The next akuma showed up and it was, unsurprisingly, M. Pigeon. Xavier hadn't been akumatized in a while, but the Monarch reign was powerful enough to break the charms like it was nothing. With just a fraction of the effort it took in the past, the charm that Ladybug had created for M. Pigeon had shattered.

M. Pigeon was angrier that day than Ladybug had seen him in the past, he was far more aggressive than usual and she didn't know what brought about the change. Usually, she knew M. Ramier would be frustrated, but he never seemed to be out for blood like he was that day. It was a really bad day for her partner to show up late…

'Late,' she found after about 30 minutes of fighting the villain, was an under exaggeration. No sign of Chat Noir, no Plagg, no subtle waft of camembert or leather in the air. It was unsettling. He had never been that late before and she felt her heart start to race in her chest at the knowledge that he hadn't arrived yet.

The last time he hadn't been there for an akuma was the day she lost him. Sure, he came back, but the fact that he gave up being Chat Noir left a pit of dread in her stomach as she dealt with M. Pigeon. She was engaged in hand-to-hand combat against M. Pigeon when she heard a loud sneeze come from behind her.

Her heart rose in her chest, she knew that sneeze. It was her partner, better late than never. She flipped backward in the direction the sound had come from and landed within a meter of a boy. A familiar boy, but not decked out in black leather-like she had expected him to be. "Hello, my lady," Cat Walker said lowly.

Ladybug leaped back, once again detaching her yo-yo from her waist to deal with the illusion? Sentimonster? All-in-all trick in front of her. There was no way this was the real Cat Walker, Chat wouldn't have given up his Miraculous again, and even if he had, Plagg would've come to her first so they could come up with a plan together, right?

"Where is Chat Noir?" she demanded of the figure in front of her. He sniffled from the allergy, sounding just like her minou, then laughed. His laugh was cruel, like he came out to the battle just to ruin her evening… and maybe that was what he did, she couldn't be certain either way.

"I am Chat Noir," he informed her, talking down to her like she was stupid for not realizing that. "Well, I was Chat Noir. Now, I'm Cat Walker, but you already knew that, didn't you, little bug?" That nickname, it was the newest one. She didn't know why he started calling her little bug, but it quickly became her favorite.

At least, it was her favorite before that night. When Cat Walker said it, it sounded like he had to spit it out to get it past his lips. She didn't want to believe that this was her minou, partner, Chat Noir, but between the name and the fact that she could immediately identify his reaction to M. Pigeon, she didn't think she would be able to ignore that they were one and the same.

"No," she refused. She understood that refusing was going to be a fruitless endeavor and she didn't expect it to change the situation, but she was also desperately hopeful that she could just… ignore the situation and when she woke up in the morning, she would have her minou back at her side, like this was all just a terrible nightmare.

"What? Do you not believe me? Do I need to prove it to you?" She knew she didn't need proof from him on that matter- as much as she didn't want him to be the same as Chat Noir, there were too many similarities that she could see now that it had been pointed out to her.

They carried themselves the same way, their builds were the same, and as much as she hated thinking about it, they had the same type of pain hidden behind their eyes. She wanted to collapse when she stared into the eyes of the person in front of her, he reached up and placed a soft hand on her cheek.

She'd had a crush on Cat Walker when he'd first become a hero, but something was different this time. It wasn't less than she felt for him the first time, in fact, it was more. The crush was stronger, deeper, and she knew she could easily get lost staring into his eyes and having him touch her face.

"I believe you," she admitted, voice trying to sound confident despite everything in her body wanting to tell her to run, or not to trust him. "Why are you here… like… this? Where is Chat Noir?" She hoped that her emphasis would clarify the question she was asking, but it didn't seem to help as he smiled at her.

"I'm here to help," he responded, smile curling into a smirk. "I'm here to help Monarch get your Miraculous." She felt the jerk of the hand from her cheek before she thought through his words and instinctually leaned backward. His gloved hand landed at the spot where her ear sat a moment ago.

"W-What?" Her voice came out as a whisper as she tried to understand the words she was practically certain she had just hallucinated. She took a step backward to create a little bit of distance between herself and whatever was in front of her. She couldn't compare him to her partner, he wasn't. He might have been, at one point, but he wasn't now.

"Let me help Monarch and you can have your partner back, little bug," he replied. He didn't know if it was true. In fact, he would have guessed that it wasn't true, but he needed to tell her something to make her agree to help, right?

"No," she responded. Her voice was barely more solid on that word than it was a moment ago. "I- I won't do that. I'll keep Paris safe, a-and I'll get my Chat Noir back. I won't just give up to you and Monarch, even if it has to be just me against the world."

His heart flipped when she said 'my Chat Noir'. He knew that he couldn't give her the reaction he wanted to. He wanted to fall into her, tell her how much she meant to him, tell her how much he loved her and approved of her want to help, but… he could feel Mothman in the back of his mind, reminding him that the mission was to get the Miraculous to save his mother.