The dagger never connected. A metal pole came shooting out of nowhere, knocking it out of her hand. Before she could react, it slammed into her chest, knocking her back.

No! I thought I had more time! Heartbreaker gritted her teeth as she skidded back, keeping on her feet. She saw Cat Noir coming over now. She tried jumping back to get to a more advantage position, but a tug on her arm stopped her. The top! It was still wrapped around her arm, but now Queen Bee was back in control of it, pulling at it to keep Heartbreaker trapped.

"It's over now," Cat Noir said, coming over. He tried slamming his staff down on her pouch, but she dodged the blow.

She was not in a good position, but she wasn't about to give up. Cat Noir moved in closer and Queen Bee still had her stinger at the ready, though the beep beep of her miraculous told her that wouldn't last much longer. She reached her hand to her pouch, willing her daggers to come out and attack her enemy. They responded readily to her command, flying at her enemies, keeping them at bay.

Heartbreaker's focus was entirely on Cat Noir now. Her daggers flew at both of her enemies, all skillfully deflected, but that was more of a distraction. This is all his fault, she told herself, feeling her anger rising as she watched the superhero dodging and deflecting her projectiles, everything is his fault, now he's going to feel sorrow like he made me feel sorrow!

As he dodged, Heartbreaker saw an opening. Her frown deepened as she grabbed one of her flying daggers out of the air, leaping forward with it. His staff was to the side, having just deflected a blow, and his chest was wide open. Nothing could stop her from taking her revenge now. She drove her dagger forward, right at his heart.

"Now you're going to suffer, Ad-!"

Heartbreaker felt an impact in her side, accompanied by a sharp sting. Her hand hovered in the air, gripping the dagger tightly, it's tip barely a hairsbreadth away from Cat Noir's chest. But she couldn't move it. Every muscle in her body had locked up tight, unwilling to move. She couldn't blink, she couldn't talk, and she felt that even her lungs were locked in place. She desperately tried to inhale, but her diaphragm wouldn't budge. She didn't feel like she was suffocating, though, more like her body was held in some kind of stasis, a form of living death. All she could do was watch as Queen Bee stepped into view, the stinger from her hand now gone as its energy had been spent.

"Nooo!" Hawk Moth shouted in her mind, realizing what had happened, "How did you fail, Heartbreaker!"

She couldn't answer, all she could do was watch helplessly as Queen Bee unwrapped her top, looking quite shaken, and crossed her arms at her. Cat Noir took a step back, sweat beading his brow from the close call. Then he came over to Heartbreaker, pulling the pouch off her thigh. Just before he tore it asunder, freeing the akuma and removing her powers, he leaned in extremely close, putting his mouth to her ear.

"I'm sorry, Marinette," he whispered.

Adrien…

Then all went black.

Marinette blinked her eyes open. She was on the ground on her hands and knees – except it wasn't the ground – still wearing her dress, her loose hair hanging around her face. Where am I? she wondered. Looking around, it seemed she was on a rooftop, and Cat Noir and Queen Bee were nearby pounding fists. Marinette shifted into a sitting position as she tried to remember what had happened.

The date… The rejection… The akuma! I've been akumatized! Marinette realized with horror.

"I think this is yours," Cat Noir said, holding out her purse to her, a huge tear down the middle.

Panic consumed her. She grabbed it quickly, pulling it open wide, and looked inside while shouting, "Tikki!" She wasn't in there, though. She must be back at home, Marinette reasoned, I hope she's ok… If she was akumatized, then there was an akuma loose now that needed to be cleansed. She had to find Tikki quickly, transform, cleanse the akuma, and fix whatever damage she had caused.

"Please take me home, Cat Noir," she pleaded with him, "I've had a rough night." He had a strange look in his eyes as he regarded her, but he gave an affirmative nod.

"So, what are we doing with this thing?" Queen Bee asked in a disgusted tone. Marinette saw now that her top's string was wrapped around an akuma, struggling against its bonds. A normal butterfly would have been torn to pieces by the top, but the magically-charged akuma was merely inconvenienced. Marinette felt a chill run down her spine seeing it. She had seen plenty of akumas before, but this was the first one that actually infected her.

"Do you think you could find something at home to put it in?" Cat Noir asked as Queen Bee's miraculous beeped loudly, "I'll come by after to get it, but first I want to get Marinette home."

"Yeah, whatever," she agreed. She unwrapped the top from the akuma, grabbing it instead in her hand, before tossing the top out again to jump to the next building. "Bug out!" she shouted as she flew off.

That's my line! Marinette grimaced at the retreating figure. Not that she could say that aloud, of course. Besides, there were more important matters to deal with.

"Are you ready?" Cat Noir asked her, offering a hand to help her to her feet. He was looking at her with a soft expression. If Marinette didn't know any better, she might've interpreted that look as admiration. She gracefully accepted the hand, holding her purse with the other, allowing him to pull her to her feet before he lifted her up and jumped off into the night.

Cat Noir tore the bag apart, freeing the akuma inside. As he tried to consider how they were going to trap it, Queen Bee's top flew out, its cord wrapping around the black butterfly. The magically-charged akuma couldn't be killed like that, but it did effectively keep it restrained.

"Good job, Queen Bee," Cat Noir smiled at her, relaxing for the first time that evening. As one, they both shouted, "Pound it!" as they shared the traditional fist bump.

Turning, Cat Noir saw Marinette sitting up now, looking confused, then horrified as understanding seemed to dawn on her. He picked up the now-torn purse and offered it to her.

"I think this is yours," he said, giving an encouraging smile. It would have to wait until Ladybug found her miraculous before it was whole again.

With a sense of urgency that Cat Noir found alarming, Marinette grabbed the purse, tearing it open wide to look inside, and shouted, "Tikki!"

A cold shiver swept through Cat Noir's body. Tikki. He had heard that name already that very night.

Tikki is Ladybug's kwami. Marinette is looking for Tikki. That means… Marinette is…

Cat Noir felt his heart start to beat rapidly. He found it hard to breathe as his mind reeled with epiphany. Despite himself, he was staring dumbfounded at Marinette, unable to look away. Just like in her akumatized form, she was wearing a simple, round, black earring on each ear. Heartbreaker's words came back to him: Your ring would look so good with my earrings, don't you think?

"Please take me home, Cat Noir," Marinette asked him desperately, snapping him back to attention, "I've had a rough night." He regarded her curiously, suddenly seeing not the soft-spoken, kind-hearted girl, but a strong, powerful woman, one who roamed the rooftops with superhuman strength, fighting with unfailing courage and ingenuity. Blinking a couple times to remember what was said, he gave a simple nod, not trusting his mouth to work at that moment.

"So, what are we doing with this thing?" Queen Bee asked nearby, reminding Cat Noir of the task at hand. He turned and saw she still held the akuma helplessly in the cord of her top.

"Do you think you could find something at home to put it in?" Cat Noir asked her hopefully, just as her miraculous beeped loudly, "I'll come by after to get it, but first I want to get Marinette home."

"Yeah, whatever," she agreed. She released the akuma from her top, holding it instead in her hand. With her top free again, she tossed it off to jump to the next building. "Bug out!" she shouted as she leaped away. Cat Noir forgot about her quickly, turning his attention back to the girl… No, to his lady, sitting at his feet and waiting for his help.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, offering her a hand. There were so many other words he wanted to say to her, but now was not the time for them. First he needed to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that his suspicions were true, but already in his heart he knew it was so. He pulled his lady to her feet, held her delicately in her arms, and jumped off in the direction of her home.