I'm Sorry Chaton

Chapter 11

The sun rose and shone a bright light into Marinette's room. She slowly opened her eyes into a small squint and yawned. When she fully woke up, she realized today's the day. The day everything was going to change, hopefully for the better.

Marinette got out of bed and walked over to her desk. She retrieved a key from her purse. She held it in her hands and slid it into the locked drawer and opened it to reveal a stack of pictures of Adrien Agreste. Marinette gently picked a photo up and fingered the paper. "Adrien," she whispered softly, "Today is the day I'm going to see you again. I promise I'm going to see you again." Delicately, she returned the photograph to its place and turned the key to lock the drawer. She returned to her bed and collapsed into the soft mattress with a sigh. The anticipation was killing her. How was she supposed to make it through the day knowing that in 7 hours her life would change forever? The only thing she could do was wait until her meeting with Hawkmoth, so she made her way downstairs to grab some breakfast.

Marinette walked towards the bakery's kitchen with a slight limp from when Hawkmoth hit her in the shin and found some blueberry muffins fresh out of the oven. Her mouth practically watered at the sight of the delicious food. She had been so busy planning Chat Noir and Hawkmoth's demise, she hadn't eaten in nearly three days. Stuffing the muffin in her mouth and practically swallowing it whole, Marinette went back up to her room and waited until the clock struck 3.

Marinette once again walked over to her desk, but this time she grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil. Her nerves were getting the best of her and she had always found that sketching calmed her down. She worked intently at a few new designs and the time flew by. Before she knew it, it was 2 o'clock. Only one hour to go. Marinette couldn't wait any longer, so she called for Tikki.

"Tikki, come out. Now. "

A shy, red kwami quickly flew through the closet door. "I'm here Marinette. What do you need?"

Marinette didn't bother giving Tikki an answer. "Tikki, Spots On!"

Ladybug extended her yo-yo and flew towards the Eiffel Tower where she would soon meet Hawkmoth. She landed at the top of the tower and looked at the time on her bug-phone. 2:30. She sighed. Still too early. Ladybug sat on the edge of the tower with her feet dangling over the edge. She stared off into space absentmindedly until a loud thud behind her shocked her back into reality. She turned her head to face her new partner- Hawkmoth.

Ladybug slowly got to her feet with a grimace. Her leg was killing her. Hawkmoth had really hurt her yesterday. "Hello, Hawkmoth. Are you ready?"

"Of course I'm ready. Let's go, Ladybug. It's time I show you my secret lair. I can create an Akuma from there and lure that mangy cat out of his hiding place." Hawkmoth took off towards his evil hideout with Ladybug right behind him. They arrived at Adrien Agreste's house, much to the surprise of Ladybug.

"What are we doing here?" Ladybug asked.

Hawkmoth replied, "Well, my civilian self happens to be close friends with Gabriel Agreste and he agreed to lend me some space for an office. Little does he know, it's actually my lair where I keep the akumas. Come on. I'll show you where it is."

He led her towards a secret elevator. "Ladies first." He bowed in a gentlemanly manner and motioned for Ladybug to enter.

Tentatively she entered the small space. She was relieved when Hawkmoth followed her in because she was beginning to think he was trying to trap her. The elevator seemed to go up forever when at last they heard a ding signaling they had reached their destination.

The silver doors opened to reveal a dark room filled with pure white butterflies. A small, hexagonal window on the far side of the room let in an ominous glow. The mystical scene took Ladybug's breath away as she entered the room in a trance-like state. Hawkmoth smiled. His plan was working perfectly. He took advantage of Ladybug's momentary distractedness and attacked at this opportune moment. He used his staff to hit Ladybug's leg, the one that wasn't previously injured. This time, Ladybug knew this was no accident; Hawkmoth had turned on her. She tried to fight back, but Hawkmoth was too strong and she was too weak with both of her legs wounded. He lunged his cane into her back and with an ear-splitting crack, she fell to the floor. Unable to contain her pain any longer, Ladybug let out a deafening scream. Motionless against the wall, the fallen hero was in pure agony.

"Just kill me now!" She yelled at Hawkmoth with tears streaming down her pain-stricken face. "I'm done. I give up." Her voice lowered to a whisper and she begged through painful tears. "Just let me join him. Let me see Adrien again." She truly wanted to die. To join the person she loved, the person she lost. Her words put a shocked expression on Hawkmoth's face while he wondered how she knew his son. But, it didn't matter anymore. His son was dead and Ladybug would be too. 

Ladybug's vision began to blur as she drifted in and out of consciousness before blacking out completely. Hawkmoth chuckled and peered at her earrings. Her Miraculous would shortly be his. He began to bend down to reach for them thinking that he had finally beaten his foe. 

An Hour Ago

Chat Noir needed to clear his head. What he was about to do would torment him forever. He figured he should enjoy his final hour with a fundamentally guilt-free conscience. Distracting himself from the awful thing he was about to do, he whistled a melody from his childhood and thought about all the good times he had had in the last few years. He was lucky to have met such amazing friends. They were loyal, kind, selfless, everything he could ever want. So, naturally, he was sad when he had to let them go. Chat cleared away all negative thoughts and decided it was time to head over to his house and get rid of Hawkmoth.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream came from that very direction. It was a voice he was all too familiar with. 

"M'lady." Chat spoke softly, but he spoke with fear all the same.