The Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir

Disappointment

Creds to Princess Sakura Serenity for the video. 

Warning: This is really depressing, I cried a little while writing this. May be triggering. 

They all admire Ladybug, her confidence, her abilities. Her smile. Chloe, Alya, Chat Noir, even Adrien adored her. Even her own parents adored her for her masked alter-ego.

But... then there was Marinette. Marinette was never around when Ladybug showed up. Marinette never showed any real admiration for the super-heroine. Marinette was clumsy and shy and insecure and incapable and... she... she was told to be more like Ladybug.

She cried. Whenever it got too much. Alya going on and on about how amazing Ladybug is, Chat Noir's eyes sparkling with admiration and love whenever he spoke of her to Marinette, Chloe scoffing and telling her to be more like Ladybug, heck, even Adrien had a crush on Ladybug. 

"Why can't you be more like Ladybug, Mari-trash?"

"Isn't Ladybug amazing, Marinette?"

"Ladybug's perfect! I really love her, Princess!"

"I g-guess y-you c-could say I l-like her."

But not Marinette.

Marinette wasn't as beautiful as Ladybug. Marinette wasn't as kind as Ladybug. Marinette wasn't as smart as Ladybug. Marinette wasn't as strong as Ladybug. Marinette couldn't possibly be Ladybug.

And yet, she was.

"Dear Parisians, I do not reveal my identity to you not just to protect my loved ones, it is so your trust in me will never waver. Underneath this mask, you will be disappointed with who I am, but I am still Ladybug, and I must ensure I can trust you as much as you trust me in order to protect you."

"I hate Ladybug..." Her voice came out as a harsh, cracked whisper while Alya rambled on and on about her qualities and Adrien and Nino nodded along. Tears fell onto her croissant, uneaten and now wet. She mumbled something about having to go to 'friends' who didn't listen, too caught up in the wonder that was Ladybug. They didn't call out for her as she slipped away. They didn't notice the now empty seat next to Alya.

Tikki had tried to calm her, but she hadn't listened. She didn't want to listen to the painfully kind creature that she couldn't hate for turning her into Ladybug. She just sat on her balcony until night fell, listening to Parisians and cars alike. She sat on her balcony, not bothering to wipe away her unstoppable tears. She barely noticed the faint thump of a leather clad hero behind her.

"Princess? Are you okay?" 

She shut her eyes tight. He was the last person she needed right now, and she certainly didn't want him there. "No, Chat Noir, it is blatantly obvious I am not okay. Now leave me alone." Her cold and harsh tone didn't dissuade him though. 

"I'm not leaving until you smile, Princess. What's wrong?" That voice. How she hated the concern that was apparent in that voice.

"It's her, Chat." Her voice cracked, but this time with anger and misery. "She's everything while I'm nothing. I hate her."

"Who, Marinette?"

"Ladybug."

"Why would you hate her?" His voice was now accusatory and hostile. "She's amazing and she hasn't done anything to you."

She laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh. It was insane with sorrow and anger and pain, the unbearable amounts of pain that was more insufferable than Chloe. It was not Marinette, it was not Ladybug, this was someone else entirely.

"She made me be her, kitty cat." Venom was laced through her voice as Chat stared at her. "All day long, people admire her and praise her for her beauty, her intelligence, her confidence, how amazing and utterly perfect she is and she's FAKE!" She yelled, letting out the anger of 100 volcanoes, and the pain of 1000 shattered bones. "She isn't strong or smart or beautiful any more than I am and I get nothing while she gets everything! My best friends pays more attention to her than me, for god's sake, even the love of my life loves her!

"I hate her, with all my being, and I hate that they'll all be so disappointed when they find out the great Ladybug is just Marinette, I hate that this damned sense of responsibility is stopping me from just dying so I don't have to live in my own shadow!" She pulled at her hair, yelling, not caring that her parents might hear.

Chat Noir no doubts stands in shock. Of course. He's disappointed. Just like she thought he'd be.

She was almost glad when a black butterfly landed on her earrings.

"Hello, Ladybug, or should I say, Disappointment. I have a proposition for you." That sinister voice had tainted her thoughts already. She let out an insane giggle.

"I know what you want. The Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous. Well, Hawkmoth, I would be glad to be rid of that bug." Her voice dropped to a level of evil that had not been seen before in an akuma. And she would achieve her goal simply by succumbing to Hawkmoth's whispers. 

"Marinette, no!" Chat Noir's voice broke in desperation. He knew what she was going through - yet he had more practice at keeping his emotions in check. Everyone adored Adrien, but he wasn't the real him. Chat Noir hated being Adrien, but not as much as Marinette hated being Ladybug.

"Excellent."

That was two years ago.

Marinette, no, Disappointment couldn't be stopped. She wrecked havoc on Paris, and Chat couldn't stop her alone. He tried everything short of killing her, even revealing his identity in an attempt to use her love for his civilian form to change her back, but she did nothing different. Eventually, she got his miraculous, but refused to give it to Hawkmoth, gaining power over him and controlling his mind using the powers he gave her. He was who was the last hope in stopping her rage was her servant.

Adrien has been depressed all the time, even more so than Marinette's parents and Alya. Even Chloe regretted all she did to Marinette. Adrien had lost his smile, his sunshine, because of a girl he loved too late.

Except, now, there were no akumas to turn him. Only a huge dark hole of depression to swallow him.