MariChat: Soul Link (SoulMates AU)

Hunting And Hiding

While hunting down Akuma wasn't particularly anything new for the superhero duo, they normally went out looking for Akuma before they knew they even existed when out on patrol. Out and about, trying to prevent the damage before the damage even happened. This marked the first time they were actively searching the city for any signs of Spite, but he had basically erased himself from the city. No news, no crimes, no nothing that could be traced to the knife wielding villain. The upside to this was that Spite also wasn't anywhere to be found close to Marinette's home. Chat Noir had, every night, hung around the area for longer than was required to make sure that Spite wasn't anywhere around. No sign of him.

That was at least one good thing about this mess.

One would think that a man who wore bandages around his face like a Mummy, and was carrying enough knives on his person to choke a Basking Shark to death, would stand out in public, but no one seemed to have seen him, or indeed, even know that this particular Akuma had ever existed. Surly they should know about something like this? A villain who could damage and corrupt the very Links themselves?... No, the average citizen knew next to nothing about Links, and telling them now could cause them to go into a wild frenzy and panic.

The only logical conclusion the two heroes could come up with was that Spite was able to hide in a civilian form. This hadn't happened before. Whenever a person had been Akumatized previously, they had been unable to return to their civilian forms without being defeated, and the Akumatized object being destroyed, as well as the Akuma being purified.

If Akuma could now hide in their regular civilian alter-egos, then that added a whole new level of complexity to the whole Hawkmoth issue.

Ladybug sighed. She knew that this was her fault. But she couldn't focus on that right now. She had to focus on helping find Spite. That was the only way to make things right again.

Chat Noir - Adrien - Had told her he didn't blame her, but she knew he was lying. Who else was there to blame? It had been her - Her actions, her decisions, her call to let Spite go. She was the one... The one who had caused all of this. Her choice and her call, and now, she knew she had to use all the various skills and abilities that she had to put things right.

That was the only way to fix all of this.

The two of them leaped from another rooftop above a busy street, before grinding to a halt on their heels. This marked a point in which they were going to survey the current area for any signals of Spite, Akuma, or anything that would require their attention. They did this every five or so miles that they travelled across.

Chat had been totally focused on finding Spite. The lack of progress frustrated him to no end, but he never once contemplated giving up. He knew how important that it was that they found Spite. "Another sector basically clean..."

"You... Think we'll ever find him?" Ladybug asked, looking out across the ancient French city. Roughly ten million people inhabited the capital of the country. The odds of finding this villain were literally a staggering ten-million to one. It wasn't unreasonable to think they'd never see him again.

"We'll find him." Chat assured her. "We'll find him. And we'll break him. And then we can stop worrying about him."

"I'm... Really regretting letting him go..."

"You did what you thought was best, LB." Chat told her softly.

"There's a difference..." Ladybug said, dejectedly. "There's a difference... Between doing what you think is right, and doing what is right..."

"Lack of confidence doesn't suit you, my lady." Chat said, still looking out at the city. He hand covered his eyes, blocking out the sun so he could see, like a sun shield. "So what if you screwed up? As I recall, the first day I met you, I broke a football post, instead of the actual opponent in front of us with my Cataclysm."