Chapter 5

Motivation to finish this chapter? Absolutely none. BUT YET HERE IT IS! Read, review, enjoy, have a cup of tea, watch some cartoons.

Hugs'n'shit

lil-fledgling

Chat Noir lost no time, using his staff to vault up the old building, every leap and bound bringing him closer to his goal.

Marinette, Ladybug, M'lady…

"The akuma is in her ballet slipper," Tikki yelled. "I can sense it"

"Great," Chat called back, "how the hell do we get those?" Tikki zoomed up to clutch at the collar of Chat Noir's suit.

"Leave that to me. Just try to get close enough for me to get to her shoes. Then what ever you do, don't let her get hurt. I don't know what will happen once she is free of the akuma but I can't imagine it will be anything good. You'll need to be ready for anything." The plan was vague and full of holes and chances for failure, but Chat didn't see any better plan coming to him this late in the game, his only option was to roll with it and hope Marinette's little Kwami knew what she was doing.

Landing lightly on the high rooftop, Chat Noir crept close to Marinette, careful not to let her see him. This would be easy; all he had to do was sneak up on her and-

A flurry of red ribbon suddenly shot at him, wrapping Chat up like a silk mummy and throwing him violently across the rough rooftop. With a groan, Chat Noir looked up to see the swaths of ribbon retracting back around Marinette's legs, her black eyes fixed on him.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" She cried, throwing her hands in the air. "I can hear you coming!" She tipped her head back and cackled. "You are no match for the Black Swan." Pushing him self to his feet, Adrian lunged for her. All he had to do was get close and Tikki would do the rest, it didn't matter how he went about doing it.

She met him hit for hit, parrying and blocking with a ferocity he had never seen in her before. If there was any doubt before that Marinette was Ladybug it had left. No one else could fight him like this.

"Damn it Tikki, its no good. I can't get any closer!" Chat Noir had retreated, circling his opponent at a safe distance as she glared viciously at him.

"You have to do better!" Tikki said, annoying Adrian a little, "You need to get just a little closer!" Chat growled, his patience beginning to wear thin, couldn't she see he was trying?

He tried again, feinting left, then right before charging at Marinette full speed, catching her off guard and knocking her to the ground. Adrian held her down as she fought and scratched, waiting for Tikki to do…well what ever she was supposed to do. With a horrific screech Marinette threw Adrian off her, rising to her pointed toes unsteadily, backing away from him hastily and towards the edge of the roof.

"What have you done?! My powers! You awful, loathsome cat! You-!" She stumbled, bending over herself and gasping for air.

"Chat?" Terrified blue eyes, peered out at him from beneath her escaped bangs. "Please, God, please do something. Make this stop, I-I can't take it!" As if controlled by an unseen hand pulling invisible strings, Marinette righted her self jerkily, her cold black eyes taking over again.

And she took a step back.

"Hey, no stop that, what are you doing?"

Another step back. Only centimeters away from the edge of the roof.

"I'm not joking, get away from there!"

She rose up on her toes, arching her arms elegantly over her head and tipping it back so the breeze caught the loose whips of ebony hair.

"Come and get me, lover boy."

Then several things happened. Tikki suddenly reappeared, bursting from Marinette's slippers like a bat out of hell, wrestling furiously with a black akuma. Marinette's costume disappeared back into the soft faded pinks Adrian was so used to seeing. Her head snapped up, wide confused eyes making contact with Chat Noir's green ones, before fluttering closed. And with a sigh, Marinette slipped off the edge of Notre-Dame Cathédrale.