Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or it's characters.
Chapter 3,
A strong emotional wave washed over Hawk Moth as the window opened. He smiled widely at all of the pain and frustration that fueled his desire to help and aid this ailing soul.
"Rejected by love is one thing. But to be completely hated by the person you desire is another." Hawk Moth said and a Moth came to his hand and he infused it with dark energy.
"Fly away my little akuma and evilize her broken heart.
Marinette didn't say a word to her parents when she got home. She just sulked upstairs to her room letting the tears fall down her face. She sniffed and closed her door as quietly as possible. That's when she really let it all out. She pressed her back against the wall and let out sob after sob until her knees gave out. She fell into her hands and cringed at the pain. Tikki wanted to give Marinette privacy, but she knew something was major wrong.
"Marinette! What happened to your hand?" Tikki asked and Marinette looked at her hand, which already had dark bruises. No doubt it will look even worse by the end of the day.
"A-a..." Marinette could barely form the words, seeing her hand brought on a harsher wave of tears that burned Marinette's eyes.
"A what, a what?" Tikki asked asked and Marinette curled up into a tiny ball, cradling her hand as she went.
"Ad-drien." Marinette wailed and Tikki's eyes widened.
"Surely you're not telling me that Adrien is the one who busted your hand up." Tikki said and Marinette just cried, and cried, and cried.
"He-he hates me so much. He made me feel s-so worthless." Marinette said after a few minutes.
"You're not worthless Marinette. You mean a lot to your family and friends. Besides, without you, all of Paris would crumble at the hands of Hawk Moth. Paris needs Ladybug, Marinette." Tikki said.
"Well, maybe I'm just a bad Ladybug." Marinette said and she took off her earrings and shoved them into Tikki's fingerless hands.
"I'm just as pathetic as that mask I've been making for the school dance." Marinette whispered and Tikki looked over at the mask. Normally she hates it when Marinette removes her miraculous, but right now she needed to help her friend feel better. So Tikki put the Ladybug earrings away in their formal box, and then she grabbed the mask.
"Please stop crying Marinette; your mask is wonderful." Tikki said and she put the mask on Marinette.
"You know, everyone wears a mask, Tikki. I always thought Adrien was a good guy, but... now..." Marinette looked at her hand and started crying again. Tikki sighed, there wasn't much for her to do now, but wait. Tikki flew over and she sat on the miraculous box. But then she saw a dark moth approaching Marinette's window.
"AH!" Tikki said and Marinette looked at her Kwami. The dark moth flew between the glass and the frame and over to Marinette.
"Tikki! Take the miraculous and go find Cat Noir, RUN!" Marinette said, and Tikki took the box and flew far, far away. Marinette was too tired from crying to stand, but she crawled away with all of her strength. It wasn't enough though, because the akuma entered her mask and she could hear Hawk Moth's voice in her head.
"Masquerade, I am Hawk Moth, and I am here to help you." Hawk Moth said and Marinette covered her ears.
"The only person you want to help us yourself." Marinette said.
"My dear lady. I try to help many of the Parisians in our city. I give them the power to fulfill their hearts desires." Hawk Moth said and Marinette found some strength to sit up.
"You turn people into villains, and you can't force me to hurt people." Marinette said and Hawk Moth chuckled.
"Hurt people, no, no. I don't want you to hurt people." Hawk Moth said and Marinette paused.
"You don't?" Marinette asked and Hawk Moth shook his head; but how did she know that?
"No, of course not. I don't want to hurt others, and I certainly don't want you to jury others." Hawk Moth said, and Marinette believed him.
"Then what do you want?" Marinette asked.
"Why I want the same thing you do, Masquerade. I want to live in a world where we can all be honest with each other. Where we can have everyone walking around accepting what they think and feel. No more secrets, no more lies, no more hiding. Wouldn't that be nice?" Hawk Moth said and Marinette felt her heavy heart. She was sick and tired of lying to everyone that she cares about. And surely there are others who wished that they could be more open and honest.
"That would be nice." Marinette admitted.
"Then why don't you let me help you, my dear Masquerade. I can give you the power to help others. What do you say?" Hawk Moth asked and Marinette bit her lip.
"Well..." Marinette said, and she felt her body being covered in his dark magic.
Meanwhile, at the school, Adrien and the rest of the fencing class was in the locker rooms getting ready to leave for the day. Adrien was feeling much better. He was so fired up that he actually won a few matches against Kagami. Then he let his problems wash away in the shower. But when Adrien got to his locker, he saw the dent he had made and he remembered how mean he was to Plagg and Marinette. Adrien opened his locker and Plagg was floating there with his back to Adrien.
"Uh, hey." Adrien said softly and Plagg didn't move.
"Look, I'm sorry about earlier, Plagg. I overreacted and said somethings and... I'm sorry..." Adrien said and Plagg glanced at him, but kept his back to Adrien.
"Did you enjoy your Camembert?" Adrien asked, hoping for a little positivity.
"I didn't eat it." Plagg said and Adrien's eyes widened.
"What are you? Sick?" Adrien asked and Plagg faced Adrien. At this point most of the other students had left, but they didn't really pay attention to Adrien talking to himself.
"Of course, I'm sick. I'm sick of the way you let your love for Ladybug get in the way of everything else. You're a good kid, Adrien, but today you were down right awful." Plagg said and Adrien bit his lip.
"You're right. I shouldn't have gotten mad like that. I shouldn't have grabbed you or punch my locker." Adrien said and Plagg sighed.
"You know, if it was just that, I could easily forgive you." Plagg said and Adrien blinked.
"Huh?" Adrien said and Plagg nodded.
"Listen Adrien. I have been helping Cat Noir's for centuries. Do you really believe that you are the first one to have crush on Ladybug?" Plagg asked and Adrien paused. He hadn't really thought of Plagg being someone else's Kwami.
"Besides, I've been grabbed before, and that's ok. When you think about it, it's no big deal. I can fly through walls, do you seriously think I couldn't fly out of your hand if I wanted?" Plagg pointed out, and that did make Adrien feel a little better.
"But this isn't about me anymore." Plagg said and Adrien eyed him.
"It isn't?" Adrien asked, half-expecting the Kwami to make some cheese joke.
"I'm a cat, Adrien. Cat's have amazing hearing. And at first, I was kind of glad that you refused to let Chloe push you around. Though I think we both know you're gonna beat that photo shoot." Plagg paused to wink, and Adrien sighed when he remembered the shoot.
"But, no... I can't truly forgive you, until Marinette forgives you." Plagg said and Adrien blushed.
"Uh, what are you talking about?" Adrien asked. He knew exactly where the Kwami was going with this, but Adrien was kinda blocking that experience. He knew that he crossed a line.
"I think you know 'Adri-kens'. I can't believe you were so mean to her. She has been nothing but nice to you. Heck you even called her 'our everyday Ladybug'. And now you go and break her hand?" Plagg said and Adrien rubbed his arm.
"You're right. I guess I should go find her; before she leaves." Adrien said and Plagg sighed.
"Dude I actually watched your fight. You already missed her. She left right after you talked to her." Plagg informed him, and Adrien blinked. It's kind of hard to see who is who when everyone is in uniform, so he didn't see Marinette leave.
"Well then, I guess she is at home." Adrien said and Plagg saw that they were now alone in the locker room, so he floated out and looked at Adrien.
"That's probably the best place to start. Even is she isn't at home, there is a good chance that her folks know where she is." Plagg said and Adrien grabbed his stuff, but he stopped when he got to the door.
"What am I suppose to say?" Adrien asked and Plagg shrugged.
"I guess you could get on your knees and beg for forgiveness. Even if that's not enough to make her forgive you right away, it should at least get you on the right path." Plagg suggested and Adrien smiled.
"Yeah, I guess I better go tell my bodyguard that I need to run to Marinette's. Good thing she lives so close to the school." Adrien said and he went ahead and walked outside. But that's when he started to suspect that something was wrong. His big burly bodyguard was on his knees, crying. Shocked, Adrien inched his way towards the emotional man.
"Hey, are you-" Adrien stopped when the guard looked up at him, and he was wearing a mask.
"Did I ever tell you, that I could have married my high school sweetheart?" The guard said and Adrien blinked. Normally his guard acts like a tough silent man. Almost like a moving statue. And now he was crying and talking?
"She wanted to get married, and I told her that I didn't want to get married. That was a lie. I was embarrassed because I couldn't afford a nice wedding ring. I was trying to save up enough money for a ring when she broke up with me. She is married with a family now, and that makes me pretty sad. Because I-I s-still love her. Oh! Adrien you are the closest thing I have to a son. You mean so much to me." The bodyguard cried and then he wrapped his arms around the blond boy.
"Thank you? You mean a lot to me as well." Adrien said confused.
"Adrien!" A powerful voice called and Adrien turned and saw a beautiful masked enchantress. And she looked so incredibly familiar
"Do I know you?" Adrien asked and the masked figure chuckled.
"Ironic. I have wasted so much time thinking that I knew who you really are. But I failed. And know everyone will see." The woman said and Adrien took a step back to block his guard.
"I am Masquerade, and from now on people will see and the anger and frustration you hide." Masquerade said and she placed two fingers against her mask, like an informal salute. Then she pointed at Adrien and a dark mask headed straight for him.