Me and You - Adrienette/Ladynoir/Ladrien/Marichat

Chapter Fifteen: A Way

"Adrien!" Plagg exclaims, holding onto a lace from Adrien's shoe for dear life, "I don't think this is a good idea!" Plagg screeches just before he is sucked into Adrien's ring, turning Adrien into Chat Noir.

Chat Noir looks at his raven ring and whispers, as if he is talking to Plagg himself, "me neither," he sighs as he turns to face his home: Paris. A flurry of memories pass through Chat Noir's mind; from Ladybug and him swinging through Paris going after Hawkmoth's akuma of the week to Marinette and him walking to school together, oblivious of each other's true identities.

He hasn't just lost one of them, he's lost both of them. The two people who have made Paris feel like home again.

He may see her again, and he may be able to talk to her again, but Marinette may never be the same Marinette. And worse, she may never be Ladybug again.

Without Ladybug, who is he?

The people of Paris need someone to fix the damage caused by the akumas, the damage that he caused when he let his ego get the best of him and teased Theo until he was akumatised into Copycat. The people of Paris need her. While she creates, he destroys.

He destroys.

And that is all he knows, all he has known.

And so, people of Paris, you are about to see the great Chat Noir in action...

"Timebreaker..." Chat Noir calls the akumatised villain's name, his voice dark and throaty. She turns around, meeting him face-to-face.

"Chat Noir, nice of you to join me," Timebreaker smirks.

"It won't be nice for very long, Timebreaker!" Chat Noir shouts. Then he unleashes his staff and charges at Timebreaker. He stops just before his staff makes contact with the akumatised villain. He glares through Timebreaker's eyes, at her creator and controller, "and once I'm done with you, I'm going to find you, Hawkmoth!"

Then he makes a swing at her.

"Aw, is someone sad that their little Ladybug is missing?" Timebreaker pouts, dodging a hit from Chat Noir, "tell me, Chat Noir, do you even know where your Ladybug is?"

"This...is...none of your business...Timebreaker!" Chat Noir exclaims, in between trying to hit Timebreaker and dodging her touch at the same time. It's reckless to face her head-on like this; one wrong move and Paris won't have anyone to defend them.

"No," Timebreaker stops in her tracks as Hawkmoth uses her to talk to Chat Noir, in a voice deeper than her usual, "it is certainly my business, Chat Noir."

Another smirk forms on her mouth before she charges at Chat Noir and reaches out to freeze him in his stead. However, Chat Noir is too fast for her. He ducks, lengthens his staff and hits her ankles.

Timebreaker falls to the floor with a thud.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir exclaims and, all at once, uses his other hand to pin Timebreaker down preventing her from recovery. "Do you think it's still your business?" Chat Noir prods, leaning his hand closer and closer to Timebreaker's face.

"Like that scares me, Chat Noir," two voices overlap, one speaking through the other, "I understand how you're feeling, Chat Noir; how you blame yourself for what happened to Ladybug."

"How could you ever understand how I'm feeling, Hawkmoth?" Chat Noir shouts, "you're-" his voice breaks, "you're a monster."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Enough!" Chat Noir's eyes go cloudy in anger.

It almost scares Timebreaker how dark his eyes are going and, even more, how close his hand is getting to her face. She can almost feel her suit deteriorating at the proximity of his touch.

"You know," Chat Noir begins, "if Ladybug was here then she wouldn't let me use my cataclysm on a person...but Ladybug isn't here."

Now it's his turn to smirk as he sees Timebreaker's once smug face turn white in fear.

One last nudge and it will all be over, the voice inside his head whispers.

But it won't! Chat Noir glances at his ring. He can almost hear Plagg screaming at him with desperation.

But the voice bites back: it doesn't matter - this, this is revenge.

"Wait!" Hawkmoth's voice booms through Timebreaker, "I have a way!"

Chat Noir stops. He doesn't let his guard down as he asks, "a way to what?"

"A way to bring back Ladybug."

A silence forms between them as the voices within Chat Noir fight over the path to take. However, the problem is: Chat Noir has never listened to Plagg.

Chat Noir gives Timebreaker one last look then uses his cataclysm.

He savours the terrified look on Timebreaker's face, her eyes shut tight and her face scrunched to brace herself, before rising to his feet allowing the cataclysm to take effect.

The ground below Timebreaker starts to turn a raven colour, shaking and crumbling apart.

She widens her eyes, realising she is unscathed.

At that point, the ground below her starts to turn a raven colour. It shakes and begins to crumble apart. She scrambles to her feet and skates away to the other side of the street.

She sends a scowl towards Chat Noir, whose back is facing her. Then she murmurs, "you better know what you're doing, Hawkmoth..."

"Sir, what are you doing?" a female voice behind Hawkmoth asks. "I believe it is unwise to be doing deal with Chat Noir! Think of the risks-"

"Don't worry, Nathalie," Hawkmoth interrupts, "I have a way to get us both what we want."

Nathalie doesn't respond. Even if she did she knows it's too late to convince him; he has a plan, and she must follow it and, with it, the consequences that follow.

Hawkmoth cackles. Nathalie watches as his laughter grows louder and louder, as if all of Hawkmoth's past akumatised villains have joined, echoing through the whole of Paris.

Their joyous cheer comes together to say one thing: this is the end of the bug and the kitty cat.

Will Chat Noir fall for Hawkmoth's plan?

Find out next week...

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