Requested by @marisrat

Angst??? Say less hehehe

I'm sorry this took so long. No excuses.

Just a little FYI but I also incorporated another prompt into this. It was given to me for part of my interview for a place in the miraculous society as a writer, so I decided to incorporate this idea and kill two birds with one stone haha.

It couldn't exceed 2000 words, so it's a little short, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!

The evil and cunning Lila Rossi has managed to turn everyone in school against Marinette—everyone except for a certain blonde. But when Adrien's support can't stop Marinette from falling victim to Hawkmoth's akuma, it will be up to a certain leathered hero to save his lady... and the world.

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Adrien wasn't sure how it all began. He saw all the signs that had followed up until this very moment, and yet, he still couldn't pinpoint anything that had started it all. What he did know was that when a loud BANG sounded, it shook the entire city to its core. The sound was so loud that he had to cover his ears with his hands, his attempt unable to stop the burning sensation that followed or the static that dropped to the very pits of his eardrums.

A wave of something... powerful followed before he could even process the sound, sending him flying backward. The back of his head hit the concrete beneath him, and he winced, his teeth clenching and his jaw cracking. He accidentally bit his tongue too, and the taste of blood shortly followed, but that wasn't all that he could taste.

He could taste ash.

It tasted like despair—if despair had a taste. It reminded him of when Hawkmoth had once caused Hellfire to fall over their city with his gigantic beings, which were obviously sentimonsters designed to mimic miraculous powers.

And this day... this day was just like that one.

But instead of Hawkmoth or his sentimonsters being the cause, someone far worse was responsible for what seemed to be the world's soon-to-be end. And he knew that traumatized people couldn't even be faulted for their actions.

Because that someone was Marinette.

He knew exactly why she was akumatized the moment he realized it was her. He knew why she was so angry—and the thing was, she had every right to be.

He didn't know how it all began, but he did know the reason.

The reason was Lila Rossi.

A series of distant coughs quickly broke him from his thoughts. Adrien's gaze surveyed his surroundings, where he found some of his classmates emerging from the rubble of their fallen school building. Alya was one of the first to break free and look over at him, her face covered in white ash and her glasses missing, probably lost and broken amongst the debris. When their eyes met from across the room, she had the audacity to express her worry.

Adrien's frown only deepened at the sight.

Her expression quickly morphed from that of concern to offense. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Alya asked somewhat accusingly.

"Oh... I don't know..." Adrien's voice dripped with sarcasm as he snarked, "Maybe because this is all your fault."

"'My fault?'" Alya's voice rose in anger at that. "How is this my fault?"

"Are you serious?!" Adrien took an intimidating step closer toward her. He couldn't even be bothered by the fact that he and Alya weren't the only two in that room. "You turned your back on Marinette! She's supposed to be your best friend!"

"Best friends don't lie to each other like Marinette lied to me." Alya hissed.

Adrien harshly let out a bitter laugh at that. He winched shortly afterward when his side flared. He placed a hand over his ribs and shook his head, a smile far from amused stretching across his lips. "You're delusional if you think Marinette is the one who lied. Marinette isn't the liar here... Lila is!"

"Of course you would say that." Alya chuckled bitterly, "You and Marinette have been ganging up on Lila ever since she started attending school here. You guys never even gave her a chance."

"And all of you ganged up on Marinette!" He spat, "You abandoned her!"

The ground underneath them suddenly rumbled. The vibrations went straight to Adrien's injured ribs, flaring up his left side once again. He held onto his side and clenched his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for the pain to pass.

His classmates, who remained quietly standing around him, were once considered Marinette's friends. They had supported her in every aspect. They had always been on her side... until Lila made an entrance. Lila was somehow able to convince them easily that Marinette was the problem and that Marinette was the monster.

Well... Marinette was more than just that now. She was devastation. She was death. If he didn't find a way to stop her, to bring her back, they would all be dead.

But how was he supposed to do that without her miraculous?

Adrien inhaled deeply through his nose, the action causing his ribs to flare once again. He refused to even acknowledge the pain this time around. Right now, regardless of his injuries, he had a job to do. Marinette needed him.

He had to save his lady.

He sharply turned on his heel, his hand still holding his side, as he limped towards what he hoped would be the best way to an exit. Alya angrily called after him, demanding where he was going, but Adrien was too upset to look back.

Plagg poked out from the hidden safety of his shirt, looking sullen. "Kid, you can't leave them in here."

"They'll be fine. Ladybug's magic will fix everything anyway."

"Will it?"

Adrien remained silent. In truth, the last thing he wanted to do was save the people who had turned Marinette into the monster she was now. He also didn't want to start thinking about what would happen if he couldn't use Ladybug's miraculous power to fix everything.

He quietly called upon his transformation, feeling a bit of relief on his side when the magic engulfed him. He used his cataclysm to break through the rubble, finally encountering light as he clawed his way to the surface...

His eyes widened in horror when he took in the scene before him.

Whatever had once been their beloved city was completely ruined. Had he not already known where he was, he wouldn't have recognized it. It was practically a barren wasteland now, minus the ruins of the towering buildings that had once stood in their place.

There was no one in sight as far as the eye could see.

She had ruined their world.

"How do you like my new world, Minou?"

Chat Noir froze as the chilling voice of his lady reached his flickering ears. He slowly turned around, finding Marinette adorned in her suit. What remained that resembled Ladybug were just her spots. Her entire suit was black and white, void of any color, just like their now desolate surroundings.

He tried to reach out to her, his voice pleading, "Ladybug—"

"I am not Ladybug!" She snapped, her uproar practically shaking the ground beneath his feet again. He stumbled, wobbling from one foot to the other, and thankfully found his balance. "I'm Lady Désespoir!"

"Right—yes, of course. My mistake." He stepped closer to her with his hands outstretched, thankful that she remained rooted in her spot, allowing him to draw nearer. "I think the world you've created is great, but—but it's a bit lonely, don't you think?"

"All I need is you. Everyone else betrayed me."

"So everyone else is expendable?"

Her eyebrows furrowed at that, but she said nothing.

He took that as his sign to continue. "What about all of the people who didn't even know you? You're just going to destroy them and everything they know? They're innocent. They didn't do anything to you, Ladybug."

"It's Lady Désespoir!" She shouted, and before he could even blink, Lady Désespoir had unraveled her yo-yo and had flung it at him, the wire wrapping around his middle. She yanked, and the wire tightened, constricting his middle and sending his ribs ablaze. Chat Noir couldn't help but cry out, the pain almost too immense to handle.

Through clenched teeth, he called on his cataclysm. He touched the wire with his black magic, and it disintegrated in seconds. He fell to his knees, barely catching the look of absolute betrayal on his lady's face as she watched her yo-yo turn to ash in her hand.

His eyes widened in absolute horror when he realized he had just destroyed his chance to fix all of this. He had destroyed hope itself. He had destroyed her yo-yo.

Her gaze snapped up, ablaze with fury. "You're supposed to be on my side—!"

"I am! I am on your side!" Chat Noir cried desperately, hoping she would take his genuine words as truth. "I will always be on your side!"

"Then how could you destroy my—!"

"You were hurting me! I wasn't thinking... I..."

The words fell dead on his tongue, leaving him feeling defeated—and he hadn't even fought her yet. He had already failed every Parisian, and even Marinette herself, for not stopping Lila and her lies from the moment they started.

Chat Noir furrowed his brows at that thought. He didn't have time to wallow in the past. The solution was here in the now. So what if he couldn't use Ladybug's yo-yo? He would have to find a different solution.

He lifted his head, his gaze snapping upward, and before Lady Désespoir could react, he was whipping out his baton and extending it, the rod puncturing his lady right in her stomach. She was launched backward, a frustrated scream erupting past her lips as she stubbornly clawed at his staff.

Chat Noir took that as his chance to advance. She was lying on her back, trying to recover from the blow he had just given her. If he was quick enough, he could take her earrings right from her lobes—

But Lady Désespoir was quicker. She used her arms to launch herself back on her feet. He was advancing towards her, and he didn't have enough time to avoid her blow as she raised her fists and extended one right into his jaw. Chat Noir stumbled backward, holding his jaw in his hand.

Lady Désespoir snickered, even though her expression was void of any amusement. "Pity. I was hoping all of that stuff you said about being on my side was true."

"I am on your side," Chat Noir winced as he struggled to stand up straight. "And I'm just as mad as you are. But this isn't the answer. Hawkmoth is just using you. All he cares about is getting our miraculous."

"I'm not going to give him my miraculous." Lady Désespoir hissed, offense dripping off of her every word as if she couldn't believe he would think she would do such a thing.

"Then give it to me," he insisted, placing a hand on his chest. "Let me fix this."

She stubbornly shook her head, but her expression spoke louder. Her eyes were already filled with tears, her face troubled and broken. "They deserve this. After everything they've done to me, they deserve to feel the same pain they've made me feel."

"Maybe they do," Chat Noir extended his hand, smiling sadly, "But not like this."

Lady Désespoir looked down at his hand and then back into his eyes. Now, he could see the hesitance swirling in her irises. He knew deep down in her soul that this wasn't what she really wanted. But Marinette had been hurt to the point where she had been broken. So now, it was up to him to help her put all of those broken pieces back together.

If only she would let him.

It took a moment before she made her decision. Slowly, she reached for the earrings on her lobes and removed them, her transformation vanishing. The akuma flew out from her earring, and Chat Noir caught it in his palm, his cataclysm disintegrating the insect. Before he even put her earrings on, he pulled her into a hug, and Marinette melted into him, her sobs racking even his own tears out of him.

He held her close and cried along with her because even though he'd been able to save her and quite possibly their world, he couldn't save her heart from its self-destruction.

He couldn't save her from Lila.

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Happy (a day late) Thanksgiving btw :) hopefully, you had an awesome time spending it with family and eating delicious food. If you have Back Friday where you come from, I hope you get some amazing deals today!

Be sure to check out my 'Welcome to My Profile' book underneath 'update schedule' for when the next scheduled update will be. Hope to see you at the next one-shot!

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