Author's Notes:

Originally, this story was planned to have multiple endings. Ultimately, I decided that concept was better left on the shelf, especially since most of the endings I came up with were...really grim and I didn't want to write them.

So instead, have a straightforward Akumatized-Marinette story. I hope you enjoy this little tale.

Quick note: I'm aware that the Kwami only disappears back into the Miraculous if the chosen bearer rejects the Miraculous. For the purposes of this story, though, I'm playing a little fast and loose with that.

MIRACULOUS LADYBUG: "BLACK WIDOW"

by Mythril Moth

PART ONE

The doctor studied the crusty, pus-filled mess that was Marinette's left earlobe and clicked his tongue softly. "Well, you're lucky it wasn't venomous," he said. "Even so..." He hummed thoughtfully. "I'm afraid it is pretty badly infected."

Marinette cringed. "How...how bad?"

"I'm going to need to drain and bandage it," the doctor said. "You'll need to take antibiotics for a while and keep it clean with alcohol, put ointment on it, keep it dry and bandaged." He frowned. "I'm sorry, but you won't be able to wear earrings until that heals."

"I...I won't?" Marinette asked, her face pale as icy dread seized her heart.

"I wouldn't recommend it," the doctor said. "What's more important to you, going without earrings for a few weeks, or going without an ear for the rest of your life?"

Marinette recoiled. "Uhh..."

Sabine pinched the bridge of her nose. "Doctor, is it really necessary to scare her?" She smiled. "I'll make sure she keeps her earrings out while her ear is healing."

"But—" Marinette began.

"Marinette, you're going to have to follow the doctor's orders," Sabine said sharply.

Marinette bowed her head. "You're right," she said. She fidgeted. "Umm...I need to pee real quick, can...can I do that before we..." She winced. "Do that draining thing?"

The doctor smiled. "Of course. In fact, I highly recommend it," he added with a kindly wink. Marinette made a vaguely disgusted face and fought back a giggle.

"Be sure to take your earrings out while you're in there!" Sabine called as Marinette hopped off the table and raced for the door to the examination room.

"I will!"

Once out of sight of her mother and the doctor, Marinette slinked into the water closet and closed the door, leaning against the counter. "What am I gonna do, Tikki?" she moaned.

Tikki floated out of Marinette's purse and gave her a sympathetic pat on the cheek. "It'll be okay, Marinette," she said. "Every Ladybug has to take the Miraculous off sometimes!"

"But...! What do I do if...!"

Tikki rolled her eyes. "You can always just put them back in real quick to transform if there's an Akuma attack," she said patiently.

"Oh yeah," Marinette said, as though the thought had never occurred to her. She frowned. "But...what about you, Tikki? The last time I took off the earrings, you disappeared!"

Tikki shrugged and smiled sadly. "It's true, you'll have to get by without me for a little while," she said. "But you're Ladybug! And more importantly, you're Marinette. You'll be fine!"

"I know," Marinette said. "I was just..." She sighed. "I don't wanna do that to you."

"Eh." Tikki shook her head. "It's just for a few weeks. You have to take care of your health, after all. And that is a pretty nasty-looking bite."

Marinette groaned. "Stupid spider," she muttered. "I bet I'm the only Ladybug who ever got bitten on the ear by a bug!"

Tikki giggled. "Not even close," she said. "Though I've never seen it get that infected before. That is just bad luck." She sobered up. "Still, it could be worse. One of my Ladybugs? Got her ear cut off in battle."

Marinette blanched. "Seriously?!"

"Yep!" Tikki shuddered. "She had to wear both earrings in one ear for the rest of her time with me. You're lucky you only have to deal with supervillains and not invading hordes."

"Yikes." Marinette sighed. "Well...I guess this is goodbye for a while," she said dejectedly as she reached up to her earlobes.

Tikki gave her a sad, fond smile. "It'll be okay, Marinette," she said.

Then Marinette removed the earrings, and Tikki vanished. Feeling tears stinging her eyes, Marinette folded her hand around the ladybug-spotted earrings, wrapped them in a brown paper towel, and gently tucked them into her purse.

Alya winced as she examined the bandage on Marinette's ear. "Ouch, girl," she said. "I hope you squished the spider that did this to you."

"It got away," Marinette said with a sigh. "Now I have to look like this for three weeks."

"Trying for a new look, Marinette?"

Both girls looked up with exasperated expressions as Chloé Bourgeois approached, her lackey Sabrina a half-step behind her. Chloé flashed them a superior smirk as she studied Marinette's ear. "For someone who wants to be a fashion designer, you sure don't seem to know what's in style," she said.

"Says the girl who dresses like a lemon snowcone," Marinette muttered. "For your information, it's just a bandage. I have an infection." Under her breath, she added, "I'm sure you know all about those..."

Alya let out a bark of laughter.

Chloé took a step back, crossing her arms and glaring at Marinette. "I hope your ear rots off," she sneered. "Not that you could get any uglier." Laughing into the back of her hand, she stalked over to her seat, Sabrina keeping step with her.

Marinette crossed her arms on her desk and laid her chin on them. "Pest," she muttered.

"She's not worth wasting a second thought on," Alya said. She looked up and nudged Marinette. "Time to score some sympathy points."

"Huh?" Marinette followed her gaze and let out a horrified squeak. Adrien and Nino had just entered. "Gah!" Marinette lowered herself on the bench, trying to make herself as small and invisible as possible.

This only drew attention to her, as Adrien stopped by his table and gave Marinette a worried look. "Marinette? Are you okay?"

"Dude, what happened to your head?" Nino asked. Alya shot him a withering glare as Marinette tried to slip under their table.

Adrien leaned forward, taking hold of Marinette's chin and turning her head to the side. He winced. "Yikes! What happened?"

"Eep! Um, um, um...!" Marinette stammered.

Alya rolled her eyes and groaned. "Spider bite," she supplied. "Got infected."

"Ouch," Adrien said. "I hope it gets better soon," he said.

"Th-thanks," Marinette squeaked, blushing.

After a rather humiliating first morning at school with her ear bandaged, things had mostly calmed down. Marinette quickly realized that the bandages on her ear weren't going to destroy her social life, so she decided to forget about her current situation and focus on hoping the time would pass quickly until she could put back on the Miraculous.

*Three weeks without Tikki...that's gonna be tough. I'm so used to her being around now...*

"You okay, Marinette?"

Marinette shook herself and realized Adrien was watching her with concern. She blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"You're kinda spacing out there," Adrien said. It then registered on Marinette that she was standing out in the hall, lost in thought.

Marinette blushed and ducked her head. "Oh," she said. "No, I'm okay. I just, umm..." She gestured vaguely. "Thinking about...a purse I'm making! Yeah, I was just thinking about that, and..." She giggled sheepishly. "You know how it is."

Adrien smiled. "Yeah, I guess." Shrugging, he turned and walked into the classroom. Groaning, Marinette followed, heading for her seat.

As she was sitting down, Adrien suddenly said, "Hey, show it to me when you're done, okay?"

Marinette blinked. "Huh?"

"That purse," Adrien said. "Your designs are amazing, I bet Father or one of his business associates would be interested in having a look at it." He smiled.

"Oh! Right, the...the purse..." *Merde!* "Umm...it might be a few days?"

"Take your time," Adrien said. "I bet it's gonna be amazing."

"R-right," Marinette said, feeling her cheeks heat up.

As the teacher entered and called for everyone to settle down, Alya began whispering to Marinette. "What was all that about?"

"I was spacing out in the hall, I made up a lame excuse about thinking about a new purse design, Adrien wants to see it when it's done, so now I actually have to come up with something to show him!"

Alya smirked. "Is that all? Girl, you got this! Still, you do manage to get yourself into some of the dumbest messes."

Marinette slumped against the table. "Don't I know it," she muttered.

That evening, Marinette began sketching possible designs for a new purse. "Ugh, I can't believe I got myself into this," she moaned. Laying her head on her hands, she studied her favorite pink purse, which lay on her desk. She let out a sigh. "Normally I'd ask Tikki what I should do right now..."

Her eyes widened. She gasped. "That's it!" Wadding up and tossing away the lackluster design she'd been working on, she started sketching an entirely new purse, the tip of her tongue poking out in concentration as her pencil raced back and forth across the page. When she was finished sketching, she held it up and admired it, laughing happily. "Yes!"

The next day, Marinette bought the materials she'd need for her purse. The following day, Wednesday, she spent her entire half-day off from school making the new purse. By midnight, she'd finished, and sat back to admire her handiwork.

Forty percent larger than her pink clasp purse, the new purse was black velvet with pink trim, an embroidered cluster of pink orchids on one side, and an embroidered pink lotus blossom on the other. Both sides had gold brocade leaves and vines filling out the design. The top clasp was similar to the one on her old purse, hinged gold fastened with a red bead clasp. Inside, the purse had been divided into two compartments: a larger one for her things, with a sleeve pocket for her phone and a zipper pocket on the opposite side, and a smaller, fleece-lined pouch for Tikki.

Marinette giggled. "Won't Tikki be so surprised when she sees this!" Hugging the purse to her chest with a smile, Marinette let out a yawn. "Well, time for bed..."

Setting the purse on her desk and turning off the lights, Marinette climbed up to her bed and drifted off to sleep.

Adrien was absent for the entire morning on Thursday because of an emergency photo shoot reschedule, so the first chance Marinette had to show him her new purse was during the break between study hall and Adrien's fencing practice. Many of her other classmates had already complimented it; Alya especially had liked the look, but Marinette's explanation of the "pocket pet pocket" feature had been a bit awkward and sidestepped. Thanks to her Papa's habit of watching documentaries, "naked mole rat" had gotten stuck in Marinette's brain when she tried to explain the pet pocket, which had gotten her amused smirks from Alya.

Chloé, predictably, had insulted the purse, but since Chloé insulted everything about Marinette, she didn't really care.

Now, the moment of truth had arrived: Marinette was going to march into the library with her brand new purse and use it as a conversation starter. Today, she was going to get closer to Adrien!

She took a deep breath and crossed the threshold of the library...

"Come on, Adrichou!" she heard Chloé whining. She froze at the threshold, taking a half step back. "Study with meeee! We can go to that table over there, be alone...work closely together..."

A loud snort interrupted her. "Now why would he want to waste time with an airhead who's made up like some whore when he can study with me? I've gotten a perfect score on every test I've ever taken in every subject I've ever taken in the last three years!"

Marinette narrowed her eyes. Lila. Chloé was bad enough, but this...!

The argument continued well out of Marinette's line of sight; she idly wondered why the librarian wasn't interrupting this catfight.

"Adrien only likes French girls," Chloé said snottily. "Shouldn't you be naked on a beach somewhere, you tramp?"

"Shouldn't you be under the director's desk so you don't get kicked out of this school?" Lila retorted. "Adrien clearly only prefers intelligent girls with good looks."

"Why you...! I can have you removed from this city, you know! Deported from France even!"

"I'd love to see you try it, you little—"

"Will you two stop?!" Adrien cried plaintively. "Look, this is ridiculous! You're fighting over me like you own me, but there's already a girl I'm—!" He took a deep breath. "There's already someone I...really, really like."

Marinette felt her heart skip a beat.

Chloé let out an affronted gasp. "What?! Adrichou! I...I'm the only girl you've ever liked. Right?"

"Oh, like anyone could ever like you," Lila snorted.

"Everyone adores me!" Chloé protested.

*More like everyone abhors you,* Marinette thought sourly.

"Well if it isn't me and it isn't this Greek bimbo—"

"I'm Italian? Hello!"

"—then..." Chloé gasped in shock. "Don't tell me you're in love with that...that...that MARINETTE!"

Marinette's heart fluttered wildly, leaping into her throat.

"What are you talking about?" Adrien asked. "Marinette's just a friend. A very sweet, very nice friend. I'm not—"

Marinette's heart plunged into her stomach, turning into a lump of ice as it fell. Somewhere around the middle of her colon, it shattered into a million pieces.

*No...*

Tears welling up in her eyes, she fled from the library and ran down the hall, headed for the water closet as fast as her suddenly numb legs could carry her.

"Marinette's just a friend," Adrien said. "A very sweet, very nice friend. I'm not in love with her."

Chloé let out a relieved, nasally laugh. "HA! I knew you couldn't possibly like that horribly plain little nobody!"

"I like Marinette just fine," Adrien said a bit testily. "She's been nothing but nice and kind to me. In fact, she's nothing but nice and kind to everyone, which is way more than I can say for you."

Lila snickered.

Adrien glared at her. "And she doesn't go around lying to make herself look better than she really is," he added. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, both of you need to just back off, alright? And stop dissing Marinette. And all my other friends! I wouldn't mind being friends with both of you, but I'm just not interested in either of you, and acting like snobby jerks to Marinette and the other kids in class isn't really helping."

Lila scowled. "Forget this," she said. "You're cute, but you're not that cute. You don't get to talk to me that way." She gathered up her things to leave.

"I don't know what's gotten into you lately, Adrichou," Chloé simpered, placing a hand to her chest. "You know I'm perfect for you! I mean, both our daddies are rich, famous, and powerful. We're both trendy, rich, and better than everyone else! Who could you possibly like better than me?"

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Not that it's any of your business," he said, "but..." He sighed dreamily. "Ladybug."

Lila let out a disgusted snort. "LADYBUG! UGH!" She stomped off in a huff, grumbling under her breath.

Chloé giggled delicately. "Oh, Adrichou! You really had me going there for a minute! I mean, yes, Ladybug is an amazing and cool hero and all, but—"

"I'm serious, Chloé," Adrien said. His phone went off in his pocket, and he groaned. "And now I'm late for fencing. Goodbye." He picked up his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and left the library.

Chloé stared after his retreating form for a long time, her face twisted into a confused pout. "Ladybug...stole Adrien from me...?"

A dark place...

Shutters irised open, flooding the dark room with the fading last rays of the day. White butterflies swarmed around a masked figure standing in the light.

"Can this be?" Hawk Moth asked, eyes wide and mouth agape with cruel wonder. "Could I truly have found three women scorned at the same time?" An evil sneer crossed his lips. "Excellent...I cannot afford to let this opportunity pass!"

Three white butterflies landed in his gloved palm. He covered them with his other hand. Motes of darkness gathered, turning the butterflies a purple-splotched black.

"Fly away, my little Akuma, and darken their hearts!" Hawk Moth watched the three Akuma flutter through the central gap in the window's wrought iron butterfly motif. "This time...THIS TIME!" He let loose a maniacal laugh.

Lila cursed under her breath, clutching the foxtail pendant around her neck. "Ladybug," she growled.

A black butterfly fluttered out of nowhere and sank into the pendant. Without fanfare, without preamble, Lila transformed into the false Volpina. "Ladybug!" she snarled. "This time, you'll pay!"

Chloé screamed and sobbed as she tore up the Ladybug posters in her locker, then tried to crush her toy Ladybug yo-yo with her bare hands.

A black butterfly sank into the yo-yo, which reversed colors.

An oily purple and black mist spread over Chloé's body, leaving Antibug in her place.

She narrowed her eyes.

"I'll teach that Ladybug to steal MY Adrien!"

Marinette sat in a stall, hugging her new purse to her chest, tears streaming down her face.

Adrien...already liked somebody...

...and it wasn't her...

She sniffled, drawing her knees up to her chest. "Tikki," she whimpered.

There was, of course, no answer. The Miraculous were tucked safely away in the purse she'd made...

...to show him...

A black butterfly sank into the purse. A dark shadow spread across Marinette's face. The pink outline of a butterfly framed her eyes.

Black Widow. I am Hawk Moth.

Marinette stiffened. "Wh-what...? Hawk Moth?!"

I sense the great pain of rejection within you. I give you the power to take your revenge!

"R-revenge? Wha...NNNNGH...!"

Pain wracked Marinette's body as purple and black lightning snapped over her petite frame. She squeezed her eyes shut. "Nnngh...! S-stop it...!"

Show the one who spurned you the fury of a woman scorned, then bring me the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir! The earrings and the ring!

"N-no...!" Marinette whimpered. "No, I—!"

SERVE ME!

Marinette cried out as a sharp spike of pain drilled through her head. Oily purple and black mist spread across her body. Pink and white sparks exploded from her purse, but were quelled by the spreading darkness. Tears streamed from Marinette's eyes as the Akuma eroded her will...

The stall exploded, and a taller, more buxom Marinette with short, bobbed white hair, a skintight black bodysuit, stiletto-heeled red leather boots, matching gloves, and a jagged black butterfly mask with eight shining jewels arranged around the edges stalked out of the water closet, a spiderweb-patterned handbag slung over one shoulder. In her right hand, she held a black flail with a long, chitinous chain and a large head with eight serrated spikes that resembled spider legs; on the side of the head was the same red hourglass symbol that adorned the front of her costume. Her skin had turned a pale ashen grey, and black lipstick outlined a cruel smirk.

"Oh, Hawk Moth," she purred in a sultry tone, "You have no idea what you've just done..."

She threw back her head and laughed as she shattered every window in the hall with her flail, then leapt down into the courtyard.

Adrien and Monsieur D'Argencourt whipped their heads around at the sound of glass shattering. The other students who were still in the courtyard screamed and started fleeing; some whipped out phones and began recording.

"What in the world...?" Monsieur D'Argencourt muttered as he raised his mask.

Adrien raised his own mask and stared as an Akumatized villain leapt down from one of the upper floors and landed a few meters away. Tall and sensual, she favored him with a sneer as she swung a wicked-looking flail at her side. "Hello, Adrien," she said in a low, menacing voice.

Adrien blinked. "What...?"

The black-clad villainess stalked forward, her hips swaying provocatively. "I've waited a long time to drag you into my parlor," she purred.

Monsieur D'Argencourt stepped forward, raising his épée. "Now see here, mademoiselle! This is a—"

The villainess' flail lashed out, knocking Monsieur D'Argencourt's épée across the courtyard. With a second swing, a huge glowing spider web shot out of the head of the flail, smashing into Monsieur D'Argencourt and sending him flying; he impacted against a wall with a loud crunch and sagged limply into the web, which held him securely in place.

Adrien followed his flight, then whipped back around to face the villainess. "Who are you? What do you want?"

She licked her lips. "I'm Black Widow," she said with a smirk. "And I want...you."

"Uhh...you're...seriously not my type," Adrien said, backing away slowly.

Black Widow laughed. "You don't understand," she said. "I want you...to suffer!" With that, her flail lashed out again; Adrien barely managed to scramble out of the way as it made a dent in the asphalt. With a frantic yelp, Adrien bolted for the locker room, ducking and rolling under glowing webs Black Widow fired from her flail.

He'd almost reached the locker room door when Black Widow's flail smashed into it, buckling the frame. He struggled to open the door, but it was wedged firmly in place.

"And now, it's playtime," Black Widow purred behind him.

"HEY! Keep your sticky bug hands off him!" a voice yelled. Adrien whirled around...and his jaw dropped.

Antibug dropped onto the scene from the school roof, yanking Black Widow's legs out from under her with her black yo-yo.

Black Widow snarled as she backflipped away, her flail spinning at her side. "How dare you attack me?!" she screeched.

Antibug lazily spun her yo-yo, eyes narrowed. "If you need bait to drag Ladybug and Chat Noir out here, use one of these other worthless peasants, like that Marinette! Leave Adrien alone!"

Black Widow threw back her head and laughed. "You think I care about Ladybug and Chat Noir?" She sneered at Antibug. "I'm here for him. Now get out of my way, you bargain bin knockoff PEST!" With that, her flail slammed into Antibug's stomach, sending her flying.

Adrien stared, shoulders slumping. "This is not happening," he said in a hollow tone.

"Oh, it's happening," a voice purred in his ear. "And I've got news for you, Adrien. If I can't have you, I'll make sure Ladybug can't have you either."

Adrien glanced slowly to his right...

...then jumped to the side as Volpina's flute-staff whirled through the space where his head was.

"NO!" Black Widow snarled. "He's MINE!"

Her flail slammed into the locker room door again, knocking it off its hinges. Adrien threw his weight against it, forcing it open, then dived around the side of the door as a spider web sailed through. Kicking the door halfway closed, he raced to his locker, opening it as quickly as he could. Grabbing his bag, he sprinted for the nearest window.

"Going somewhere?" Adrien yelped and ducked as Black Widow's flail tore through the space just above his head, shattering the window.

"Thanks, that's what I wanted!" Adrien called over his shoulder as he jumped through the shattered window, hissing as broken glass nicked and sliced his skin. Landing on the other side, he broke right and ran, unzipping his bag. "Plagg, we've got trouble!" he hissed.

Plagg opened his eyes and yawned. "Is fencing over already?"

"It got called early on account of Akumatized," Adrien said. "Three of them."

Plagg blinked. "Three Akumatized at once? That's not even possible!"

"Yeah? Well tell that to Antibug, Volpina, and this new one!" Adrien snapped. "Plagg, claws out!" The ring on Adrien's finger turned black as Plagg disappeared into it. Adrien's eyes turned from their usual sparkling green into the vivid, luminescent green eyes of a cat as the black leather catsuit, ears, mask, and tail of Chat Noir formed on his body. Extending his baton, Chat Noir vaulted up to the school roof, then contracted his baton and opened the smartphone panel. "Come on, Bugaboo," he grunted. "Where are you...?"

"Well hello again, Chaton," Volpina purred as she appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Bet I can get his Miraculous before you," Antibug said as she leapt over the edge of the roof and swayed toward them.

"Oh man," Chat Noir groaned. "This is insane..."

"Mmmm, so you're here too, Chat Noir," Black Widow purred from behind him. "I'm guessing that explains how Adrien managed to get away..."

"I'm telling you, leave Adrien out of this, you hussy!" Antibug snapped.

"Oh, shut your fat hole, Chloé," Black Widow said in a bored tone, rolling her eyes. "I'll kill you after I find Adrien and stick him in a nice tight web." She laughed. "Although, I have to admit...killing you will be so much fun, I might just do that first. After all, I can always find Adrien..."

"Wanna bet?" Chat Noir muttered under his breath. Looking around at the three villainesses, he extended his baton to fighting length and twirled it. "Okay, let's...let's all just calm down here..."

"Oh, are you scared, Minou?" Black Widow sneered. "Need your precious Ladybug to come save you? Everybody knows you're nothing without her."

"HA! It's so true!" Antibug cackled.

Chat Noir bristled. "I'm not scared!" he said hotly. "I just don't want to end this little party too quickly because Ladybug'll be mad if she misses out on all the fun!"

"Mm-hmm, sure," Black Widow purred. "Keep telling yourself that."

"Yeah? Well you're all forgetting one thing!" Chat Noir said.

"Oh? And what might that be?" Black Widow asked.

Chat Noir raised a hand, index finger pointing up, and opened his mouth. He paused, frowned, then cupped his chin with his other hand. After a moment, he waved sheepishly. "Bye!"

And he ran.

Hawk Moth chuckled darkly to himself. "Amusing...this will be my finest hour! Find him, my dark angels! Find him, and bring me his Miraculous! Then, find Ladybug!"

Chat Noir pressed his back against the wall of a Métro platform, breathing heavily. "This is ridiculous," he muttered. He checked his baton again; Ladybug still wasn't answering. "Where are you, My Lady?"

Taking a deep breath, he frowned. "Okay, so...Chloé is Antibug again for some reason, and Lila is Volpina again." He closed his eyes and bowed his head in thought. "This all started..." His frown deepened. "After that ugly scene in the library," he finished with a groan, smacking his palm against his forehead. "Okay, that's on me, but what's Black Widow's story? For that matter, who is she...?"

Oh, shut your fat hole, Chloé. I'll kill you after I find Adrien and stick him in a nice tight web. Although, I have to admit...killing you will be so much fun, I might just do that first.

Chat Noir's eyes opened wide. "Wait. How did she know Chloé was Antibug? And she seemed to really hate—"

An upside-down grey face with a black mask and short white hair dropped into his field of vision, black lips curled up in a smile. "There you are," Black Widow said.

"GAH!" Chat Noir smacked her in the face with his baton and took off running. A web caught him on the leg, knocking him to the ground; he struggled against it.

Black Widow stalked toward him, her hips swaying. "I don't really want to hurt you, Minou," she said. "I just want you out of my way. I have more important things to take care of." She crouched down low, stroking his chin with a red-gloved finger. "Just give me your Miraculous and I'll let you live. You don't need to die. You don't even need to be hurt. Give me the ring and you can go. I'm not interested in you. I'm only interested in two things." She paused. "Well, three. I'm definitely going to kill Chloé as long as I'm at it. I mean, she deserves to die, right? She's such a pest!"

"Who are you?" Chat Noir asked as he strained to pull his leg free.

Black Widow giggled darkly. "Oh, that's not important right now," she said airily. "I do have one question, though. What did you do with Adrien?"

"Like I'd tell you!" Chat Noir snarled. "What do you even want with him?"

Black Widow leaned close, her lips twisted into a snarl. "I want him to suffer," she hissed. "Adrien Agreste shattered my heart. I'm going to pull his out and eat it right in front of him."

"Gross!" Chat Noir said, recoiling. He frowned. "What do you mean I—Adrien shattered your heart?" He frantically reviewed his memories of that afternoon. *Chloé and Lila, I know exactly what happened, but I didn't even talk to any other girls today. I don't even remem—*

And then he noticed the purse at Black Widow's hip.

His eyes widened. "Marinette?" he whispered.

Black Widow backed away slightly in surprise. "Well, you're smarter than I gave you credit for," she said. Her face twisted into a dark expression. "But it's interesting that you'd jump to that conclusion..."

Chat Noir's baton extended in his hand, striking Black Widow's shoulder and catching her off guard. She stumbled, letting out a shriek.

Wasting no time, Chat Noir combined his baton with his own strength to free himself from the web and scrambled to his feet. Before Black Widow could get her bearings, he delivered several swift, disabling strikes to her shoulders, knees, and kidneys. "I'm sorry, Marinette!" he said. "You'll be okay as soon as Ladybug—"

Black Widow's flail caught him in the side of the head, and he went down. Black Widow piled on top of him, pinning him. Chat Noir wrestled with her, the two of them rolling around on the floor of the Métro.

"Give it up, Chat Noir," Black Widow grunted. "I can do this all day, but you can't!"

Chat Noir desperately kicked out, catching Black Widow in a vital spot, and flipped her off him. As she tried to roll to her feet, he grabbed her purse and ripped it off her shoulder. "Bet the Akuma's in here," he ground out. "If I just take this and run, then when Ladybug—"

Black Widow tackled him. The purse fell from his hands, landing on the floor.

The top of the purse burst open.

Chat Noir watched, eyes wide with disbelief and horror, as two ladybug-spotted earrings clattered across the cold floor.

"No..."

À SUIVRE...

Miraculous Ladybug is the intellectual property of Zagtoon, Method Animation, Toei Animation, and Thomas ASTRUC. This intellectual property is used without permission with no intent to profit from said use. The unique content contained on this page is the property of Mythril Moth, and redistribution of this content without express permission is strongly discouraged.