"What's wrong, Marinette? Or even better, crybaby? I bet you'll be akumatized within the day, you big wimp." Chloe laughed, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder, while subtly glancing at Adrien.
Marinette tried to use her bangs to cover her eyes as much as possible, attempting to hide her teary eyes. She wasn't usually this emotional, but the late nights fighting Akumas, the designs she was still perfecting, and on top of that Chloe's constant belittling really took a toll on her feelings.
Adrien shifted uncomfortably on the sidelines. Though he knew what Chloe was doing was wrong on so many levels, he didn't want to step in when Marinette usually had it handled. Especially when his father would chew him out later for 'ruining the family image'. Honestly, father, Chloe is ruining it more than anything.
Chloe sniffed obnoxiously and turned away from Adrien, only seeing his poker face. "Ha! You're just like that Ladybug person. Hero? More like zero! You're both useless." The surrounding students glared at Chloe, both for putting Marinette in a distressed state and for insulting Ladybug, Adrien's gaze the coldest of them all. You do realize that Ladybug saved you multiple times? Adrien thought, fingering the ring he had on. Deep breaths, Adrien, pull it together. Don't embarrass yourself or most importantly to father, the brand.
Chloe laughed, Marinette now covering her face with her hands. You handle Akumas daily, Marinette, pull it together! Marinette scolded herself internally.
Ayla, eyes widening in offense, started to yell at Chloe. However, someone else beat her to the chase.
Taking a breath in angered shock, Adrien stepped in, deciding that it had gone too far. "Chloe! What the fuck?" At this, the class spectating the ordeal, all victims of the by-stander effect, turned to him, shocked, realizing that Adrien Agreste, the soft-spoken, gentle, kind boy had just cursed at his childhood best friend.
"Adrien? Bu-but what's wrong? I was just telling the truth," Chloe snorted, surprised that Adrien had stepped up to defend Marinette. However, she quickly regained her snotty attitude.
"I'll tell you what's wrong," Adrien continued, too angry and annoyed to realize that it was becoming dangerous. "You weren't like this when we were young! I get that we grew up, and that we changed, but this? This is too much. Picking on others is too much! I should've stepped in and stopped you from the start, but I was too naive and thought you could change unprompted." The whole class looked on in shock as Adrien ranted.
Ayla was the first to snap out of it. "Woo-hoo! You tell her, Adrien. Step off, bitch!" Though some shook their heads at Ayla's foul language, the class around them agreed with Adrien.
...but Adrien was a bit too far gone in his anger. Angry at himself, for not protecting his Princess, angry at Chloe, for harming others, heck, even angry at the teacher who wasn't fit for the role, ignoring bullying and harassment in class.
Marinette was the first to notice. Looking up from her tear-stained hands, the first thing she saw was a black butterfly heading straight towards Adrien. Gasping, she gestured to the others to stop their chewing out of Chloe and pay attention to the dark butterfly.
Backing away from the feared insect, everyone was surprised when it approached Adrien, then was absorbed into his silver ring. However, it was a bigger shock when Adrien instantly snapped out of his rage-induced haze and started panicking- well, really just spewing out curse words.
"Oh, fuck! This is bad. Really bad. Plagg? Plagg! Fuck. Goddamn it." Was all Adrien got out before he started convulsing in pain. Nino, concerned for his friend's wellbeing, tried to approach, but was quickly held back by Ayla.
"T-this never happened when we were akumatized!" Rose cried out, a bit fearful at Adrien's shaking. Juleka noticed this, and moved to her side, attemping to provide some semblance of comfort. The whole class, all previously akumatized before, wasn't really fearful of this occurrence, though still somewhat disturbed by Adrien's pain.
Speaking of Adrien, though wracked with incredible pain, managed to get a grip of one of the metal legs of a desk. Pulling himself off the floor, he clenched the desk leg as a way to channel his pain. He didn't notice the awed expressions of his classmates who saw the leg bend and crumple under his grip.
"You- have to tell- Ladybug," Adrien forced through gasps. Marinette, being the closest, shook herself out of her emotional state and into Ladybug's mindset. "Tell Ladybug what?" She questioned Adrien, who was trembling from the effort of keeping Hawkmoth at bay.
"Tell her- that Chat- may have a bit of trouble," He breathed out, now slightly hunched in pain. "What? What trouble?" Marinette pressed, now worried for her crime fighting partner. "Don't worry-" Here, Adrien got cut off by a wrack of pain, but forced himself to continue, "-princess, it'll be fine, just tell Ladybug!"
Marinette gaped. Princess? But only Chat Noir calls me that… Marinette froze in shock, processing the words that were foreign to her from the model's mouth. Adrien, satisfied that he got his message across, succumbed to the overpowering allure of Hawkmoth's akuma, black mist quickly spreading across his body.
The class looked on, flabbergasted, especially Nino and Ayla. Did he just call Marinette 'princess'? Ayla narrowed her eyes. I'm getting that scoop from Marinette later. For now, I gotta call for help! Getting out her phone and pulling up the Ladyblog, Ayla typed away for a new post calling for help from Ladybug.
Dude, what the heck? Nino wondered, staring at Adrien who was kneeling on the floor of the classroom, the black mist still swirling around him. It had gone on for an abnormal amount of time, making the class murmur as to why that could be.
"No, Adri-kins!" Chloe exclaimed, holding her hand to her mouth in an over-dramatic display of faux worry and dismay. "It's all your fault, Mari-trash! You made him like this!" Chloe jabbed her finger in Marinette's direction.
Marinette gaped at both the insult and the accusation, "What?! You were the one who was insulting me! So forgive me if I tell you this, using my bestie's words, step off, bitch! I've had enough of your blabbering mouth. So shut up for once, you bimbo!" Marinette yelled, before turning to Adrien, an expression of worry painted across her face. Shock would come later, after the akuma was defeated. Oh, you stupid cat…
The mist slowly wore off. To many utterances of shock and surprise, a completely white colored Chat Noir stood up where Adrien once occupied. The class exploded in confusion. "Hm…" The akumatized Adrien tilted his head and smiled in a frighteningly Chat Noir way. "Well, hit two birds with one stone, I suppose! You're going to need to come with me, princess." The word 'princess' was said with disdain.
"W-wait! What's your name?" Ayla asked, her phone out and filming. "Oh right. I guess that's important. I'm Chat Blanc! Nice to meet you, Miss Ayla. Adrien was so anxious about getting his secrets exposed!" Chat Blanc laughed, but Marinette found that it was unlike her kitty's laugh. It was bland, lacking in feeling.
"Huh? What secret?" Nino pried, the rest of the class looking interested as well. Only Marinette looked pale. Without my partner, especially with him against me, it's going to be an uphill battle if I want to win this. "Wait, guys, Adrien's entitled to his own secrets, maybe we should stop-" Marinette's protests were cut off.
"Oh, you didn't know? Right, of course you didn't!" Again, Chat Blanc laughed, but it felt so wrong to Marinette to hear Adrien and Chat Noir's voice to sound so flat. "He's Chat Noir." Chat Blanc revealed, causing pandemonium.
Marinette panicked. No, no, no! We aren't supposed to do this! Then again, he's akumatized, I can't really blame him. Chloe cried out in a shrill voice, "Adri-kins is that mangy alley cat?!" Marinette glared at the egotistical girl, about to retort, when Chat Blanc cut in.
"Chat Noir and I disagree on a lot of things, but there's one thing that we can definitely agree on." Chat Blanc glared at Chloe, who gulped and took a step back. This was when Marinette noticed another thing odd about Chat Blanc; his eyes were blue, not green.
"We do not tolerate anyone insulting our Lady." Chat Blanc took a step towards Chloe, emphasizing his statement. Once again, the class erupted. "Marinette, are you- you're Ladybug?" Ayla asked in disbelief, phone still out and filming. Marinette gulped, hoping that it was a recording and not a livestream.
Ignoring her friend, Marinette turned to Chat Blanc. "How do you know? Kitty didn't, right?" Chat Blanc chuckled, another sound that Marinette decided that she strongly disliked. "Oh no, he didn't, but he certainly will now. He was trying to be polite to his Lady, and not pry into your business, but he couldn't hold back his subconscious protectiveness. That's what pushed me out. I know who you are."
The class, still surrounding them, gasped in shock again at the obvious clue that Marinette was Ladybug. "Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!" Chloe shrieked. "She can't be Ladybug! Ladybug is better! That- that liar is just a low-class peasant!" Chloe didn't seem to realize that she had let out her admiration for Ladybug, openly contradicting her previous words. Chat Blanc sighed in annoyance, rolling his blue eyes, showing clearly the difference in color from the previously green orbs.
"See here, Chloe, I'm not Adrien nor Chat Noir. I have no qualms about doing this." At everyone's questioning gaze, Chat Blanc held up a hand. Please tell me you're not doing what I think you are, Chat… A glowing white ball of destruction grew out of Chat Blanc's glove-covered hand as he whispered something, the students gasping in terror, now backing away from the display of power.
"That's my power. Now, opposed to Mister Noir's Cataclysm, this is Catastrophe. Aptly named, you see, because I can do this." The ball of white magic expanded. "Now, you would do well not to touch it. That's because it'll kill you." Blanc shrunk the destructive ball until it disappeared.
"I don't think I need to elaborate on what will happen if you offend me or my lady." Chat Blanc finished, smirking. Chloe wisely remained silent. Marinette was horrified at the unrealistic potential that Chat Blanc now wielded, without the time or size limit. Making use of the silence that encompassed the classroom, Chat Blanc leapt to Marinette's side and grabbed her by the waist, before jumping out the window.
Fearing for her friend's safety, Ayla gasped and ran to the window, watching Chat Blanc run off with Marinette in his hold. "Au revoir!" Chat Blanc called out behind his back, leaving the rest of the people in the classroom to panic.
~o0o~
Author's Note:
Hello! I'm Lemonee. I write mostly oneshots, because I get motivated for about a span of three days, then give up.
This chapter will maybe get made into a full story, depending on if I feel motivated enough to do it. Otherwise, it will stay here as a oneshot.
Peace out!