Marinette sat alone outside the hospital. The fight, it made her feel so powerless. When she became Ladybug, she'd feared failure, and now, living in that failure, she could never take up the costume again.
During her final confrontation with Hawkmoth, she had only thought of finishing it, ending the war between the trio. Cat "Chat" Noir had chided her, telling her that, "What would we do when the fighting ends?"
He'd never had to worry about that, because Hawkmoth had created his worst akumatized monster yet.
Paralyzed, Marinette stared down the street. After Master Fu's death, she'd taken over as master of the kwami. The one conclusion she'd reached is that, only by locking them away could she keep the world truly safe. Now her resolve was being questioned- could she resist the temptation of the power her kwami could offer, even when her best friend was in danger?
Criminals had existed before she'd been Ladybug, they still existed now that she'd taken off her earrings. But if she went running for Tikki every time some thug-
Marinette shook her head. She couldn't do it, she couldn't go back to being a superhero. Simply being an ordinary girl WITHOUT a secret was enough. She needed to be a friend, not a superhero.
Shaking her head, Marinette tried to ignore the sinking feeling about that... THING that had appeared. After all, kwamis were the only supernatural threat, right?
Right?