A Hero's Strength Is Measured By His Heart

What Lies Beneath.

Adrien tossed and turned beneath his sheets, drenched from head to toe in a heavy sweat. Plagg desperately tried to awaken his holder from whatever terror grasped his subconscious.

"Come on kid! Wake up"

The blonde was breathing heavily, muttering words that Plagg couldn't make sense of. Inside Adrien's head, the panicked boy earnestly tried to tear his eyes away from the sights in front of him.

It was as if he was watching himself, well, Chat Noir, from the eyes of someone else. What's happening? Suddenly, Marinette entered his view and he watched as she ran toward Chat Noir.

Adrien noticed that the hero looked strange. His eyes were power crazed and the malicious grin he wore was sickening. Terror and destruction were occurring behind him, as if the whole city were going down in flames. But, what caused the blonde the most unease was the fact that both Chat Noir's palms were laced with the very familiar destructive power. He was able to summon two cataclysms.

"Chat! Please don't do this." The voice of his sweet girl rose above the chaos and screams of the city. "Look around you. We're surrounded by devastation and ruin. Now, this isn't you, I know that. I know there's things that you haven't been telling me and it's okay." Marinette began walking closer to him. "I just need you to talk to me now so I can find a way to help you. Please. I love you and I need the old Chat Noir back. I promise, I can fix this." He stared at her blankly, as if he couldn't even recognize who the girl was in front of him. "Just come with me and we can make this right." Now Marinette was only a few feet away from her partner.

The two stared at each other, Marinette wondering what was going through his mind. She thought her words were getting through to him until suddenly, Chat's features hardened and his grisly sneer returned.

Dismissing his cataclysm in his left hand, Chat harshly grabbed Marinette's arm and yanked her close. His mouth found its way next to her ear and he whispered, "what makes you think I want your help?" The shocked girl backed away, realizing that she had no idea what she was going to do now. All of a sudden, Chat pushed her forcefully to the ground. Adrien pulled against the invisible force that held him back. Bending down to where Marinette was, Chat Noir leaned in close and pressed his lips to hers, cupping her cheek with his right hand. The hand that still possessed his cataclysm.

All at once, Marinette began to deteriorate, disappearing into the wind until there was no piece of her left.

Adrien tried to scream but no noise escaped his mouth. He tried to fight whatever was holding him back but he could not break away. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. His heart was beating so fast and he couldn't make sense of what was happening.

"Kid!" Adrien heard as his eyes finally snapped open.

Struggling to regain control of his breathing, he took in his surroundings. He was in his room. How had I gotten back here? He didn't remember returning home after the last akuma fight.

Something didn't feel right... something deep down inside him felt... different.

"Marinette!" He shouted, shocking the Kwami in front of him. "Plagg we have to go make sure she's okay!" Adrien hopped out of bed and began frantically getting ready to go see her.

"Adrien. You're forgetting something."

"And what's that?"

"The fact that she's already at the school because as of this moment you're an hour late!"

"Oh shoot."

~~~

When Adrien finally stumbled into the classroom, each one of his classmates heads turned his way. Their eyes were widened in shock. Even models had their bad days. His hair was tangled and untamed, giving him a more remiss look, and his eyes were empty and pained.