Ladybug is back and she wanted to understand why her kitty became bad but he refused to tell her why. She found him at the jewelry store again, looking around to find anything that was valuable. She saw that he knocked out the guards easily.
"Still can't get enough cat food?" Ladybug teased him.
"Hmph! Do not get in my way, bug" Cat Noir grabbed the black diamond.
"I can tell something else besides me is bothering you. It's about Shadow Moth?" Ladybug crossed her arms.
"DON'T SAY HIS NAME!!" Cat Noir yowled and punched the wall in anger, "Why should I tell you? You told me we can't reveal everything about ourselves! You made that rule, guardian"
"I never wanted to be a guardian in the first place! And now I'm breaking that rule!" Ladybug shouted.
"You can't break a vow, milady. I'm done being your punching bag! I don't care if you have an excuse because you always lie to me so many times. You never trusted me at all!" Cat Noir glared.
"I'm really sorry for all that, Cat, and I want to help you end your suffering" Ladybug held her hand out.
"It's too late for that, much too late! And I'm looking forward to your downfall!" Cat Noir again refused.
"You don't wanna do this, Kitty" Ladybug saw him approach menacingly.
"I can and I can hurt you, I will see you suffer as I have suffered!" Cat Noir cracks his knuckles.
"You don't mean that!" Ladybug backs away.
"I do now! No more holding back, No more lies!" Cat Noir growled.
He threw a punch at Ladybug, only for her to flip over and kick him from behind.
"Stop this now!" Ladybug demanded.
"I don't take orders from you, milady! I will break you!" Cat Noir turns around.
"You're gonna regret it once you see me unmasked if you kill me!" Ladybug warned.
"The only thing you're gonna regret is pissing me off!" Cat Noir hissed and chased her out of the store.
Ladybug jumped up the building as the enraged feline chased her, "I better get somewhere safe! He's not stopping!" Ladybug kept running.
Rena Rouge jumps in and stops the feline, "Cat Noir! Calm down! I know you're angry but we can talk about this"
"No more talk!" Cat Noir tried to hit her but she dodged and fought with her flute, "I spent a year by myself as an orphan! Traumatized by having someone who forced me to cataclysm him! He died in front of me and I had to live with being a killer!"
"All this for an accidental murder?!" Rena Rouge got shocked.
"Yes! Why do you think I never use my destructive power for a year?! You'll never understand!" Cat Noir whacked Rena Rouge and jumps from roof to roof to leave.
"Let's pursue him!" Rena Rouge said.
"Wait! He's going to the bakery! He needs.....me!" Ladybug had to hurry to get there.
"Okay. Good luck" Rena Rouge went her own way. Ladybug took a shortcut to get there before Cat Noir.
She ran even faster to get there before him. She made it through her window and detransformed just in time.
"Hide Tikki, I'll wait on him," Marinette said.
A few minutes later, Cat Noir came inside her room. He looked very vulnerable and sad, sobbing with so much tear stains on his mask and cheeks.
"Kitty?" Marinette walks up and hugs him.
Cat Noir hugged her tightly from all the emotions killing him in his chest. He needed her.
"Cat Noir what's wrong?" Marinette asked.
"I did it, I admitted my reason to the heroes" Cat Noir murmured.
"What do you mean?" Marinette asked.
"I don't wanna talk about it" Cat Noir sobs into her shoulder.
"Please Cat Noir, it only hurts more if you keep it to yourself" Marinette pleaded.
"I can't. Please pet me" Cat Noir nuzzled her neck for attention.
Marinette petted him some more, seeing how broken he is. Whoever or whatever broke him badly to become a villain, she hopes that one day he can trust Ladybug.
"There has to be something I can do, Kitty" Marinette said.
"Nothing can be changed, princess. I just need comfort" Cat Noir lies down with her, purring in sadness.
"There has to be, it's killing you," Marinette said.
"I'm used to it" Cat Noir sobs a little, nuzzling under her arm, wanting to be petted.
"My poor kitty" Marinette can't believe she's never seen him this vulnerable. She scratched the back of his head and heard him purr.
"My Princess" Cat Noir murmured.
While waiting for him to calm down, he fell asleep due to all that heavy crying.
"Oh, Cat Noir" Marinette tucked him into bed.
"Puuuuuuuurrrrrrrr" He purred in his sleep.
The sly fox comes inside and saw the black feline asleep peacefully in bed with Marinette, "Is he okay?" She asked.
"Yeah. He just needed comfort from me. I never seen him so broken" Marinette pets him.
"Yeah, he does after all this" Rena Rouge said.
"This is all my fault, if I had listened to him and not considered replacing him or mistreated him" Marinette got up to speak with her in private on the balcony.
"I don't know, girl. He mentioned something about accidentally killing someone with his cataclysm. It traumatized him badly" Rena Rouge said.
"That's what I want to know but he's keeping it away. Unless it was Shadow Moth himself, hence his disappearance" Marinette figured.
"Just give him time, girl. Please don't provoke him as Ladybug. He'll come around when he's ready" Rena Rouge leaps to the next rooftop.
"We'll see" Marinette sighs.
-
The next morning, Marinette woke up and sees that her kitty is still sleeping like a cute little kitten. She hopes he doesn't get very pissed at Ladybug whenever she interrupts his heists.
"Perhaps I'll meet him once he's not robbing or killing anyone," She thought.
She got downstairs below to get him some breakfast. She doesn't know how he can survive on his own but she cares about him staying alive by eating food.
Once she came back up, he woke up, "Morning Kitty"
"Morning Princess" Cat Noir yawned.
"You feeling okay?" Marinette comes up the ladder and hands him his meal.
"By seeing your purretty face, yeah" Cat Noir took the glass of milk and drank it.
"And I hope my kitty eats lots of food to stay in shape" Marinette can see that he's losing a bit of weight.
"As long as I find fresh food, I'll be fine, Princess" Cat Noir said.
"Just eat your cat food, kitty" Marinette teased.
"Okay" Cat Noir chuckled.
He used a fork to eat his food, rapidly like a starved predator.
"Oh my" Marinette cringed. She was right that he really was starving.
While he was eating, she thought about her plan to reason and apologize to Cat Noir as Ladybug without a fight. The kitty finished his meal really quickly and took another sip of his milk.
"I have never seen you so starved, kitty," Marinette said.
"The street food is not enough for me," Cat Noir said.
"That sucks. Well, you're not gonna kill Ladybug once you see her again?" Marinette asked.
"I just want her to stay out of my way," Cat Noir said.
"You used to love her," Marinette said.
"Until she broke my trust. I can't face her again" Cat Noir got up.
"Kitty, please, for me" Marinette begged.
"No, I can't," Cat Noir said but then Marinette made her eyes look really cute, making a whimpering noise.
"Oh, no. Not that cute face, princess" Cat Noir couldn't resist it.
Marinette kept doing it until he gave up, "Agh! Alright! Damn it!" He sighs.
"Good kitty" Marinette scratched his chin.
"Well, I gotta go, Princess. See you soon" He got out of the hatch.
Jumping from roof to roof to find something he can hunt after, "Anything shiny" He looks around and spots a robbery at the jewelry store and he growled angrily. He jumps from roof to roof and smashed through the glass window, spotting hostages and the ninja gang. The ninja leader screamed in Japanese, ordering the henchmen to grab whatever they can find.
"I don't fight ninjas but you stole my style of robbery" Cat Noir spoke in Japanese.
"KILL HIM!" The leader shouted.
One thug tried to kick Cat Noir only to be blocked and chopped in his chest and thrown over by the feline. Next, he dodged punches and kicks the other thug in the gut. He soon grabbed another thug who was gonna kick him but he made him kick his comrade instead, proceeding to back kick one thug and threw the one he was holding towards the wall. He ran towards the ninja leader and grabs the gun from him, firing at the rest of the ninjas, causing panic in the store.
"Surrender or face my fury" He warned them in Japanese.
"You moron! You killed my colleagues!" The leader said in Japanese.
"This is my city and I own it! Get out!" Cat Noir aims the gun at him.
"You'll regret it, Cat Noir! I will get more men!" The leader spoke angrily in Japanese and leaps up the buildings.
"Bullshit" Cat Noir scoffed and looks at the hostages in fear, "You're welcome," He said coldly and walks out.
He didn't even bother to take the gold the ninjas were stealing. Ladybug swung in and tried to get close to her kitty but he hissed at her, telling her to back off. But she didn't budge and landed in front of him.
"Cat Noir! Stand down! Let's settle this without a fight. These fights have been pointless of what you're hiding. No weapons around" She drops her yo-yo to the ground to prove she's unarmed.
"Why should I trust you? You'll just turn me in! You don't know what I have to suffer from! Do you think your compassion will make me feel better? All you do is hurt me a lot! Remember when you threw me in the trash bin? That was very unforgivable!" Cat Noir snarled.
"I know, it was wrong of me! I really shouldn't have done that!" Ladybug pleaded apologetically.
"I'm not here to fight you or to turn you in. I know you're hurt and it's not just because of me. I overheard you mentioning you cataclysm someone against your will!" Ladybug pushed for answers.
"NO! I'm not gonna explain what happened!" Cat Noir refused and heard police dogs barking, "You liar!" He ran into the alley to get away from the dogs.
"Stop!" Ladybug ran after him.
Cat Noir doesn't fight animals but he didn't want to get bitten by dogs, "That's enough you guys! I'm not even a real cat you think I am!" He jumped over the fence and onto the roof, "Goddamn it!" He noticed Ladybug still nearby but she just looked regretful and sad.
"Okay, if this is where it ends, So be it" She just walked slowly on the rooftops away from him.
But then got startled by Cat Noir being super-fast as he pinned her against the chimney wall, "Give one good reason why I should talk about my pain?" He hissed.
"You are hiding something about cataclysm someone against your will. It's eating you up the more you hide it. Please let me help you and for once listen to your conscience. Who cataclysm himself or herself?" Ladybug pleaded.
"You'll hate me if I told you his name," Cat Noir said, groaning from her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, "I said this would look like sex" He stroked her legs.
"Kitty, was it Shadow Moth?" Ladybug guessed.
Cat Noir sighed fearfully and nodded, nibbling her neck, "Haaaaaaah, but why?" She asked.
"He wanted to traumatize me by rather killing himself than facing justice. He just turned to ash and once I took the miraculous that was left, I was gonna turn them over to you until all that day I heard you were gonna replace me" Cat Noir told half the story, minus his identity.
Hearing this, Ladybug felt more guilt consuming her, "Oh, Kitty. How could he go so far breaking you like that?"
"Because.....He's my father. Plagg, claws in" He detransformed.
"Adrien Agreste?! You're Cat Noir?!" Ladybug gasps.
"Yes, I am. Why do you think I'm dead for a year? Because I'm an orphan and I don't want to leave Paris. I was forced to live with that memory of killing my own father! That's who I am, milady! I kill bad men because they are exactly like my father who traumatized everyone! They crush everyone's hopes and dreams the same way my father did to me!" Adrien sobs angrily, "You only see Cat Noir as a joke but you never saw how desperate he was to find love!"
"Adrien, I had no idea how much you've gone through; I never thought your father was such a monster to break your spirit like that. I'm a horrible guardian and I'm too focused on my duties. I understand you don't want to forgive me; you got this Marinette Dupain Cheng" Ladybug said, feeling pity and regret.
"I don't know if I can forgive you, milady. I've been through a lot. Give me time. Plagg, claws out" He transformed back, "Ever since my father betrayed me, I lost everything" Cat Noir pole-vaulted away to go do his crimes.
Ladybug felt too sad to go after him, so she just heads the opposite way.