#but if anyone comes at marinette for chat’s sidelining they can catch my hands | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

friendfromdsmp · 10 months

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Okaaaaaaaaay….

Recreation

Let’s get into my first thoughts, gang

So first thing’s first, I did check the leaks and knew roughly what to expect; Marinette would be fighting Gabriel alone, with Plagg’s help to unify the two main Miraculous and become Bug Noire, but loses, leaving Gabriel free to use his wish to sacrifice himself and be remembered as a hero, with Emile’s state of living being ambiguous but vaguely implied. Adrien never faces his father or learns the truth about his own identity either

So let’s pick apart these points one by one, starting with:

Bug Noire

Won’t lie, I don’t mind her design. Mari always looks cute in a long braid and I like how it linked back to her Lady Noire design while also acting as a cat tail. Not overly sure about the additional smaller braids but I guess they were aiming for referencing her usual pigtails? Idk I feel like one of the other could’ve worked just fine but both of them together does seem a bit much. Fortunately the little two were easy to ignore. I also kept getting distracted by the eye dots, I don’t know if I love them or hate them tbh, they just kept catching my attention

But the design isn’t the problem with Bug Noire; the problem is what her existence in a fight like this means. Yes, it’s super cool to see someone unify the two main Miraculous, but not when it sidelines Adrien, aka the person they’re both claiming to be fighting for, as well as Gabriel’s main victim. If anything, Adrien should have been given an immunity from the nightmares via son-of-the-villain privileges and then Gabriel should have gone to him and revealed his plans, meanwhile Marinette is horribly out-of-commission from the nightmares and asks Tikki to take the earrings to Chat Noir

Because, at the end of the day, this is more Adrien’s fight than Marinette’s. And I’m not saying that I want one of them out of the fight in order to merge the Miraculous. I’m just saying that if they had to do the merge, they should’ve let Adrien be the one to do it. Why not have them both fighting together, Ladybug gets incapacitated and hands over the earrings while saying “I trust you, kitty cat, it’s all on you” and then he unifies and they go nuts with all the “I’m doing this for you!” “No, you’re doing it for the illusion of me you created and marketed to the world!” and all that? There are plenty of ways to do it without literally hypnotising Adrien while he’s stuck in a padded cell

However, I will concede one point; this was maybe the fifth time off the top of my head that Chat has attempted to give up his Miraculous, and this one was the only satisfying/acceptable one. Usually when it happens it’s so he can avoid taking responsibility or because he isn’t the sole focus of Ladybug’s attention. But this time, he accepted that he was not in a suitable mental state to be fighting anyone, he explained his logic calmly to Plagg, he acknowledged that his identity would be at risk if he transformed here and now despite him having the ability to pull off an escape, and he even ensured that the ring was in good, safe hands before parting with Plagg. He did everything right in this situation, so props for that

Adrien Suffers More Than Gabriel

This is the thing most people are pointing out here; Adrien being removed from the whole situation, and then lied to afterwards, is not only incredibly problematic, but causes Adrien to suffer more than Gabriel did. Because where Gabriel knew all season long that he wasn’t going to survive, giving him time to come to accept the sacrifice he’d already made for his wish as early on as Destruction, Adrien didn’t have that time. To Adrien, Gabriel’s death was swift, sudden and unexpected. Out of nowhere, he just lost his father, right when things were finally looking up in some way in their relationship

Adrien never got closure. He never won the battle he was fighting since episode 1; the battle to be his own person and stand up to his father once and for all. He never got to confront Gabriel for the manipulation, for the lies, for the abuse. He never got to free himself from Gabriel looming over him and controlling him, even in death he’s still living inside the world Gabriel chose for him, playing his part in Gabriel’s conjured narrative. By not allowing Adrien to be part of the final fight in any way, they removed all opportunities for Adrien to fight for their relationship to be healthy if he so chose, to cut Gabriel out of his life if he so chose, to do anything at all on his own terms and not Gabriel’s. Gabriel never got comeuppance for years of abuse to Adrien, and Adrien never got his closure as a victim of such abuse - due to the wish, he’s arguably back to square one, once again completely oblivious to being a pawn in his father’s game after their last interaction featured Adrien finally realising just how little his father had his best interests at heart

And to make matters worse, Adrien isn’t even told the truth. He believes his abuser died a hero. Not only that, but the hero that Adrien was supposed to be, but couldn’t be due to circumstance. Surely Adrien feels some survivor’s guilt because of that, right? It was his duty to fight by Ladybug’s side and defeat Monarch, and physically speaking there was nothing stopping him. If he’d been willing to sacrifice his identity, he would have been there when his father needed him the most, and Gabriel would still be alive

Adrien wouldn’t feel that way if he were told the truth about Gabriel being Monarch. Or at least he’d be able to say logically that his father wasn’t a victim, but the cause of his own demise. He’d never be able to confront Gabriel, but at least he’d be able to have his own emotions and opinions of him rather than being told repeatedly that his abuser is a hero and having no way to argue. Adrien deserves the truth, and until he learns it, Gabriel died doing what he does best; lying to and manipulating his son in order to excuse or cover up his own horrific actions

And then the icing on the cake is that he also never learns that he’s a sentimonster. Marinette knows, and she gave him back his freedom in the final scene by sliding the rings onto his finger and outright telling him that his choices are his own. But Adrien never found out the truth about his own existence. Adrien never discovered why he struggles to stand his ground, why he found it physically impossible to go against Gabriel’s orders, and in the event of an emergency he doesn’t even know that his life is tied to the rings; Felix discovered his life was tied to his father’s ring when it got damaged and it seemed to hurt Felix in the process. If Adrien loses the rings, anyone could control him. If Adrien lets a friend have a look and they unintentionally discover they can control Adrien with the rings, he’s screwed. If Adrien accidentally breaks the rings, he could get seriously hurt or even cease to exist altogether. And what if an akuma enters the ring? Ladybug would have to break it to purify the akuma. Thank god she now knows not to purify the feather that would also appear, but would her Miraculous Ladybugs be capable of returning him to life?

Adrien is left in the dark about so many things that he has right and reason to know and it not only does him dirty, but it actively harms him and causes him to suffer more than Gabriel did

Gabriel’s ‘Comeuppance’

Except that’s a given, considering Gabriel didn’t end up suffering. Like I said before, Gabriel had time to process and accept his inevitable death. He’d already made his peace, gotten his affairs in order, ensured that Adrien was in a safe location and under watch from Tomoe after trying to create some final positive memories between father and son. The whole entire season was Gabriel preparing for this. The man was not only ready, but willing to die, and the first time he truly expected not to die regardless was mere moments before he won

So to have Gabriel willingly, happily, dying for Emile, after he already been dying for Emile’s sake this entire season? It doesn’t really feel like much of a sacrifice at all. And considering how it was willing, voluntary and prepared for over the course of an entire season, it doesn’t feel like comeuppance, either. If anything, all he did was put an end to his own pain. He gave himself mercy, not justice. The only difference is that he died right then and there rather than in a few hours. He did himself a favour, and that’s supposed to be our catharsis?

Ain’t Got No Satisfaction

Gabriel’s death wasn’t a real sacrifice. Gabriel didn’t really face any major comeuppance. Adrien wasn’t involved in the final fight. Adrien never got to confront Gabriel for his abuse and never got closure. Adrien and Gabriel never got to learn each others’ identities and deal with the consequences of those reveals. Adrien never learned he’s a sentimonster. Adrien never learned the truth about his father’s death and was lead to believe that his abuser was a hero that deserves to be praised by the whole city - a man Adrien worried he would never be able to live up to by the end. The heroes lost. The villain won, and is considered the true hero of Paris. The Butterfly Miraculous was never recovered. It’s not even clear whether or not Gabriel succeeded in reviving Emile or if Amelie is there with Nathalie and Felix

Thank god for the fact that the show isn’t over, because this is not a satisfying conclusion to an eight-year-long story. There’s little to no pay-off for all the plot lines that have been set into motion. There are no satisfactory conclusions to series-long arcs. The villain won, with their greatest wish coming to fruition. Only one person knows the truth, and now she’s living in a universe that forces her to remain silent on the fact that the world is worshipping a false idol, their hero was the villain they were fighting against all along. Marinette has been dealing with trauma about her love ending the world for several seasons now, and it happened once again

But hey, at least we got one of those without a retcon this time, right? Right?

Honourable Mentions

Kagami throwing her shoe at the TV was brilliant honestly

The Perfect Alliance plan was great, but I just wanna know how they did a mass hypnosis through it. Did they use Gift, since all the Miraculous powers were poured into the plan regardless? That’s the option that makes sense to me, especially since they showed it working on Adrien exceptionally quickly on a biological level. It looks like simple ASMR or very basic simple stuff yet the characters were all talking weird about it like it was genuinely hypnotising them, to the point where Mylene even announced that they were all hypnotised. But I can overlook this considering there is a genuine logical answer to it in the form of Gift, which is already primed to be used

Interesting how the transformation into the Miraculizers (was that what they were called?) happened with the same transformation sequence that akumas get, yet the Butterfly Miraculous was the only one Monarch had that wasn’t shared with the public

Okay I get that she wasn’t in the right headspace to to do hero work especially with her nightmare specifically involving her failing the heroes but we were still robbed of Black Cat!Alya

Lol why did Alya keep calling Mari on her regular ass phone girl you know she’ll be busy XD

We were robbed of an opportunity for the hero duo to call themselves the perfect alliance as a counter to the fake perfectionism Gabriel and Tomoe strive for from their kids. I know the fake hologram versions of Ladybug and Chat Noir kinda did this but it would still be good to have it. But y’know we can’t have Ladybug and Chat Noir fight Monarch apparently

Man Chat really only got like one opportunity to play about with his new unlimited Cataclysms

Lol Argos at the end posing with all the other heroes like wtf are those lot thinking is happening? Last they knew this guy stole all the Miraculous, handed them over to ShadowMoth and snapped them all out of existence, now he��s suddenly with them? Even Chat Noir should be confused af lol how much PR did Ryuko have to do to get everyone on his side?

Honestly the best outcome of this ending is that at least the fandom can go fucking wild with fics and one-shots to patch the holes in this barbed-wire fence of an end cover

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miroana · 3 years

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ladybug tell chat noir how much you appreciate him challenge

#ily marinette but girl pls open your eyes your partner is Struggling #the writers are seriously amping up the pathos this season #like im pretty sure Thomas was like lets dunk on adrien some more shall we #sprinkle in a little more trauma #but if anyone comes at marinette for chat’s sidelining they can catch my hands #listen she would be thrilled if chat was solving everything without her and hasn’t figured out how desperate he is for validation #so it’s not her fault she just doesn’t realize he has different needs than her #not me getting sad abt cat boy again #ml #mlb #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #ladybug #tales of miraculous ladybug and chat noir #adrien agreste #chat noir #marinette dupen chang

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the-navistar-carol · 5 years

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A Daminette songfic — ‘Invisible Thread’ by Matt Gould

From the marvelous Maribat AU of @ozmav, @maribat-archive where u at

Inspired by the Maribat Discord :))

Everyone had a soulmate. A black mark where they would first touch. Once the two did, the mark would blossom with color.

People would go for years with black marks on their knuckles, thinking it was from a punch, and then have their knuckles brush someone on the subway and voilá, their mark would change.

Some were more obvious, a handprint over their own (a high-five), a hand on their arm, or even one directly across their face.

~~~

Marinette Dupain-Cheng had no such obvious case. Her handprint was directly over her fingers of her right hand, as though someone had shook her hand (but only her fingers). Without a doubt, it confused her.

Once she became Ladybug, she met Chat Noir. Upon their first meeting, he took her hand directly over her soulmate mark and attempted to kiss her hand, but she had pushed him away. After the akuma attack, she had detransformed in a panic to check her hand, and in relief, found her hand was still uncolored.

The mark was still black.

It worried her, then, after her crush on Adrien started, that he did not turn her mark colors either.

So who was it?

Not like she’d ever meet who it was.

There is a long invisible thread

That wraps around my heart

And wraps around your head

Damian Wayne had an odd soulmate mark that was, thankfully, easy to hide via gloves. The black silhouettes of fingers in his right hand confused him, so he gave it little thought. Who even shakes hands like that?

During his training both with Ra’s al Ghul and the Robins, none of the ways anybody had touched his hand had made the mark change, thankfully. Soulmates were a nasty business, anyway. They were almost expected to drop everything upon meeting. Dumb.

Not that he cared who it was.

It tightens its grip

When things go unsaid

And I can't break free

Lila, upon her return to Ms. Bustier’s class, had successfully turned the class against Marinette. She made good on her promise, but allowed Marinette to keep her spot as class president — only useful when she was needed, of course, and expected to drop everything for them without looking for anything in return.

She was effectively that one tool in a closet that only was picked up when needed, and discarded as soon as she had lost her use.

She couldn’t reverse the way things had gone. If only.

Let go, let me

Little boy, break free

Leave him out on his own

Let him find his way home

When Damian had become the next Robin, he had fought many people under the mask. But his black marks underneath his gauntlets never changed, even when he met new people at charity galas and shook hands.

Clearly, his soulmate wasn’t anybody he was going to meet anytime soon.

Not that it bothered him anyway. It did.

Can't take all this pain on his shoulders

Only weighs you all down when you're older

Chat Noir had come up to her, demanding she stop pretending. Pretending that they weren’t soulmates, that they weren’t in love, that they didn’t make a good couple.

He deserved her, he had yelled. He had been nothing but loyal, hadn’t he? A good cat? So, as a reward, he deserved her love. Her lips, her hands, her body.

He didn’t. And she told him so, exploding at him atop a roof despite the paparazzi growing below.

They made sure to catch his outburst, too. It served him right.

He treated the fame of being a superhero like a game. It was only fair that he dealt with the consequences.

Let them take their pictures.

Let him run, let him fly

If you love him, then don't cry tonight

Let him learn all he can

The cameras at Wayne galas and other nonsense never bothered him. They would be pointed at him anyway, so what difference did it make if he paid attention?

Flashes of white lights were only peripheral at this point, the snaps of shutters something to be tuned out.

The tabloids would run rampant anyway. Whether it was Grayson or Todd or Drake making the headlines with their antics, he would be shoved in there anyway.

Let them take their pictures.

So when he comes home to you

He'll be a better man

When she had proposed a class outing, the class had suggested many things, but Lila had thought of karaoke, so that was that. Of course, it was all up to her to plan the outing, raise funds, and reserve places.

She had asked the class to help her out, but Lila had oh-so-innocently wondered that since her family ran a bakery, couldn’t they just maybe give a few away to help their daughter raise the money?

Never mind the fact that they would be losing money. Never mind the fact that it would stress her out more than necessary. Never mind the fact that no one person should have to run their entire outing by herself.

But Marinette was their everyday Ladybug. That should be enough to cover any problem.

But they were looking for a miraculous cure. Who in the world had one for these situations?

Certainly not her.

There is a long invisible thread

That wraps around my heart

And wraps around your head

When Damian heard that his brothers and Father were going to Paris, his original thought was one of disgust. Of course, he spoke French. But any Romance language or country made him want to vomit. Latin lovers? Please. But France, the country dubbed one of love? Absolutely not.

But it was for a League reason, something to do with a supervillain with magic butterflies. It probably wasn’t even real.

But Paris meant his brothers teasing him about love, which infuriated him to no end. Who cared if he met someone the universe deemed his match?

Certainly not him.

It tightens its grip

When things go unsaid

And I can't break free

She had the dates figured out, triple-checked with her classmates to make sure it all worked together. Thankfully, the class had agreed to help fundraise for once. A small relief in the grand scheme of things.

Patrols now were such a chore. Where she had once enjoyed swinging through Paris’s streets with only her yo-yo to hold her up and the wind teasing through her hair, there was now a demanding Chat Noir, proclaiming her as his soulmate and he should be treated as such.

Akuma fights took so much longer and so much out of her now. Chat would watch from the sidelines, taunting her with the fact that he would join in from now on if she only gave up the delusions that they weren’t meant to be.

The gauntleted fist in his stomach was so worth it.

Sadly, it hadn’t come from her.

Lord above, can you hear my prayers

If you know the answer, then make me aware

How to still love him and how to still care

And how to stay strong when I want to be over there

Upon his first investigation in Paris, he had come across an akuma victim. It wasn’t hard to find, actually, as it left a trail of destruction in its wake.

Apparently, Paris already had two superheroes clad in Spandex, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Any information he had found on the latter was increasingly negative, if videos on the Ladyblog (God, that was a dumb name) were to be believed.

The first encounter he had had with the duo was subpar. Far, far below the bar.

The increasingly negative press on Chat Noir was completely accurate. Which was why he’d immediately punched him in the gut and gone up against the akuma, giving Ladybug a chance to rest.

“The akuma?”

She started, surprised that he would know of those. “The locket! It’s on her bracelet—”

Smash.

“Bye-bye, little butterfly.”

He shook hands with Ladybug, introduced himself as Robin, and updated her that the Justice League was looking into the Hawkmoth problem.

It had felt good to punch that brat of a cat. He had a feeling Ladybug would have enjoyed it more.

Sadly, it hadn’t come from her.

Do I run, do I fly?

How can I love him and keep my eyes dry

Do I learn all I can

The next day left Marinette in shock as she prepared for the karaoke night with her class. In all honesty, she would probably be left alone. Again.

But when she showed up, they initially welcomed her, to her pleasant surprise. But it couldn’t last. As soon as she had gone to the bathroom, they had gone into the room and not told her the number.

So she was left in the main room, pathetically sitting at a table by the stage, twirling a microphone she’d nicked from the stands.

Not like she could sing with anyone.

So when he comes home

I'll be a better man

Grayson had had the marvelous idea to go to a karaoke place. Abhorable. Not like he would even sing. The entire idea was dumb. Incredibly dumb. Who, in their right mind, would go and sing in front of people completely sober? (Not like he could drink legally, anyway.)

But when he got there, it was a bit more welcoming. All the rooms were taken, they were told, so there was only a communal stage left. No matter, Grayson grinned, and led them toward the main room. There were already a number of people there, taking turns on the stage.

He sat back in his chair, and prepared to sit back and enjoy the view.

Not like he would sing with anyone.

There is a long invisible thread

That wraps around my heart

And wraps around your head

A number of people went by before she did, and when she got up there, she selected a song that would usually be considered a duet, shrugging that she would sing it herself.

What she hadn’t expected was for a trio of black-haired boys to practically drag a fourth over to the stage, hand him a microphone, and place him next to her with positively wicked grins.

He looked like he wanted to leave. Marinette offered him a sympathetic half-smile. “That’s okay, you don’t have to—”

“It’s fine.” His voice was tinged with visible reluctance, but he took the microphone from its stand. “Just sing.” He was cute, she admitted, but would probably forget her after the night.

So she did.

It tightens its grip

When things go unsaid

And I can't break free

Dumb karaoke. Dumb brothers. Dumb Father, for bringing him to Paris. And it didn’t help that the girl hid certain mortification. But he wasn’t going to back down and show weakness to his brothers. “Just sing.” And get this over with.

When she began to sing, it sent a jolt through his body. She didn’t even need to read the lyrics, voice something that could only be described as melodic. Hell, she sounded better than some professionals.

After the first verse or so, she nervously glanced at him, as if making sure he was still there and hadn’t taken off into the night. Damian shrugged in response, waiting for his turn.

It came up, and he gave his voice to the music. Grayson was definitely recording.

The girl at his side, a pretty black-haired girl who couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds, flinched as though she had been shocked. His singing wasn’t that bad, he groused, but kept at it anyway.

His brothers had pushed him up there as a challenge, taunting him to do it.

So he did.

There is a long invisible thread

That wraps around my heart

And wraps around your head

Wow, she mused. Cute and a good voice. When she added his voice to hers in the first true duet part, their singing harmonized into something truly remarkable. Is this even my voice?

In a sudden burst of courage, she spun, pleated skirt adding to the movement.

Her classmates started to trickle out of their room, as if wondering who was singing. She could see Rose, Juleka, Alya, and the courage vanished in a heartbeat.

Oh no.

It tightens its grip

When things go unsaid

And I can't break free

Suddenly, the girl next to him spun, a giddy smile beginning to form. Somehow, he was beginning to enjoy this, too. Curses. Maybe he had been drugged.

But her spin stopped, voice faltering, and he quickly followed her gaze. A group of teenagers had exited one of the rooms, looking up to the stage, no doubt causing her to waver.

So he took her hand and spun her, certainly not missing the way her face lit up in a dazzling smile.

As soon as he released her hand, she took it again and spun him. A laugh nearly bubbled up (yeah, he had to be drugged). She was half a foot shorter, and yet she did it anyway.

Those people who had made her hesitate wouldn’t ruin her night, at least.

Not if he had anything to say about it.

Oh, no.

There is a long invisible thread

That wraps around my heart

And wraps around your head

A burst of warmth blossomed in her right hand as she danced with the stranger, voice strengthening by the note. Marinette met his jade-green eyes with a smile, left hand clutching the microphone.

For tonight, at least, maybe she could forget about her classmates and Lila and Chat Noir.

Hopefully it would last.

It tightens its grip

When things go unsaid

Her enthusiasm had returned, Damian noted, and her excitement was definitely leeching into him, too. His right hand was warm, but he chalked it up to her hand. He didn’t sweat, at least not in a karaoke bar.

For this song, at least, maybe he could ignore his brothers’ antics and the seriousness of the League.

He knew it wouldn’t last.

And I can't break free

As the song died out, Marinette dropped his hand, the movement causing her to catch her breath. Oh God.

Her soulmate mark had changed. From the blackest black, it was colored in a beautiful blend of red, green, and gold.

It’s him.

And I can't break free

He didn’t miss her gasp, glancing back to catch her reaction as she stared at her right hand — now colored in reds, greens, and golds. His colors.

He didn’t miss a beat to check his own right hand, eyes only widening as he found the mark swirled in blues, pinks, and silvers.

It’s her.

And I can't break free

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tsuki-chibi · 4 years

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Marinette March Day 22: Akumatized

Catch up on AO3: Under My Umbrella

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"Marinette?"

The softly spoken word was accompanied by a hand to Marinette's shoulder, which gave her a gentle shake. Marinette pried open her eyes and found herself looking up at a familiar red, black-spotted mask. It was very strange to see Alya dressed in the Ladybug suit as opposed to Rena Rouge's suit, but Marinette couldn't deny that being Ladybug suited Alya very well. She had a momentary realization that this was a brief view into a moment where Alya had kept the earrings and become Ladybug, and Marinette had remained on the sidelines.

Perhaps they all would've been better off if that had happened.

"It's been a little while since any akumas came," Alya said quietly. "I think Adrien passed out."

Marinette blinked at her and then wordlessly looked down, realizing that Alya was right. Adrien's eyes were shut and his breathing was slow. He had either cried himself into an exhausted sleep or, as Alya suggested out, simply passed out. And while Hawkmoth had akumatized people were asleep before, as evident with akumas like Sandboy, it was far more common for his targets to be awake... or maybe Hawkmoth was tired from sending akumas their way for most of the night with no success. Maybe, Marinette hoped, he had temporarily given up.

"The sun is up. We can't stay here," Nino Noir said, approaching from the left. Like Alyabug, he looked very striking in the black suit. Marinette's heart ached when she noticed that Nino Noir had no bell beneath his chin, just a smooth silver zipper. Had her kitty wanted to be a kept cat that badly?

Alyabug nodded. "Pretty soon, if not already, people are going to be entering those offices," she said with a nod to the buildings on either side. "I know we can't take Adrien home, and I know your parents are in out and of your place all day, but my apartment will be empty by now. My parents will have gone to work, Ella and Etta will be at school, and Nora just left for a vacation with her boyfriend. We can go there if that's okay."

It was as solid of a plan as anything, so Marinette nodded slowly. At some point during the long hours she'd held her partner, her anger had given away to a slow, burning ache that had pierced her core. Because she knew that, as easy as it was to blame herself - and of course, she wasn't foolish enough to think that she didn't deserve to shoulder some of the blame for this - neither she nor Adrien could've known that Gabriel was Hawkmoth. While she and Adrien had made mistakes, she couldn't ignore the fact that the majority of the blame for all of this lay with Hawkmoth.

"Great," Alyabug said with forced cheerfulness. "Nino is going to take Adrien, and I'll take you. I don't think any of us are fit to be in public right now." She reached down and carefully pried Adrien out of Marinette's arms. It actually took some effort on her part, as even in his sleep Adrien did not want to let go of his lady. But finally she managed, and she passed Adrien into Nino Noir's arms and then crouched down beside Marinette.

"What are we gonna do?" Marinette whispered. Fresh tears rose to her eyes as she looked at her best friend's face. Alyabug's eyes brightened with tears too as she laid an arm across Marinette's shoulders.

"I don't know yet, but we'll figure something out, okay?" she said. "Step one is getting us all out of here. C'mere." Alyabug stood, pulling Marinette up with her. The increased strength granted by the suit meant that Alyabug had no problem taking Marinette's weight, which was a good thing because Marinette's legs were shaky and weak.

Travelling by yoyo and baton would've been the fastest way to get to the Césaire household, but neither Nino Noir nor Alyabug were experienced at using those weapons for travel. So they did it the old-fashioned way, leaping across rooftops. Marinette wrapped her arms around Alyabug's neck and closed her eyes, wishing that it was Chat's arms wrapped around her instead. She had never traveled this way with anyone other than him, and she had never been afraid while his strong, secure arms held her. In Chat's arms, the world made sense.

When they got to Alya's building, all four of them landed on the roof. Alyabug walked over to the door that gave access to the roof and did something to the knob so that it opened. She helped Marinette through, with Nino Noir and the still-unconscious Adrien bringing up the rear. They made their way down half a dozen stairs to the fifth floor, where the Césaire apartment was. Alyabug unlocked the door and poked her head inside to verify it was empty; deeming it safe, she pulled Marinette inside and sat Marinette on the couch before returning to the door to help Nino Noir bring Adrien in.

They laid Adrien down on the couch nad then Marinette knelt beside him, gently combing a few strands of hair away from his face. Adrien didn't even stir beneath her touch, which was a testament to just how far gone that he was. It was awful to see him this way, and even worse to know that things weren't going to improve in the near future. She hated Gabriel Agreste so much in that moment that it took her breath away.

"Whoops!" Alyabug exclaimed; the yoyo snapped out and caught an akuma just before it would've landed on Marinette's shoulder.

"Sorry," Marinette said, not really meaning it. She stroked Adrien's cheek and then turned to see their two friends exchanging a glance.

"No problem, but something tells me I should stay transformed for a little while longer," Alyabug said. "Marinette, why don't you go take a shower? You look like you could use one."

At any other time, Marinette would've light-heartedly asked if that was Alyabug's way of saying that she stunk. But right now, Marinette didn't have it in her to joke around. She just nodded and slowly stood, casting a worried glance at Adrien.

"It's okay. I'll watch over him," Nino Noir said. As strange as it was to see the Ladybug mask on Alya's face, it was even weirder to see Chat Noir's black mask on Nino's face. For the first time, she realized that he was still wearing a hat. But it wasn't a baseball cap, more of a beanie with the two infamous black cat ears sticking up from it. That led her to believe that Nino Noir's ears were probably for more decoration, rather than useable as Chat's were.

"Thank you," Marinette said quietly to them both, turning on her heel and heading down the hall. She knew Alya's apartment well and ducked into the bathroom without having to ask where it was, shedding her clothes. She switched the water on and stepped into the tub. It was cold at first but heated quickly, filling the bathroom with steam.

There, in the privacy of the showers, Marinette's tears came again. She wrapped her arms around herself and cried quietly for Adrien, for herself, for her dear friends, for poor Émilie Agreste, for the future that had almost happened all over again - for the future that could still happen, if she and Alyabug weren't viligant enough to keep after the akumas. She cried until she had no tears left, until all of the emotion flooding through her had dialed back into low tide, and then she numbly washed her hair and body free of the sweat, tears and grime.

"Marinette? I'm putting some clothes here for you," Alyabug said. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be right out," Marinette said rather than lie. Truth be told, none of them were okay. How could they be? Just thinking about what would have to come next was enough to make her want to lay down on the tub and just let the water pour over her forever.

Instead, she shut the water off, pushed the curtain back, and paused when she saw Alyabug standing there. The two girls looked at each other for a moment, and then Alyabug entered the bathroom and kicked the door closed behind her. She picked up a big, fluffy pink towel and shook it out, then wrapped it around Marinette's shoulders. Marinette shivered as the soft fabric settled around her and Alyabug bit her lip, pulling the towel more snugly around Marinette. She stepped back so that Marinette could climb out of the tub and onto the thick bathmat.

"I'm sorry," Alyabug said softly, and Marinette glanced up at her in surprise.

"What?" she asked.

"I can't imagine what you've been going through, Marinette. Ladybug is amazing and she does wonderful things, but even after I got to use the Fox miraculous, I never really understood what kind of impact being Ladybug had on the girl behind the mask. I didn't think about you." Alyabug's red, black-spotted hands tightened on Marinette's arms. "I didn't get it until I saw you and Adrien crying tonight, and I thought... my god, we're all just kids." There was equal parts wonder and disgust in Alyabug's voice.

"I know. It's... it's a lot," Marinette whispered, which was the understatement of the year.

"You're damned right it's a lot. I'm sorry that you went through this alone, and I'm sorry Adrien had to too. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you, and that I probably made life worse trying to figure out who Ladybug was. You must hate me," Alyabug said.

Marinette shook her head. "Not at all. You came when I needed you. That means everything to me."

"Of course it does," Alyabug said softly. "Nino and I, we're going to be here for you guys until the end, okay?"

"Okay," Marinette said, swallowing hard, and finally got her hug from her best friend. It was the best hug she'd had in ages.

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