"the moth's apprentice" chat noir x y/n

Chat Blanc

For the third time that night I wished I was dead. 

Hell would be preferable to the cold, dark expanse of nothing that stretched out for miles and miles ahead of me. I de-transformed right there on the roof, staring at the emptiness that lay ahead...feeling the emptiness that was me—myself. Because I was nothing in this world. 

No Hawkmoth, no Marinette...no Chat Noir, no nothing. Everything was gone. It was all fiery destruction and then nothing. The buildings were shattered into pieces, except for the one I stood on. I could see Paris for miles, all crumbled to the ground. The river and canals had flooded and covered the streets in a good ten feet of water. Half or Paris was submerged, and the other half—completely destroyed. 

And it was just me. 

I felt the hollowness spread into my stomach and burn my insides. I screamed, staring up at the dark sky. A sheen of darkness and wind blew past me, burying my hopes and maddening my thoughts. 

Footsteps behind me, made me spin around, clutching a very tired Vector to my chest. 

It was Chat Blanc, or Adrien for that matter. But it certainly wasn't Adrien — and taking a closer look, the inhumane stare on his face made me wonder if the shell of Chat Noir was even sane. 

He laughed upon seeing me, a maniacal laugh that made my heart freeze. My hands shook as he came closer, those icy blue eyes piercing my throat. 

"My darling...I'm so glad you survived," Chat Blanc grinned down at me. He grasped my hands with his white claws, pulling me close to him. I could feel his faint heartbeat, and the tiny amount of heat coming from his body. "It's you and me now...forever." 

"Please don't do this, Adrien," I begged, sinking down to my knees in front of him. I held on tightly to his hands, every inch of my being hoping that he would come back to me. "I know you. I love—" 

"Don't say it," he held up a finger to my lips, gently brushing my hair away. "You know you don't mean it." His words were cold and had an empty ring to them. They floated into the expanse of nothing. "You are nothing to me anymore, Y/N. Everything is nothing to me. Nothing is everything." He laughed. "Everything is nothing." 

He turned away for a second, admiring the destruction. When he turned back, there was a crazy glint in his eyes. I couldn't give up. I knew Adrien was there somewhere. He just needed to reject the Akuma. Though, after all the damage he'd gone through I wasn't sure he'd be able to reject the Akuma. if he had the strength to...

"It's still something," I stood to my feet, turning his face back to me. My fingers lingered under his jaw and he closed his eyes for a second. "you are not alone, Adrien." 

"Don't call me that," Chat's eyes flew open suddenly. He brushed my hands away from his face, grabbing my wrists. He forced me backwards until my back hit the wall of a still-standing chimney. Memories of the real Chat Noir came back to me. 

I remembered when he was full of life. 

"I'm not Adrien," Chat snarled angrily. His grip was heavy and forceful. "Adrien is gone. No one will ever see him again." a small amount of anger disappeared from his eyes. "No one will ever hurt him again." Chat tipped his head to the side. "You believe me, don't you, darling?" 

I swallowed, sadness tugging at my heart. "No. I don't believe that." 

Chat Blanc, lifted a hand, pressing it to his chest. "Do you feel that?" The steady thumping of his heart felt faint and weak. "There is nothing there anymore." He tapped his head, smirking. "I feel. Fucking. Nothing." He glared. "I'm worse than you, Y/N." 

"Maybe," I shrugged, trying to hide how scared I was. "But no matter how damaged and hurt you are, you're always going to be Adrien Agreste." 

"STOP SAYING THAT—" 

I had a moment to react before Chat tossed me like a rag doll. I landed hard on the pavement, rolling on the rough surface of the building. 

"Vector..." I gulped. "Let's fly." 

I spread my wings. "You wanna do this, Kitty? Fine." There was no hope of de-akumatizing him. Not at this point, but if I could get him to fight me for long enough, maybe he'd tire himself out. 

Chat Blanc let out a noise halfway between a yowl and a purr before colliding with me again. I kneed him in the stomach and he winced. My wings fluttered as we hit the ground, softer this time. He rolled onto his back and I squeezed his sides with my thighs, pinning him to the ground. 

"Are you done yet?" I gritted my teeth, landing a blow to his head. He reached up with one hand to block his face. 

"Y/N," he groaned, squirming underneath me. "Why?" 

"Why?" I asked him sarcastically, grabbing his hair and turning his head. "Because maybe I can smack some fucking sense into you." I tried a new approach. "Stop being pathetic and reject that  goddamn akuma." 

Chat Blanc's lip curled up. "Never." 

I ripped his bell off, hoping that maybe the Akuma would break. Chat laughed again, a hollow sound. 

"The akuma isn't in there, stupid bird," his blue eyes went wide. "It's in my heart...but oh wait — I don't have one anymore." 

I punched him in the gut and he coughed, shaking his head from side to side. "You—" he coughed again. "—fuck.." 

"I can hear your heart," I insisted. "I. Can. Hear. It." 

Chat Blanc simply smirked at me. "How many times do you think I'll have to tell you to fuck off? Wanna make a bet? I bet threeee—-thousand." The way he drew out his words, making them sound manic scared me something worse than I'd ever felt. 

Nothing I could say would phase him. I'd have to keep trying different approaches. 

"I know you're in there, somewhere," I repeated. 

Chat tugged the front of my suit so that I was close enough to count every eyelash ...every freckle. 

"Trust me." He whispered. "I'm not." 

He flipped me over, planting his knee on my chest. "The sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll disappear too." He stared up at the sky. "The sooner you let go of me, the better." He pushed me — gentler than before, standing up. "You have to realize that I'm gone, Y/N. The person you'd recognize? He's gone." 

Chat Blanc walked away from me slowly — picking up speed as he reached the side of the building. When he jumped, his body fell in slow motion, speeding towards the ground like a white bullet. His pole caught him and then he was gone, off into the destruction of his own madness. 

"I'll never give up on you..." I whispered my promise to the wind, hoping someone would hear me. 

No one did.