A northern breeze had plagued the city of Paris with a small chill, the trees shivered as the wind rustled through their branches. The moon hung lowly upon the city, illuminating its ghostly glow below, adding light to the already lit up streets. Many of the citizens in the city had returned to their homes for the night, most having work or school the following day.

Marcus Gray was one man among many of the party animals that were not tucked away into bed. He had spent his nights at the bars, gambling his cash away and looking for a woman to bring home with him for the night. Tonight however he wasn't so lucky. He'd lost his gamble money and got rejected by three or four women. He was down on his luck tonight and decided it was best he head home before he lost his temper.

He'd shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked silently down the road. He was a man of many secrets and did things that no one else dared to. He wasn't necessarily a good man but he did put food on the table for himself at least. Tomorrow he'd have to contact his boss and get in with the next heist or whatever it was they had planned to do.

He'd been walking for a while, three or four blocks and he knew his apartment was coming around. He had to admit, tonight he felt a little uneasy. Every now and again it felt like someone was following him. Out of the corner of his eye he swore he saw a shadow shift.

Fear turned into panic. Marcus reached into his pocket. He pulled out his switchblade knife, extending the blade. It wasn't much but it was something. He's carried it all the times he'd gone out after dark, people were always being mugged or jumped in some sort of way.

"I know you're there." He cried out trying to sound intimidating as he faced the shadows. "I'm armed! I'll use my weapon if I have to."

After several seconds of standing in place, he assumed whoever it was got the message. He turned and began to walk again but left the knife in his grip.

As if it had waited, the figure moved but this time it moved in his direction, it was quick. He didn't even have time to react. The only thing he saw was a mound of razor sharp teeth.

You live with their mark…

You'll die with mine…

…

The death of Marcus Gray hit the news first thing in the morning, it was the first story they'd broadcasted. There wasn't much information given only that the death was extremely gruesome and the authorities could only identify the man by ID alone. The chief of police had told the news reporter that they were working around the clock to find the killer before they took anyone else.

Marinette's heart sank. Another death, another person who lost their life. It was uncanny and sick. What did someone get out of doing this? Perhaps it was time to assist the police. It was clear they were working on it but not getting very far. As LadyBug she could cover more ground. She had to step in at this point. She was one of Paris hero's.

She'd meet up with ChatNoir when school ended. She'd discuss this situation with him and her concerns. Maybe with the two of them, they'd get somewhere.

She'd noticed Adrien had been taking glances at Elise throughout the day and felt a twinge of curiosity spike. Was he developing a small crush? The very thought of that made her cheeks flush red with anger but it quickly fell. After all, Elise hadn't shown any interest in him. She was just toying with Chloe to get her fired up.

It did work.

Her eyes trailed towards Elise who sat in the way back alone, her eyes fixed on the window outside. Something seemed to be taking her focus from class. Marinette wondered what it was that was bothering her. Should she ask? Would Elise tell her? She barely knew her. It would be worth asking though.

The bell rang, indicating that class had ended. She had four minutes before the next bell. She placed her items in her backpack as quickly as she could before throwing it over her shoulder. Just as she did Elise had come down the stairs.

"Het Elise." Marinette greeted with a wave.

"Hello Marinette." The hooded girl gestured back, giving a small wave. "What's up?"

"I'm not trying to seem nosy but you seemed distracted today in class. Is something wrong?" Marinette asked, "You can confide in me if you need to talk."

"I appreciate it, Marinette but..it's more complicated than what I can put into words. I'll keep you in my thoughts though." Elise says, patting Marinette's shoulder.

The bluenette only watches as Elise leaves the room, a frown clouding her lips.

"That girl is strange." A voice muttered from behind her, a voice she knew well. She shifted her gaze until it fell into the deep green set of Adrien's.

"What do you mean?" Marinette asks.

"I don't know yet…But I'm going to find out." He tells her..or is he talking to himself? She's not sure but simply shrugs off the thought as she heads to the next period.

She finds it odd, first ChatNoir stating about an odd aroma coming from Elise and now Adrien. She just couldn't make sense of any of it. Elise seemed like a nice person, not someone Marinette would mess around with but seemingly nice. She was quiet and stood up for someone when they were being bullied.

Marinette couldn't wrap her head around it.

….

The day flew by fast, Marinette, Alya and Nino had planned to catch a movie after school. Originally Marinette tried to skip out on it as she wanted to speak with Chat about the killings but Alya wasn't having it. They invited Adrien but he said he had prior arrangements and needed to be somewhere. In truth he wasn't lying.

But his arrangements had nothing to do with anything related to his usual schedule. He just wanted to do a little investigating, see what Elise was all about and what she did after school.

He'd been following her for about three blocks now, keeping his distance to avoid being seen by her. Plagg who was tucked away in his shirt had grown bored of this stalking ordeal.

"And why are we following some girl in your class? We could be home now, enjoying a slice of camembert." He groaned, rubbing his stomach.

"We will go home soon, Plagg. I just wanted to investigate.."

"Investigate what exactly?" Plagg groaned. "You can't just follow random girls around, it's weird!"

Adrien rolled his eyes and slipped behind a tree that was used as a decor for the street. The fresh aroma of flowers blooming from its branches.

"Aren't you a little backwards, Adrien?" Elise's voice called out from the other side of the tree. Adrien groaned, frustrated. How did she know he was behind her? "I thought the ladies would be the ones following you. Not you following them."

"I uh.." He began stepping out from behind the tree. His eyes trailing to the ground. "Sorry."

"I could get you for stalking but…you're a nice boy and I'd lose that battle in court. Plus I'd have every fangirl after me." Elise says with a slow yawn.

Adrien takes a second to observe her mouth from a distance. He didn't see anything unusual. But for some reason…he could still smell the strange aroma coming from her. Even as Adrien, his senses had sharpened slightly to match his alter ego. Lucky and unlucky for some reason.

"Anyway.. Why are you following me exactly?" She asks, frowning now.

"I saw someone following you and I was concerned. But they departed a block back..but I just wanted to be sure…" He lies, trying to sound convinced. He can see her hues trail past him and gaze behind him, her eyes more seaish green today.

"Is that so? Well. I'm grateful but you better get back to wherever it is you need to be before someone starts following you." She gestures, waving a hand. "I'll be fine. My stop is around the corner anyway."

"Oh.." Was all he could say before nodding. He turned on his heels and began to walk back but not before shooting one more look behind him.

She'd vanished.

….

LadyBug sat silently on the ledge of the building, gazing towards the Eiffel Tower. The sky this evening looked as if it had been painted with watercolors. The sun was a gorgeous scarlet that seeped into the azure. The clouds illuminated against their mixture. A gentle breeze had cooled the city of Paris but it was nice.

She'd been here for ten minutes, waiting for ChatNoir who was running late. She couldn't be mad, after all her call was last second. She meant to do this earlier but she ended up getting tied up with Alya and Nino. She thought about how much fun she had and sort of wished Adrien had tagged along.

Her heart thumped at the thought of his name. She'd never had a crush on someone before..was this it? Was this how she knew she had a crush? She couldn't see Adrien feeling the same way about her..after all she was a nobody and he was famous.

A "THUD" Interrupted herself, doubting and loathing, her eyes trailed from the sky to her partner who'd stood there with a smile plastered on his face and a rose in his fingertips. "Evening, M'lady!" He cooed joyfully before sitting down beside her.

"Hello, Chatton." She replied back, taking the rose as he offered it.

"So what did you want to talk about?" He asked, turning his gaze towards the skies. "It's a beautiful sunset tonight." He says aloud, he's being sincere about the sky but he's also taken notice of how magical it makes LadyBug look. Her exposed skin mixed with the light of the fading sun shines, and her brilliant bluebell eyes sparkle.

"Yeah..It makes me glad I called you out last second. It really is gorgeous." She comments. "I wanted to talk to you about murder from last night"

"That gruesome news story? Okay." Chat raises his eyebrows, averting his attention back onto LadyBug, who's still staring at the sunset.

"I came across another killing. When we first became heroes. It was after that fight with Arsonist. The scene was bad, blood everywhere, large claw marks." She began. "The police said it was some sort of animal."

"Oh? But I haven't heard anything on the news about that one."

"That's because they were hiding it."

"So..what do you want to do about this then?" He prys.

"I wanna go on patrol more often. I think if we cover grown multiple times a day we may come across something."

"Okay. Do you think HawkMoth is involved with it?" Chat kicks his feet, trying to ease the tension that's growing in his stomach. His mind travels back to a certain girl he'd spoken to earlier today. He doesn't think HawkMoth is a part of it but he can't rule the guy out.

"I'm not sure. He could be. It could be an uncontrollable akuma." LadyBug simply shrugs. "So how about it?"

"I'm in."

…..

Gabriel Agreste was the famous fashion model of Paris, he was the most well known. Despite his popularity with fashion, he lived a very secretive life. He preferred it that way. He could do as he pleased without someone breathing down his neck.

He'd been busy working on some new designs. No negative emotions had crossed his path today so it gave him some time to think and work in peace.

In truth, he didn't really want to hurt anyone, he just wanted the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous. He had a dream, a noble one. His wife of many years had fallen into a coma by use of a broken Miraculous he gifted her. He just wanted to bring her back from that slumber. He wanted his family as it once was. He'd do anything for it. If he had to hurt someone to contain it, then so be in.

He'd seen the news himself and found that whatever it was that killed that man may be beneficial to his agenda. Perhaps if he akumatized whoever or whatever it was, he'd be able to confiscate his target.

This plan had to work.

…..

I've been writing too much of this book. Lmao.

I don't know what burst of energy I had but I managed to put out a few..long awaited chapters. I hope you enjoy it.