I'm Not Ladybug
Chapter 8
What's the Point
Marinette barged out of the school, not caring that she would miss yet another class, that she would concern her friends, or that she would fall behind. She didn't care about any of it! She would be dead soon anyway so why did any of it matter. And how there he! How dare he act like he cares now! NOW when his GIRLFRIEND is probably looking for him thinking that he cares about her when in reality he's hiding away PRETENDING he cares about her! He doesn't care about me! There's no way he does!-but what about what you just saw? That all seemed genuine- she shook the thought off continuing her walk. To her annoyance this seemed to be when Tikki realized her plan.
"Marinette, where are you going! The school day isn't over and you're already behind! You need to go back." Marinette was sick and done.
"Tikki I can't be alright! I can barely breathe and you want me to go back! Where the teacher calls me out and humiliates me and my so called friends sit there and harass me! I can't do it! I'm sorry!" She picked up her pace as she spoke. She was going to have an anxiety attack if things kept going like this. "Tikki I'm begging you just leave me alone."
"Marinette I'm not trying to be annoying, but things will only get more difficult the more you avoid them. You need to go back and get everything worked out, but besides the teacher what are you even upset about? I knew you were going to talk to Adrien….did he say something?" She asked hesitantly.
"Oh he said plenty of things. I mean who does he think he is! Dragging me into a closet when I'm not his girlfriend! Do you have any clue what she would have thought if she had seen that! It would NOT have been pretty and guess who would have gotten blamed? Me! I mean does he ever think about anyone but himself?" Tikki frowned as she spoke.
"Marinette, you know that's not true. Adrien has always been genuine. He was being completely honest with whatever he said I'm sure. You're being unfair."
She felt guilty as soon as she said it. Adrien had never given her any reason to not trust him, but that didn't mean that his concern didn't hurt. She just didn't know if she could stand to be just his friend. She had always loved him so much. It just hurt so much to watch him choose someone else. She didn't mean talking to him casually in between classes, but what he did today? Taking her aside to have private talks concerning her mental health? That was just something she didn't know if she could handle.
It wasn't really something he had ever done before. So why now? Was it him just trying to be a good friend? It just felt so different from the ways Adrien had spoken to her before. Even when he was concerned. There just seemed to be something more to the way he was looking at her. She could be making it up completely. I mean isn't that what she had thought the entire time she had known Adrien? Was that there was more there between them than there actually was? Thinking about him hurt. Even the good moments hurt.
Marinette barged up into her room and immediately came face to face with a picture of him on her wall. She immediately started tearing down anything related to Adrien. She knew she looked crazy, but she just didn't care. She was done with the green eyed blonde!
"Marinette stop! What are you doing!" Tikki flew over trying to pick up the photos to hand back. To which Marinette just continued her act of tearing down the posters.
"I never want to see him again. Not at school, not at events and certainly not here in my own room!" With that she tore the last picture off of the wall. She quietly panted walking over to her computer to get rid of the last evidence showing Adrien meant more to her than anyone else. With a click of the mouse Adrien's face was gone from her computer.
Marinette stared at the blank screen heaving with anger. Body exerted past what it should be on her lack of food for an aggressive walk home and all the aggression taken out on her walls. Marinette felt her legs buckle underneath her and managed to grab a hold of a chair before TIkki would notice. That was the last thing she needed right now. "Marinette?" It was a timid sound. Almost scared, a sound that should never come from Tikki, especially not revolving around her. Hesitantly turning around she saw her little red Kwami staring at her hesitantly from the door. Her Kwami's eyes went from her's to the floor. When Marinette followed her gaze she was definitely surprised to see the state of her room.
It was a disaster! THere were papers everywhere. But thankfully all of them were face down so she wouldn't have to look at Adrien's face. She could be thankful for small miracles she supposed. She mumbled a quiet "Sorry Tikki" Before silently beginning to clean the papers up.
By the time the room was spotless again Marinette's phone buzzed. When she pulled it out she saw that there was an Akuma attack! Alright she finally got to stop being Marinette for the day! "Tikki spot's on!" Marinette was a little surprised when Tikki didn't look happy about transforming. She shrugged it off in her happy state and leapt out the door. Not really bothering to be discreet. Her parents weren't even in the country to check on her so why should she care.
Marinette found a ledge where she could see the Akuma and sat for a moment to observe. She absentmindedly rubbed over her wrists where she had cut them earlier in the week. "Whatcha up to my lady?" Marinete gasped, jumping away from her partner. Since when was she jumpy as Ladybug?
Chat Noir must have thought the same thing because after giving her an overly confident smirk he said "Wow my lady I've never known you to scare easily." She laughed lightly before shrugging.
"What can I say, you don't know everything about me, kitty." She smiled up at him, tuning out the concerned look in his eyes.
"You know I wish I could." She knew he was serious, he had always been open and honest about wanting to know who she was. He hadn't even used his usual "Milady". She gave him a small smile and a shrug before responding.
"I know my kitty." She shook her head turning back to the akuma in front of them. "Forget about that though, we have an akuma to capture."
Ok so normally Ladybug's plans always went well and were sure fire! Today…was not one of those days. Marinette cursed to herself as she jumped across another building narrowly avoiding the akuma's fist as it slammed down where her body had been seconds prior. She ducked as debris flew over her head. Today was not going according to plan!
She took a deep breath, lugging herself back up to keep running. "Chat Noir please tell me things are working out on your end!" She spoke into her walkie as she ran.
"Umm not so much….it broke." Her eyes widened as she kept running.
"It what! How!" She grunted as she ducked into the closest building, attempting to avoid the akuma's gaze. She took deep breaths, trying to keep her mind calm. She normally never panics as Ladybug, but this…this was bad! The Lucky Charms had never broken before! No one had ever told her what to do if this happened!
"I was sticking it into the door like you told me too and it snapped! My Lady…what are we going to do?" She closed her eyes, she felt bad. Chat Noir was panicking too and she was sure she hadn't helped by yelling at him.
"Ok deep breaths Chat. We'll figure this out like we always do. Is there anything around that you can use with the broken pieces? Maybe it was always meant to be broken. Maybe that's how we're supposed to use it?" She waited quietly, closing up even further on herself as she saw the shadow of the Akuma walk past where she was hidden. She covered her speaker just in case her partner decided to speak and blow her cover.
"My Lady I-I don't know, I can't see anything it could be used for. That sort of thing is something you do, it's not one of my abilities. Ladybug…I don't know how much help I'm going to be right now." He sounded regretful and sad. Her heart didn't know whether it was hurting for him or because she was absolutely terrified.
"It's alright Kitty. I have a new plan. I'm going to need you to create a distraction away from there. Once you do I'll get back there and see if there's any way I can use the Lucky Charm. If I can't, I'll detransform and restart the Lucky Charm. We will make this work! We always do."
"Sounds like a plan, My Lady. I'll follow you forever." She smiled before exiting off of the speaker and going to the news. Now all she had to do was wait. She didn't have to wait too long before she saw Chat popping up on the news gliding along on his staff. Ok now was the time!
She leapt out the window and hurriedly began sneaking her way towards her lucky charm. She really hoped she wouldn't have to detransform! Not only did she hate being Marinette, but it was also really dangerous! She ran through the streets, avoiding using her yoyo to stay low. She didn't need Hawkmoth finding her!
It didn't take her long to get to where she needed to be. She ran up the last flight of stairs before getting into the room that held her lucky charm. She locked the door behind her quickly looking for the charm. Her crowbar was jammed into the door just like it was supposed to be, but just as Chat had said it was snapped in half. She tuned into her LadyBug instincts desperately looking for a way to use this thing! She thought-key word thought- that the point was to break into the room that held the janitor's belongings so they could go through and break open the Akuma. They had already learned the janitor didn't have the Akuma on them so it had to be at their apartment. But why wouldn't her lucky charm work?
"Come on come on, where are you?" She muttered to herself. She felt her hope begin to dwindle as nothing popped up. She took a breath before looking for a place to hide. Finding a bathroom she locked herself in and called for her spots off. When the Red Kwami flew up to face her owner she looked just as freaked out.
"Marinette, this is bad! I've never even seen a Lucky Charm break!" Marinette pulled out food for the Kwami as she spoke.
"I know Tikki, but we have to stay calm. Panicking isn't going to help anything. Just eat up so we can get back out there." Tikki nodded becoming serious as well before shoving food into her mouth. There was no time for small talk, this entire thing was dangerous. Sure they had transformed before, it was never really a good idea, but the lucky charm had never broken! Tikki nodded to her letting her know she was ready. "Alright Tikki, spots on!" Within seconds she was shouting out for her lucky charm.
What! That didn't make any sense! It was another crowbar! Marinette felt a sinking dread bubble up inside of her staring at the new object. "What am I supposed to do with this!" She ran back into the original room looking around and of course her eyes lit up on the door. The door that already had a crowbar in it…what was she supposed to do with another crow bar! They wanted it to go in the same place? Not stopping to ponder it she slammed the crowbar into a place right above the other and started pushing. When that didn't work she lifted her legs to push on the crowbar below it too. "Come on, come on!" She heard a crack and before she could get her feet back on the ground the door snapped causing her to fall onto her butt. She grimaced before hopping back up to get into the room.
"Where are you?" She muttered as she looked around. She gasped as she was suddenly smacked into the wall across the room, loudly falling to the ground in a heap. She gasped as the air got knocked out of her. Her vision went blurry. She could hear a buzzing in her ears. She assumed it was from her head being slammed into the wall. She started to get back up when something came up and grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the air. She screamed as her shoulder pounded with pain. She could feel her wrist bleeding from the cuts she had made a few days ago. Her vision was going in and out as her body pounded in pain.
She fought against the grip and gritted her teeth as the pressure tightened. She gasped as air began to rush past her and she was thrown to the floor hard enough to dent the floor. Her head slammed into the ground again leaving her even more dazed. What was going on? She couldn't remember. She thought she heard something though.
She felt the floor shake beneath her and felt a strange sensation before it all suddenly stopped…everything was quiet. What was she hearing? "My Lady! Ladybug!" Everything sounded faded, but she knew that voice. Where did she know that voice from!
"Ladybug I need you to open your eyes…..please open your eyes for me!" It was Chat Noir! It was her partner. Someone was here to help her! Her eyes flew open to meet worried green ones. They were all she could see.
"C-chat?" Her voice sounded weird. She couldn't think of the word…she just knew there was a word for it. He pulled her close. Something she was really grateful for. She couldn't move right now, so she was glad he had moved her closer. She could feel his heart pounding. She could feel him trembling…or was that her? She honestly wasn't sure. "W-w-what happened? My h-head feels funny."
"The Akuma got here before I could. He smacked you around a few times, but I was able to catch you before the floor caved in. We have a bit of time, the janitor fell down with the floor. We need to get you out of here though." His grip on her tightened. He was clearly scared. She knew he wanted her to be safe.
"W-what about the akuma?" His eyes were watery as she spoke.
"My Lady, I am much more worried about you. You can't fight right now. You're shaking and bleeding. You must have hit your head. I need to get you out of here." She tried to shake her head, but flinched when she tried. She felt a hand touch her head. She leaned into it still not fully aware of what was going on.
"We can't just leave these people here Chat. Everyone's counting on us. It doesn't matter that I'm hurt, it has to be done." Tears ran down his face as he looked at her. She had never seen him so emotional.
"What are we going to do?" He sounded as scared as she felt. She allowed him to hold her close as she spoke.
"...we….need to come up with a plan?" He let out a small laugh.
"That's normally your job Bugaboo." She let out a small laugh with him.
"I might need your help today kitty."
"You have it. You will always have my help." She could tell she was crying, but everything felt weird. Her skin felt weird. She pulled herself closer, resting her head against his neck. She felt his breath hitch before he immediately pulled her as close as he could.
"I have a plan, but you won't like it."
"I'm all ears."
"If we switch kwami's you could let me finish out the rest of this and you can get out of here."
"No-n-no Chat. I have to do this. I can't fail like this. This is the only thing I'm good at. The…the…only thing I have." Chat frowned confused.
"This isn't the only thing you're good at, My Lady. You're great at everything you do. I'm sure. You're so much more than just LadyBug. I would love you under that mask as much as I would now." She smiled sadly.
"You're wrong. I can't not do this Chat. I can't let these people down. I have to try. If I die trying then so be it." Chat got more serious at that moment than she had ever seen him in her entire life. He grabbed her face gently and pulled her close so that she was inches away from his face.
"I will not let you die. That will never happen." She pulled him close. Resting her forehead against his.
"Where's the object we need?" Chat's eyes widened as he looked around. He hesitantly looked down cursing under his breath.
"It fell down with the Akuma." She followed his gaze down.
"Well looks like we'll have to go get it."
"Ok, just hold on." With a tight grip he jumped down into the rubble of the broken floor. He gently laid her onto her feet, she would have fallen had he not been holding onto her. "Ok standing might not be the best option for you Bugaboo. What if I sit you down by some stuff and you look there?" She hated to agree, but she knew he was right. She knew there was no way she would be able to stand.
"You might be right." He gently laid her by a pile of stuff and they both got to searching. It was of course sort of hard to search with her vision still swimming. It wasn't too long before she heard Chat yell that he had found it. She turned in time for him to throw it down and break it. She hesitantly grabbed her yoyo and sat up on her knees.
"Alright little Akuma…that's enough evil doing for you! Miraculous Ladybug!" She watched as everything faded around her back to what it was before. She felt some of the pain leave her body. Unfortunately a lot of it was still there. Taking in a breath she let the butterfly go. "Bye bye little butterfly." She was always glad that the butterflies weren't harmed.
She leaned forward onto her hands. Allowing herself to assess her body for a moment. Taking deep breaths she could tell she definitely had some bruised ribs. She was pretty sure she had a minor concussion based on the blurry features around her. She was pretty sure before her butterflies had healed everything that she had broken her wrist, but now it only felt sprained. So at least that was good. She had a sling she could put it in at home.
She felt arms wrap around her and lift her up. She sent her partner a smile. "You know normally I wouldn't let you do this." He rolled his eyes, muttering "Yes you would." Before grabbing his staff and lifting them both away from that horrible place. Marinette held on tight as they flew through the city. It was funny how flying felt different with the staff versus the yo yo. The staff felt much more stable than the yo yo, but the yo yo was so freeing. It felt like you were truly flying. She burrowed further into Chat Noir's chest. Allowing herself to just feel comforted for just a few minutes.
They landed on a random ally far away from the situation they had just been in. When they landed Chat didn't put her down. If he was being honest he loved holding her. He loved how affectionate she was being. She normally never was this touchy with him and while he wished it had been under better circumstances it didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it a little. The worry set in though when Ladybug made no effort to get out of his arms…"My Lady?" There was silence. "Ladybug!" He tried to stay calm, but there was no stopping him from panicking when he looked at her face and saw that her eyes were closed and there was no response from her. He gently laid her down against the allywall. "Ladybug, I need you to wake up." He gently shook her waiting for some fort of response. "Please wake up."
He didn't know what to do! He couldn't leave her here! But he knew that her powers would be fading soon and she wouldn't want him to see her, but would she really want strangers to find her? He genuinely didn't know what to do! He didn't have that long either!
His panic rose even higher when her earrings started to beep. He closed his eyes sadly knowing there was nothing else he could do. "I'm sorry, My Lady." He saw the flash from under his eyelids. He would have kept his eyes shut out of pure respect for his partner, but she needed him more than she needed privacy right now. He opened his eyes only to feel his heart stop…"Marinette?"
Authors note: Wow…if that isn't a cliffhanger then I don't know what is. I really hope there is someone still out there reading this. I love this story and am absolutely not done with it. Hope someone out there has a great day.
-Kaitlyn
