Marinette screams, lunging forward. "Stop! Stop, you can't do this!"
But she cries go unheard, as the foxes shove Adrien to the ground, and he slides his neck through the guillotine. "Don't worry, Alice!" he calls to her. "I'll be alright!"
"Adrien, no, please," she races up to the platform, but is held back by another pair of foxes. Tears steaming down her face, she struggles against them, in horror and hopelessness. "Please, I just got you back, I can't lose you again, Adrien, I love you-"
He looks up at her, and his eyes, for just a moment, return to normal- the clear green she so loves. "Marinette, I love you. You won't lose me."
Then the blade drops, and his head falls to the ground.
Her scream cuts through the balcony, and the doors to the house swing open with the force. The foxes let her go, and she runs to the guillotine, tears spilling to the ground in wave after wave, as she strokes his hair. "Adrien..."
"Yes?"
She gasps in shock, staring through her tears, as Adrien's head looks up at her, amusement in his eyes. "Y-you're not dead?"
"I'm the Cheshire Chat," he points out, raising an eyebrow. "I have the power of not making sense. Although I suppose most would rather make dollars than sense, right?" He gives her a wink, and she nearly breaks down again.
"I thought... I thought..."
"I told you that you wouldn't lose me. Would I lie to you?"
Volpina, still standing behind them, clears her throat. "As touching as this truly is- and to be frank, it's more freakish and disgusting than touching, considering he's bleeding out the neck, and you're, well, you," she sneers at Marinette. "I think this is the part where you and I fight, and I kill you before you can kill the king."
"I... I'm fighting your fox monsters, or you?" she tilts her head, trying to get herself together. "Because if it's your fox monsters, I'd like to file a complaint about the fairness of this whole thing." She stands up, and... Adrien's head floats up, beside her.
She decides not to question it.
Volpina's laugh is sickeningly sweet. "Oh, sweet Alice," she croons. "It won't be fair regardless. You might be able to change the truth, but I can do you one better. I can-"
The ground beneath her collapses in a cavern of dust and decay. Adrien turns to Marinette. "She was getting annoying, wasn't she?"
"And you didn't do that when she was chopping your head off because...?"
He sighs. "Rules of Wonderland. Anyway, once we get rid of the Butterfly King, everything will be fine again I promise."
"Your head isn't stuck on your body, Adrien."
"Yeah, well..." He turns. "Your grief scream blew the door open. We just have to get rid of the king now, and we're golden, okay Alice?"
"Don't call me Alice," she mutters, but she heads into the house, shaking slightly.
There's a long set of stairs, and at the top of them, a man in violet sits on a throne, surrounded by glowing butterflies. "Well, well, well," he snickers. "Looks like you really did find her, Cheshire. And to think, I doubted you. Don't worry though. I'll be sure to clean up this little mess of yours."
"She's going to kill you," Adrien replies steadily.
"Says the floating head with the forced smile, dripping blood all over my nice carpet."
"He's got a point, you know," Marinette whispers, earning her a look of slight annoyance from Adrien. Well, he deserves to be annoyed after what he's been putting her through!
"So," the butterfly king grins, getting up from his throne and walking down the stairs... drawing a sword... "We fight."
She glances around the room, and grabs a flower from a vase, focusing. If she can change it, like she did with the akumas...
"A yo-yo?" the Butterfly King laughs. "What do you intend to do with that, Ladybug Girl Alice?"
She thinks, glancing around the room.
"I believe in you," Adrien whispers.
"Yeah, considering you brought me here without my permission, you'd better."
The Butterfly King lunges, and she snaps the string of her yo-yo, causing his blade to bounce off. Wait... his blade! Of course!
He goes in toward her chest, and she wraps the string of the yo-yo around his blade, and with a flick of the wrist, pulls him forward, grabbing the sword in her hands...
He falls to his knees. The blade comes down.
...
"Marinette... Marinette!"
Her eyes snap open, and she cries out, tears coming to her eyes, and she wraps her arms around Adrien... Adrien, who is whole, and new, and in her arms, Adrien, who no longer wears a mask and a forced smile...
"Princess, we're home. When you killed him, the Ladybugs did their job. We're home."
She looks up at him, and in that moment, his smile is real, and she knows he's right.
She's finally home.