*Uncovered Mask*

~Chapter Six~

"Got a mood that you wish you could sell...

If teardrops could be bottled

There'd be swimming pools filled by models

Told a tight dress is what makes you a whore"

Adrien smiled to himself as he saw the two next to him argue slightly, tonight was a good night...

He picked at his food, sighing happily, when he felt a hand on his shoulder that made him freeze in place, and made his skin grow cold.

"Adrien, a word…?"

It was his father's. Adrien stood up, excusing himself from his friends. He followed his father away from the ballroom, and he frowned as his father muttered something and handed him his phone.

Eventually, he pulled away and she coughed in disgust, breathing deeply the air her lungs had seemed to be deprived of for some time. She looked up at his smirking face, and got red in anger. Her hand smacked across his left cheek, "What is the matter with you?! How dare you even think I would ever-"

"Oh, please, Marinette. Everyone could see that hickey on the small on your neck from miles away. You practically begged for it." He sneered at her, then walked out leaving her close to tears. She closed the door, making sure to lock it this time, and dreadfully laid her eyes upon her reflection. Her hair was messy, and her dress seemed to be ruffled. She smoothed it down, breathing fast and deep, wanting to stay calm and refusing to let herself feel grief. She noticed a drop of a black watery substance on the sink counter. Looking up immediately, she let out a sob as she soon realized she had been crying.

Marinette hugged herself, unsure of what to do. Tikki flew out of her coin purse, and looked at her, worried. "Marinette? I heard what happened… I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything to stop it, but I-"

"It's okay, Tikki. I understand. We can't have anyone knowing I'm Ladybug, right?"

"That… isn't what I meant… I think you should tell someone, Marinette."

It made sense, it made the most sense she had heard someone say in a while. But her self-consciousness, her insecurity prevented her to even think about what had just happened. She didn't even want to process it, or acknowledge what even happened. She felt disgusted with herself, she felt dirty and wanted to clean herself a million times over and never stop, not even if her skin turned red with irritation. She shook her head, sobbing, "I don't want this to be a big deal, Tikki. I just want to forget it."

"Okay, I understand." The small creature cuddled her left cheek as she cried to herself. What was only about ten minutes, now felt like an eternity. After all her tears had escaped, she started to wash off her makeup. Washing off the smears and tidying her face up, she smiled at her reflection again, pretending for everything to be okay again, even though her chest felt aching pain. Walking back into the ballroom, she made her way back to her seat to notice Adrien was missing.

She looked to Alya and Nino who had been chatting, "Where's Adrien?"

"I don't know, girl. He was just here." Alya looked at Nino, and he shrugged as well. She took a quick glance around, and sighed.

"Marinette."

"Ah!" She jumped, and scowled behind her, back at her boyfriend, Adrien. She stood up to face him, and shook her head. But knowing herself, the minute he flashed a grin, she'd melt into goo.

He smiled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

She grinned as well, and shook her head, "No, it's fine. I was actually about to-"

"May I have this dance?" Bowing as took her hand in his, he placed a kiss on the back of it and looked up at her, his eyes full of hope. But something didn't seem right... Finding herself hesitant, she looked skeptically at him, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Girl, what are you waiting for? Go dance."

"Yeah, Marinette, go for it." Hearing Alya and Nino's encouragement, she shrugged her intuition off.

"Of course." Holding her hand, he led her to the dance floor. There, he put his other hand on the small of her back, and pressed her closer. Marinette felt herself flush due to the close proximity, and bit her lip as they started to move. The couple moved gracefully across the dance floor, her hand practically clinging to his shoulder, and the other hand to his. He stared down at her with an intensity, of love or lust she didn't know, but nevertheless it was intense. She practically gulped, and looked up at him, their faces and breaths mixing in the cold temperature of the room. The music playing seemed to surround them, but to her it felt like they were the only ones in that ball, in the world. He leaned in, his mouth grazing against her ear, and she took a sharp inhale of breath in anticipation.

"Why did you kiss him, Marinette?" Her blood ran cold, for him to be so bold whilst they danced was almost unfathomable. She blinked, confused, and seemed to blank out looking over his shoulder at nothing. How would he know, there is no way he would have ever known...

"Answer me. Why did you kiss Nathaniel?" He looked down, his eyes angry but feigned a smile to keep up appearances.

"I-I, I didn't-"

"Don't lie to me." His grip tightened around her hip, not enough to hurt her but enough to emphasize his words. His jaw flexed as he took a look around, and then he suddenly dipped her as his green orbs almost glared at her.

"I'm not lying, I didn't kiss him. He kissed me. I would never-"

She was brought up immediately, and she slightly yelped, "Adrien-"

"Enough." Glancing around, Adrien noticed some other couples taking notice of their conversation and took hold of her wrist as he led her off the dance floor now. Their friends shot questioning looks, but were met with no answer. He opened the front door, leading to the porch, and sighed. The cold air made her skin grow goosebumps, and their huffs of breath were now more visible. "Just tell me the truth, Mari."

"I'm telling you, he forced himself on me and I tried to push him off of me, but-"

"Then explain this!" He took a picture out of his jacket, and threw it at her in rage. She flinched, and it fell to the floor. Adrien ran a hand through his hair, and turned away, exasperated. She bent at the knees, leaning down to get the picture. She furrowed her brows, disgusted at the sight of Nathaniel pressed against her, her struggle not visible. Marinette stood, and looked up at him, now angry. "Where did you get this?"

He turned again, frowning, "It doesn't matter-"

"Yes, it does. Where did you get this picture, Adrien?!"

"It doesn't fucking matter!" She stood still in silence and shock, never having heard such a crude word from his lips. Of course, the occasional swear from her father and some classmates, but never from Adrien. "You know why it doesn't matter? Because you still kissed him! And that's proof! I mean, I know we aren't officially dating but… Still."

"I didn't-"

"No, you know what? Shut up! You know, on the outside, you seem like such a sweet, nice girl. But I guess I see your true colors now, huh?"

"Adrien, please-" Her hands grabbed at his sleeve, tears starting to once again fall from her eyes. "I love you, I-"

"You may love me, but we know for damn sure I don't love you, so just leave." He moved his arm away, shoving her away and walked to the door, placing his hand on the handlebars.

Surprised at his words, she scoffed in disbelief at his back. "What?"

"Just go, Marinette!" He walked inside his mansion, leaving her in shambles. As if on cue, thunder echoed across the sky and she gasped in surprise and looked up at the sky, knowing the rain would come soon after. Taking one more glance at the door, she turned, taking off her red heels, and started to run. Coming to the gate, she opened them slightly and squeezed by. She knew her parents would be expecting her anytime, and so she couldn't magically appear from within her room, thus she ran.

Her feet hit the pavement, one hand holding her dress off the ground as she sprinted and the other held her heels. Her breathing was fast, as the cold air breezed by, her heart full of adrenaline and her mind blank. Then the rain started to fall, and she stopped for a moment, catching her breath, seeing that running to avoid the rain hadn't exactly measured to what she wanted. Then again, nothing did.

Tikki peeked out from her coin purse, "Marinette, quickly. We'll get sick-"

Looking up at the sky, Marinette scoffed slightly in disbelief once again, and laughed. Tikki's tiny face resembled confusion and worry as her friend laughed. Smiling, laughing seemed unreal to her, especially after the night she's had.

"Marinette?"

At an instant, her laughing turned to full blown out sobs. Marinette fell to her knees, her hand covering her mouth to try and contain the cries. "I can't, Tikki. I don't want to feel anymore, it hurts. It hurts."

Adrien sat down at his seat, and rubbed his temples. He felt tired and betrayed, but Marinette being forced? He knew no one in their right mind would ever force sweet, beautiful Marinette into anything, especially Nathaniel. He glanced around the room, and met the guy's eye himself, and the douche had a smirk on his face. Nathaniel drank out of a small shot glass, his movements hazy and his eyes seeming...drunk. Speak of the devil... Standing, he brushed himself down and clenched his jaw, feeling anger flow through his body. He doubted himself about the situation, because if Marinette was telling the truth then the person who showed it to him, for some reason, wanted him against her.

Alya, placing an arm on him, spoke quietly, "Adrien, where's Marinette?"

"She went home…" Feeling himself seeth, he shook his head at him, but the guy only grinned.

"Why? Adrien, what are you not telling me? And why are you and Nathaniel looking at each other like that? Adrien?" Nino patted his friend on the back as Alya spoke, and she dropped her hand from his shoulder.

"You'll find out soon enough." Adrien scoffed, chugged down a shot, and then shrugging them off, he made his way across the room with stride and walked up to him, practically simmering from anger. His hands went to his collar, bringing him up close, and he snarled at Nathaniel. "Don't ever lay a hand on her again, do you understand me? As a matter of fact, I don't want you going anywhere near her."

The music, still playing seemed deafening to the rest of the guests as the whole school and some adults here and there, remained still, staring at the display of a threatening manner. Nino's eyes widened at the words, and Alya's eyes narrowed as she took out her phone to record the display. She was definitely having a conversation with her best friend tonight...

Nathaniel only seemed to drunkenly snicker, then frowned right away, "Too late for that."

"I don't care, you never do it again, you hear me?"

Nathaniel's frown deepened, then leaned in to whisper, "I think I made her cry."

Adrien froze, his blood running cold. Visions of Marinette struggling against his body, and his eyes teared up.

His voice broke, "I didn't want to, but I had no choice. I had to hurt her, I had to force myself-"

A fist immediately pounded against his left cheek, a fist that belonged to Adrien Agreste. Everyone gasped in shock, never having seen the young model so violent before. The blonde merely looked at his knuckles in wonder as the other boy fell to the floor. He's fought villains before, but he always had a suit and even some magic by his side. Right now, it was just him and Nathaniel, a fight he was willing to bet he would win. Leaning down, he turned the boy cradling his cheek over, straddled his lap and punched him again. He groaned, and after a few hits, he had had enough.

The red-head threw Adrien off of him, stood, and kicked the model's side. "You like that? How's it feel to be kicked when you're down? Huh, Agreste?"

The second or third kick, he didn't remember which it was, but it made him envision Marinette watching this, and he rolled away and stood up quickly. Adrien jumped at Nathaniel, tackling him on one of the tables which caused it to break. After smashing cake onto the boy, Adrien punched his face once again, hitting his left eye and knocking him out indefinitely. But raised rightly, he knew when to stop. He stood, dusting himself off and taking off his jacket as he huffed, then looked around him indifferent at the stares and only rolled his eyes. Some friends of Nathaniel ran over, assisting the man and helping him out of the party. Staring at the rest of the remaining people, he briefly muttered an apology.

Nino whooped, "Yeah, that's my best friend! He just kicked that guy's butt! Whoo! You go, Adrien!"

Adrien shook his head, a slight smile on his face at his friend's antics, but frowned when his eyes met his father's.

"Adrien Agreste." The loud booming voice echoed throughout the ballroom, catching everyone's attention. All eyes laid upon his father, Gabriel Agreste, on top of the stairs and you could practically hear everyone's nervous gulp. "Come here. Now."

Sighing, Adrien lowered his head as he started to walk over to him, and Nino merely chuckled in pity, "Oh man, you're totally screwed- Ow! Alya, what'd you do that for?"

The walk up the stairs was slow and gruesome one, as some resumed the party and some only stared, nevertheless they walked into Adrien's room. Before completely stepping inside, Gabriel Agreste merely glanced at the rest of the ballroom, "The party is over, leave."

The door closed, leaving only father and son to converse. Tension increased as Mr. Agreste only stared at his son for a mere second, as if breaking him down in silence. Adrien, angry and in a moment of intolerance, spoke, "Don't do that to me, father. Just speak, tell me what you want to say to me because I'm so tired of the silent treatment."

There it was, he finally spoke his mind to his father. He felt happy, no. Relieved to have had shared his thoughts, he let out a deep breath. A great deal of emotion still soared through him: anger, exhaustion, and sadness. He knew as soon as he was done here, he would leave the party and go straight to Marinette's, he had to apologize as soon as he could. He wouldn't, couldn't bear the thought of being away from her, of being angry at one another for much longer.

Still holding a stoic expression, Gabriel made a 'hmph', then spoke, "Well, for starters, how about the fact that you had just beat up someone for no reason like some common ruffian."

"Well, what'd you expect when you-"

"I expect obedience, Adrien."

"Oh, trust me I did what you wanted. I ended up kicking my own girlfriend out of the party, thanks to you!"

"And as of now, you're grounded, like you should've been when you didn't come home last night. You are going to stay in your room, and you will listen to me, if it's the last thing you do. Have a good night." He turned around, immediately closing the door and locking it from the outside. Adrien ran to the door, wanting to open it, but was unable to. He groaned, "Stupid…"

Plagg flew beside his face, "Wanna talk about it?"

He frowned, then let out an exasperated sigh, "He's always locking me up, Plagg. And it's so, well, inconvenient."

Plagg just scoffed, "But you always leave as Chat Noir, so what's the big deal?"

"Yeah, but it's still annoying." He lay on his bed, yawning. "I need to go to Marinette, apologize, and comfort her...she's probably..." Adrien's eyes drifted shut, temporarily forgetting about his worries.

Sunlight gently laid upon her eyes through her skylight above. Bluebell eyes met the ceiling, and she sighed. She turned on her side, covering a blanket around herself. She didn't care if she was late to school, not today at least. She even had to ask Alya to leave when she came in badgering her, and she didn't like it. Maybe I looked so sad she had to leave it alone. Thoughts swirled about, causing her to be even more restless. Adrien, he thought her a cheater. And what happened with Nathaniel was worse, she felt disgusted with herself. She felt violated. Her knees met her chest, and she wrapped her arms around them. Marinette drifted in and out of sleep, worrying and even crying at times, then snoring the next moment. It had taken an hour before a big crash that shook her whole house awoke her, sending her running downstairs to check on her parents. "Mom? Dad?"

Her parents, Sabine and Tom came running up, worried. Seeing she was fine, they absorbed her into a group hug. Her mom's voice quivered as she checked her daughter for any signs of, "Marinette? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. What's going on?" Wiggling out of their embrace, she looked out the window to see the Eiffel Tower had been broken down. "Another akuma attack already?"

"Afraid so. But I know Ladybug and Chat Noir will save the day again." Tom hugged Sabine close to her, being overprotective. He knew it hurt her to see her town in suffering, but as she said: Ladybug and Chat Noir will save everyone.

Marinette bit her lip, and turned to her parents. "I need to call Alya, I'll be right-"

Suddenly, another tremor vibrated through the house, and they all ducked, bracing themselves to be safe. Tom and Sabine, separated from their daughter, called out to her from behind the couch, but she was preoccupied with more important matters to respond.

Marinette gasped as she looked above her, there was an akumatized version of Nathaniel. He was no longer recognizable, his form that of a shadow, a destructive one. He destroyed everything in his path and left depression in the citizens, and Marinette was his first priority.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

He flew close to her, and she was paralyzed with both fear and curiosity. Caressing her cheek, his empty white orbs stared into hers, and she held her breath. "Nathaniel…?"

Suddenly, he grabbed her from the waist and then they were high in the air. She could hear her parents scream as she was taken from them, but all she could do was wriggle once again in his grasp to be set free. However, he held on tight, bruising her sides and only harming her the more she tried to escape. "Please, Nathaniel…"

His blue face stared ahead as they flew, and his voice had immense echo. "I never meant to hurt you. But Gabriel Agreste… It was you or my family."

"Nate…"

"I couldn't choose. Instead, I got drunk, and I did horrible things…" Tears escaped his white eyes, yet his face remained impassive. "Now I'm going to kill Gabriel Agreste, and everything he built."

"Nathaniel, you can't do that. You won't be any better than-"

Nathaniel landed on the edge of the soccer stadium abruptly, and he growled as he let Marinette down. "Can you honestly say that you don't hate him right now? Mari, you have to understand… He wanted me to seduce you, to… what I did was nothing compared to what he wanted me to do to you."

Marinette pursed her lips, her eyes tearing up. She could barely handle that forced kiss, but anything else would've definitely ruined her. "It doesn't matter what I want. Heck, one minute I could hate Chloe, but it doesn't mean I want her dead."

"Marinette…"

"She might be passive-aggressive sometimes, but she and I-"

"She saw."

She looked up, and her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean she-"

"Who do you think took the picture?"

She sat down on the metal, her mind reeling. "I can't believe it. She wouldn't…"

"She did. Now come with me, and we could ruin them together." Marinette scowled.

"As much as I would want to reverse what happened to me, this won't do anything about it."

"Marinette, I'm sorry I hurt you, but I need you to comply-"

"Why do you need me, Nathaniel?" Marinette's frown deepened, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Hawkmoth told me that you can willingly comply, or you can be a hostage."

She scoffed, "A hostage?" She stood up, glaring at her partner. "And who am I a hostage for?"

"For Chat Noir." She froze, her arms self-consciously wrapped around herself. She had been wearing his hoodie and shorts. Under his gaze, she felt insecure all of a sudden.

"What?"

"Don't act dumb, Marinette. Your life choices aren't any of business, but really? Adrien and Chat Noir? Are you just into blondes?"

She looked away, his scrutinizing gaze reminding her too much of last night.

"Does red not do it for you?"

Marinette scoffed, "Not particularly, no."

He suddenly grabbed her by the hair, pulling her back. "Wrong answer."

The loud bangs and yells of panic met deaf ears in the Agreste household, the only one who heard it was a certain blonde teenager. Adrien, laying on his bed fast asleep, he finally awoke with no realization of what actually woke him up. Yawning, he leisurely walked to the bathroom for a shower. Turning on the hot water, he barely blinked as it seared his back. In fact, he groaned, his back too tense for comfort now relaxed under the heated liquid. He ran his hand through his hair, grabbing his two-in-one shampoo and conditioner and washing his hair thoroughly. He rinsed his gold locks, really kneading his hands through it. Grabbing the soap bar, he rubbed it all over his body, first with his abdomen and finishing up with his legs. The sun hit his back as he did this, only adding to the warmth he felt deep in his skin, a warmth he craved for.

His eyes widened, his brain actually kicking again into action, warmth. Marinette… His memory came back swiftly, the morning grogg slipping away as he remembered last night's events. The ball, Nathaniel, cheering, his father… He groaned, turning off the water and wrapping a towel around his waist. He ran outside the restroom, getting dressed in his everyday clothes and not bothering to fix his hair. Once finished with tying his shoes, he glanced around for his kwami. "Plagg?"

Not responding to his calls, the blonde only smirked at the black cat's silence. "Plagg, claws out!"

Coming from inside the couch, he screamed as he was dragged into Adrien's ring, commencing the transformation. Seconds later, now in his leather catsuit, Chat Noir leaped out of his bedroom window and onto the roofs of Paris. He gasped, seeing damage around the city. He couldn't believe he woke up late, Ladybug must already be on the scene. He'd probably have time to visit Marinette.

His heart wildly beat in his chest, his hands seemed sweaty, and his head wasn't clear, he was nervous about seeing her after last night. He arrived a minute later, and seeing the wreck that was the Dupain-Cheng's house, he shook his head in utter disbelief. Closing his eyes, he willed it not to be real, for it all just to be a bad dream, but when he opened his eyes the destruction was still there. He jumped from the roof and into the family's living room, seeing the wreckage. He walked past the couch to see Marinette's parents in tears as they held each other.

"Miss… Mister. Are you alright?" He bent down, reaching his hand out to help them up. Sabine slapped it away, hysterically crying.

"Where were you? Where were you when they took her?! It took my baby…" Tom held her close, calming her down as she wept. He looked up cautiously to Chat Noir, and sighed.

"That thing… that akumatized monster took her. It took our daughter. Get her back."

Panting, she whimpered as she tried to sit up. Instead, she turned onto her stomach, and started to try and crawl away. But he got to her before she could even move an inch, grabbing her from her hair again, momentarily throwing her, then grabbing her once again by the waist. She winced, still squirming to get away, but her injuries made her attempts ineffective. He chuckled in her ear, with his voice raspy and quiet, and whispered, "Can't have Adrien defend you this time, huh?"

An ironic statement, considering Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir. "I… I don't know what you mean. He never-"

He flipped her over quickly, causing her to yelp, his hand flew to her neck. The only thing holding her in the air was his grip on her neck which was going to leave a nasty bruise.

"At the ball, idiot. He beat me up over our silly liplock. How romantic, huh?"

She stayed silent, refusing to answer him and only clawed at the hand that held her neck.

Smirking, he tightened his hand around her neck, cutting off her air. "Once Chat Noir and Ladybug come to defeat me, Hawk Moth will finally have his miraculous. And once you're dead, I'll go after Gabriel. Maybe I'll even go after Adrien, too..."

"Lea- Leave… him..." With her inability to speak, he raised an eyebrow. Her chest tightened, and she teared up as more oxygen was removed from her lungs. Her feet flailed in the air, her survival instincts begging, fighting to live. Just when she thought it'd end, just when her vision started to blacken, she heard his voice.

"I know you're supposed to destroy things and all that, but a girl? Really? How rude of you."

Nathaniel turned her again, pressing her back to his front and wrapping one arm around her waist as he held a hand to his side. Glaring at the cat, he growled as his voice became louder though still sounding glitched out, "Look what the cat dragged in… I was gonna wait until you got her buuuut, I figured you'd be more upset when she's dead."

The leather cat stood on the roof of the stadium, about the same height as to where the Depressor held Marinette. Smirking, he held a facade over his worry for the girl.

"Chat! You came!" Her voice was raspy, broken, and overall damaged from her throat being forced shut, but the superhero only grinned, keeping humour to lighten the situation.

"What kind of knight would I be if I didn't come to save my princess?" She smiled, despite the circumstances, she could get used to this side of him.

She felt the villain's hold tightened around her waist, hurting her insides and making her groan in pain. "So Hawk Moth was right, you have a thing for little miss sunshine here, huh? I couldn't believe it myself…"

Seeing her tremble in suffering, he cried out to her. He glared at the villain, the toy of Hawk Moth.

"Marinette! Let her go, you monster!" Snarling, he put himself in a fighting stance. "Is this what you kidnapped her for, because of me?!"

"I had my reasons as well… She's not the only one on my hit list. Ever heard of the Agreste family?"

His eyes widened only a fraction, but it was enough for the villain to notice. "Oh, so I see you have. Well, it doesn't matter now. I think it'll be better to play cat and mouse for a little, don't you agree?"

The shadow suddenly let go of Marinette, but caught her by her foot. "Now pick. You can catch me, and save all of Paris. Or you can risk the whole city, for this stupid, clumsy little girl."

Marinette hung, barely being able to breathe. Her skin had started to go pale, and she could hardly even think. If they both left, she could turn into Ladybug and help despite her ill state. But if Adrien did leave her, she didn't know if her heart could bare it.

"I'm not gonna choose!" Chat shook his head, refusing to play the menace's little game.

Smirking, the black figure span around speedily and managed to launch the fragile girl into the air. Her scream pierced the air sharply, and the villain grinned. "Pick now, Noir. Your time is wasting…"

As he started to zoom away, a pink butterfly rim appeared around the Depressor's face, indicating his communication with Hawk Moth.

"You fool! What are you doing? You could've used her for ransom!"

"Why not use Adrien Agreste? Any kid is worth using as bait for those heroic saps…"

"Depressor, that isn't a good idea." His voice was stern, trying to maintain order over his follower.

"I've got this, Hawk Moth. I know what I'm doing." Tuning out his protests, the villain made his way towards the Agreste mansion.

Her impact with the hard concrete was anticipated, what wasn't was when she was caught in the famous superhero's strong leather arms.

Opening her eyes in surprise, she faintly gasped. "Chat…" Her hand went up to caress his cheek, and he placed his hand over it.

"Mari, I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen-"

Her finger was placed over his lips, silencing him. "You need to go save Paris. I'm not important right now."

"Of course you are! I need you, and right now we need to get you to the hospital-"

"Chat!" Yelling, he stared at her like a lost little boy, his eyes sorrowful and full or regret as well. Caressing his cheek for the second time, she smiled. "I appreciate the thought, but once you save all of Paris, I'll be fine. Trust me."

"But I need you to be safe."

"I'm safe here, look. There's no one around. Go save the city, and I'll wait for you here, okay?" Staring into her large bluebell eyes, he pressed his forehead against hers and sighed heavily. "It's him. It's Nathaniel, Chat. Beat him."

"I will… Be safe, princess." Pressing a peck to her cheek and gently laying her down in the field, he fled. Extending his bo staff and jumping from roof to roof to go and defeat the akuma.

Marinette, still lying on the floor, groaned out, "Tikki…"

Finally jumping out of her coin purse, she hugged her owner's cheek. "Marinette…"

"Will I be healed if I transform?" She cut straight to the chase, tired and ready to end Nathaniel's dark form once and for all. Her kwami stayed silent, and she asked again. "Tikki, will I be healed?

The creature sighed, then answered. "Yes, but not completely. The magic and I will help you enough to stand on your own two feet. And once you defeat him, all the wreck done by Nathaniel will be cured."

"Even-"

"I don't know for sure, Marinette. It's a fifty-fifty chance."

As if optimism suddenly filling her heart, her voice turned into one of joy.

"Well, I'm willing to bet on that. Tikki, spots on!"

Grunting, he fell against the wall of the Agreste Mansion. Chat smirked at his fall, since he was the one who caused it, "Guess only cats land on their feet."

Looking up from his fall, he only frowned. "I've always hated your use of puns, you know. It isn't even funny." Lunging at him, Nathaniel tackled Chat Noir, but the feline flipped them over twice over so the superhero would be on top. Flabbergasted, the villain only blinked in shock as to what just happened.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue, Nate?" Smirking down at him, he was about to summon his cataclysm when he was pulled back by his tail and found himself on his back besides the very much standing Ladybug.

"I'd hope not. Then that would mean that instead of flirting with damsels, it'd be other fellow knights." Giggling from the element of surprise, she helped him back up. Back on his own two feet next to his partner, Noir smirked at his lady.

"Would that be so wrong, M'Lady?" Taking her hand to kiss, he winked before laying his lips onto the back of her hand. He was surprised she even let him.

"No, but it'd take your attention away from moi." The two widened their eyes, realizing she had just flirted back. She had just flirted back, more than usual that is. Shaking her head in an effort to regain her thoughts, she huffed at her mistake. She couldn't get too carried away, she knew his identity, not the other way around. She had to act normally.

"Anyways, back to the task at hand." Knowing their duties, Chat refocused back to the Depressor, him barely dusting himself off. Then suddenly, he charged at them, throwing caution to the wind. Ladybug, with a slight limp, ran towards him as well. His partner followed suit, both of them ready to attack.

A shock of pain went through Ladybug as she ran, and she fell. Not noticing at first, he still ran towards him, ready for them to commence in battle. He risked a glance behind him, and slowed down to a stop, forgetting completely about Nathaniel.

"Ladyb-" A groan broke his sentence as he was kicked in his legs, making him fall down to his knees. The akumatised victim held his hands together and muttered under his breath causing intruding thoughts that made him blindly sad and angry. They consumed him. The Depressor raised a hand, prepared to take his life, when his hand was tied with a yo-yo and pulled him into the air, over Chat Noir, and onto the ground with a hard slam.

Chat Noir slowly stood up, his body regaining strength.

Weakly standing, she yanked her weapon back and summoned upon her secret power, "Lucky Charm!"

A small drawing tablet and pen fell onto her lap, and her eyebrows furrowed. As Chat Noir turned around and started to fight him again, she thought hard about what to do. "What should I…" She remembered their discussion from earlier, and realized something. Her hand started scribbling wildly.

Chat Noir scratched at his face, and Nathaniel yelled in rage. "You little-!"

"Nathaniel?" What are you doing here?"

Nathaniel froze, his eyes widened, and turned around. Ladybug stood amidst as the memory played out in front of them, since she drew it out herself and it came to life. "Marinette told me, Nathaniel. About your guilt, about last night. We know Gabriel Agreste blackmailed you."

A cartoon version of Marinette struggled against Nathaniel as he forcefully held her down. "Nathaniel, please, stop. I don't want this, this isn't righ-" Cartoon Nathaniel forced himself upon her, and she visibly struggled as he kissed her. Chat Noir's jaw visibly clenched, as well as his fists.

"Nathaniel, she forgives you." The akumatised version of Nathaniel fell to his knees, tearing up.

"She knows you were drunk, she knows Gabriel blackmailed you, and she knows you weren't yourself. You're her friend, and you can make this right." Nathaniel shook his head, and hugged himself.

"She may say that, but she'll never really forget. She'll never really forgive me…"

Ladybug walked up to him, and kneeled in front of him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Where's the akuma?"

Nathaniel put his hand in his pocket, and then pulled out a wet photo of him and Marinette hugging. "I was crying over it and then…" Nathaniel suddenly groaned, grabbing his head as a pink butterfly over his face appeared.

"Who are you to think you can disobey, boy?"

Ladybug quickly snatched the photo and limped over to Chat Noir. "Hurry, summon your cataclysm!"

"Ladybug, you're-"

"Do it now!"

Chat Noir frowned, but still abided. "Cataclysm!"

The photo turned into ash and Ladybug smiled widely, "No more evil-doing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilise!" Swiping the bug from mid-air, she cleansed it, then set it free. "Bye, bye, little butterfly."

As the insect flew away, Nathaniel had returned to his normal form, and fainted. Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned around. "That was nice work. Pound-"

She had turned to hold out her fist to him, but he was already gone.

"Chat.."

It was the afternoon. Marinette lay in her bed, conversing with her best friend Alya, whom was by her bedside. Two days had passed by since the akuma attack, and even after the magic spreading, it still did not completely heal her. By now though, she was completely fine and mobile, just slightly scratched up. Alya shook her head, "I can't believe Adrien talked to you that way. And he still hasn't apologized to you… Ugh, what a stupid dude."

According to the man himself, he had texted her and told her to get better with not one mention of the incident or an apology for it. I guess he had wanted her to get better first, but Marinette would never really know.

"It's okay, Alya. I mean, it never would have worked out anyways." Twiddling with her fingers, she looked down at them, insecure about the whole situation. Alya placed her hand over them, smiling sympathetically.

"Or maybe he just doesn't deserve you, Mari." Patting her friend on the shoulder, she simply made a straight face, "Anyways, what happened with Nathaniel was-"

"No, no, no. Enough talk about me. Let's talk about you and Nino.." Looking confused, Alya played dumb.

"Who's Nino? I don't know who you're talking about."

Playfully smacking her friend on the shoulder, she laughed, "Hey, don't play dumb with me. So tell me all the details. Have you guys done anything yet? Is he a good kisser?"

"We aren't really ready for that just yet… And, well, we've kissed a couple times but every time I try to take it further, he pushes me away. And, I mean, it's not like there's pressure for him, or anything, but it feels like I'm gross to him, and personally…"

"You want to move the pace a little faster?"

She scoffed, "Yes! Oh my gosh, you have no idea the faces he makes about us doing anything. It's like a whole new side of Nino, and I thought I took it slow. Not to mention, perfect boy Adrien already kissed you and gave you a hickey! The least I could get was one, just one kiss." Grinning, Marinette shook her head at her friend.

"What? A makeout session isn't a lot to ask for."

"I get what you're saying, Alya. But maybe you should just respect his pace..."

"Yeah no, I understand that. But the way it makes me feel… I don't know. I don't think it's just his pacing, I think he's genuinely scared of doing anything…"

Marinette kindly smiled understandingly, "He'll tell you in due time, Alya. He loves you."

With her rant over, she gave a deep and frustrated sigh, then smiled at her friend. "Thanks, I needed to talk about that, heh."

Rolling her eyes, she sat up and hugged her best friend and giggled. "We're best friends for life, Alya. We can talk about anything, remember?"

"Yeah, so tell me what happened with Nathaniel, you, and Adrien."

Sighing, she pulled away and looked down. "He, um, he forced himself on me. Not with sex, but, he kissed and kind of groped me. I guess Chloe thought we were making out consensually or something, and she took a picture and printed it out for Adrien."

Looking up at Alya, Marinette teared up as she remembered the experience. "It was awful, Alya. I usually know how to defend myself, but he was-"

"He was your friend, and your guard was down because of that. It wasn't your fault…" Alya pulled her in a big hug, and comforted her as she cursed Nathaniel in her head.

Three knocks rang out from outside the room, signalling someone wanting entrance to her room. Calling out, she pulled away from Alya, "Come in!"

Her mother's head popped out, the woman smiling at her daughter with love, "Adrien is here to see you, sweetie."

"Tell him to come up, please." Sabine went down to get him, leaving the two girls to share a look, a 'tell me what happens later' look.

Looking at her best friend, Alya nodded in understanding, "I'll see you later, girl."

She made her way out, leaving the teeanger to herself in her pink room, leaving her in a pool of anxiety.

His blonde head popped out of the door, his body appearing with it, and then his feet. Her breath hitched, she felt nervous as his gaze met her form, and she stared at the floor.

"Mari.." The way his voice said her name always gave her shivers, but this time it sounded deeper. Raspy. As if he had been…

Her bluebell eyes looked up to his quickly, to see they were red. He had been crying… Oh my gosh… Gulping, she gathered enough courage to respond. "Yes, Adrien?"

Tell me your thoughts in the comments below, and btw I made a forum about this so we can discuss and maybe vote about things we want to happen or stuff like that! Feel free to visit and I can't wait to write the next chapter!

Asylum