"Thank you all for coming on such short notice." The mayor said into the microphone. The flashes of cameras went off, but it wasn't a lot. The press conference had been scheduled last minute and had left a lot of news stations scrambling. Andre mentally cursed to himself and wondered why Chat Noir had requested it so early. "I won't keep you long. Chat Noir? If you would take the podium?"
Chat Noir rose slowly from the chair he'd been sitting, and Andre frowned internally. He couldn't claim to know the young superhero well, but all of Paris knew at least the basics. He was generally smiling and happy, even in the face of the worst akuma attacks. Now that smile was nowhere to be seen, and his mask did nothing to hide the bags under his eyes. It was like he hadn't slept at all.
Andre took two steps back to allow Chat to step up. "Thank you all for coming." he spoke dully. One of the journalists was already raising their hand, but Chat answered their question before they could even open their mouth. "Ladybug won't be coming this morning. I asked her to let me do this alone, since it's… it's personal to me."
He swallowed audibly and took a shaky breath. Andre darted a look to his daughter, Chloe, who was standing to the side as she did at every press conference. Chloe gave an interceptable shrug, barely there except for his trained eye. So she didn't know the reason for Chat Noir's strange mood either.
"Last night…" Chat started, reaching forward to grip the podium with his hands. "Last night, Paris almost lost one of its brightest stars. And I'm here to talk to you all about it." He reached into his pocket and withdrew, oddly enough, a bright pink cell phone. Chloe drew a sharp breath in, and Andre cut a glance to her. Her eyes were wide and stuck on that phone. Did she recognize it?
Chat did something on the phone and started reading off, not lifting his eyes from the screen. "You're the absolute worst. You're as bad as Chloe. Why did we all like you in the first place? You're horrible. You don't deserve all your good things. You're pathetic. A talentless, good for nothing disgrace. Why did I ever think you were a good person? You're nothing but a…" He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, like he was no longer able to look at it. "You're nothing but a waste of space."
Nobody spoke. What could they say? Chat opened his eyes again and seemed to be on the verge of tears. "Paris has been plagued by akumas for so long that we've forgotten what the worst outcome of bullying is. Everybody thinks, 'Oh, what's the worst that will happen? They'll be akumatized and then they'll get over it'. But this?" He waved the phone at them, having locked the screen so nobody could see anything incriminating. "Depression isn't just a burst of anger and sadness that goes away. It's a slowly encroaching numbness of emotions. When your thoughts slowly go from 'don't let them get to you' to 'why should I bother? Maybe they're right. Maybe… Maybe they'd be better off without me.'"
He spoke like he knew, and that thought scared Andre more than he wanted to admit. Without thinking he reached for Chloe, and Chloe ducked beneath his arm to cling at his jacket, like she had when she was little. Her eyes were still glued to the phone. Chat's voice was raspy and trembling when he continued. "When you get home, or if any of you out there are parents… Please, speak to your children. Tell them the true consequences of bullying. If you're students and you see it happening, stop it. Don't leave it alone, thinking, 'Somebody else will handle it'. Because chances are everybody else is thinking it too, and when everybody thinks somebody else will do it, then nobody does, and by then... By the time somebody does decide to do something... It might be too late."
Chat quickly wiped off his eyes and turned his back on the crowd, leaving without saying a goodbye or conclusion. After all that, Andre couldn't blame him. He stepped up and spoke solemnly into the microphone again. "Chat Noir has given us… much to think about. Us and everybody at home. Thank you all for coming."
Chat landed in front of the hospital and entered through the front door. He nodded at the nurse manning the front desk and she nodded back sadly. He proceeded to the room he needed, having memorized it, and he stepped in. Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng looked up at him, looking as bad, if not worse, than he did. They didn't speak, but gave him a sad smile. He nodded at them and looked at the bed.
In it lay one Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She had too many wires to count attached to her, as well as a breathing mask. Chat had to make himself step up to her bedside and reached tremulously for a hand, wrapping his own around them. He never realized before how small and delicate she was. Chat picked the limp hand up and pressed his lips to the knuckles, squeezing his eyes shut. "Please wake up, Princess. Marinette. Please." he whispered, bowing his head. "I can't imagine my world without you in it."