Return of a Killer

Memories

Chat Noir blinked slowly, confused. He looked down at his hands, gloved and not furred. He looked up to lock eyes with Chat Blanc, his pale face twisted with nothing but hatred. The white cat jumped at the dazed boy, only for Ladybug to get her yo-yo around his waist and swing him into the wall of the staircase entrance. He took merely a moment to recover, shaking the dizziness out of his head with a growl. There was no way he was going to be stopped by a beret and some back alley cat. 

He paused.

A beret?

His blue eyes focused on the lace and stitching. Two hearts, five stripes. The fabrics were red and spotted with black, but there was no other difference. 

" Why would Ladybug leave me a gift from Marinette?"

" ...and with a heart embroidered on it?"

He remembered. He remembered the way she would run into his arms, the way they danced together, sharing Andre's ice cream, Marinette's first time with the crowds of fans and reporters, holding each other close in the park, the heart-shaped macaroons she was always making.

" Forgive me... we're just- we're just not right for each other..."

" What are you talking about? Of course we are! We love each other."

" No! I... don't love you anymore!"

He saw them both coming closer, he knew that either way, there was no hope for him. Nobody loved him anymore. No one was left. The girl he held, the girl he comforted, the girl he loved, she was a pile of dust in the street. He'd been gone for almost three days. She must be scattered by the wind now. 

" I would put that Cataclysm away if I were you... Adrien."

" I'm doing it for her, Adrien. For you. For us."

" We can save your mother. Using your miraculous, and hers!"

" If she really loves you, she would help you save your mother!"

It was all because of him.

It was all because of his bastard father. 

Chat Blanc shot up, his blue eyes brimming with fury, tears pouring hot down his face. His heart was thundering, every thud in his chest screaming for bloodshed. For revenge. He launched himself forward, white claws outstretched towards Chat Noir. He would kill him. He would crush the only thing that could defeat him. 

A roaring, guttural war cry tore from Chat Blanc as he tried to sink his claws into the hero. He was cracked over the skull with his silver staff, but the crazed boy was not deterred as he landed on all fours. His wide, wild eyes locked back onto a new target as a strategy clicked in his head. 

Ladybug leaped out of the way like a frightened deer as Chat Blanc make a jump for her. He pivoted, pouncing again to catch her in midair and slam her to the floor. Something in Chat snapped when he heard her cry out, both Blanc and Noir. Chat Blanc's hand rose up, sharp claws looking ready to rip into the superheroine. 

As expected, Chat Noir sprang in to save her, grabbing hold of Chat Blanc's white wrist. What Chat Noir did not expect was to have Chat Blanc sink his claws into the black cat's arm and shove all of his pain and rage into one harsh burst of a Cataclysm. 

The sound of fracturing bone was followed with Chat Noir crying out as his arm erupted in pain. Ladybug's fist came up and collided with Chat Blanc's jaw, distracting him for the single second needed for Chat Noir to grab onto Chat Blanc's arm with his other hand and use all his strength to toss him a good ten feet away. 

Ladybug's eyes widened. Chat was in pain, but he wasn't dead. Her mind flashed back to Miraculer, when the same thing had happened, only he had gotten hit in the ribs. He was only injured in one arm this time, and the other arm was completely fine.

Ladybug put her yo-yo to use, once again capturing Chat Blanc in its coils before he could have the chance to attack again. " Chat!" she shouted, " His ring!" 

Through the pain, Chat Noir gave a quick nod. He ran over to the struggling white cat, turning him over onto his back so his hands were in reach. A glimmer of hope shone through the adrenaline, through the fear, through everything that was going through his mind. It was all going to be over. 

All of this would end the second he destroyed that ring.