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During the ruthless battle against Détonateur, an akumatized villain with the power to cause disastrous explosions, Ladybug is fatally injured and her mask and suit are torn to shreds, causing the magic to fail and for Chat Noir to recognize Marinette.
Marinette, whose eyes won’t open, no matter how many times he’s called both her names. He cradles her in his arms, and his voice cracks as he continues to plead with her to wake up. He can’t lose the love of his life and his best friend. He can hardly even fathom that they’ve been the same person all this time. He fell in love with her twice and yet never realized they were the same incredible girl. Their shared obliviousness could have been something to laugh at together under different circumstances.
If only she’d just open those beautiful bluebell eyes of hers… “Please,” he whispers into her hair, ashen with thick layers of dust and debris. “Please don’t leave me.”
When she still doesn’t wake, Chat Noir buries his face in her neck and chokes on his tears, let's them soak against her bloodied neck. His eyes snag on her flickering red earring. He’s never seen a miraculous glitch before, didn’t even think it was possible. But what was usually red with tiny black dots—or pure obsidian that he’d never realized before—is now caught somewhere in between, marbling together with deep swirls.
He gasps as an idea came to mind. One last, desperate attempt to fix this. To save her. With trembling hands, he yanks his ring off, not even bothering with the detransformation phrase; and collects Marinette’s earrings, securing them to his own ears.
The red kwami has hardly even made it out of them before Adrien’s shouting, “Tikki, spots on!” and she gets sucked right back in.
Mister Bug conjures up his borrowed power and curses when a familiar charm falls into his palms. It’s an exact replica of his lucky charm. The one Marinette gave to him so long ago. He shakes his head, not understanding what he’s meant to do with this. The movement is too harsh, too frantic, making him feel even more nauseous than he already was.
“Plagg, help me!” he cries, turning to his kwami. “What am I supposed to do? I don’t know what to do!”
“I-I don’t know, Adrien,” says Plagg, looking at Marinette with distraught green eyes. “I’m sorry, kid. I don’t—”
He calls for another one. A tiny pocket watch with the hands frozen to read… No, that can’t be right. In a daze, he looks up and darts his eyes around for the nearest clock. No no no no!
He tries again.
A diary.
A key.
An umbrella.
Until finally, nothing else appears.
“Goddamn it! Miraculous Mister Bug!”
The fluttering whoosh of magical ladybugs fills the air, and he watches as they fix everything the way they always do. A fallen lamppost rights itself; the fractured statue of his father glues itself back together; the victims that had been buried beneath the rubble of Détonateur’s explosions come out unscathed. But even as the ladybugs surround Marinette, her body remains stiff in his arms.
“It’s not fucking working!” he sobs, brushing the bloody hair from her forehead. “I don’t understand. We’re supposed to be nearly invulnerable. Her ladybugs are supposed to fix everything! Why isn’t she waking up?!”
He doesn’t expect an answer, but the lack of one still sends him over the edge. His chest bursts opens with something akin to a growl, before he crumbles against Marinette’s limp, motionless body. He hugs her close, double checking for a heartbeat. For any sign that he hasn’t lost the only person he’s ever truly loved.
There isn’t one. Her heartbeat remains as silent as the beautiful voice he'll never hear again.
“S-spots off,” he whispers.
Tikki floats out of the earrings with tears in her eyes that Adrien doesn’t see. All he can see is the horrific playback of Ladybug helping a woman and her child to safety, before she was struck to the ground with a thunderous boom! Her black hair had fallen out of its twin ribbons and splayed messily across the asphalt; the red and black of her suit missing and revealing bits of pink shorts and a familiar flowery top. He’d rushed over to her as quickly as possible, but her eyes had already fallen shut.
“…rien.”
Keeping his hold firm but gentle, Adrien lifts his tear-stained face to see both kwamis looking at the couple sadly. “Adrien,” Tikki starts, hovering only a few meters away from them. “I’m so sor—”
“You should’ve saved her!”
“Adrien,” Plagg tries to cut in.
“No! You’re the fucking kwami of creation, and that was all you could come up with? Like it was some kind of joke?!”
“Adrien, that’s not…” Tikki’s blue eyes glisten with tears, and Adrien knows she isn’t to blame—he knows that, but he can’t help the deep, pulsating anger that continues to spill out of him.
“You were supposed to protect her, Tikki! Why didn’t your magical ladybugs work on her? Why is everyone else fine but Marinette? Why didn’t you save her?”
“Adrien. You know Tikki did everything she could.”
He collapses into her, cradling the back of her head and tenderly pressing his forehead against hers. “My lady… My Marinette,” he says, over and over again in a numb whisper, like if he calls her name enough, she’ll decide to wake up. “This whole time, it was you.” A kiss to her forehead. “It’s always been you.”
Plagg flies over and tucks himself into Adrien’s neck with a cold, wet nose, and a soothing purr starts between them. Tiny paws squeeze and knead at him in a hug. “I’m so sorry, kid.”
Tikki joins them, curling up next to her chosen’s hand. Adrien feels a stinging pang of guilt for shouting at her before. This isn’t her fault. He knows that. The tears in her eyes reflect his own grief back at him. Another pang. Tikki lost her closest friend as well, and all Adrien did was blindly accuse of her of not caring enough.
“I’m sorry, Tikki.” He would’ve said more if he had the strength, but he doesn’t. She places a stubby paw on his finger to show that she understands.
They all sit there until the blaring sirens of the ambulance surrounds them on all sides. He almost forgot he’d called them. Crowds of people have gathered around them, which Adrien only just now notices as the paramedics try to lift Marinette from his lap.
He clings to her tighter. “Don’t touch her!”
They two figures step back, sharing a look that Adrien doesn’t see. His gaze is fixated firmly on the freckles dotting Marinette’s nose, barely visible under the blood and grime caked on her skin.
“Was she a victim of the explosions?” one of them asks in a firm but gentle tone. Adrien nods once. The motion makes his ears ring. “Are you hurt?” He shakes his head. “Do you know the victim’s name?”
When Adrien doesn’t respond, he adds, “What about your name?”
He hears one of the other paramedics smack his side and whisper, “That’s Adrien Agreste!”
“Oh,” the first one says sheepishly. “My apologies and condolences, Mr. Agreste. But this area is dangerous. Détonateur is still active. It’d be wise for you to evacuate the area until Ladybug and Chat Noir have stabilized him.”
The sound of her name destabilizes him, breaks him down completely. He doesn’t fight it again when two more paramedics move in to take Marinette’s body. Her hair slips through his fingers; the absence of her body weight leaves him feeling like he'll float away any minute, just a cloud dissipating in a puff of smoke.
When he still offers no reply, the man places a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Let us help you.”
Adrien wordlessly shrugs him off and slips his ring back on, numbly giving the transformation phase. The man steps back with a sharp gasp, along with a dozen more from the crowd.
“You asked for the victim’s name before,” Chat Noir says, voice dry and emotionless. “Her name was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And she was the greatest superhero Paris had ever seen.”
Another wave of gasps erupts as Tikki phases out of her hiding spot and flies toward where Marinette is lying on the gurney. She gives her chosen one final kiss goodbye before zooming over to Chat Noir, as he vaults away from the scene.