Riposte 2

A Revelation

Adrien stayed in the locker room waiting for Kagami to come out of the bathroom. He felt horrible. He never meant for her to get so upset, but she had to know how he really felt. It wasn't fair to her.

"Well you've certainly made a mess of things" the black kwami Plagg said as he popped out of Adrien's uniform.

Adrien groaned. "I know" he replied. "But she had to find out sooner or later."

Suddenly the bathroom door burst open. Adrien quickly ran behind a set of lockers at seeing who opened the door. It wasn't Kagami, well not really. It was Riposte, one of her akumatized versions. Luckily she didn't see him as she made her way through the locker room.

Once she was gone Plagg popped out again. "And now we have an even bigger mess" he sighed.

"Let's take care of it then. Plagg, claws out!" Adrien said, transforming into Chat Noir.

He ran back to the fencing hall where he was met with screams and chaos. People were running in every direction, trying to get away from the akumatized villain.

Chat Noir hurried through the crowd but stopped in fear when he heard Riposte's voice.

"Marinette!" she shouted as she approached the girl.

No, no, no. Not Marinette. She didn't do anything wrong.

Chat Noir grabbed his staff from his lower back and continued moving. He had to protect her no matter what.

"Where is Adrien Agreste?" Riposte demanded, cornering the blunette.

"I... I don't know" she sputtered. "He went looking for you."

"Don't lie to me!" the villain screamed.

"Kagami, don't do this" Marinette pleaded. "Hawk Moth doesn't care about what you want. He's just using you."

"I'm not Kagami anymore. And you, you are in my way." She raised her sabre arm, ready to strike.

Marinette put both hands up to protect herself but Chat Noir jumped in front of her and blocked the attack with his staff.

"Get out of here Marinette" he said, half glancing back at her.

She nodded and quickly moved to the side around him.

"You mangy cat!" Riposte yelled at the superhero. She spun around and slammed the sabre into the wall, cutting off Marinette's path.

Chat Noir ran forward and lunged with his staff, engaging Riposte into a fight. He needed to get her attention off of Marinette so she had the chance to escape. Her safety was his number one priority at that moment.

Seeing her opportunity to leave and transform, Marinette started heading towards the exit. She never got there.

Riposte saw her and quickly blocked her path. But Chat Noir was right on the villain's heels, engaging her again.

Marinette then went towards the locker room. She never got there either.

Riposte successfully knocked the staff out of Chat Noir's hand, rendering him defenseless. Smiling, she lunged forward with her sabre.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Chat Noir braced for the impact of the sword. But he didn't feel it. He felt... arms around him?

Opening his eyes he saw Marinette right in front of him, her arms wrapped around his neck. They stared at each other. Then Marinette slowly looked down. Chat Noir followed her gaze until he saw the tip of a sabre protruding through her abdomen. After a second the sabre disappeared as Riposte pulled her arm back.

This couldn't be happening. It was just a dream... no, it was a nightmare. That's all it was. It wasn't real.

He was shakened back into reality at the sound of Marinette's voice.

"Chat Noir?" she whispered.

Looking back up, he locked eyes with her for a brief moment before she started falling.

He grabbed her and guided her down until her legs were on the floor, her torso propped up by his body. "Marinette" he whispered, tears coming to his eyes.

Riposte was standing over them. "You should have left when you had the chance" she said coldly.

Marinette looked up at her as her eyes filled with tears.

After a moment Riposte spoke again. "Now I just need to take care of Adrien." She turned and walked off through the exit.

Chat Noir put his hand to Marinette's face as tears started falling down his cheeks. "Why did you do that?" he choked out.

"I couldn't let her hurt you" she replied.

He shook his head. "My suit would have protected me."

"I... couldn't take that chance" she whispered.

Chat Noir let out a sob. "I'm going to lie you down so I can check on your wounds, okay?"

Marinette nodded.

He slowly lowered her down and turned her onto her side. Her shirt and jacket were already soaked in blood. He lifted her clothes up to find a five centimeter gash on her back and a smaller gash on her abdomen.

Oh God, this is bad. Really really bad. The wounds are too big. She's bleeding too much.

"It's not that bad" he lied. "You're going to be fine. We just need something to stop the bleeding." He looked around wildly but couldn't find anything. "Can you take off your jacket?" he asked.

She nodded again and tried to sit up, but stopped, crying out from pain.

Chat Noir propped her up and slid off her black jacket. He lay her down and wrapped the fabric around her side, pressing it against the wounds. Marinette cried out again. Tears were coming out of her eyes and her face was twisted up in agony.

"I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry Marinette. We need to stop the bleeding" he said through his own tears.

His heart sank as he realized something. Even if they covered both wounds, she would still be bleeding internally.

No, this can't be happening. Marinette can't die. She's too wonderful, the world needs her to survive.

Then he thought of something else. "Ladybug" he said quietly, his face brightening. "It's okay, you're going to be okay. Ladybug will be here soon. She'll know what to do."

Marinette shook her head. "No" she whispered.

"No, it's okay" Chat Noir continued.

She shook her head again.

"She'll know what to do" he repeated. He put his hand to her face, rubbing his thumb across her cheek. "She'll be here any second."

Marinette paused for a moment before speaking.

"I'm right here, Kitty."