Miraculous... Gone

Chapter 3

Adrien's POV

"I am Mayura." A voice called from outside the school.

I dashed out of the front doors and came face to face with the one and only Mayura. She began firing some kind of laser at me. I dodged the lasers with ease, but I couldn't keep it up forever. I was quickly growing tired. Ladybug saw my trouble and came running towards me spinning her yo-yo to create a shield around us. The lasers deflected away from us the instant they hit her shield.

"Chat! We need to get some help. Mayura is too powerful for us to beat ourselves. I'm going to grab Rena and Carapace. Distract her until I get back."

She swung away as I called, "Hello to you too M'lady!" She really needed to work on greeting people.

I got right to work. "Hey! Mayura! Over here!" I ran in circles around a building hoping Mayura would take the bait and chase me. She didn't.

"How stupid do you think I am? I'm not one of Hawkmoth's silly Akumatized villains. I can't be fooled that easily." Mayura cackled. Literally cackled. I thought people only did that in movies, but I guess I was wrong.

I looked around for Ladybug but there was no sign of her. I couldn't hold Mayura off for much longer. "Come on M'lady... I need you!" As if on cue, Ladybug landed next to me with Rena and Carapace at her side.

"Miss me already, Chaton?" Ladybug smirked at me.

I gave my most gentlemanly bow. "I miss you every second you aren't by my side bugaboo."

Ladybug scowled at me and I could've sworn I saw her blush. "This is no time for games Chat. We need to focus on fighting." She flew towards Mayura.

"Hey! You started it!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, but I was too late. Ladybug was out of earshot and had already made her way to the top of the Eiffel Tower where Mayura was. I quickly gathered myself and lept after her. "Wait for me bugaboo!"

I extended by staff and vaulted to the top of the tower to join the fight. Rena and Carapace were keeping Mayura busy while Ladybug used her lucky charm. A beach ball? I never understood her lucky charms, but M'lady was smart enough to make them work!

I was about to run over to help Carapace and Rena when I saw a flash of green from the corner of my eye. I turned to see Carapace on the ground clearly in pain. Rena looked worried and rushed over to help him. This left Mayura alone and free to attack Ladybug to get her Miraculous.

I saw her charge at Ladybug and before I knew what I was doing, I ran up to tackle her. I lunged forward and lept towards Mayura when suddenly I jolted backward. I looked behind me and saw Hawkmoth grabbing my belt/tail to hold me back. He lifted me into the air and held me over the edge of the tower. Ahead of me, Mayura was about to attack M'lady. We were trapped.

"Ladybug!!!!" I yelled louder than I ever had before. "Look out. Behind you!"

Ladybug swiveled to face Mayura and, with a quick swing of her yo-yo, managed to trap her. Ladybug looked at me and saw that I was captured. She looked at Hawkmoth with a cold stare. "Let him go. Now." She put her hands on her hips and glared at him defiantly.

Hawkmoth chucked. "I'd be more than happy to let him go... for a price. All I want are those earrings. Then I'll let him go." I screamed and kicked as he held me over the edge of the tower. I gulped. If he let me go, I was dead. (A/N: in this story, the magical Miraculous Ladybugs that fix everything after the battles won't bring Chat back if he dies.)

As her bold confidence wore off, Ladybug started to sweat and her eyes welled up with tears. "Chat Noir. Don't worry, I'll save you. I promise." She frantically looked around to try and find a use for the beach ball her lucky charm gave her.

"Bugaboo, listen to me." I could tell she was at a loss and didn't know what to do with her lucky charm. "Don't give him your Miraculous. It's not worth it. I know you want to save me, believe me, I would do the same if our roles were reversed, but you can't. You wouldn't want me to give up my Miraculous for you, so don't give up yours for me." I was prepared to die. I signed up for this risk the second I said "Claws Out" for the first time.

"I can't lose you Chaton." Ladybug looked at me, her eyes red and damp, and said two more words I would never forget for the rest of my life. Two words that changed our lives forever. "I'm sorry." She took a deep breath and reached for her earrings.

"No, no, no. M'lady! Don't do it!" I struggled against Hawkmoth's shockingly firm grip.

Slowly, she took off the first earring, and then the second. "No! M'lady!" A flash of red light blinded me and when I looked up, I saw someone else standing in Ladybug's place. Marinette.

Ladybug. Marinette.

Marinette. Ladybug.

The blue hair. The blue eyes.

Always making excuses. Leaving early from school.

Marinette. Ladybug.

My thoughts raced and my vision blurred. I was trying to process the fact that Marinette was Ladybug, but the floor began to spin and I blacked out.

TO BE CONTINUED...