Author's Note: This chapter's a doozy, just saying. I hope you guys like it, and please review!
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or elements relating to Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.
Miraculous: Borderline
Chapter 3: Off the Deep End
Marinette felt her breath catch in her throat.
It can't be.
Marinette felt panic run rigid through her veins, and stumbled back a few steps only to come to a jarring stop as her back hit the bathroom counter.
I can't let it touch me, I can't, I can't, I can't.
The akuma lazily flapped closer, and Marinette had the terrifying thought that there was nothing she could do to stop it from akumatizing her.
No. That's not true.
Marinette couldn't help but squeak as the akuma blew so close that it almost brushed her bangs. Marinette scrambled on top of the bathroom counter and struggled to take deep breaths.
Control your emotions. No panic. Or anger. Or sadness.
The akuma stopped floating closer, now just a hair's breadth from Marinette's flats.
As the seconds ticked by and the akuma didn't move, Marinette started calming down. She allowed herself a small, exhausted grin, feeling her heart slow down as her breathing steadied out.
I can do this. I'm Ladybug.
The akuma started drifting away.
Now I need Tikki.
Marinette slowly lowered herself down from the counter onto the floor, her eyes never leaving the akuma. But the akuma was already a meter away, floating aimlessly towards the ceiling.
Marinette started inching towards the door but suddenly froze in her tracks.
Tikki's with Adrien.
Oh no.
Tikki's with Adrien.
In an instant, faster than was possible, the akuma glided in a whoosh up to Marinette's face, and for a moment, Marinette opened her mouth but no sound came out.
Her thoughts were in a tangle, and she couldn't stop her emotions from spilling out of her in a confusing explosion of fear, exhaustion, anger, pain, and sadness.
The akuma was so close that Marinette could see the tiny hairs on the moth's legs and feel the dark energy pulsing off of the akuma.
Marinette caught her breath and screamed.
"Tikki!"
Adrien flinched as the cry of surprise and fear echoed off the walls.
What the—
Plagg flew around his head in agitated circles.
"What is that?" he cried.
Adrien was already running towards the locker room door. "Who is that?" Adrien corrected, feeling determination replace warring confusion and fear.
Adrien sprinted down the stairs into the courtyard, his heart racing and his thoughts spinning. The voice had sounded familiar. Worryingly familiar.
He had a really bad feeling about this.
Adrien got to the middle of the courtyard and spun around, trying to pinpoint where the voice had come from. As the seconds ticked by, his dread grew, and his hand immediately went to his ring, which he twisted around and around.
Shouldn't I be transforming into—
No, Adrien thought firmly. I—I have to find out who that was first.
Wait.
Adrien suddenly realized that he was still holding Marinette's purse in one hand.
"Plagg—" Adrien started to say.
Another cry rendered the air, panic and fear clear in the strained voice. "Tikki!"
Plagg looked sick to his stomach, his face twisted in a stricken look of pain and his mouth half open as if about to cry out. But before Adrien could say anything, Marinette's purse burst open.
Adrien only saw the brilliant flash of red and black for an instant, but he knew immediately what it was—or should he say, who it was.
Tikki. The Ladybug kwami.
Which meant that—
"Plagg, come on!" Adrien yelled and sprinted in the direction the Ladybug kwami had flown, towards the bathrooms.
And for once, Plagg didn't complain. In fact, he flew faster than Adrien could run and arrived there first, phasing right through the wall before Adrien could call him back.
"Tikki," Plagg said, out-of-breath, as he emerged into the bathroom.
He froze as his eyes widened in shock and his mouth dropped open.
Tikki was trembling before him, her face set in a sorrowful mask of fear as she hovered in the air nervously.
"M—Marinette?" Tikki whispered.
The girl who was Marinette turned to face them, and her dark maroon eyes narrowed in disgust and glee.
"Marinette is no more," she whispered, and slowly raised a fiery hand.
Adrien ran up to the bathroom door and raised a hand as if to knock before halting mid-step.
Isn't this a really bad idea to go in without transforming first? Adrien wondered.
He looked at his raised hand and stared at the ring on his finger, its silver grooves shining in the dim morning sunlight filtering in from the windows.
Responsibility.
Adrien shook his head and went to push the door open when the door frame buckled violently. Adrien stumbled back and stared at the door in shock.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then suddenly, the entire wall blew apart in a powerful explosion that knocked Adrien several feet back, sending him skidding across the floor in a shower of debris and plaster.
Adrien struggled to raise himself up on his elbows. Faintly, in the distance, he could hear kids screaming and teachers starting to direct everyone to the exits.
But all that faded into the background as out of the haze of smoke and plaster, a figure walked through.
She was beautiful in all her glory. Her bodysuit was a vibrant red with bright orange flames flickering up the sides. Her hair brushed her shoulders and showered glowing orange embers of light. Her face shone a rosy pink in the light of the flames that danced down her back and fluttered above her shoulders. Her eyes held a burning passion within their fiery maroon depths. She walked with a lithe stealth and a confident tread that anyone could ever dream of.
She was perfection unto itself.
But Adrien couldn't see the beauty in her because for him, a dark Marinette was a dark world.
End of Chapter 3: Off the Deep End
Author's Note: How was it? Did I get the drama down? Please let me know by reviewing. Updating this story takes time, and I'd like to know if it's worth it for me to keep posting :) Your reviews give me encouragement! Thanks for reading!