I was going for a record in gaps between updates, but I'm sure someone has me beat. Please review and enjoy, if at all possible.

What was going on with Marinette's life recently? As if juggling her responsibilities as a student and a superhero wasn't enough , she had recently started dealing with a surplus of blond haired boys in her daily schedule. Chat Noir was already an acquaintance of her superhero persona and now he was slowly wiggling his way into her private life. On top of this, Adrien had hung out with her all day yesterday! After their misadventures with the cupcakes the pair had gone up to her room to play videogames and discuss various grievances about their school lives (of course, Marinette forced Adrien to stay downstairs until she had done some "cleaning"). The only explanation she got over yesterday was a ";)" text from Alya.

Maybe it would've been better to ask what wasn't going on with Marinette's life recently.

Sunshine, for starters. Marinette sighed to herself as she walked towards her school through the rainy morning. A little doom and gloom now and then provided a nice change of color, but the girl was less than enthused about sitting in class with soggy clothes.

"I suppose a person so fond of pink wouldn't appreciate the rain that much, huh?" Enquired a voice from Marinette's half-opened purse.

"What does that say about you? Your skin's red."

"Marinette," giggled the creature, "do you really think a kwami as old as I am minds a little rain?"

"That's easy enough to say when you're cooped up in my purse. Why don't you fly next to me for a bit?"

"Because I'd get wet."

"SO YOU DO CARE!" yelled Marinette, craning her head down towards the purse's opening.

"Angry at your purse girl?" Marinette shot up straight. There was only one person who talked to her like that.

Alya walked up to Marinette and reached for the blushing girl's purse inquisitively. Marinette caught on to what was happening just in time to jerk the purse away from Alya's hands and mumble out an excuse for her behavior.

"What was that Marinette? 'I was just trying to tmmgrrgrr?'"

"Oooh… you know what I meant."

"Whatever." said Alya dissmissivly, the devilish gleam in her eyes indicative of more pressing matters on her mind. "How was your date yesterday?"

Marinette turned bright red. "W-w-w-w-w-what date?!"

"You don't know? And after all the effort I spent to send Adrien over too…"

"That wasn't a date Alya," hissed Marinette, "we just hung out for a bit."

"You're really disappointing me this morning Mari. Nino and I were coming up with all sorts of theories about how yesterday could've gone."

"Pray tell."

"We were really wondering how you'd react if dream boy copped a feel. Would you be submissive or start spitting fire?" teased Marinette's friend.

"ALYA!"

"See, you can get pretty fired up sometimes, but this is Adrien we're talking about so maybe you'd just melt like-"

"First of all," interrupted Marinette, "a kind, gentle, polite boy like Adrien would never do such a thing. I'd appreciate it if you didn't mix him up with the characters from those smutty novels you hide under your bed."

"I don't hide them, they're right there in my bookcase."

"Second, DON'T CONJECTURE ABOUT ME LIKE THAT!"

Alya smirked as Marinette turned her head to see if any of the passerbys had been listening in on their little argument. While nobody was in that close a proximity to the pair an old woman across the street stopped and stared after Marinette's most recent scream.

"…let's just get to school already." Groaned Marinette as she continued on her way towards the building where she'd be spending the rest of her day.

The main topic in science for the day was Punnet Squares. Apparently, some old dude somewhere had devised a way to determine a child's genetics by looking at differing combinations of dominant and recessive genes. Marinette mused whether or not having all dominant genes would make the offspring itself dominant. What if somewhere, somehow two clones were made but the traits were split? No, not important. What was important was whatever mixture of dominant and recessive genes would give someone beautiful blonde hair and gorgeous green eyes.

All Marinette wanted to do was stare at the back of Adrien's head all day. The boy was making that very hard to achieve with all his fidgeting, however. Every so often Adrien would turn his head just enough to glance behind him and Marinette would be forced to avert her gaze. It was inconvenient, but at least she was getting a clear view of his face for a split-second whenever it happened.

Eventually the bell rang and Adrien shuffled out of class with a sheepish expression on his face. Marinette's relief over the instructor failing to notice her inattention was washed away by a flood of concern. Had something happened to Adrien? He was acting so oddly today.

Before Marinette could consider the situation any longer her view was blocked by Nino and Alya, both grinning maliciously.

"Marinette," crooned Nino, "tell me, how was my best buddy yesterday? I didn't get to see him after school because of you. It's your responsibility to supply me with some much needed info."

"And don't skimp on the details." chimed in Alya.

Marinette put her face in her hands. These two were going to hound her for the rest of her life weren't they? "We ate some cupcakes and played some fighting games, that's it."

"That's, like, really disappointing Marinette. You need to step up your game." grumbled Nino. "If you want Adrien's attention you gotta make a big move. Just kiss him on the lips or something."

I'll give you a bloody lip first.

"I know boys like videogames, but you need to start playing some 'sexy games' if you know what I mean." stated Alya

What have you and Nino been doing?!

"Text him a picture of your feet or something. Some guys like that kind of thing." said Nino sheepishly, "I wouldn't know though, it's just advice."

"Nino, as your girlfriend I know you have a foot fetish. Don't play cute with my bestie."

Marinette wasn't particularly enjoying the conversation, but at least it seemed Alya and Nino were just as interested in grilling each other as they were with grilling her. If she just stayed quite long enough they would eventually give up and do something else.

In the end, however, Marinette didn't have to wait long at all. Her friends' revelry was cut short by the screams emanating from the hallway.

"Not again!"

"Help!"

"It's another akuma!"

Alya was out the door in a flash, hand reaching into her back pocket for her cellphone. No doubt she was hoping to get a prime scoop for the Ladyblog. Nino hesitated as his girlfriend bolted through the classroom door, not wanting to get mixed up in an akuma attack. Knowing perhaps, that he'd get chewed out for not helping, he eventually shrugged his shoulders and gave chase after Alya.

Marinette was looking for a place to transform herself. She was hoping that the classroom would empty so she could change into Ladybug out of sight, but no such luck. Mylène, one of Marinette's jumpier classmates, was hiding under a desk. It was a very poor choice on the short girl's part, as the desk rattled as she shook with fear. Marinette would have to leave the classroom to turn into Ladybug.

Turning out off the doorway, Marinette was disheartened to find herself face to face with what appeared to be an oversized squid with legs. The creature's skin pulsated, giving off noxious fumes that threatened both Marinette's stomach and her basic sense of hygiene.

"iT's NoT fAiR," slurred the creature. "dAmN yOu sIs. mY rOoM dOeS nOt sMeLl lIkE fIsH!" The akuma swung an oversized tentacle at Marinette which threatened to bash her against the wall. She ducked down and avoided the appendage, her heart sinking into her stomach as the impact of the tentacle caused a sizable crack to appear on the wall.

Okay, so this new akuma was pretty strong. No matter, she just had to slip away, transform and cast Lucky Charm like she always did.

"gEt bAcK hErE sIs!" screamed the creature as it lunged at Marinette. Did it think everything was its sister?

Before the creature could catch her with its tentacles, however, Marinette felt her feet leave the floor. Rather, a strong pair of arms had lifted her up princess-style and pulled her backwards. Momentarily safe from the monster, Marinette looked up at her savior to find Chat Noir with a devilish grin.

"Looks like you're in a hairy situation, Princess." said the young hero.

"Like you wouldn't believe." groaned Marinette as she hopped out of Chat's arms. Before she could do anything else an iron-strong grip wrapped around her wrist and pulled her back.

"What are you doing?" questioned Chat, "we're not in the clear yet Princess."

Princess? Oh right, she was still Marinette wasn't she? There's no way Chat Noir would see her as anything more than a weak, helpless civilian.

One of the akuma's tentacles shot out at the pair like a bullet. Chat parried the blow with the staff in his free hand, looking a tad dismayed over how much the action had numbed his arm.

"You need to stay close to me Marinette, this guy's pretty strong and fast." growled Chat, preparing himself for the next assault.

The next tentacle came from above. Unable to backstep quick enough with Marinette in tow, Chat let go of her hand to directly block with his staff. He yelped with pain when the tentacle came into contact with his guard, buckling to his knees. Marinette reached out for the black-clad boy, but before she could make contact Chat threw off the tentacle and grabbed her by the waist.

Marinette could hear a pained grunt as Chat Noir leapt. Blocking the powerful blow head on had done a real number on his body. Before Chat could land another tentacle clipped his foot, sending him and Marinette reeling in mid-air.

As the pair crumpled in the corner of the upstairs walkway Marinette desperately checked off her options. Could she transform on the walkway? No, too public. Bathroom? Neither Chat Noir nor the akuma would let her stray that far. The alley outside? What was she going to do, jump out the second story window?

She cast an aside glanced at Chat Noir. Catching her gaze, the goofy boy smiled wide. He was trying to reassure her, but the panicked look in his eyes wasn't very reassuring.

There's no way Chat Noir can protect me and fight the akuma at the same time.

The realization hit Marinette like a frigid wind. Chat Noir was going to lose, and it was because of her. He would lose because he was trying to protect Marinette and he would lose because Ladybug would never show up to help him.

She would have to transform there and now. There were no other options, no alternatives for her to take.

And yet…

Why couldn't she bring herself to take action?

Was she afraid? Afraid to let Chat Noir see her this way? Afraid that Ladybug would simply become Marinette. And the akuma…if she transformed in front of it, wouldn't Hawk Moth discover who she was? There was no way she could transform in this scenario, but the akuma wasn't going to give her any other options.

The monster swung wide. It was a slower strike, but still devastatingly powerful. Marinette understood its danger, understood its motion and even with her insecurities and fears blaring at her, understood her responsibility.

There was still a way, or rather, there was only one way.

Adrien was really starting to second-guess his classroom's seating arrangement. For months he had though it was perfectly fine. After all, his best bud Nino was right by his side, and Chloe and Sabrina weren't in his immediate vicinity. To top it all off, if he could always turn around to have fun conversations with Alya and…

What Adrien was really starting to second guess was sitting in front of Marinette.

She was pretty, incredibly pretty in nothing more than a blazer and a white shirt. He didn't even want to begin to imagine how she'd look in a dress. And how would that dress look? Traditional? Maybe she'd wear a Chinese dress like her mother? A Chinese dress with her hair tied up in a bun…

This was getting to be too much for Adrien. He had just stolen a glance at the girl less than a minute ago, and he was already about to do it again. But this time was different, he wasn't giving into his feelings or anything. No way. He just needed to provide himself with a reference so he could imagine how Marinette would look.

Having convinced himself that he had to do it, Adrien craned his neck to look at the girl. She was writing in her notebook with a nervous look on her face, a common sight today. To her side sat Alya, making eye contact with Adrien while wearing the smuggest grin imaginable.

Adrien's concentration was broken by an elbow in his side. Turning back around to look at the perpetrator, Adrien came face to face with Nino, flashing a toothy smile while making a thumbs-up gesture. Before the boy could say anything the bell rang and Adrien rushed out of the classroom in a hurry. At the very least, he needed to go wash his face and calm down before facing the gauntlet of Alya and Nino's mockery.

As soon as the door to the bathroom swung shut and Adrien could tell he was alone a black blur flew out from his pocket.

"You know, normal boys ask out the girls they have crushes on." chided Plagg.

"Oh yeah? Is that what you did back in kwami high school? Was there a nice tortoishell you wanted to spill your heart to?"

"Of course. She was a half-Chinese mix, but in the end all I did was stare at her all day until we graduated. I began work with Chat Noir, she started working at a newspaper and we kinda grew apart. Very tragic."

Any retort Adrien had went to the back of his mind after a loud crash echoed through the school. He could hear screams in the distance, as well as the disjointed grunts and growls of an undoubtedly gross looking creature.

"For heaven's sake, I miss the days where something surprising happened and I didn't instantly think it was an akuma."

"I think those days went on for too long," replied Plagg, "If I was Chat Noir, I would've caught on by the second we-"

"Shush! Transform me!"

Adrien and Plagg disappeared in s flash of light, leaving behind Chat Noir. He had to act quickly to prevent his schoolmates from getting hurt, there were plenty of corners and dead ends in the that would leave them with no way to escape the akuma. Adrien's thoughts flew to his friends from class, if they remained in the upper level classroom then they wouldn't have much choice but to jump out of the window.

"Damn it! Marinette's still up there!"

Adrien burst from the bathroom swinging his head wildly. His entire body was tensed, ready to take action as soon as he ascertained the situation. His vision ground to a halt at the sight of Marinette being confronted by the akuma. It was terrifying to look at, not only because the akuma was hideous, but also because it could crush Marinette like an ant at any given moment. Adrien leapt up behind Marinette on the walkway and closed the difference between him and the girl. He had to be quick, the akuma was preparing to strike.

*CLANG*

Adrien lifted Marinette out of the way as the monster swung its massive tentacle. One second later, and Marinette would've been mangled by the powerful blow.

Adrien did his best to say something playful despite his relative panic over the situation. Marinette responded by hopping out of his arms. Was she approaching the akuma? Why the hell would she do that? Before he had even processed it, Adrien grabbed her again.

"What are you doing? We're not in the clear yet Princess."

Marinette looked confused for a moment before regaining her composure. Was she surprised that Adrien wouldn't be willing to let her approach an akuma?

From his peripheral vision Adrien barely noticed the akuma launch a second assault. He blocked the blow with his staff, but…

*pop*

An unpleasant, shocking pain shot through Adrien's arm from his shoulder. Was the akuma really so strong that he couldn't even manage to block it? He had to get Marinette away from that thing.

The next attack came from overhead. Adrien couldn't backstep quickly enough to dodge it, and the walkway combined with Marinette's weight effectively stopped him from dodging to the side. Unable to come up with a better solution, he opted to directly block the attack.

This was a mistake.

As pain shot through his body and his legs crumbled beneath him, Adrien knew he had made the battle much harder on himself. He could've redirected the blow with his staff. Hell, he could've destroyed the tentacle completely with Cataclysm. He chastised himself for taking so much avoidable damage while attempting to regain his footing.

This really, really hurts. I won't be able to block something like that again.

Adrien threw the tentacle off, grabbing for Marinette. As soon as he had a solid grip on the girl he jumped, determined to make as much difference between them and the akuma as possible. The akuma had other plans, however, sending out a tentacle that clipped Chat on the foot. The imbalance it caused in his form sent him and Marinette crashing into the ground of the catwalk.

Falling like that wouldn't have been a treat even under the best of situations, but the damage Chat had accumulated made it even worse. He could feel his body protesting all over. All he wanted to do was stay on the ground, but he couldn't do that. The fall had hurt Marinette as well…he couldn't let her get hurt again.

His gaze met hers. The look she gave him seemed questioning, it was as if she was pondering a complex situation. Adrien shot her a smile in an attempt to reassure her, but he didn't think it would work quite that well.

He could see the akuma preparing a finishing blow. Adrien had taken heavy damage from blocked moves, a head on impact from the akuma would surely finish him. Hopefully the akuma would ignore Marinette and go only for him. If Hawk Moth wanted the Miraculous so badly, that would be the best course of action.

Hopefully he would be the only one to get hurt.

Hopefully his Lady would save the day like she always did. Even if he couldn't help her.

Marinette struggled to her feet and started towards the akuma. Adrien couldn't stop her, he couldn't even bring his body to move. He needed more time to recover.

Hopes don't always pan out.

Time came to a standstill as the tentacle collided with Marinette's small frame, sending her body through the second story window and into the alleyway below.

A dull pain spread throughout Marinette's body. She couldn't breathe. At first she thought it was simply because her ribs had been crushed, but reality was far more distressing.

She was choking on her own blood.

Marinette struggled to move her body, to roll over and clear her airway, but it was no good. She didn't have the strength to move. Her body was in no condition to do anything. She would simply lie there until she either bled out or choked to death.

Marinette was saved from these outcomes by a warm light enveloping her body. Tikki fluttered about her head, working Miraculous magic to heal the wounds and numb Marinette's pain. It wasn't enough to take the most of the damage away, but the reprieve gave Marinette the strength to cough up the blood in her throat.

*gack*

Red spread out around her on the alley ground, staining the surface of everything it touched and leaving the scent of iron in its wake.

"Tikki…"

"Don't talk Marinette." The red kwami tried to keep Marinette still, but the girl wasn't having it.

"If I transform-"

"You're not transforming."

"If I transform…I'll have the strength to move…right?"

Tikki looked as if she was about to cry. Was her charge being brave or foolhardy…she couldn't decide.

"Marinette…if you transform…you could move…and your injuries would heal somewhat…"

"Then-"

"But the healing light won't have its full effect on you. If I want to heal you fully, I need Chat to capture the akuma and feed it to me."

"He won't be able to," croaked Marinette, "He needs us Tikki, Chat can't win without Ladybug."

"…"

"Why do you think I let that tentacle hit me? Do you think I like getting hurt? Of course I don't, it's scary…I hate this…but…," Marinette's body trembled and her voice cracked. Ladybug was a superhero, but right now she was nothing more than a scared kid, "…but I have to. No one's in the alley…that's why I had the akuma hit me through that window after all…"

"Marinette! Don't tell me you-!"

"Spots on."

The papers would go on to report about how a school had been attacked by a tentacled akuma. Just like always, Chat Noir and Ladybug arrived to save the day. Just like always, they would perform a miracle. The truly miraculous thing about the attack, the reporters would go on to claim, was that only one student was injured. One unlucky bakers' daughter…

Later that same day, in a nondescript apartment one could find anywhere in Paris, a figure sat at the foot of the bed in a dark room. Anyone could tell at the glance that life wasn't going well for the figure, its hair was a mess, its eyes were sullen, and there was salt from dried tears on its face.

Yes indeed, life was not going well for the figure. In fact, the figure wanted its life to end. Why go on in a world that could produce the pain it had felt?

A black butterfly silently fluttered its wings.

Yes…an end to it all would be nice.

The butterfly passed through the walls of the apartment.

Perhaps today would be the day it would all end.

The butterfly settled upon the figure's head and a dark haze spread forth. A new akuma was about to be born. Except right before it took form, the figure said something unexpected.

"Forget it. Everything's pointless. I don't feel like dying. I don't feel anything anymore."

A sinister light spread throughout the room, obscuring the figure. What was going on behind that veil? Nobody knew, and this time, perhaps not even Hawk Moth himself knew.

The light died out, and in its wake stood a person. Neither man nor woman, neither adult nor child…the person's traits were completely androgynous. Any indication as to identity was hidden by a bushy head of brown hair, and loose baggy clothing.

The figure looked around the room, letting out a hum as it did so. Its voice was sweet but at the same time, betrayed no hint of emotion.

It was almost as if the figure had made no noise whatsoever. It was almost as if there was nothing there.

Having completed its evaluation, the figure tilted its head to stare at the ceiling.

"Chiaro."

It continued to stare at the ceiling, its expression betraying no emotion.

"I apologize. I meant to say 'I see,' but I got confused. This is Paris, correct? The language I use should be French. I just got mixed up and picked an arbitrary language because, for some reason, the text is in English."

What was that?

"Are you confused, Hawk Moth and other eavesdroppers? It doesn't really concern me, but I expect you to be. After all, stories don't flow very well when the author fails to deliver on context."

Were the words it spoke to the air meant to convey something to someone?

"Truth be told, I'm not interested in you lot in the slightest. After all, if this world was a story, you wouldn't be the main characters. Even a poorly plotted fanfiction can be good if the main characters are entertaining enough."

This creature was many things, but "akuma" was not one of them.

"That being said, I'm not really enjoying the action of the MCs right now either. It's going wayyyy too slowly for my tastes."

The creature reached a hand towards the ceiling.

"So I'll end it. I'll simply end this cute little romance story and play around here as I see fit."