Shadowteer

Chapter 37

Chris trudged into the Astruc International Airport, his hands clenched into tight fists.

"Having fun yet, Manon? Because I am!"

He shut his eyes, willing the memories to leave his head but they wouldn't budge. He felt like slamming his head headfirst into the wall but he held up his passport instead, cringing at the fear in her eyes when she heard his name out loud.

"A-apparently, what you see here is Christopher Lahiffe has been a-akumatised and he is now using the shadows to keep citizens under some sort of spell, draining out their life energy, their happiness in the process. It's too blurry to see what is going on up there but those on the ground who have been hit by the beams of his torch are in a trance-like state, they are-" Nadia felt a cold hand grip her shoulder and it took only a moment for her to realise it had been her shadow holding the camera. She turned around and screamed, looking at Manon's figure screaming at her again and again, her father standing behind with a wicked grin, repeating the words "I never loved you" as Nightmare drained her energy. "Manon, fight it... Fight it, baby girl... please..."

She managed to fake a smile and he walked through the checkpoints, trying to ignore the eyes on him as he kept going. Only a few feet away, he thought, a few feet from my private jet and freedom. I hear Amsterdam is lovely this time of year, he thought with a sad smile on his face.

"Wow, your mom really cares about you, bitch." Tears formed in her eyes and he chuckled when he heard her cry out, spinning around with a smirk at the utter destruction ravaging his city. Shadow was multiplying into smaller, human-sized versions, going around and corrupting the shadows of the citizens. At this rate, Nightmare didn't need the torch, Paris was only the first step. Soon France and the world would know what it felt like to be so alone, so utterly broken and helpless like he was. Soon they would feel the pain he had hidden for so long. "She's mine now, though."

"M-mom?"

He swallowed a lump in his throat when he saw a little Vietnamese girl hugging a small fluffy white unicorn to her chest and pouting at her mother, wondering if she knew how adorable she looked. It reminded him of the look on Manon's six-year-old face when he had shut her out before he left Paris, seemingly for good. He hated seeing her in pain but sometimes, he couldn't help himself. Couldn't stop himself from letting out those inner demons he never wanted coming out. At least, that's what he thought until she saved him.

"M-mom?" He mocked. "Pathetic but cute, you ugly shit. Wish I had one of those... A family. But I'm Chris, it's just not my style." Even with his back turned, he could hear her struggling to form words.

"But you do have a family... Nino... Alya... Marinette and Adrien... All our friends... Me... We've always been there for you, Chris." He rolled his eyes and turned around hitting her across the face. She bowed her head and looked up again, laughing. He was about to ask why when she shrugged, still giggling. "You're not Chris. Why am I even talking to you? The real Chris is in there, and I need you to fight this guy so we can go home."

"Are you joking? Do you know how long I've been in here, corrupting him, destroying hi-" he stopped, gazing at her with interest. Her entire body was a mix of blacks and greys, the colour nearly sucked out of her body completely by his strings but to his surprise, a small part of her chest remained bright blue. He poked the fabric, sneering at her and looked up. "No one has ever been able to push my shadows away for this long. It won't last, trust me."

"Yes, it will. Do you want to know why? Because you're not Chris. The Chris I know wouldn't call me ugly, or shit, or a bitch. He... He thinks I'm beautiful... for some stupid reason." The grey began to stretch across the area and he watched her eyes dull with a smile, whispering that she could simply give in but she fought against it, making his heart jolt against his chest when she smiled at him. "The Chris I know is a dork, and he is angsty as hell. The Chris I know even tells me he loves me at random times, even if I don't believe it. The Chris I know doesn't have to say it, because he shows it, he sings it, he jokes it, he makes me love myself just by loving me. And for some reason, some crazy insane reason, everything simply felt right in the world, all the blacks and grey's faded away and left only rainbows when he kissed me. Sounds cliche but it's true."

"Mr Lahiffe?" He looked up at the pilot, surprised to find out that he had fallen asleep on a bench while staring at the little girl. He wiped his drool, hoping didn't think he was weird as he tried to avoid eye contact but rose his eyes once for the heck of it as he dragged his black suitcase up the jet bridge. She caught his eye and waved at him, earning a stern look from his mother. He didn't know whether her mother knew him or not, whether he had hurt either of them during his rampage or not, he simply caught her eye and sent a shy wave back.

"Why are you... Why are you saying all of this?" His eyes softened and she felt her restraints, the strings tightly wound around her body loosen. She shut her eyes and responded the only way she could imagine. "Because he is beautiful. Beautiful to me. It leaves me breathless sometimes, how utterly stunning you can be on the inside and out, Chris."

"You... You think I'm... Beautiful?" His face turned red but soon changed back to the ashen colour and his yellow irises flashed with rage. She swallowed and shut her eyes, waiting for another hit to come but it never came. They were on the ground now and it seemed the entire world was frozen as Chris sat on the pavement, sobbing. She took a step closer and he looked up, his pupils switching from yellow to green every few seconds but he held his hand out to stop her. "Stay the fuck away from me, Manon. I don't know who I am anymore... I thought he was... But he... And I... I hurt you! We... He... I... You stupid idiot, you're making him... Don't... CALL HER THAT..."

"Chris, we can fight this. You can fight this. But lemme give you some incentive to get your senses back, we both know how dark you can get, I've witnessed it now but it's time to come back. Because I miss you. I've missed you for the entire decade you left me." She pulled herself away from the strings and Chris was in such a trance as she walked towards him that he couldn't hear Nightmare screaming in the background. She pressed her lips against his for only a few moments, but it was enough. His torch dropped to the ground as he pulled her closer and the glass broke, freeing him from the akuma the moment it was suddenly purified. The shadow demons crumbled to the ground and became mere shadows again, citizens began to wake up from their nightmares, their colour restored; Paris was in complete frenzied chaos as people held each other close and cried. He pulled away, vaguely hearing the words "miraculous ladybug" and soon, everything was back to normal. He swallowed, trying to keep his face straight when his friends and family came around him with nervous, worried looks on their faces.

Somehow, she had known. She knew he would leave, again. He finally managed to pull her away from the crowd of their friends and the family member each had, Nadia and Nino. She saw how firmly he gripped her hands as he took her, trying to find the words and said, "you don't have to say anything, Chris. It's okay. I'll see you in another decade."

"What's wrong with me," he mumbled to himself after the plane took off. He had a real chance with her, after all he heard her say but instead, he ran. He blew it. He pulled his hoodie sleeve to his red eyes, trying his hardest to muffle his lonely sobs when he saw it. A butterfly, no, an akuma, passing through the aeroplane's exterior and settling on his thigh. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise and reached into his suitcase, searching for his torch. He found it under a pile of clothes and placed it close to the akuma, nodding. It fluttered over and he felt the purple-black substance encase his limbs, hoping Manon was alright in his final moments as Christopher Lahiffe. Shadow Man rose and snapped his fingers, teleporting out of the plane.

Damn, a chappie left guys. I'm sorry I haven't been active, things have been tough and everything was just kind of exploding around me and in my brain so... Anyways, I'm back now. Like I said, one more chapter (...probably), it's been a fun ride but it's time to move on to new stuff =)