Fake Dating the Demon Spawn (Daminette)

Ch 4 - Bleeding

The air echoed with screaming.

Hawkmoth was winning.

Paris was bleeding.

Red pooled on the Eiffel Tower's metal support beams and dripped onto the ground below like thick ruby rain. The rooftops of Paris' tallest buildings reflected the light of the full harvest moon. The same moon that had glowed eerily on the night of Hawkmoth's final attack.

Marinette gasped. But as much as she breathed in, it never seemed like enough air. She felt lightheaded. Her legs shook uncontrollably. As her eyes took in the vision of the red-coated city, her legs finally gave out and her body collapsed to the ground.

She knew that this couldn't be real.

It couldn't.

Hawkmoth had been defeated 5 years ago.

But the red city that she was seeing... looked so real.

Marinette's hands— Ladybug's hands— couldn't stop trembling. Her vision blurred for a moment. She squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, the shadows lurking in the darkest corners of the red city had shifted into the faces of her old classmates and friends.

Then their faces twisted into an explosion of dark butterflies.

"N-n-no..." Marinette's hands clawed at the butterflies that fluttered in front of her face. "Akuma... akuma... akuma... please no..."

A voice called out for her somewhere inside the gathering of butterflies.

Marinette knew that voice so well. She loved that voice. She loved him.

His voice called for her again.

His voice was dying.

His voice was dead.

Adrien Agreste's body— Chat Noir's body— suddenly appeared on the ground. Red pooled around his motionless figure, staining his skin and soaking into his clothes. The red continued to spill from the hole in his chest.

Red. Red. RED.

"N-n-no..." Marinette's vision blurred with tears. "Adrien? ADRIEN! PLEASE, YOU CAN'T BE DEAD!"

Paris was bleeding.

Paris was bleeding.

PARIS. WAS. BLEEDING.

The boy she loved was dead. Her parents were dead. The people of Paris were dead. Everything that Marinette had sworn to protect was dead.

She had FAILED them—

Another voice suddenly called her name. Marinette couldn't recognize whose voice it belonged to. Who was it?

Marinette felt as if she were being held by someone. But her eyes couldn't see the person. Invisible arms wrapped around her tighter, pulling her into a strong embrace.

For a moment... Marinette felt safe.

Why did she feel so safe in the arms of a person who she could not see?

"Miss Dupain-Cheng—"

Marinette finally recognized the voice. It was Damian Wayne. But why was that jerk calling for her...

Scarecrow.

Marinette suddenly remembered that Scarecrow had broken into the restaurant. The villain was looking for Bruce Wayne. Marinette had run back to the private dining room to warn Damian and Bruce Wayne. But she hadn't run fast enough. She had breathed in the fear gas—

Fear gas. That's what this was.

"This is NOT real." Marinette whispered to herself and closed her eyes. "This red city is just a nightmare. All of this happened in the past. Hawkmoth is defeated. Paris is safe now."