Miraculous Endgame

The start of the end

As Saturday came around, as usual, Adrien's father was busy with work- paying no attention to his son at all. Adrien occupied himself by meeting up with Nino and catching up on some overdue gaming. Alya and Marinette met too, but stayed at Marinette's working on some designs for the reveal gala. Mayor Bourgeois had announced the previous week- after discussions with Chat Noir and Ladybug, that once Hawkmoth was defeated, with the moth and peacock miraculous safely returned, a gala would be hosted in honour of all the hero's. At this gala all identities of miraculous holders would be revealed, including Chat Noir and Ladybug at the chime of midnight.
The gala was invitation only and each guest received one plus one. Alya, had received an invitation due to her extremely successful Ladyblog- but also anonymously as Rene Rouge. Marinette was her plus one, allowing for a great cover story of how she got invited (allowing for a better reveal at midnight). Of course she was nervous, and was afraid of everyone's reaction. But what she was more nervous for was finally revealing herself to Chat. Would he be disappointed it's her? she knew he liked her as Marinette- but, he had just practically dumped her! Yes, it was to keep her safe, but Chat was never one to back down...
Saturday and sunday seemed to fly by for both of the teens, and they wondered what had happened to hawkmoth.
"no Akuma attacks since thursday Tikki, this is weird. It's almost monday!" Marinette exclaimed, climbing into bed after Sunday night patrol.
"i don't know Mari, i have a bad feeling about this" Tikki replied, worry plastered over her face.
"let's just stay prepared" Marinette reassured before heading to bed.

Monday.

"It's finally over!" Adrien laughed, stumbling out of his science lesson with Ninos arm wrapped around his shoulder.
"i know right dude! and last period is cancelled so we've got two hours before you have to go home!" Nino teased.
"whatever" Adrien said, rolling his eyes. A grin grew on his face as he saw Marinette heading out of the school with Alya. Something was different about her today, her hair was down, she looked beautiful.
"wait up!" Adrien called after them. Marinette head turned and blushed when she saw who was walking in their direction. her long hair swaying in the wind.

"srahhhhhhhhh" Blood. curdling.

The only way to describe what they had just heard.

The group sprinted towards the sound, coming from outside the school and saw a flash of white before being tackled behind a wall by a teacher.

Silence. except it wasn't silent. the dripping tap. the shuffling of footsteps. the cries of students. and the sound of someone all to familier. hawkmoth. Marinette stood up, a ringing in her ears, muffling the screams and panic spreading around her. What she saw was unmistakable. Chat blanc.
"tikki-" Marinette whimpered, edging closer to tears each second. Her chest grew heavy- every breath weighing a million bricks. she was going to collapse.
"Marinette?" Adrien pulled her out of her panic. She turned to face him, but she wasn't really there with him. her head racing with doubts. how could this happen? where was bunnx? why wasn't she stone as she was once before? where's chat? a tear fell. 'no. Marinette pull it together'. she thought
"Marinette?" a worried Adrien asked again, except this time he didn't wait for a reply. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her into a nearby closet.
"Stay here. Dont come out. You have to stay safe!" Adrien ordered her. She couldn't speak. She gave him a quick head nod before the door was slammed in her face and she hear Adrien run off. She was to overwhelmed. She didn't have the energy to reply,
"Marinette- we have to go" Tikki squeaked. Flying up to look at her partner, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"youre right" Marinette said, trying to convince herself.
"you've got this Marinette!" Tikki reassured.
"Tikki-" She paused "SPOTS ON!". And in a flash of pink she was Ladybug. She was going to do it. once and for all. save Paris.

Meanwhile, Adrien ran into an empty classroom.
"Plagg this is bad." He began
"kid. this is it. no time to waist" Plagg said. Plagg knew something was different, he felt the miraculous' close and was worried. Shocked by his kwamis unusual eagerness to fight- Adrien grew serious.
"plagg, CLAWS OUT" he said. And in a flash of green he was Chat Noir.

He ran out of the classroom and headed towards Hawkmoth's voice. He saw Ladybug stood nervously around the side of the doorway leading out of the school. He had never seen her like this- it must be bad.
"want to brief me?" He said, leaning on the wall next to Ladybug.
"CHAT! YOURE OKAY!" she yelled, flying into his arms.
"m'lady, what's wrong?" he asked. for once that nickname didn't make her cringe, but warmed her heart, acting as a safety net for her.
"it- its Chat Blanc" Ladybug muttered.
"what? but i'm not akumatised?!" Chat was now confused, wasnt Chat Blanc him?
"i know!" Ladybug exclaimed. Now appearing more confident. There's my lady, Chat thought to himself. 'No! i like Marinette!' scolding himself in his thoughts. "he must be a centimonster!". She was so proud of herself, her eyes lighting up and her hair swishing on her shoulders.
"your hair..." Chat said.
"what about it?" Ladybug said. Confused, she stroked her hair and realised it wasn't in the neat pigtails she normally wore.
"i thought the miraculous put my hair in pigtails?" She questioned.
"i- i don't know" Chat was speechless. He had always assumed that the Ladybug miraculous changed her hair, like it did his own- but if her hair was now down and not in her signature pigtails, maybe he was wrong. He connected the dots.
"Marinette?" he mumbled.

Shit.

~hello everyoneee. thank you so much we hit 100 reads today! it doesn't seem like a lot but we gotta celebrate the little milestones! i have a big surprise in the plot coming in the next chapter so get ready! i would love to hear from you and know what you think!~