Triple digit follows?! I can't even - I'm freaked out! Nightshade's freaking out! (She's screaming in my pillow)
You guys are the best! YOU ARE SO AWESOME! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
We're giving ya'll an extra-long, action-packed chapter! We hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: We don't own ML because if we did there would be Ladrien already.
Happy reading! :D
*crowd claps, leaves stage*
"Anyone can mourn a hero, but only a hero can mourn a villain."
Marinette cradled his limp frame as she glared at Papillion, who slipped the ring off from Chat's finger.
"You got your wish." Marinette snarled. "Now give Tikki back to me!"
"Don't you ever learn from the tales of old?" Papillion said as he clenched the silver ring in his fist. He gave her a sinister smirk. "Never trust the villain."
And with an evil laughter resonating around the walls, Papillion disappeared, leaving behind an unconscious boy and a distraught girl.
A second flow of tears slid down her face as her world crumbled around her. Marinette gazed down at Chat and sobbed. "I'm so sorry, Chat. It's my fault."
She had been hurt by the one she loved. She had hurt the one she loved.
And then, Chat Noir began to transform back. His black suit fizzled away and Marinette could only gape as Adrien lay in her arms.
With a squeak, Marinette dropped him on the floor and scrambled away.
This couldn't be happening!
Why?! Why was Chat Noir Adrien?!
"This is a lie." Marinette said with a horrified whisper. "He can't be – why would he – after all the things he put me through-"
But then a red bug flew inside the room and landed on Marinette's nose. She gasped. "Tikki!"
She scooped the ladybug onto her finger. "How did you escape?! Does Papillion know?!"
Tikki flew around a few times before settling back on Marinette's finger. Marinette looked at the still unconscious prince. "Adrien set you free? But…how? Why?"
You already know, Marinette.
Tentatively, Marinette crawled back to him and with a moment's hesitation, gently touched his face. She stroked his cheek with the palm of her hand, a soft smile on her face. "You silly kitty."
She grabbed his shoulder and shook him awake. "Chat – Adrie – Prince Adrien, wake up!"
Adrien winced as he was shaken awake, the back of his head throbbing. His eyes fell on Marinette who refused to look at him in the eye. He sat up and reached out to her, saying softly, "Marinette, I can explain-"
She flinched and he retracted his hand, as if he was burned. His chest ached. "I'm sorry. You probably hate me now."
But then Marinette did something he never expected.
She grabbed his collar and kissed him.
Adrien stilled, blood roaring in his ears as his brain tried to run again from the temporary short circuit. Marinette had her eyes squeezed shut and after a few heartbeats, Adrien closed his as well. He leaned deeper in the kiss, but as he tasted her salty tears, he pulled away.
"I'm sorry!" Adrien said, panicked at seeing her cry.
Marinette glared at him. "You stupid cat."
"You know." It was more of a statement rather than a question.
She nodded and both of them fell into silence.
"I'm so-"
"Don't apologize." Marinette interrupted. She gave him a gentle smile filled with kindness and empathy. "I understand. You had no choice."
He just stared at her. She continued. "You're a prince, I'm a commoner."
"You're more than that." Adrien said as he took her hand. "You're amazing, talented, beautiful, and I-"
"I love you." Marinette said.
Adrien's green eyes glistened as a tear fell down his cheek. A warm feeling expanded from her hand to his chest and sent a fluttering feeling inside his stomach. It was like a weight had lifted from his shoulders.
She understood him.
He cupped her face, drinking in the image of her, and pressed his lips on hers. He couldn't say the words that were locked in his throat, and so he sent it through the gentle press of their mouths.
This was better, sweeter, sealed with a promise.
"Princess." The name was laced with longing and a secret.
Marinette's heart sped up. Coming from Chat Noir, it was just a light tease, a flirty nickname. But coming from Prince Adrien…it held another meaning altogether.
Adrien grinned. "I mean it, Princess. Marinette."
"But-"
"Anything for you." He said. "I would abdicate the throne for you."
"You can't do that!"
"You know I would."
"You know I don't want that."
Adrien gave her that Chat smirk. "Then there's no other way than the other option."
Marinette's face burned. "But what about Princess Chloe?"
"Well," Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. "You could say, she dumped me? I owe her."
Marinette looked down at their entwined hands. Adrien squeezed. "I'm not asking you to decide right away. I will wait for your answer. Besides-"
Screams pierced the air from the direction of the kingdom. They exchanged looks and stood up.
"I don't think I'll have a kingdom to rule after this." Adrien finished.
Marinette squared her shoulders and said, "Tikki! Transform me!"
Adrien watched her, his mouth open in astonishment, as a red energy traveled throughout her body and changed her. Gone was the nervous expression from her face a few moments ago. Now, standing before him, was a confident girl.
"Y-You're a chosen?!" Adrien said in fascination.
Marinette – Ladybug – smiled ruefully at him as she twiddled her thumbs. "I've known for quite a while actually. But then Papillion caught Tikki and locked me in this tower. He would only free me if I told him who the other chosen was. But I didn't know. But then you came to me as Chat Noir and I didn't know what to do. I started to fall for you but then I loved you, the Adrien you, and – I'm so sorry."
Adrien hugged her. "It's not your fault. You had no choice."
Ladybug shook her head. "I shouldn't have-"
"Marinette," Adrien put his hands on her shoulders. "I forgive you."
"But-"
"We can work it all out together, Princess." He said tenderly.
The last sliver of guilt in her eyes fell away and she finally gave him a true heartfelt smile. If they had all the time in the world, Adrien would just spend it looking at her happy expression. Unfortunately, they didn't, as proven by the explosions out at the kingdom.
"We have to hurry!"
And with that, Ladybug took out a strange contraption – a yo-yo she said – hooked her arm around Adrien, and swooped down the tower.
Adrien steadied himself as they touched the ground. "You know, I should be the one carrying you down and not the other way around."
"Yes, but right now you're Prince Charming and we can't have a scratch on that pretty face now, can we?" Ladybug teased, sending him a wink.
Adrien's heart skipped a beat. This girl was going to be the death of him. A sly smirk slid up his face. "So you'd rather have the knight than the prince? Unfurtunately for you my lady, your knight is in Papillion's claws right now, so purrince charming will be the one bugging you tonight."
Ladybug gaped at him in horror as he gave her the smuggest grin of the century. She groaned. "I can't believe this! Now I actually have to deal with your puns outside the tower too?!"
"Isn't that puntastic?" He said cheekily as they rushed to the exit of the woods.
"It's a catastrophe!" Ladybug snapped.
Adrien almost tripped. He looked at her in delight. Ladybug turned red. "Don't say anything!"
With an extra boost of speed, the two of them burst out of the exit. Luckily, the woods had wandered to the back of the castle.
"Follow me, my lady." Adrien said as he headed to a section where a large cluster of ivy snaked up the wall. With interest, Ladybug watched as he pushed away the vines, revealing a hidden trap door. Taking out a master key from inside his shirt, he opened it and held it out for her. "Ladies first."
Ladybug crouched in and Adrien soon followed, closing the hatch behind then. Pressing a brick in the wall, a door at the other end opened, revealing barrels of wine lined up throughout the cavern in sections.
"Nice collection." Ladybug complimented as they crawled out.
"This castle's pride and joy." Adrien said sarcastically as he grabbed a glowing torch.
Before she could question him further, he had already climbed up the winding staircase to the main floor.
...
The halls were eerily quiet as they silently ran down the east wing of the palace towards Adrien's stateroom. It was a large contrast from a few hours ago when the palace was bustling with music and people. Ladybug stopped at one of the windows and looked out. "Oh no."
There were several fires burning around the kingdom as panic took over the streets. Ladybug located her family's bakery and drew a sigh of relief when she saw that it was untouched.
"Marinette, in here." Adrien called out. She headed towards him and slipped inside the room. Her mouth fell open. His bedroom chamber was as large as her house! He even had a second floor filled with books. But then, a collection of pictures on the walls caught her eye.
"This is insane." Adrien slipped the sword in his belt and turned around, only to falter as he saw her touch the sketches he had put up around his room. Both of their faces burned in embarrassment. She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're such a stalker."
"You're worse!" Adrien blurted out in defense. "You even have an album of me from when I was an infant until present time!"
"You gave that to me." She retorted back.
Their banter, however, was interrupted by the screams outside the window. They rushed out to the proscenium balcony, watching in alarm as purple butterflies infected the people, turning them into terrorizing transformed villains.
"We have to do something!" Ladybug noticed the direction from where the akuma were going. She grabbed Adrien's arm and leaped off and jumped from rooftop to rooftop. "Follow the butterflies!"
"Follow the butterflies?" Adrien asked in disbelief. "Do you know how childish that sounds? Why couldn't we just follow the spiders instead or something similar?"
"Because follow the butterflies lead us to Papillion," Ladybug swung her yo-yo and propelled them in a forest, "and follow the spiders lead us to our deaths."
"We'll still be dead anyway." Adrien mumbled.
They stopped a few feet away from where the akuma butterflies had flocked and hid behind bushes. Adrien peeked out and his heart stopped cold.
"I've been here." He said. "This is where I found Tikki and set her free. There's a glass cage inside filled with white butterflies. That must be the source of the akuma."
"So we go in, I'll distract him while you destroy the cage." Ladybug instructed.
"How do you propose we do that? I don't have my miraculous stone or Plagg right now. I'm basically powerless."
"We have the element of surprise." Ladybug said as she twirled her yo-yo. "On the count of three, we'll go inside and while I keep Papillion occupied, you destroy the cage."
"Wait-"
"123!"
Adrien and Ladybug burst through the entrance of the glass house. Papillion whirled around.
"Stop this right now!"
Papillion was about to give her a biting retort, but then his eyes fell on Adrien who had his sword pointed at him in a ready stance.
"Adrien?!"
"I knew it." Adrien's voice trembled. "It was you all along, father."
Ladybug grimaced. The truth was out and nobody was happy about it. Adrien stepped forward and pleaded, "Father, please stop this! Maman would never want this! This isn't like you at all!"
"Silence!" Papillion snapped. Out of habit, Adrien clamped his mouth shut. But realizing the situation he was in, he tried to talk sense to his father. "Please stop this! The kingdom will be in ruins if this continues!"
Papillion barked out a harsh laugh. "This kingdom? Why would I care less for this kingdom if I can have my wife back?"
His heart dropped. "You're doing all this…just for maman?"
He remembered his mother's gentle smile and loving gaze, the sad look in her eyes as she watched an execution; the kingdom's citizen's distress would break her heart. "She would never want something like this!"
"How would you know?" Papillion said bitterly. "I have been with her for more than 30 years. She is my muse."
"She's my mother."
Papillion held out his hand to him. "Come with me, my son. Together, we shall build an empire and bring your mother back. All you need to do is to give me Ladybug's miraculous. With both of you and her stones, we will be unstoppable."
Adrien took a step back. What he was asking for was the impossible. He would never betray his lady. "Maman is gone! You can't sacrifice more than a hundred people's lives just for one person!"
"Is that so?" Papillion said. "Because it seems like you would abdicate your throne for your Ladybug."
Adrien gripped the handle of his sword tighter. "Yes, I would. But your plan ends with huge losses of life! This isn't right!"
"Join me, Adrien."
"Never!"
Hurt and anger passed over Papillion's face. He crushed his open hand into a fist. "You leave me no choice. You are no longer my son."
With that said, Papillion sent them a legion of akuma butterflies. Adrien and Ladybug dodged out of the way in opposite directions. Ladybug threw a potted plant at the akuma, but the butterflies only parted before flying towards her.
As Adrien darted out of the way, his mind was whirling, searching for a way to get his silver ring – wait, silver?
Suddenly, there was a yowl and Plagg leaped out of nowhere and bit Papillion's arm. He roared in pain, dropping the ring in the process. Adrien dove to the floor and caught it, quickly slipping the ring in his finger. The familiarity sent a jolt of energy inside of him.
"Plagg! Transform me!"
The black creature disappeared in the ring, transferring its power into Adrien. With a torrent of dark energy, Adrien had become Chat Noir once more.
Papillion looked at him in disbelief. "You're a chosen?!"
"Chat! The cage!" Ladybug cried out.
"On it, my lady!" Chat ducked from the torrent of evil flutter bugs and ran to the cage.
"Activate your trump card!" Plagg said inside his mind. Chat nodded.
CATACLYSM
Black matter bubbled from out his claws. With an overwhelming feeling of formidable power, he slammed the palm of his hand on the glass. The cage shattered, shards falling down like twinkling stars as the white butterflies flew away to freedom.
"No!" Papillion roared out in frustration. "How dare you!"
Papillion brandished his cane and pulled the ends off, the blade hidden inside glinting in the moonlight. Ladybug saw what was about to happen. Without thinking, she cried out, "Tikki! Transformation off!"
Marinette, no!
"CHAT, WATCH OUT!"
Chat Noir turned around only to be greeted by the sight of red. Not the red of Ladybug's suit, but the red of his Princess's blood.
"MARINETTE!"
Chat Noir caught her as she fell on the ground. Blood seeped through his fingers. She focused her eyes at him and pressed a silver baton in his hands, produced out by the Lucky Charm. And then she closed her eyes.
"No no no no no, stay with me Princess." Adrien pleaded, his transformation wearing off. "Stay awake, Marinette!"
Plagg bumped his arm, alarming him of the unfinished business they still had to clean up. Papillion walked towards their direction and Adrien stood up, brandishing the baton in front of him, like a sword. He hissed, "Don't touch her."
His vision was edged with dark loathing. With a snarl, Adrien lunged. Before Papillion could block the attack, the end of his baton connected with his chest, sending him crashing out of the glass house and landing painfully on the forest floor.
The prince jumped out, swinging his weapon in a deadly downward arc. Papillion blocked it with his own sword before pushing the boy's baton out of the way and thrust out his blade. Adrien dodged the strike, but not before it cut his cheek, blood mingling with the tears sliding down his face. He touched the fresh wound and growled.
He unsheathed his sword that was hanging from his side and charged at Papillion. Sparks flew as their weapons clashed, trembling under the exchange of raw power. Adrien was looking at the man with extreme wrath. "You'll pay for what you've done."
He shoved his weapons, causing Papillion to stagger backwards. Rage had taken over reason as Adrien attacked him relentlessly again and again, fighting by animal instinct. Papillion, despite his years of experience, could not keep up with the agility of youth.
Then, at the distance, Adrien spotted the silver leaves of the trees. Ignoring the screams of his aching muscles, Adrien swept Papillion off his feet and kicked him towards the entrance of the Wandering Woods.
Clouds of dust billowed as Papillion, battered and bruised, painstakingly got up, coughing out blood. He froze as Adrien held the sharp end of his sword under his chin. He said with a trembling voice, "One last chance. Surrender, sir."
Papillion whispered his mother's name.
With a heartbroken but determined expression, Adrien pushed him to the entrance.
The Wandering Woods swallowed the man in its depths and vanished.
Adrien stood there, crying.
He had lost another loved one.
Marinette.
Realization struck him.
"Marinette!"
…
She lay there in the middle of the wreckage, a pool of death around her. Adrien didn't care if the blood stained his clothes. He lifted her up, cradling her in his arms. Her eyes were closed and her lips were turning blue. When he touched her cheek, he was shocked by the coldness of her skin.
"Princess? Hey, my lady, wake up." Adrien sobbed as his trembling fingers brushed the stray hair away from her face. "I can't lose you. I can't lose you again."
Plagg bopped his hand. Adrien looked at his cat and then at his ring. "You have a plan?"
Wiping the tears from his cheeks, wincing as he accidentally opened his wound, he said, "Plagg, transform me."
The familiar shiver of power crawled up his spine and he opened his eyes. Chat looked down at Marinette. "Now what?"
There's only one way to do it. But I don't know how it'll work out.
"Will Marinette be saved?" That was the only thing he needed. Let the destruction of his kingdom be damned, he needed his princess alive.
She will survive. But I don't know if you will.
Chat paused. A life for a life.
He set his jaw. "Let's do it."
Forgive me, Marinette.
NS: You…you just killed off Marinette…who's the sadistic one here?!
Lolly: You put your angst in the fluff area. I at least, put mine in the action part.
NS: Yes, but you KILLED A CHARACTER! And you're about to kill Chat too?!
Lolly: There's a reason why this story ain't done yet!
NS: Fine. (Murderer)
Lolly: I HEARD THAT
Thank you all so much for reading! We love you all! The fight scene was fun to write. NS and I wrote this chapter together so the paragraph breaks weren't the usual. It would be great if the story could be prolonged some more, but there's one last chapter after this.
If I can wrestle the next chapter from NS's hands, then you might get a fluffy ending! (She actually insisted on adding more angst. Haven't you heard their cries of pain enough?! *although ya'll are crying in pain too because of me, sorry*)
See ya'll next time! This is not the end, I promise!
*crowd claps, leaves stage*
