It's 3 a.m. when Marinette is woken by a news alert on her phone. "Breaking news. A man has been seen wandering the streets of Paris, capturing anyone out and about in the early morning hours. He is reportedly using large nets to capture and suspend people above the ground. He was last seen headed toward the Grand Paris Hotel. We advise everyone to avoid the area until he …"

Groaning, Marinette rolls out of bed and stretches. "Tikki… Tikki! Wake up!" she sings to the small sleeping god. "Come on, there's an akuma on the loose."

Tikkis large eyes flutter open and she asks through a large yawn, "Doesn't anyone sleep in this city?" she floats to the bedside table and quickly gobbles up a leftover cookie from the night before. "Alright, I'm ready to go."

"Tikki, spots on!"

A bright pink flash fills the room as she transforms. Yawning, she climbs up to her balcony and takes off into the night. After a few minutes of searching, she finds the akumatized man stalking down the street. He whistles slowly as his boots squeak, navy blue body suit nearly blending in with the dark road under him, a large net strapped to his back and keys jingling at his hip.

"Looks like I've found our akumatized dog catcher." Chat Noirs purrs as he lands in front of the new super villain.

"Oh look! A feral Chat! It seems my prey is coming to me now. Hold still kitty and I'll make this relatively painless." The man grunts as he swings the net down where Chat noir had just been.

"Whoa dude! Chill. No need to be so hostile. I may net be your ally but that's no reason to be so rude." He laughs as he jumps back, obviously giggling at his own horrible pun.

"That was awful!" ladybug sighs as she lands by his side.

"Oh ladybug, you know you miss my puns when I'm away."

Grunting as she turns away, she studies the new villain. "Taking in his outfit, he seems to have been an animal catcher of some kind. He was most likely bitten on the job or something. Poor guy was probably just trying to do his job and got unlucky enough to fall victim to an akuma. What do you think his fetish is?"

"Ropes I think." Chat replies with a grin. "No, probably the giant net. He looks like a dog catcher." He hums before vaulting forward to engage the enraged supervillain.

Ladybug is moving low, still not totally awake. She jumps into the fight but isn't moving as fast as normal. While she does get in a few hits, most of her attacks miss completely.

"Lady, look out!"

Too late, she feels the net connect with her ribs as she is flung to the side. Hitting a car hard enough to told the metal in on itself, she sees stars burst before her eyes. Taking a slow, shallow breath, she barely breathes out, "Get the net… I don't know how much help I'll be now… sorry…" she looks up at Chat, her vision unblurring to show his panicked face. "Go, I'll be fine Chat."

Nodding, he runs off. She hurts all over. She much have cracked a couple ribs and the metallic taste in her mouth can't be good. Watching the villain fly over her, she decides that its finally time to stand up. It takes longer that she wants to admit it does, a lot more pain than she expected while transformed, and not a few choice curse words.

Finally standing on her own two feet, Chat approaches her, net in hand. Wordlessly he breaks the pole in half over his knee and a small black butterfly flutters out. Using her yo-yo, she purifies the akuma and throws it in the air yelling "Miraculous Ladybug" in a very hoarse and pained voice. A red flash fills the night air and all the damage done by the akuma is magically fixed.

All except her injuries that is. She still feels like death is only a step away as she struggles to take full breaths.

"My lady?" Chats face swims in her vision.

She stumbles to her knees, gasping in pain at the jarring motion. She gulps down air as she tries to steady her spinning head.

"Lady?!" his voice sounds far away, like he is calling her from a great distance. A sudden stabbing pain in her side brings his face back into focus. She feels tears stream down her face as he lifts her in his arms, though she isn't quite sure which of them are crying.

"Where do you live? I'll take you home."

"No! no, you can't know who I am." She cries out.

"I'm not leaving you here! You're injured, I won't leave you. I can't."

Thinking is hard with a pain wracked body. Thoughts bob and weave between shots of pain coming from everywhere at once. Through the fog of pain, she hears her miraculous beep. She's running out of time.

"Okay, fine. Do you remember the school where we fought the Evillustrator? Take me there, I think I can make my way home from there on my own."

"But my lady…" he's cut off by her hand raising to cup his tearstained cheek. "I'm going to be okay Chat. I just need some time to rest. I'm only letting you take me that far to humor you." She lies through her gritted teeth.

He nods after a moment, gently lifting her and running as smoothly as possible toward the school. The pain begins to fade as the cold fall night air chills her and her breathing evens out. She watches Chats face as he runs. He looks so torn and concerned. He glances at her as he slows to a stop, carefully setting her on the steps of the school.

"Ladybug, are you sure you don't want me to take you home?"

"Chat. I'm fine. It's just going to be a bruise and a few days of sore muscles. I'll be back to working order tomorrow." She takes a deep, and painful, breath before standing.

Pain rings through her right hip but she keeps her face blank. "Really, I'm fine. No need to worry silly kitty. Now, go get some sleep. Good night." She smiles reassuringly at him as she struggles to breathe normally. At least her voice is steady now.

He reluctantly steps away, watching her carefully. "My lady… can you call me when you get home? So that I know you made it back okay?" his voice sounds small, frail.

"Of course."

He nods and steps back again before hesitating a moment. Just after he disappears around the corner of the school her miraculous beeps a final time.

And so, she begins her slow and painful walk home. It's not a long walk, though it feels like miles tonight. Climbing to the roof is difficult without her miraculous and the effort of clenching even her fist is painful. After the excruciating climb up the side of the building, she drops onto her bed and lays for a moment in slight relief.

"Tikki, spots on. I have to call him now." A flash of red fills the room and she quickly pulls out her compact to call her partner, knowing that Tikki doesn't have long. "I made it home." She smiles at him brightly.

"Oh, thank god. I was worried something had happened after I left you."

"No, I was just taking my time."

"My lady…" he looks away from the screen for a moment. "I… I'm sorry. Sweet dreams my lady, good night." He says quickly band hangs up before she can reply.

Too tired to push it, she drops her arm and feel the detransformation whirl around her. The clock reads 3:30 as her eyes fall shut and sleep takes her.