The Beginning of the End

Chapter 1

I stood there, not believing my own eyes. She was gone, and there was nothing I could do.

"Hey Chat! Get your head out of the clouds!"

He shook his head, unable to remember where his mind had wondered off to, and why at such an inopportune time. The akuma was currently wreaking havoc in downtown Paris, and Ladybug was fighting it all by herself.

"Right. On it!"

Chat flung himself from the roof with an almost reckless grace, using his pole to spring himself onto the akumas head.

"I've got it, do your thing!" he shouted, clinging on for dear life as it tried desperately to swipe him off his head.

'of course,' ladybug thought 'I haven't used my lucky charm yet'

Though it felt like an overpowered advantage sometimes, it did come in handy for tough fights like this.

"Lucky charm!" she cried, throwing her yoyo high into the air. Returning to her once more as…

"A fire extinguisher?" she pondered, wondering just how ridiculous these things could get. Looking around, she saw that one of the fire hydrants had sprayed water all over the street they were currently fighting on.

"Chat, hold on." And for an instant, she thought she might have used the charm wrong, emptying it into the water puddle, with no visible difference. Until she realized it had worked too well and turned itself into black ice.

"Look out!" she screamed as the akuma slipped on said ice, Chat Noir being slung haphazardly across the street.

The akuma went down. Hard. For the first time since they started fighting akumas three years ago, as the blood flowed onto the concrete, they had wounded an akumatised victim.

"oh my god…" she whispered as she broke the akumatised object and caught the little moth, setting it free. 'I hope this is undone.' She begged as she reset all the damage done to the city.

"Ladybug… what happened?" Chat asked, though already knowing the answer as they stood above the now lifeless corpse of a Parisian citizen.

"It didn't fix it… I couldn't do anything…" the girl spoke between sobs, accepting Chats embrace without a second thought.

"It was an accident m'lady. Accidents happen all the time, right?" Chat questioned aloud, wondering if he was asking her or himself.

It had been six months since the first of what were now called "charm events" where an akumatised victim had been too strong, and the lucky charm had worked its magic too well. There have been several others afterwards, leading Chat Noir and Ladybug to forgo their titles as "Heroes" and settle for "Necessary vigilantes" as the mayor was now calling them.

School hadn't been the same since. Both their classmates and their teacher all stopped talking about the akumatizations and the vigilantes entirely. Any time something happened and the dynamic duo had to slip away, the rest of the school now went underground into a "akuma-proof shelter" that resembles something out of the cold war.

Battles that once took minutes, maybe an hour, can now span on for days, even a week. Thankfully, with the growth of their bodies and minds, their miraculous now last for much longer. Now, instead of having to eat on the regular, the kwamis only need a meal once or twice a day.

Adrien sat on a windowsill in the college hall, talking to Nino while his eyes and mind drifted over to a girl down the hall. Marinette had grown considerably and was now one of Adriens best friends, though he secretly longed for more.

"Girl, I'm telling you now, that boy has been looking you up and down like a dog in heat. If you ever wanted to make a move, now is your chance."

Marinette giggled, her own best friend keeping an eye on the blonde model down the hall. Alya had always been edging her on, in terms of boys, but now the look in her eye told Marinette that she was serious.

"No way Alya," Marinette whispered, not daring to look over her shoulder "Adrien is just a friend now. I moved on from those feelings long ago." She shuddered as she thought back to when she saw him and Lila making out in the courtyard. She swore from that day forward she would do her best to move on from him, and Alya knew that.

"I know, you want to move on. But sometimes the best thing to help with that is to leave no regrets." Alya winked at her friend, insinuating something that Marinette didn't want to think about.

"That was my last class for the day, so I think I'm going home. What about you?" Marinette asked, quickly changing the subject.

"No rest for the wicked," Alya sighs, "I've still got a lect-"

The bell. Not a class bell, but the one that signifies an akumatization. The two friends lock eyes as Marinette makes her was outside, following behind her, but not too closely, a cat in disguise.

"This is a big one, eh m'lady?" Chat crooned as they gazed upon the giant fiery avatar stomping through the city. As tall as the Eiffel tower and, by the looks of it, just as tough.

"How are we going to beat this?!" Ladybug exclaimed, dejected at the thought of their last battle.

"Simple." Chat chimed, seemingly uplifted by this dire turn of events.

"Ok hot shot, either you have a plan, or you're in a stupidly good mood. Which one is it?"

"The second one," Chat laughed "I think I might have found someone with beauty comparable to yours at school today." Chat leered, licking his lips. Ladybug hadn't seen him this happy since they went to their own movie premier, and they held hands through the screening.

"Oh ho?" She jeered back, unimpressed with how silly this cat could be.

"Oh yeah, absolutely stunning. She is smart, sexy, and in all my classes. God, I couldn't stop myself from staring earlier today." Ladybug thought back to the moment in the hallway, a whisper of a doubt creeping up inside her.

"Ok, you naughty cat, stop thinking with your head, and start thinking with your mind. We've got to do something, or this guy will burn the city down." She gestured towards the towering colossus before them, spouting the same nonsense about stealing their miraculous.

"Alrighty then, if you insist." Chat straightened up, cracking his back on this solitary rooftop. Unknowing of the fact that he just confessed that he was staring at the person beside him.

In unison, without having to speak a word, they almost disappeared from where they stood, flying towards the beast at breakneck speed, running towards the fire they have sworn to defeat, at all costs.

That was a beautiful speech. A wonderful speech for a wonderful woman. I see the tears fall into my lap and force myself to stand up and move towards the altar.

"Two days… I think that's a record m'lady." Chat gasped, winded from their final assault. They had somehow managed to lure it out of the city and into the fields, keeping the amount of structural damage to a minimum. For some reason, with the appearance of these stronger akuma, not only will the lucky charm not fix the damage done, but it won't revert the butterfly either. Chat had taken on the task of hunting these butterflies and putting them down, his natural agility and keen sense of tracking making him a natural.

"Yeah…" She responded, equally exhausted, but also inquisitive. This hasn't been the first time she saw Chat with that look in his eyes. They glaze over, almost like he's looking at something that isn't there.

"Chat, I need you to tell me the truth. No more secrets and no more lies." Chat looked at his partner, shocked by the words he is hearing.

"Yes, of course m'lady. I've wanted to tell you since the moment we starte-"

"Not that!" she screeched, starting to get annoyed at his persistence.

"Oh. Umm… what is it then?"

She thought for a moment, wording her next question just right, so as to not frighten him, but simply to let him know that she saw.

"Has your… vision changed at all?" she delicately asked, hoping that she would receive meaningful response.

"No, not really. Why do you ask?" Chat responded, curious as to the unpredictable question.

"Nothing, its just that I've noticed you are spacing out a lot recently. Like your mind is suddenly transported somewhere else, and all that's left is just your body." She rambled out, all notion of stepping gently thrown out the window.

"Oh… no, it's nothing. I promise. Sometimes I think, in the heat of the moment, I let my mind purrous a little, that's all." He said with a wink.

Together, not another word spoken, they sat next to the unconscious form of a man, looking into the setting sun over a smooth Paris hill. Today had been a victory, but more trials are sure to come. The air clear as a cloudless night, but thick with the tension, knowing that this would not be the end. Not until they found him and put an end to this. One way or another.