Mari Dupain-Cheng read her school file. Adrien Agrest read his. They'd scrambled to make their names alternate to themselves, but his name was still the famous model's. Which still made it obvious he had changed. As in, he was no longer 'sweet, naïve, kind,' pathetic and digsutingly revolting. Adrien glanced over at Mari, who was scowling at her picture.
"What's up, Mari?"
"My photo's not decent. At all."
"Get revenge then," Adrien replied while looking at his with disgust. He hated smiling. Well, as Adrien anyhow.
"Adrien."
He glanced up at her, and startled. Her expression was completely open. And she was being...gentle?
"Uh...yes?" he asked in a small voice.
"Burn this."
She tossed him her photo and he caught it rather clumsily. He peeked at it, and he managed to keep his expression blank. She looked...good?
"But of course, Shade."
He fumbled to find a match and failing to find one, transformed and cataclysmed her photo. Mari gave him a surprised look.
"Uh...okay. That works too..."
She looked very hesitant.
"What? You wanted it destroyed."
"Uh...yeah, but I didn't expect...that. You went through a ton of effort for me. You could've just thrown it in my face, like usual."
"And?"
"You're just being...weird, that's all," Mari coughed then turned back to her files.
"Did you steal those, Mari?"
Mari shrugged one shoulder.
"Maybe, but you can't prove anything. These files will be gone when we're done here."
"Don't we have the Butterfly Miraculous? We could leave right now."
Mari sighed.
"This Paris is harder to conquer. I want to see it burn before we resort to retreating to our old dimension or reality, whatever."
"Sure...but, you know what, I'm not sure how much longer this game will play on for," Adrien said worriedly.
Mari rolled her eyes.
"We'll be fine. I told you, I know what I'm doing."
"Chat Noir's still trapped. He'll eventually transform back."
"Revealing his identity to Ladybug will be the tiny cherry on top of the icing of the cake I'm making."
"Of course," Adrien said shakily, now more than a bit scared by her suddenly monotone, sweet tone. She never, ever, talked sweetshit to him.
"What are you up to today? Going to get some more info for us out of Chat?"
"N-no, not without speaking to you about it first, Shades."
She raised an eyebrow in a very icy manner.
"Since when? Since when do you concern yourself with my permission, Adrien?"
"Uh...Since...uh, we came to a version of Paris that we don't know, Mari?"
She gave him a eyeroll.
"Right. Of course. It took a whole 'nother dimension for you to cooperate and actually get my permission to do anything," she retorted. He winced.
"Someone's in a worse mood than normal," he muttered, silently cursing her out under his breath. Then he raised his head and gave her his bitchiest look that he could manage. She just gave him a look that said, "Don't even try me, you'll get nowhere."
He surrendered.
"Can we focus on what's important? The fact that this school will get suspicious if we don't finish what we started then leave."
Adrien sighed.
"Whatever, but what I do know is that this whole thing is doomed. You haven't really succeeded once."
"I captured Chat Noir, did I not?" Mari retorted, glowering at him.
"Sure, sure, Shades, you did. Your point? What have you gotten out of him?"
She gave him a very pissed-off look.
"More than you."
"Bad comparison," he said with an eyeroll.
"Yeah? Can you do better, Claws?" she snapped. Adrien glared at her.
"You run this whole shitshow, don't you? Then prove yourself better than this, Shadybug. It's killing me to wait for your true evil side. Give it to me. Reveal yourself, Shades. I know you're a lot more cruel and hardcore under that fake façade you insist on."
Her eyes widened and something darkened inside of them.
"I shall not."
He startled.
"No? But-why?"
The expression that crossed her face terrified him.
"Self-control," she gritted out, meeting his gaze, ice in her eyes.
"Uh...I don't get your meaning?"
"I'm Shadybug, right? Not something darker...and certainly not...the demons inside. Relax, Claws, we will succeed and when we do,-" she reached out and punched him in the shoulder, "-you'll go home."
"Great. Thanks, Shades. Then let's get whatever the hell your plan is done as fast as possible."
"As the Black Cat wishes," she muttered in a snarky tone. She dumped the files in the trash and transformed.
"Wait, this involves our other selves?"
"As in I, Shadybug, and you, Claw Noire?"
"Uh...sure?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, yes, it does," she replied. He sighed, and glanced down at the floor.
"Claws out."
Adrien said it so flatly and dead that Shadybug even looked surprised.
"Are you tired or something? You don't normally sound that dead. You usually sound a bit more angry."
"Too bad. I really could care less about what you think I usually sound like. And for you information, yeah, maybe I am tired. Of you."
Shadybug smirked.
"Now there's those claws that I was waiting for."
Claw Noire shot her a pretty powerful glower.
"Shut up, we're not going into your pathetic love for my claws."
"I have none. I could care less about your claws, but it is nice to see them out for the first time since we came here."
He shot her a look.
"You have no idea, Shades," he snapped.
"Come on, show your claws. Be my worthy side-er, partner."
Claw Noire jolted with surprise and shock.
"Did you just call me your worthy partner?" he exclaimed, and met her gaze. She deliberately looked away.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
She sounded flat.
"You just did."
"So what? Show your claws, Claw. Don't be a coward."
He stiffened and he clenched his fists.
"I am no coward! Fine. You want my claws out? Then let's burn Paris into the ground."
A smile spread across her lips before it vanished.
"That's more like it."
She went over to the door and peeked outside. Broad daylight glared back in her face.
"What better time to do it, when everyone's in school? They'll never see it coming. Go deal with Chat Noir, get him out here and use him as bait."
"But-isn't it better to use an illusion? I did take the Fox Miraculous."
"Yeah...I see your point. Sure. But take Chat Noir anyway."
"For safety reasons?"
"Uh-huh."
He disappeared into the depths of the their solo closet and dragged a very dizzy, woozy Chat Noir out of the shadows.
"Now let's go."
Shadybug was the first out of the door, sprinting in broad daylight towards her new favorite place, the Eiffel Tower. Claw Noire shook his head and dragged Chat Noir after her. When they were safely hidden in the Eiffel Tower, he sat down and dropped Chat on the ground, knocking his head against the concrete.
"Well, Shady, what now?"
"Shh."
She put the Butterfly Miraculous on her chest and unified Nooroo and Tikki.
"Wow. Evil, are we?"
He took out the Fox Miraculous and unified Trix and Plagg. Shadybug was now Shadymoth, and Claw Noire was now Noirefox.
"Mirage!"
"Wait-wait!"
Too late, an illusion of a strong, akumatized version of Chat Noir stood in front of them.
"Uh..."
"Who is that?" Chat Noir murmured.
"Chat Blanc," both Noirefox and Chat Blanc said at the same time. Chat Noir looked very wary.
"Well, then, um, now...cast that illusion to destroy Paris."
"As thy lady wishes...er thy Shady."
Noirefox gestured and the illusion was suddenly everywhere in the form of chaos and destruction. People were shouting and screaming in the streets as Chat Blanc wrecked havoc everywhere.
"No! No!" Chat Noir pleaded, while Shadymoth akumatized him. The real Chat Blanc was so close to coming out again, ready to traumatize Ladybug once and for all.
"No! I shall resist!"
"Aw, but your father doesn't love you here. Your father, sweetie pie, is Monarch. He beats you up, distances himself from you and destroys your life. Never resist my power...our power."
Chat Noir stared up at her in shock, surprised past words. Hurt flashed through his face and the akuma won. Chat Blanc rose and Noirefox smirked. Shadymoth's plan was coming together in fragments.
"Reality."
The illusion faded just as Ladybug appeared in the streets, panicked.
"Chat Noir!" her dim voice called.
"Chat Blanc, seize Ladybug...and use your infinite power to bring Paris completely into the ground. Under sea. Underwater, desolate, abandoned, absolutely nothing left. I don't care how you do it," Shadymoth said with a smug grin. Chat Blanc smiled, a cold expression forming on his face. Then he left the Eiffel Tower, where Ladybug eventually spotted him and froze, her expression going carefully blank.
"Chat Noir?"
Shadymoth joined Noirefox's side and they watched as Chat Blanc advanced on Ladybug, missing on purpose with his cataclysms, effectively destroying areas around him before actually aiming and causing Ladybug to fall through the ground.
"Chat Noir! No! You must resist the akuma!"
"I'm not Chat Noir. I am Chat Blanc! And Ladybug, you are in the way of my-our triumphs."
"Who's our? Monarch? Chat Noir, it's not right! Please, don't! Don't help him!"
Chat Blanc laughed, a hoarse sound, and it made Ladybug flinch. She had crawled out of the hole and was dodging his traumatizing movements.
"Chat, please! Resist!"
"Why should I? There's nothing here! Nobody that I know truly loves me, Ladybug, you could almost say I'm destinied to be Chat Blanc, to destroy. Isn't that all I've done, my lady?" he hissed and slashed at her. Ladybug dodged him while Noirefox and Shadymoth watched from above, grinning as their plan's pieces fell into place.
"Well, well, well, Noirefox, looks like I'm smarter than I appear."
"How thoughtful, Shades," he muttered, his hands itching to cast an illusion or destroy something.
"Mhm."
She looked absentminded as she watched the two Miraculous holders duel it out.
"Chat Noir!"
"Now Chat Blanc," Shadymoth purred. Chat Blanc lunged and swept her off her feet.
"Wait-"
He cataclysmed the ground below her and watched her fall.
"Chat Blanc, cataclysm a building and have it fall over that hole."
Chat Blanc obeyed, and it thudded over the hole, making the ground shudder and shake.
"Perfect. Now burn Paris to the ground in any means you wish."
The akumatized villain set to work, spreading chaos everywhere while Shadymoth turned back to Noirefox.
"Here's the plan. While Chat Blanc destroys Paris, we kidnap Ladybug, take her to the alternate dimension we came from and let our own world destroy her. After all...we do rule there, do we not, Noirefox?"
"We do indeed. I just love your plan, it's so smart. And there'll be nothing...nobody to protect Paris here. Our first destroyed dimension, Shades," he replied with a smirk.
"Indeed. Ready?"
"Always."
Together, the two of them lunged down for the hole, Noirefox landing gracefully side-by-side Shadymoth. They peeked into the hole, where Ladybug was struggling to summon a lucky charm that wouldn't keep falling on her head and smashing to pieces.
"Hey! You akumatized him!"
"Yeah. Why'd you say Monarch?"
Ladybug blinked.
"I did?"
"Yeah."
Noirefox rolled his eyes and used his staff to hit her in the head. She did not go down. She seized it and flipped him around. Shadymoth sighed.
"Noirefox?"
"Shades?" he said through gritted teeth.
"Cataclysm her yoyo."
"Cataclysm!"
His hand flew to her yoyo and Ladybug scrambled away. Too late, his claws brushed her yoyo. It turned to nothing and Ladybug gasped. Shadymoth lunged and tackled her while Noirefox found his staff and slammed it into Ladybug's skull. This time, she went under and her body went limp. Shadymoth smiled in victory.
"Now we leave."
She summoned out her jar, which had been somehow in her own yoyo and smashed it on the ground. A portal opened and Noirefox was the first one through, dragging Ladybug. Shadymoth looked behind her, smirked as more ash and rocks fell down, then dashed through the portal just as it snapped shut again. Ladybug, Shadymoth, and Noirefox were all back in their home dimension, and Paris was left without a single protector. The Miraculous remained to be found.