Ashes to Ashes
Rena hit the ground with a grunt. Ladybug had called upon her and Carapace, before she had to go get more people. Bunnyx, Pegasus and Viperion, had been brought in as well. The last time Rena had seen Ladybug was when her and Chat were discussing on whether they should bring Queen Bee out of retirement or not. That was when the Akuma had hit her.
Rena slowly got to her feet, King Monkey landed beside her, with Ryuko jumping over them.
"You alright?" Asked King Monkey, as Chat sailed through the air and hit a lamp post.
"Yeah," Said Rena, glad that the suits took the brunt of the damage, "still hurt, though."
King Monkey nodded, as the rest of the team bar Ladybug gathered around them.
"Anyone know the Akuma's name and/or motive?" Chat asked, looking around the group.
"No, aside from the whole fire and chaos shtick." Said Bunnyx, folding her arms.
"They're calling themselves Burnt Baker and they're going after Thomas Dupain and Sabine Cheng because they're Bakery was voted the best one in Paris, while his was voted Tenth." Everyone jumped when Ladybug suddenly appeared.
"Jesus!" Gasped Pegasus, clutching his chest.
"Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng are currently in their apartment, waiting out the attack." Said Ladybug, "I spoke with them around fifteen minutes ago, I've been trying to find the rest of you."
"Rena was thrown to the ground." Bunnyx supplied, trying to be helpful.
"Are you alright?" Asked Ladybug, turning to Rena with a concerned look.
"Yeah, suit took the brunt." Replied Rena, before she took a sharp breath in, "I smell smoke."
Ladybug quietly swore, launching her yoyo into the air and headed for the nearest rooftop. The team saw Ladybug survey the area, before she suddenly froze. Then she started trembling, and then, she launched herself towards the smoke.
The team each headed for the rooftop, all of them stopping when they saw Tom and Sabine's Bakery in flames. Ladybug trembled for a second, before charging into the flames, only for the Akuma to tackle her as she reached the door.
"No, you can't save them," Screamed the Akuma, "You can't let them be better than me!"
Ladybug punched Akuma in the face, before getting to her feet, just as the fire flashed over and ignited the gas line beneath the bakery. Ladybug stared in dumb shock as the Akuma cackled.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! They're gone! Now I'll be number one!" Giggled the Akuma, as something in Ladybug broke.
"You…" Said Ladybug, her face slowly morphing into a picture of rage, "YOU KILLED THEM!"
Ladybug grabbed the Akuma by the collar and started raining blows down on him. The Akuma's giggles turned into screams, as his face got more and more bloody. Ladybug didn't notice her transformation wearing off, only able to focus of harming the thing that took her parents from her.
Marinette did, however, notice Chat grabbing her wrist and hauling her away from the Akuma.
"Princess," Said Chat, as Marinette struggled to get back to the Akuma, "you need to calm down."
"No, he killed them!" Cried Marinette, as sobs started to get stuck in her throat, "H-he took them from me, I'll kill him!"
Chat tightened his grip on Marinette, as the burning bakery collapsed in on itself.
AtA
Adrien nervously waited for Marinette to get into class, along with the rest of his classmates. Marinette's grandmother, Gina, had arrived in Paris and had taken legal custody of Marinette. The news that Marinette was Ladybug had spread through the school like wildfire, the only benefit was that Lila's lies had finally kicked her in the face, with everyone in the class ignoring her existence. Everyone looked at the door, as it opened.
Marinette looked like a wreck, Adrien could spot Tikki sitting on Marinette's shoulder, her eyes were red, and she looked like she hadn't showered since the fire. Marinette quietly made her way to her seat, ignoring everyone. Adrien swore he could've seen her hands shaking.
When break came, Marinette practically ran out of the room. Marinette was out of sight before anyone could stop her, leaving them at a loss at what to do to help their friend.
Alya dropped herself to the ground, and rested her forehead against her knees, "Cataldi's been hounding her, he's even tried to claim that Marinette was responsible for the fire."
"Animal." Growled Adrien, glaring at the floor, "I'll ask Kagami to keep an eye out for her."
"I'll ask Luka to do the same." Said Juleka, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
"Daddy," Said Chloe, making everyone look at her, "Alec Cataldi is harassing Ladybug, fire him."
Chloe hung up the phone and saw everyone staring at her, "What?"
"Did you just do something nice?" Asked Nathaniel, incredulously.
"Shut up, Kurtzberg." Snapped Chloe, stalking off.
"Someone pinch me, because I think- OW!" Yelped Max, as Kim pinched him, "It was just an expression!"
Everyone stared at the Jock, who was still pinching Max.
"Sorry." Muttered Kim, not moving.
"Stop pinching me!" Yelled Max, finally making Kim stop pinching him.
Everyone stiffened and groaned when the bell rang, signalling the end of break.
"Maybe we'll see her in class." Said Adrien, hopefully.
Marinette wasn't in their next class, or the one after it. In fact, she wasn't in any of their classes for the rest of the day. Adrien was already dreading going home, since he overheard his father discussing with Principal Damocles and attempting to get Adrien removed from school, only stopping when Principal Damocles threatened to involve child services.
Adrien saw something glimmer in his peripheral, turning to it, he spotted someone curled into a fetal position in the burnt remains of the bakery. The person looked like they were made of fire. Adrien's stomach dropped, immediately realising who it was and what had happened.
Adrien carefully made his way into the ruins of the bakery, before coming to a stop in front of the person, "Marinette?"
The person looked up at Adrien, "Marinette's not here now, I'm Pyra."
Adrien's heart broke at how broken Marinette sounded.
"A-are you okay?" Asked Adrien, carefully sitting down next to Pyra.
"Maman and Papa are out, they said they'll be back." Said Pyra, hollowly.
"Has… has Shadowmoth tried talking to you?" Asked Adrien, looking at Pyra's face.
"He tried, he didn't like what I did to him."
"W-what did you do?"
"I made him feel pain."
ATA
Shadowmoth growled, before landing in front of his Akuma and his son.
"Pyra, you are to bring me Ladybug's Chat Noir's Miraculous." Ordered Shadowmoth, ignoring Adrien's presence.
"No."
That was all the warning Shadowmoth got, before Pyra threw flames at him and sent him into a wall.
He looked up and saw Pyra standing over him, fury written on her face, "You gave him power, you helped kill them."
Shadowmoth was suddenly enveloped in flames, the exposed part of his face being burnt. Pyra stopped, before kicking his side. She grabbed the miraculous he was wearing and threw them behind her. Gabriel froze, as she raised her fists and prepared to set him on fire once more.
A blue butterfly emblem appeared on her face. Pyra slowly turned around and looked at Adrien. Nothing verbal was exchanged between them, but white butterfly left Pyra, reverting her back into Marinette.
She looked around, confused, before realising where she was. Adrien quickly made his way over to her, completely ignoring Gabriel, and guided her away, as Plagg decided to pin Gabriel to the ground. He did this by turning into a black panther and dropping himself onto Gabriel's chest. Adrien idly wondered what else Plagg could turn into, before Marinette's breath hitched. He internally swore, realising that she'd seen the miraculous attached to his shirt.
"Hey, Marinette," Said Adrien, gently, "Mari, look at me."
Marinette looked up at Adrien, her face pale, "Breath." Soothed Adrien, "In through the nose and out through the mouth."
"Marinette?"
Adrien looked towards the school, where Alya was rushing down the steps. Alya had been stuck in detention with Ms. Mendeleiev. Adrien quickly passed Marinette to Alya, before pulling his phone out and calling the police.
Again, things for Adrien passed quicker than he would've liked. He found himself sitting on a bed in Le Grand Paris. Sighing through his nose, Adrien got into the bed and let sleep claim him.
ATA
Adrien was woken by a rattling sound. Turning his light on, Adrien looked at the balcony his room had. The doors were wide open, the curtains gently swaying in the breeze. Adrien then looked at Plagg, who was sleeping higher up than usual on a strange black pillow that had a pink stripe on it, making it look like…a…pigtail. It took Adrien longer than it should to realise that said pillow was both breathing and squirming.
"…Marinette?" Asked Adrien, getting a small squeak from her, "Plagg told you, didn't he?"
Adrien could vaguely make out Marinette nodded, before rolling over and pulling her closer to him. Marinette let out another squeak, before slowly drifting into sleep. Adrien placed a small kiss to her forehead and inhaled her scent, before joining her in sleep.
The pair later woke to Chloé throwing pillows at them, and demands of reassurance that they didn't do any of the 'disgusting married couple stuff'. Chloé was answered with a pillow thrown back at her in return.
ATA
Marinette got better, slowly opening back up to Adrien and her friends. A year after the fire, she finally felt comfortable returning to the Bakery and begin restoring it. Lila had absconded to parts unknown after Gabriel's trial. Nathalie had been implicated by Gabriel, when he said she caused most of the damage to Paris. Gorilla, who's actual name turned out to be Simon Gerald, had been made Adrien's formal guardian and Adrien had moved in with him. Most of the hype around Marinette's identity had died down, with Adrien revealing his own identity during his father's trial. Marinette took a break from designing, finding that it was reminding her too much of Hawkmoth.
Marinette groaned as her Nonna called her to get up for school, she rolled onto her side and covered her head with her pillow. She was forced out of bed when a bright red wolf with black spots shoved out of the bed and onto the floor.