"Ladybug!"

Someone was calling out her name.

It was the first thing that she'd been aware of in what felt like quite a while. The young woman felt rather a lot more like sleeping than answering. In truth, she wasn't even entirely sure just who the panicked shouts belonged to. They seemed distant. The world itself seemed to be somewhat faint. Even thinking was a difficult challenge. Something was most definitely wrong. Her eyelids fluttered open or was it closed? She couldn't have said. Everything seemed to have become surreal. It was almost as if she had somehow managed to slip into a dream. Time and space both seemed to have lost their meaning.

A dull pain served to remind her that she was both alive and awake. She groaned as it became more acute serving to draw her back into the real world. Finally, with what seemed like an unnatural bit of effort, she managed to open her eyes. For some reason however, her mind still wasn't quite capable of processing just what her eyes were showing her. She just stayed there, wherever she was. Time had lost its meaning. She was trapped in that strange place somewhere between consciousness and being asleep.

Unable to focus on the present, her mind cast itself back into the past, trying desperately to make sense of what was going on.

Everything was a blur. She was Ladybug, not Marinette. That was one of the few things that she was certain of… Try as she might, she was only capable of recalling brief segments of just what had occurred. None of the details were present. It was only flashes that came back to her. She'd been swinging. There was an alley. She was pretty sure that she was still in it. Something had happened. Even in her current state, that much seemed obvious. There had been a sharp pain and she had gone flying. That was where her memory ended. She tried her best to dig a little deeper and to locate some manner of explanation for what had befallen her. For that matter, she wasn't entirely sure just what situation she was currently in. That would probably be the place to start. She needed to try and make sense of her surroundings. It took an impossible amount of effort for her to look out of her eyes. She had been correct. She was still in the alley. Something was different however: wrong.

It was only when she felt her hair flicking around her face that it finally twigged that she was upside down. That single realisation was enough to enable her to finally snap out of whatever state of semi-consciousness she'd been trapped in and realize just where she currently was. Her body began to register pain rather abruptly. The worst of it was coming from her ankle. Dizzily, she managed to look up, down? She really didn't know how to qualify it given that her feet were currently located above her head. The world was spinning but she was able to make out her right leg, being suspended in the air, a thick wire running around her ankle. For a few moments, all that she was capable of doing was staring. Somehow unable to process just what the snare was doing there and how it had lead to her being in this position.

Becoming aware of her current situation did have the slight benefit of informing her just why the blood was no longer reaching her foot. She managed to muffle a cry of pain as her body informed her that this wasn't a position that she was meant to be in. Her instinct was probably a foolish one. She tried kicking in order to free herself. It only served to strain her muscles. The pain increasing as the snare tightened. Still dazed, it was impossible for her to think clearly about how to get out of the situation. She found herself panicking, struggling increasingly frantically in an attempt to free herself.

"Ladybug!" The voice seemed closer this time. It was soft, concerned, caring.

She didn't know just who it was until she glanced to her left and found herself looking straight into a pair of bright green eyes. For a moment, they were foreign to her. She couldn't place them. They did seem to stand out against the darkness. It was plain to read that whoever they belonged to was worried, she was now their only focal point. She knew who it was. The name was slow to come but she could at least feel some comfort from their presence. She allowed herself to relax slightly as she hung there uselessly, confident that a rescue of one kind or another was on the way. Despite everything, the young woman managed to give him a gentle smile, trying to let him know that it was alright and that he didn't need to panic. The name came back to her suddenly, she whispered it softly:

"Adrien..."

"Easy there Bugaboo… I'm going to get you down. Don't struggle."

His words were soft, calming. They were what she wanted to hear. Informing her that everything was going to be alright. He would ensure that it was. She took a deep breath, managing to relax to the best of her ability. He rose up using his staff so as to be nearer the snare which had got her trapped. Unable to hold back her curiosity, she strained her neck to look up at him to see what the young man was doing. For the time being, he was simply inspecting the trap. He was cautious, toying with the wire for a few seconds, seeing if he might he able to loosen it. A second later, his staff shrunk, bringing him back down to her level. His eyes ran over her body for a few moments, searching for something.

"Where's your yoyo?"

"I dropped it..." That much came back to her rather painfully. "Why?"

"I'm going to have to use cataclysm but if I do that you'll fall. I'm not sure I could catch you in time." His attention was now focused on the alleyway, no doubt trying to spot her signature weapon. "Don't worry, I'll be right back."

He darted off to somewhere beneath her, she guessed. She could actually remembering letting go of the yoyo. Her arms had flailed around for a few seconds desperate to try and grab a hold of anything which presented itself in order to prevent herself from being yanked up into the air. Whilst conceivably it could have been catapulted quite some distance in her panic, it was most likely simply lying down there on ground. Relaxing or at least not panicking whilst hanging upside down wasn't an easy activity. As the blood rushed to her head which continued to ache and spin, she found herself wondering if she might be about to lose consciousness. It was something that she tried not to dwell on, as she spun around slowly.

With every passing moment, the feeling that something wasn't quite right was only getting worse. She was in no state to give herself an accurate medical assessment. The one thing that she could think was that things should have been getting better. The pain should have been growing increasingly duller as opposed to more acute and the world should not have been this dark. It most definitely shouldn't have required so much effort for her to both stay awake and to continue to think in an almost coherent manner. She didn't know where Cat Noir had gone. It felt like it was taking him forever to carry out such a simple task as locating her misplaced yoyo. As the blood continued to flow to her head, she closed her eyes in an effort to block out the rest of the world around her and to somehow make the current situation more bearable. How had this even happened?! A few seconds later, she was aware of a familiar and comforting presence by her side. She turned to face the familiar dark figure of Cat Noir. Using her yoyo, he carefully took aim at a nearby chimney. It would seem that it's magic worked even for him as he managed to wrap it around the bricks before handing it to her.

"You're going to have to hold on tight, okay Ladybug? Don't let go."

"Okay..." She managed to mutter, only just conscious.

Marinette did her best to hold on, wrapping the string around her hands. She knew that it would take her weight. It was almost indestructible after all. Her main fear was that she was too weak to keep holding on and that she would let go, falling to the ground. She could likely survive the impact as Ladybug but it was still something that she would much rather not put to the test. Cat Noir was quick to climb back up to the snare, examining it carefully as he prepared to cut her free. He gave her a warning, loud and audible so that she had some time to brace herself. She did so to the best of her abilities, clinging tightly to the string. Her muscles complained as she tensed up abruptly. She heard the cry of "cataclysm!" which seemed to echo throughout her ears. She took a deep breath, only too aware of what was going to happen.

She was in free-fall.

Panic was instinctive. She clung to the string of her yoyo for dear life. She reminded herself again and again that it would bear her weight, it had done endless times before hand and would do this time. It would probably be more coherent for her to worry about whether or not the chimney would take her weight. She just had to hold on. If it slipped through her fingers, then all that she could look forwards to was crashing to the ground. In a split second, the rope tightened, the slack disappearing. She would swing, she could feel it coming. She held onto the rope. At least, she was upright now. Closing her eyes, Ladybug prayed for it to end. Her body and limbs continued to ache something crazy. She put her legs out in front of her, aware that they were in a narrow alley and that somewhere nearby there were walls and windows which she could collide with. She would much rather take the chance to brace herself and avoid being injured.

Sure enough, she collided roughly with a wall. Her legs acted like springs managing to take the worst of the impact. Still, she winced. The shock-waves running through her body caused her to let out a yelp. Still, she refused to let go clinging to it as if it was her only lifeline. She stayed there, breathing deeply trying her best to recover. Her heart was thundering in her chest from a mixture of fear and shock. In all, only a few seconds must have passed from when Cat Noir had first cried out Cataclysm to where she found herself now. It felt as if she was entirely spent. She had lost track of wherever she was. Sure, she was holding onto her yoyo for dear life but asides from that, she couldn't have said just how high up she was or what was beneath her.

There was a comforting presence behind her, it warmed her back. She recognized it as being Cat Noir. With a sigh, she felt her strength abandon her. She allowed herself to fall backwards, collapsing into his arms. Seeing stars, she allowed herself to drift off into some place distant. She wasn't entirely unconscious as some of his words reached her ears. He was carrying her in his arms. She found warmth there and comfort, groaning softly as she nuzzled into his chest. They had stopped. He shifted, kneeling so that she was closer to the ground. She wanted to speak, to open her eyes and get up and assure him that she was alright. Her body wouldn't permit it however, far more content to simply lie there and breathe slowly than to try and act. He was speaking more loudly now but his words didn't register with her. It was just noise. Only when he shook her slightly did she finally manage to pry open her eyelids and stare up at him:

"Stay with me, Ladybug."

"Adrien…" It seemed to require a disproportionate amount of her strength, she was seeing stars. "Something's wrong."

"Look at me..." He requested in a soft but firm voice.

It was a simple request but one which she struggled to oblige to. Her gaze drifted over him but was unable to focus as the world spun wildly. Her head rolled as she suffered from a powerful bout of dizziness. It was only when Adrien reached out, gently stroking her cheek that she was able to stabilize her gaze somewhat. With the most delicate of touches, he tilted her head upwards so that she was looking at him. He fixed her dead in the eyes. She saw all of the concern behind his orbs. It was plain to see that whatever had happened, it was serious. Marinette didn't know what he could see. Unable to think back clearly, she wasn't even able to say just what had happened. Her best guess was that she had hit her head. That would explain the pain that she felt and the difficulty she had moving.

The young man let out a sigh. He was still holding her closely but used his free hand to do something else. She didn't care to know what, too busy struggling to remain conscious to fret about what Adrien Agreste was doing. She just wanted to sleep. She lay there, breathing deeply as her eyes fluttered closed. Her hand was shaking as she rested it over her chest, taking comfort from the feel of her own heart beating. It took her a few seconds for her to realize that her companion was talking: not to her or to anyone else who was there but to somebody else… She couldn't hear their voice.

"She's hurt… No. Should I move her?- I don't know. I-I don't know what to do… I-"

Adrien let out a shout. It was a mixture of pain and alarm which echoed through the alley. In a flash, he was torn from her. It was enough to pull her out of the state of semi-consciousness that she had been trapped in. The world seemed unreal all of a sudden. It was as if everything was happening at once. There was commotion. Things crashed and people yelled. They were angry, hurt. She strained herself to get up, managing to sit up. The spinning was terrible, even the adrenaline coursing through her system wasn't enough to make things stable. There were two, no three, four… She couldn't even count how many there were. They were all wearing dark clothes. From time to time, she could make out a flash of blonde hair or a familiar glint of bright green eyes. A part of her was still present enough to remind her that she had to do something.

The young man was fighting tooth and nail. His attackers seemed to have taken him by surprise. As strong as he was as Cat Noir, he seemed to be struggling to hold his own against three assailants. They grappled with him, grabbing at his arms in an attempt to subdue him. As soon as he managed to shake one off of him, the other two were waiting and ready to take over. They weren't so much beating him as wrestling with him. He'd lost his staff… Even in her current state, she was able to tell that if she didn't do something, anything, to help, they were going to get the better of him. Gritting her teeth, the young woman fought against her heavy limbs and eyes which were seeing stars. She managed to turn herself over, resting on her knees. Even now, she felt nauseous and was forced to stop and take a few deep breaths for fear of losing consciousness. Adrien was only a feet feet away and yet it seemed like she would never be able to cover them.

She couldn't quite have said what happened next. Something hit her in the face. Already weak, she was thrown backwards and landed roughly against the asphalt. She wouldn't be getting up. That much she was certain of. Seconds or months could have passed, she would have been none-the-wiser. All she could do was lie on her back, starring up at the dark, cloudy sky. There was a dull pain which had spread throughout her entire body. Thinking was an impossibility. Her mind simply wasn't up for the task. Even the fight nearby faded away. If it were possible to be both conscious and unable to process the world around her, she'd somehow found the way to do it. There was some warm liquid which was trickling down the side of her face. It was only when she gasped, her entire body shuddering as she did so that she realized she hadn't taken a breath. She coughed, her muscles tensing up with each new attempt to fill her lungs with oxygen.

Something cut through the air and reached her ears. It was less of a cry and more of a roar, furious like a wild animal. She was aware of two people fighting nearby. There was yet more yelling in a language which she was unable to comprehend. A second later, a body crashed to the ground next to her. It did so with such force that it could have just been thrown from quite some height. It was Cat Noir, he struggled like a madman trying to shake off the three assailants who were currently pinning him down. One grabbed him by the hair, physically grinding his face into the asphalt. The others ensured that he was unable to reach them and land any kicks or punches. Adrien was screaming. It wasn't pain which was the cause so much as rage. The way he lashed around like a madman possessed was unlike anything that she'd ever seen him do before. His words were strange to her. It wasn't a language that she could immediately recognize. It wasn't French or English. He was speaking Chinese, she realized a few seconds later.

Perhaps more surprisingly, they were answering him. Their exchange was heated. The hatred was evident. She didn't need to understand the words to know that they were unlikely to be friendly and affectionate. The young man repeated the same sentence again and again. Screaming at the top of his lungs as he did so. It was a woman's voice which eventually answered him. Somehow, that was enough to shut him up in an instant. He seemed to freeze. A few seconds later, he turned back to face her, green eyes wide with fear:

"Cult of Kahn. They're called the Cult of-!"

He was stopped brutally by one of his masked attackers turning his head sharply, tugging his hair in order to do so. Gritting his teeth, obviously in some pain. He fought back to the best of his ability, thrashing around wildly even if it cost him some stands of golden hair. The stranger only responded by yanking down harder, to such an extent that Marinette was sure that he was about to rip a tuft out as a result. Terror filled his green eyes as they rested on a syringe slowly being brought towards him. He redoubled his efforts to free himself. It was as if the cat somehow took over, causing him to hiss and even spit. Finally, he seemed to be weakening. With a single swift movement, the needle was driven into his neck. Its contents were fed into him. Adrien let out a single desperate cry, aware that he had just lost the battle.

Whatever the liquid was, it was potent. In the space of a few seconds, the young man stopped struggling. His limbs were heavy. He was taking deep breaths. A dark shadow crept into his eyes. It was clear that his head was spinning, a sign that he struggling to remain conscious. Each beat of his heart served to send the liquid coursing ever-faster through his veins. Still, his gaze rested on the face of the stunned Ladybug. Painful regret filled them. He opened his mouth but the words seemed to snag in the back of his throat. Finally, with his eyes fluttering as he struggled to remain conscious. He must have realized what was going to happened, as he managed to utter in a hushed voice:

"It's going to be alright Ladybug. I promise..."

He was gone a few seconds later, perhaps not completely unconscious but none-the-less too weak to resist even in the slightest. The two attackers picked him up, dragging him by the arms whilst a third took his legs. Powerless, Marinette somehow still found the strength to reach out, fingers extending so as to brush against the young man as he was taken away from her. She wanted to call out after them but lacked the strength to do it. A prisoner of her own body, she was unable to help. Some of this felt like it was some sort of nightmare. All she needed to do was wake up and she would find herself either in her bed or at her desk after having worked too hard. There was no way that this could be happening…

Adrien was gone but she wasn't alone.

In the darkness she was trapped in, she found herself looking up to see a stranger. All she could make out was their eyes, coldly fixing her. The rest was hidden behind a mask. She was one of the number who had attacked them. Her clothes made that much obvious. Under other circumstances, the superhero might have tried giving her a glare. Instead of just lying there, staring up into the dark sky and unable to even move in the slightest. It was requiring every ounce of her strength and resolve just to avoid slipping into unconsciousness. Moving was impossible, much less trying to defend herself. Above her, the attacker kneeled down reaching out. In an instant, Marinette realized what they intended to do, to take. Her mind screamed at her, demanding that she do something, panic settling in. It was enough to give her something of a second-wind. Her movements were weak, clumsy and uncoordinated. It was no wonder that they were easily swiped away.

The stranger reached out fingers aiming for her earrings. She strained her neck, ignoring the pain as she attempted her best to get her head away, protesting more vocally. As dazed as she might have been, she was still able to think clearly enough to know that if these strangers managed to grab her miraculous. It could very well mean the end of the world. Another punch to the face was enough to stun her once more. Her head rolled back as she saw stars.

The world seemed to have drifted into a strange inbetween place. With every passing second, she found herself increasingly struggling to stay awake. Her body, in an act of protest to the beating it had just taken was inclined to switch off to allow itself to recover.

Unable to move, she could barely even process the shadow which leaped down from the rooftops above. Something shot through the air in a flash. A heartbeat later there was a scream from her would be attacker. The masked individual staggered backwards, gripping at their forearm. Something had struck them and was now sticking out of their skin. It looked as if it might have been some manner of a knife or maybe a dart. With the world so blurry and faint, Marinette struggled to tell. It didn't seem to matter all that much. All she wanted was to close her eyes and get some much needed sleep.

The strange creature landed near her with the softness of a feather. It moved both quickly and gracefully, wrapping an arm around Ladybug and pulling her in close. With the other, it held a single brightly if somewhat unconventionally coloured feather in between the tips of her fingers, ready to throw it. She didn't speak. Letting out a soft groan, Marinette looked up to see the face of her apparent saviour. Eyes bright pink and the rest of her skin a strange shade of blue… It served to give her something of an otherworldly appearance. She seemed calm, restrained. Her cold gaze rested upon the attacker. The strange creature wrapped her arms around her, pulling the young woman in closer in order to shield her. For a few moments, time seemed to be standing still.

"Go." It was a single word which the stranger hissed out, a simple command.

The word was fading out now. She was vaguely aware that someone was running, running away. The rest was growing darker. The words spoken intended no doubt to comfort her but they were lost becoming nothing more than white noise as she drifted off into some distant place devoid of dreams.