Control (Miraculous Ladybug)

Miraculous?

MARINETTE'S POV

"Well, that was a wild day," Marinette told Tikki as she walked through the streets, which were mostly empty. "Imagine: two supervillains in one day! And Adrien is back in school, thank goodness. I wouldn't have been able to stand it if he didn't come anymore."

"I know," her kwami laughed in response. "You don't have to tell me. The day's almost over, too! Something tells me you're going to be oversleeping tomorrow morning."

"Tell me something I don't know," Marinette sighed, then smiled away her negativity and began walking a little faster.

Suddenly, a burst of shrieks erupted from up ahead. She jumped, then whispered in horror, "Another one?!" and started running forward. The first person she saw was her BFF Alya, her phone raised as she filmed the apparent supervillain. Her facial expression was something like awe and terror at the same time, and her hands were shaking. Confused by Alya's strange emotion, Marinette picked up her pace and whipped around the corner, but the sight she was forced to take in made her heart drop to her feet.

Because the person standing there, black suit reflecting the sunlight, staff barely touching the ground, was none other than her partner, Chat Noir. But that wasn't what had startled her so much; there was a glowing, purplish Butterfly symbol in front of his eyes, and a faint voice was talking to him.

Hawk Moth. That voice was Hawk Moth.

Which meant the cat standing just a few feet in front of her was no superhero. He'd been akumatized.

And as if she hadn't been shocked enough, when the Butterfly symbol vanished, he looked at her with those piercing green eyes and said, his voice soft-toned but cold, "Glad to see you, m'lady."

She stopped, trembling, and could do nothing more than gaze in fear at him for a few moments. Then, snapping back to Earth, she turned and ran.

He knows. How does he know?!

Jumping down a set of stairs into an underground Metro station, she opened her bag to let Tikki out, and before the kwami could say anything, swept the back of her hand over her left earring and shouted, "Tikki, Spots On!" But this time, there was no smile on her face as she transformed.

Skillfully flinging her yo-yo up the next flight of stairs, she swung outside again, then circled around through the air back in Chat's direction. He was still there, and when he saw her, he burst into a strong sprint straight towards her, then launched himself off the ground using his baton and swung it down for her as gravity claimed him again. She swiftly leapt up out of the way, then spun and threw her yo-yo once more, this time wrapping it multiple times around his wrist as well as his weapon.

She was no stranger to all this. She'd had to fight him several times before, when he'd been manipulated by Dark Cupid, Puppeteer, and Princess Fragrance. But those times were different. He'd been cured as soon as she'd used Miraculous Ladybug, except in the case of Dark Cupid. But even that power couldn't cure an akumatized victim.

Meanwhile, he'd yanked his hand backwards, and with his greater strength jerked her forwards and off balance. Then, swiftly freeing himself from her yo-yo's grip, he turned and took off down the streets, mostly using his staff to go faster. Ladybug retrieved the loose string back into her yo-yo, then raced after him, hastily pulling herself up through the air and to the nearest roof with her weapon. True, he was stronger than her, but she was quicker.

But a question was still ringing through her head as she pursued him: Where was the akuma? Her first thought was his ring, but she quickly pushed the idea away. She couldn't break a miraculous. Maybe she could physically, but what would that do to her partner and his kwami? She didn't love him romantically, but she still cared about him, even if he was trying to kill her.