Marinette walked along the long streets, headed towards her home. Her boots splashed into the puddles of muddy water from the rain. Her hair was wet from getting soaked and hung limply on her shoulders.
"Marinette? Are you alright?" Asked Tikki from inside her purse.
Marinette didn't reply and walked home with her head hung down low. After everything she had been through, she hadn't thought that she would have to choose between the two people she cared about the most. She had known that it would come down to this one day but she hadn't expected it to be today. She trudged home constantly looking up at the sky to let the rain wash her tears.
Meanwhile, Luka and Adrien were still locked in battle at the ice rink. Adrien's hand lay on top of Luka's trying to get the bracelet that was tightly grasped in his fist. They lay struggling on the ice, too busy to notice the black butterfly that flew in through the glass windows. They heard the fluttering of the Akuma's wings but it was too late. The Akuma dissolved into the bracelet darkening it making it look like the bottom of a bottomless pit that both Adrien and Luka had fallen into.
They straightened up still tightly clutching onto the cursed bracelet. A red mask painted their faces around their eyes as they growled at each other while Hawk Moth spoke in their minds.
"Hawk Moth is my name and Twister is now yours. I will help you avenge your broken heart and all you have to do in return is help me get something from Ladybug and Chat Noir. Their jewels."
"Yes, Hawk Moth..." Growled Luka giving into Hawk Moth's power, his deep voice bouncing off of the walls of the stadium.
"Solitude... So you think nobody loves you? I will assist you to isolate the one you truly love but you have to spare Ladybug, Chat Noir and me from your curse. I require their jewels and I want to watch their downfall. Now, do we have an agreement?"
"Don't worry, Hawk Moth. I already have one Miraculous in my grasp so it's only Ladybug I need." Smirked Adrien tightening his hold on his end of the bracelet.
"But how?" Asked Hawk Moth wanting to know how his son had gotten his hands on Chat Noir's Miraculous.
"That's for me to know and you to find out. But since you are the one asking, I already know where the black cat Miraculous is and I have a plan to get it." Frowned Adrien, the rational part of him begging him to keep Chat Noir's identity a secret.
Hawk Moth sighed in relief. He had suspected that his son was Chat Noir but deep down, he knew that it was impossible. Hawk Moth had seen both Adrien and Chat Noir in the same place before and once again, his suspicions were proved wrong. He knew that Adrien could never hide anything from Gabriel and now, when he was under his control, Hawk Moth knew that the boy's honesty was surfacing.
Hawk Moth nodded letting his power flow from him to his newest victims. Adrien and Luka braced themselves feeling the dark power bubble from the bracelet. The sinister energy spread through their bodies covering them in blackish-purple bubbles, transforming them.
Marinette stood in front of the bakery in the pouring rain, her hand resting on the door handle. She exerted a light force slightly pushing the door but halted when she heard a small groan from her purse. Marinette gasped and opened her purse to see Tikki curled up into a ball, sniffling and shaking.
"Tikki? Are you alright?" Asked Marinette taking her kwami into her hands to warm her up.
"Marinette... Master Fu..." Mumbled Tikki in her feverish state.
"Okay!" Whispered Marinette immediately facing her back to her home and running off towards the guardian's house in the rain pouring down in torrents.
The sky lit up frequently illuminated by lightning that crackled in the sky while Marinette ran across the lonely roads, the sound of her boots echoing.
"We're almost there, Tikki." Whispered Marinette trying her best to shield the purse from the harsh rain.
Marinette's hair lashed like a whip at her face and neck as the wind tried its best to force Marinette back. Yet, she was determined to get to her destination. She pushed against the wind with the force of her will and finally reached Master Fu's house. She crashed into the living room through the front door collapsed onto the ground.
"Marinette?" Asked Master Fu observing the soaking wet girl in front of him.
"Master... Tikki... She's sick!" Marinette panted getting onto her knew.
She handed Tikki to Master Fu with shaking hands and watched as Master Fu examined her.
"She's sick alright. But I'm afraid I can't heal her like last time." Sighed Master Fu placing Tikki on a plush cushion.
"What do you mean, Master?" Marinette asked warming herself with her hands.
"I can heal her. But it's going to take a few days. Or even weeks. Her energy has been completely drained and it seems like she hasn't told you."
"Told me what?" Questioned Marinette stiffening as Tikki groaned in her sleep.
"Her condition wouldn't have worsened if she had just told you. This sickness doesn't appear suddenly but gradually. She must have felt it a few days ago but must have kept quiet. And with all the Lucky Charms you've been calling on, her condition must have worsened." Explained Master Fu.
"Oh no! This is all my fau-"
"No, Marinette. You are the best Ladybug Paris could have asked for and it's not your fault. She would have agreed with me if she weren't asleep." Smiled Master Fu pointing at Tikki with his chin.
"Just give me a few days and I'll inform you of her condition. Till then, you can have another Miraculous. But be careful. Without your little push of luck, Hawk Moth has an advantage. We can't delay the inevitable so you'll have to ask Chat to Cataclysm the Akuma. There's no other way." Added Master Fu.
Marinette nodded and removed her earrings, handing them over to Master Fu for safekeeping. She glanced at Tikki one last time and got up to leave.
"Aren't you going to pick a Miraculous?" Asked Master Fu.
"No, Master. I'll have to come by later. Right now, I have to make things right before it's too late. I'm not going to rely on second chances and wait for my problems to solve themselves. I'm going to fix everything." Said Marinette.
Master Fu nodded, pride shining in his eyes as he watched Marinette walk out the door now more confident than the girl who had come tumbling in.
The bubbles surrounding Adrien and Luka cleared leaving behind two fully transformed supervillains.
Adrien, now known as Solitude, stood tall and proud on the ice, his melancholic shadow casting a black sheet over the ice. His body was covered in a grey suit that ran up to his elbows from his collarbones. The material faded into an almost silver from his elbows to his wrists, showing off his deathly pale arms and hands. Silver gloves adorned his hands starting from his wrists and were decorated with tiny diamonds, each representing a broken heart. The suit that matched his decaying soul seemed to be giving off an air of coldness while an identically grey coloured mask framed his eyes and ran up to his cheekbones ending with an elegant 'S' embellishing his pale cheekbones. More diamonds depicting Adrien's heartbreak ran across the 'S', making his face look much paler. Solitude's eyes shined dark and purple, filled with the venom oozing from his broken heart. His grey skin-tight suit shimmered with the dim light of his soul slowly being conquered by the shadows of all the negative emotions in him. Clouds were swirling on his suit and flashes of lightning illuminated the outlines of the darkening clouds as his soul was slowly being consumed by darkness. He watched as his shadow enlarged under him drowning anything and everything in Solitude's sea of sorrow. Solitude looked less like a human and more like a ghost, his skin almost see-through but dotted with ugly purple bruises. The bruises his heart had taken from all the long painful months of suffering and rejection, now visible for the world to see. He felt a pull on the bracelet and looked to his side to see Luka aka, Twister standing beside him.
Twister was wearing elegant robes that cast a red glow on the ice below him. The plush red material of the robes swished in a nonexistent wind at his Twister's feet. The thick golden lining bordering the robes shimmered in a glow that hurt anyone's eyes if they looked at it for too long. Twister looked like a normal magician with a wizard's hat of the same blood-red colour perched on the top of his head. The hat was slightly tipped forward at the top and was decorated with tiny gold stars shimmering in the same harsh glow as his robes. Twister stood on the ice, one hand tightly clutching the Akumatised bracelet and the other holding a tall wooden staff. The staff was designed with intricate gold words that almost looked like incantations. The wooden staff was a long slender cane that curled up at the top to reveal a snake's head with black diamonds for eyes. It seemed to be made of metal as it reflected the light from Twister's hat. The black diamonds on the snake sparkled as if the snake were alive and was staring intently at its Master, blinking constantly. Twister looked more human with his slightly tanned skin and black eyes, unlike Solitude. But it was obvious that there was something much more sinister about him, waiting to materialize at the right time.
"Give it to me." Growled Twister pulling on the Lucky Charm.
"No." Replied Solitude pulling the bracelet towards himself.
Twister growled and held his free hand out in front of him. A blue orb of energy appeared in his hand, levitating just above his palm. Twister threw the energy ball towards Solitude. Solitude simply bent backwards as the ball of pure energy passed right above him, just mere inches from his face. Solitude straightened up and smirked at Twister. Solitude glanced back at where the ball of energy had landed on the ice. It was embedded in the ice but at the same time, it wasn't. It was immersed in Solitude's shadow that seemed to be absorbing the colour out of the orb of energy. The ball sank into Solitude's shadow and disappeared from view as Solitude's shadow expanded. Twister growled but he had many tricks up his sleeves. One of them was attacking Solitude from the front and pushing him onto his own slowly expanding shadow. Solitude landed roughly on the ice but his shadow acted as a blanket cushioning his fall.
"That's enough! One of you two take the bracelet and get me Ladybug's Miraculous. You're supposed to fight her. Not each other!" Shouted Hawk Moth through the purple outline of a mask that had appeared on the villains' faces.
The two villains nodded and Solitude handed the Akumatised object to Twister, worried that it might fall into his shadow and never resurface again. Twister gladly accepted the bracelet and made it vanish, assuring Solitude that it was safely tucked in his magical sub-pockets.
"Shall we begin?" Asked Twister with his deep voice.
Solitude nodded knowing exactly what had to be done. He folded his hands on his stomach and abruptly, spread them like a fierce eagle swooping down to catch its prey. With a howl, Solitude commanded his shadow to expand from under him, sending out shock waves throughout the city of Paris. Paris shook violently as the shadow passed under it, knocking the stones on the paved roads loose. The grey vortex passed under the city draining the colour out of everything it came across. The shadow moved in search of Marinette and Hawk Moth. It felt Marinette's presence closer to her house and felt the power of the moth Miraculous along with the immense power radiating off of many Miraculous from the right bank of the Seine. Ignoring the other Miraculous, the shadow focused on Marinette and Hawk Moth and true to Solitude's power, it threw everyone else into another timeline, freezing them in time. But Solitude did not feel the power of Ladybug's Miraculous and concluded that she hasn't transformed yet.
"Done." Smirked Solitude folding his arms.
Marinette felt the ground under her feet shake as the tiny pebbles littering the roads scattered. She watched as the colours of the street drained away leaving only a black and white background. She looked down at herself seeing that she was still wearing her Ladybug inspired outfit in full colour. She stood out on the melancholic background like a sore thumb, looking around and up at the sky. The clouds that had been a deep grey colour just a few seconds ago were now white as if someone had sucked the colour out of everything, living and dead except her.
Not knowing what to do, Marinette continued her way to the ice rink wanting to get there before it was too late. She took in her surroundings keeping her eyes and ears open on high alert for something stranger than what was happening right then and there.
Marinette rubbed her arms trying to keep herself warm. She was still dripping from running in the rain and the wind that blew seemed more evil than friendly. The wind chilled Marinette to the bone as if it were foreshadowing her future for her. But nothing could stop her. Even though she had no idea that she was walking into a trap, Marinette was dead set on driving her messed up life onto the correct road and to take the matters of her heart into her own hands. Finally, Marinette arrived at the ice rink to see that it too had been drained of its colour, looking like the rest of Paris.
Taking a deep breath, Marinette boldly pushed against the doors despite their creaking and stepped in.
Word Count: 2387 {Excluding this}
~Edited~