Marinette/Ladybug

Another akuma attack? Expected.

Marinette had been peacefully sitting in her room, writing in her diary about what she had seen at the Agreste mansion. She still couldn't get it out of her head. But just as she was finished, the floor shook, followed by screams outside. It could have been an earthquake, but the residents of Paris knew better - it was another villain that their superheroes Ladybug and Chat Noir would have to defeat.

"I wonder who it'll be this time, Tikki," Marinette said to her kwami as she got up. "Spots on!"

Soon, Ladybug was climbing out the window and releasing her spotted yo-yo so that she could swing through the buildings. As she did, she heard a sudden roar in the distance - it didn't sound like the roar of someone being angry, but rather the roar of a monster. Ladybug was reminded of Horrificator, another akumanized villain she and Chat Noir had to fight a couple weeks back, one that was supposed to scare its enemies.

But then she noticed something on the edges of buildings - green slime, sticky and plastic-smelling. As the monster roared again, she looked ahead and saw what had caused the slime. A giant green blob was slithering through the streets, heading toward the park at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower.

"What the…" Ladybug didn't have time to question what the monster was, but she knew that she had to stop it, so she picked up her pace and followed the moving blob.

Tourists screamed and ran out of the way when they saw the monster, and it only roared again in reply, covering everything in slime. Then Ladybug noticed something else - there were things inside the blob's body; broken hot dog stands, signs, and benches, all suspended in the slime. As Ladybug watched, the more the slimeball collected, the bigger it grew.

"Huh, I'm going to call this one Greedy Green," Ladybug whispered to herself, as she doubted the monster could tell her its name.

She swung over to the Eiffel Tower and perched on one of its balconies. The blob noticed this and looked up, roaring more loudly than ever and spitting slime in all directions. Ladybug wiped some off her suit, then wondered to herself, Where's Chat Noir?

She would be furious if he didn't show up; lately, she had started to notice that the akumas were getting stronger and stronger, and that she would need his help every time if she wanted to defeat them. But now he was late again, or maybe he wouldn't come at all.

But he had promised! And she doubted that Chat Noir would ever break his promises, for she had known him for quite some time, and he had always been helpful. Unless there was something going on with him…

A big ball of slime suddenly hurtled toward her, but Ladybug had quick reflexes - she jumped out of the way and higher onto the Eiffel Tower. Greedy Green roared again.

She decided that she had to face it, so she jumped down from the tower and stopped in front of it. Using her yo-yo, she threw it around the monster, hoping to squeeze it, but it only sunk under Greedy Green's slimy skin. In fact, the pull was quite strong, and before Ladybug knew it, her yo-yo had joined the many other objects in the slimeball's stomach.

"Okay, now I'm weaponless," she whispered to herself, really wishing that Paris's other suphero was there at the moment. "Oh, come on, Chat…"

Greedy Green advanced, its mouth open and dripping with slime, and Ladybug dived away to hide behind a bush. But she knew that she couldn't stay there for long; Greedy Green was simply destroying everything in its path, not carefully looking where she might be. And in the next moment, it had eaten the bush concealing her, too.

It roared with glee but Ladybug ran away, wishing that she still had her yo-yo. She continuously threw objects at Greedy Green, hoping for one of them to be too big for him to eat, but now he was huge, and had gobbled up everything so far. She wasn't sure how she'd get out of this one.

There was only one thing left, her Lucky Charm, and that always seemed to work. But before she could summon it, Greedy Green spat something at her - a giant ball of slime - and Ladybug couldn't get away fast enough. It pinned her to the ground, and as she struggled in its grip, the monster advanced towards her, hungry. Would it eat her? She closed her eyes as it leaned close, hoping that it wasn't the end; she felt herself being encased in more slime, the world going slightly dark, and then completely black.

When she woke up, she was in a dark room. The air smelled musty and stale. Her body was sore, and felt wet; she realized she was still covered in slime. The previous events then came flooding back to her, and she guessed that she really had gotten eaten by Greedy Green. But where was she now?

She tried to move her arms, and felt the clink of chains. Great. Now wherever she was, she was stuck.

She realized that her mouth was the only thing that could move. "Hello?" she called into the darkness, and to her shock, there was an answering moan.

"Who's there?" she prompted.

"Mmm… Ladybug?" asked the voice.

Ladybug's heart leapt. "Chat Noir?"

"Yes, it's me, m'lady…"

"Where are we?"

"I can answer that," rumbled a deep voice. Someone stepped out of the shadows, and candles flickered to life, revealing a man in a deep purple suit and silver mask, holding a cane. He had a smug expression as he looked down at Ladybug and Chat Noir, sprawled on the floor.

"H-Hawkmoth?" Somehow, Ladybug knew who this was - the man who had sent all the akumas that attacked her, Chat Noir, and the residents of Paris.

"That's right, Ladybug… and I've finally caught you…"

Ladybug couldn't believe this. How had she gotten herself captured? How could she not have been more careful? And Chat Noir, she should have known that the only reason that he hadn't shown up to battle was because Hawkmoth had gotten him first…

"Wait," Chat suddenly said. "The last thing I remember was my father… he knocked me out… and then I woke up here, but how can that be -?"

"Use your brain, Chat Noir," Hawkmoth responded, rather rudely. "Anyway, I'm ready to take what I've been wanting for so long… your miraculouses, if you please…"

"Yeah, dream on, Butterfly," Chat Noir responded.

Hawkmoth's face darkened. "As you can see, Kitty, you are unable to do anything because you are chained up. So, that allows me to have the ultimate power… oh, would you look at that, your miraculouses are running out of battery, anyway."

Indeed, Ladybug heard a beep, and new that a spot had appeared on her earring, indicating that it needed to charge up. But if Hawkmoth got her and Chat Noir's miraculouses, what would happen next? How would they escape?

"I think it is time that I go through with my plan," Hawkmoth drawled, "and time that you know each other's secret identities."

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged looks. Truly, they had been both extremely desperate to know each other's true selves, but now it was about to happen in a way that they both never dreamed of. Ladybug's miraculous beeped again. It was only seconds now…

Hawkmoth grinned in the candlelight, making his face look even more evil… beep… "Finally," he whispered, and then it was over, there was a flash of light and Ladybug's true self was revealed. She took a deep breath, her heart beating so fast she thought it would come out of her chest, then looked up to see who Chat Noir was.

And her mouth dropped.