A/N: While I am still actively working on Dawning Light (my Shadybug/regular Adrien fic), I wanted to post this first intro chapter because I just received an amazing commission from the great emari_13 on Instagram, and I wanted to have a spot where anyone interested could subscribe. I am not finished with this one just yet, but when I do I will start updating it regularly! It's not going to be particularly long, just a handful of chapters, I'm thinking.
I've probably strayed from the typical Chat Blanc interpretation for this, but I hope you all enjoy! I've added some elements to the universe that differ from canon in order for it to make sense for Blanc to work as a long term enemy.
PS. As you can tell from the summary, yes, this is another fic that falls within my pregnancy reveals series (though it will play less of a part in this one). If you don't care for that, please feel free to hit the back button and find something else :)
A twenty-year-old Marinette Dupain-Cheng sat at the desk in her bedroom as she contemplated her enemy.
When Hawk Moth had first shown up in her life two years ago, he hadn't had a favorite akumatized villain, sending out different ones each time. It wasn't until after a few months of fighting various akumas that one person truly became her most difficult and recurring enemy: the holder of the black cat miraculous, a man who was supposed to be fighting at her side, but had joined Hawk Moth's instead from the beginning.
With the power of destruction at his beck and call in addition to the power supplemented by Hawk Moth, Chat Blanc made for a difficult foe for her. After losing the black cat miraculous to the other side, the guardian hadn't wanted to risk losing any more, so it was up to Ladybug alone to take on the wild and often unpredictable enemy. Without the time limit to Blanc's akumatizations, Ladybug might have lost her earrings long before.
Still, there had been something off with the white cat during their fight earlier that day. He'd been angry – that wasn't new, he was always angry – but this time, there had been something different fraying the edges of his anger into desperation.
It brought to mind the one question that Marinette had never been able to figure out; why had the one chosen directly by Plagg to fight at her side chosen differently? She always had the feeling that if she could only find out the reasoning, she might be able to bring him down and get to Hawk Moth.
A crash echoed from her balcony above, causing her to startle.
What the–
She quickly climbed up from her bed, opening the door above only to freeze at what she saw.
Chat Blanc crouched on her railing, staring down at the broken flower pots on the ground.
Marinette dropped the door abruptly as she fell to her bed, her heart racing. Had he discovered her identity and come for her? Her parents were somewhere below; they would no longer be safe, and she'd have to–
"Shit, didn't mean to knock your stuff over, lady. No need to call the Bug."
The words were so unexpected that she couldn't help but crack open the door again, staring at the villain incredulously. She wasn't sure she had ever heard him say anything outside of the endless demands to hand over her miraculous, mixed between curses and insults.
He met her eyes and grimaced, his luminescent blue eyes darting to the sides. "Just pretend you didn't see me and I won't have to cataclysm your place."
She'd never seen him out and about while not actively destroying things to lure her out. Well, he didn't seem to be intentionally destroying things, she amended, her eyes shifting to her pots before returning to him. He moved as if to leap away, but before he could she blurted out, "What are you doing here?"
He paused, shooting her a surprised look, as though he couldn't believe she was talking to him. "Felt like a run. He doesn't leave me a lot of time to myself." Blanc tapped the side of his head before standing up. "Seriously, don't call her. I'm not destroying anything." He glanced at the mess again, a flare of anger appearing suddenly. "Anything else. Damn it." He turned his gaze to hers one last time before he leapt away.
Marinette scrambled to climb up, rushing to her railing. She caught sight of the white of his suit glaring in the low light. Briefly, she considered transforming and going after him, but his actions had completely thrown her off.
When he'd disappeared from view, she mulled his words over in her mind. He doesn't leave me a lot of time to myself. She assumed he was talking about Hawk Moth, but she didn't understand the context. Hadn't he chosen his side from the beginning?
Strange.
With a last frown at the skyline, Marinette climbed back downstairs.
A/N: Feel free to subscribe to be alerted when I start posting the rest after I finish it! The art is a bit of a spoiler from a scene near the end, but if you'd like to see it, I posted it to my instagram/ao3_ladynoir_fan)/tumblr(ladynoirfanao3), otherwise I will be mentioning it again in the appropriate chapter here.