girl!", Plagg yelled over the teen, "You attacked her and you expect her to listen you after what you did!", the Kwami was losing his temper. He had gotten physical with Adrien once or twice, he bit the boy the first time he kissed Marinette without her permission, the second time, he scratched Adrien because the boy was pestering Marinette yet again. It was rare for him to attack his masters. But lately, it seemed like he was just going to make a habit of it, first Adrien and now Marinette, he was pretty sure that Marinette had bruising along her ribs and her side, he made sure she'd feel it.
Tikki cringed, the earlier incident that led to the Akuma showing up, made her flinch. She's never attacked her masters, never, her latest chosen was the first. She sighed again and shook her head, "Look, stop arguing, the both of you!", Tikki scolded the both of them, "What happened, happened, there's no going back.", Tikki said. "As for keeping Chloé quiet, all we have to do is have Ladybug talk to her. If there's anyone Chloé may listen to, it's Ladybug.", the kwami explained, "Now, Recharge Plagg, cause I think today's the day we begin the search for the new Black Cat.", the Ladybug kwami turned to her chosen and hardened her gaze, "Marinette, your downward spiral has gone on long enough, straighten up or I will be forced to also have you stripped."
Marinette flinched, clearly taken aback by Tikki's threat, unlike whoever Chat Noir was, she wouldn't run, she would willingly turn her miraculous over to Fu if she was deemed no longer fit to be a hero. She swallowed thickly and turned away from Tikki.
Plagg groaned again, Marinette was proving to be harder to reach, "Why Fu allowed you the privilege of carrying both myself and Tikki, is beyond me, kid. But there's not going back right now, you have to take responsibility for the Akuma you and blondie summoned up and take care of it.", the Kwami spoke honestly, "You were a great kid, you still are. I know these past few months have been challenging for you, but I think it's time for you to put that behind you. Stop hanging on to people who weren't worth it from the beginning. They didn't take the time to get to know you, like you did them, they cast you aside.", the kwami drew closer, he was never one to advise, but he saw that the girl was struggling, she hit rock bottom, there was nowhere left but going up from here, and if she failed to do so, then that would be a problem for them.
Tikki looked a little surprised by Plagg's words, he said the things that she didn't dare to say herself. She knew that it was unhealthy for Marinette to hang on to the people that were once her close friends. She knew that letting them go was the only way for Marinette to get better, for Marinette to improve. "Marinette, please, gather yourself."
The teen nodded stiffly and finally turned to look at Tikki, "O-Okay." She breathed out, "Tikki, spots on.". In a flash, Ladybug stood before Plagg, "Lets get to my locker, I have some snacks in my bag you can eat."
The kwami nodded, "Lead the way Kid."
It takes them just a few minutes to reach the locker, Marinette opens it and takes her bag out and feeds Plagg, the kwami doesn't say a word, he just eats what she has and before either of them know it, he's recharged and ready.
"So, Who are you gonna choose for today?", Plagg asks curiously. A part of him knows it's stupid to even ask, Marinette doesn't trust anyone.
"I may have someone.", Marinette quickly answered. Much to Plagg's surprise.
"Who?"
A small half smile formed on pink lips. "You already met her."
Plagg raises an eyebrow, he thinks. After a few moments of pondering, realization and horror flood his facial features, "No.", he says. "No way. Not her."
Marinette shrugs, "It's only temporary.", the ravenette says.
Plagg threw his head back, "Ugh, you are one of the most-Umph!", before Plagg can even finish what he was saying, Marinette merely grabbed him from the air and ran off with him in her grasp. She held him in the hand she wore the ring. "Why you little-!", he trailed off as he started to bite the hand that held him, but it was futile, hit teeth couldn't penetrate the gloved hand.
Marinette sighs as she finally makes it to the roof, she looked around where she had left Chloé, but finds the blonde nowhere in sight. She walked around the roof and comes to the conclusion that the heiress must have left. She groans, of course Chloé doesn't do what she says. Or at least, so she thought.
"Ladybug?", Chloé's voice startles the spotted hero.
Marinette sucks in a breath and collects herself, she was Ladybug right now, not Marinette. "Chloé, I was told you were here.", Ladybug turns around, she forces a small smile.
Chloé raises and eyebrow, her eyes wonder the heroes face for a moment before dropping to the gloved hand that held the familiar 'Plagg' in it. "Marinette's kwami?", her eyes darted back to Ladybugs own.
Ladybug tenses for a moment, she nods slowly, "Yes…", she says cautiously.
Chloé frowns slightly, "Did you...take him away from her?", she asks hesitantly.
There's a short moment of silence between them before an answer comes, Ladybug thinks before she speaks, "Yes.", she finally says, "Marinette compromised her identity and...it's come to my attention that I made an error with her.", she sighs, she reaches out and suddenly holds Plagg out, "Would you...like to help me?"
Plagg looks annoyed, but he mumbles a greeting to the blonde he felt he knew enough of. "Hi, I'm Plagg.", he greets dryly. His voice comes out a little sarcastic as well.
Chloé's eyes widened, "No.", she turns down the offer. It's something neither of them expect, even Plagg is surprised. It catches both Plagg's and Marinette's attention.
"Chloé."
"Look, Dupain-Cheng's going through a lot right now.", The heiress sighed deeply, she raised her uninjured hand to run it through her slightly messy hair, "She's usually kind and easy to deal with. But lately, she's changed, but that isn't her fault, she's...really struggling. Give her another chance."
Ladybug is baffled. She doesn't know how to respond. Chloe just vouched for her, despite what happened between them. Despite her hurting her and yelling at her. Chloe truly has changed, and she didn't even see it coming. She was too caught up in trying to win her old friends back to realize that other people existed around her, people that changed. Maybe Plagg was right. She should just...let the others go, start fresh, make new friends, start over. "I'll give her another chance. As long as you keep her identity under wraps.", Ladybug says softly, she feels her body relaxing in the blonde's presence. She owed the Bourgeois a heartfelt apology.
The blonde smiles weakly.
"But.", Ladybug starts again.
Chloé hums.
"For today, I want you to help me, Marinette wasn't exactly feeling up to one last fight before I took her ring. Can you fill in for now?", Ladybug asks, her smile starts to grow genuine.
The blonde nods, returning her idols smile, "Just for today."
Plagg hums, intrigued, his interest is suddenly peaked. Maybe the Blonde had potential, more so than he first thought.
Welp
Here's an update.Feel free to drop comments/critiques/questions. (Just don't be a jackass about it.)