Marinette

My legs threatened to give out under me as I launched myself over yet another building. The Banshee was incredibly agile, and it was as if her hair had a life of its own; it helped her scale over walls with ease, and therefore put more distance between us. My lungs hurt with every breath I took, and I could feel myself slowing down. It was as if my entire body was giving up on me, though I knew it was probably one of the Banshee's abilities.

Her powers seemed to be centred on sadness and defeat, and it seeped deeply into the heads of the people she passed by. I noticed that people staggered backwards as she vaulted past, their bewilderment turning into distant expressions and blank stares. She was making people depressed. I tried my best to hit her with any attacks as soon as she was within range, but she always dodged easily and carried on zooming across busy roads, up buildings and through crowds of unsuspecting civillians. It didn't take me long to realize that she wasn't trying to fight me, and that she was going in a very specific direction.

She was leading me somewhere, and judging by how unperturbed she was by my company, I wasn't going to like the destination.

I waited until we reached a less busy street, and with a low grunt, I swung onto the side of a grocery store and propelled myself off the wall with enough force to send me flying right over the akuma. I hurled my yo-yo at a nearby streetlight just before I would have smashed into the ground. The change in momentum swung me around the streetlight in a wide arc, and I aimed my legs for a double kick just as the Banshee reached the middle of the road.

She soared backwards and collapsed in a heap on the ground, clutching her stomach. I took a moment to catch my breath, letting my yo-yo return to my grasp before shouting, "Sorry, I think we had a bit of a misunderstanding back there, since you apparently thought I was going wherever you wanted to take me." I swung at her body, wrapping the yo-yo around her until she was bound up tight. "Maybe we should talk this out first, Banshee."

She looked up at me again, and I tried not to shudder. Those cold, emotionless voids seemed to reach into me and coil around my soul, trying to suffocate it. It was becoming physically painful to look at her.

"There is nothing to say, Hero of Paris," she whispered. "I see into your heart. I see it being pulled in many directions at once. A heart in such turmoil only needs to be set free."

"Lemme guess. Hawkmoth's the one that can set me free? That's why he wants you to bring me to him."

"Oh, no." she smiled almost sweetly. "I am the one who can set you free. All you need to do is let me."

I snorted. "I think not."

Her lips twisted into a sneer, and her hair rippled violently, sending my yo-yo rebounding into my face instantly. I stumbled back, winded, and then a crushing kick to my spine had me writhing on the ground. I looked up just in time to see her fist swinging at me, and I rolled away, leaping back to my feet.

"I do not wish to fight you, Ladybug."

"Yeah," I said sarcastically, and then charged at her. She moved to the right at the last minute, and I took the opportunity to swipe my leg against hers, tripping her. She bounced back up instantly, and I brought my yo-yo across her face before punching her right in the solar plexus. She doubled over with a wheeze, and after a roundhouse kick to the back, she was on the ground.

"Want to have that talk now?" I asked, but my confidence petered out once I heard the low chuckle she gave. Once again, those black eyes stared into my soul, torturing it.

"Like I said, I do not wish to fight you. I only want to help you let go."

As she said those words, the feeling of misery intensified exponentially. Suddenly those black eyes were all that I could see, and my soul wasn't being suffocated anymore. It was being caressed, and I felt peace I had never even dreamed of having before.

Peace, a soft whisper echoed in my mind.

I felt a tear slip down my cheek.

"Yes," she said. "Give in. Give in to the voices in your head."

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Adrien

Marinette is Ladybug. Marinette is Ladybug. Marinette is Ladybug.

The single sentence played over and over in my head. Just three words, three simple words that looked so insignificant but meant so much, meant everything because they were so surreal and definite and permanent...

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't risk it because I knew even the slightest intake of breath would blow my cover. I didn't know what I would do, but I knew it would be fast and bad. As fast as the realization had hit when I discovered it all.

Pictures flooded my brain. Her height, her stature, her eyes, her laugh, her voice. Her fucking hair. It was all the same. Everything was the same because they were—she was—

How the hell had I been so dense? Why couldn't I see it, in all those days we spent talking to each other, all those times taking in Ladybug's features and trying to imagine them without the mask and somehow not coming up with the most obvious answer on the planet. Why didn't I see? Why didn't I try to? Why didn't she tell me?

Why the hell was I so fucking stupid?

I could see the place now. There was already a huge crowd of civilians forming, most of them with forlorn looks on their faces. I could see the akuma smiling, and I could see her. The very sight of her made me want to scratch off my own skin.

I searched in my head. Chaos made to speak, but I flung him into the corner of my head and pulled up a mental wall so violently that he stayed goddamn quiet for a change. My focus was on Plagg. I was too far gone to think coherent words, but I managed to pass the message through. I could feel him mulling over my question.

I don't know, kid.

I didn't care if he was sure or not. I needed him to transform me. I needed to stop the akuma so there'd be just me and her and I could have all my questions answered, if I could resist the urge to make that horrid dream Chaos had planted in my brain a reality. It didn't seem so horrid now, given the circumstances.

You can't fight like this, Adrien. You're going to kill someone. The seriousness in his voice didn't deter me. He was right. Killing a human being had never been so pleasing a thought until just now.

"I'll be fine," I growled out, because I couldn't think. I couldn't think because if I tried my traitorous mind would stray to them, and then I would lose control because they were the same person. Once again comprehension slammed into me like a brick, and I forced my mind to go blank before I did something moronic like cry.

"Plagg," I hissed, and he let go. I released Chaos and closed my eyes, feeling the familiar feeling of the transformation engulf me like a blanket, and in that instant, a switch flipped in my head, and Adrien was dormant. I took a second to pull myself together, and then I flipped out my staff and propelled myself forward, scaling building after building until the crowd of people was right underneath me. I peered downward at the akuma, because I couldn't look at her. I let my clenched fist relax, and took a deep breath.

"Answers," I whispered, and then I jumped.

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Marinette

I stared at him as he landed nimbly in front of me, as silent as ever. My eyes widened and the trance I had fallen in shattered into pieces.

"Jeez, Bug-a-boo, you couldn't even call me so I could join the party?" He said, his back to me. "You were having so much fun! That's not fair, y'know."

I didn't speak, partly because I had nothing to say, and partly because of the same reason. Luckily my silence wasn't noticeable since the civilians who had not been affected by the Banshee's depression-inducing ability were cheering wildly.

"So, see any object yet?"

I blinked. "N-no. Too much hair," I said breathlessly.

"I see."

"Chat Noir," the Banshee called out to him. "I see into your soul. I see the truth, and we both know how much you're hiding it."

He paused for a moment, and then tilted his head to the side. "Does she always say weird things like that?" he asked, and I nodded. "Well, we're gonna have to get this over with as soon as possible, then!"

"Wait!" I grabbed his arm before he could head toward her. "You shouldn't go near her. She makes people depressed. I'm not sure how, but—"

"Oh, I can feel it from here. But don't worry." He turned to face me slowly, and my heart dropped into my stomach. He was flashing his signature lopsided grin, but I had never seen eyes as soulless and empty as his in my entire life. "I've been through far worse. You should know, shouldn't you, Bug-a-boo?"

He gently pushed my hand away and winked before turning back to the Banshee. I started shaking; that stare was more terrible than anything I had ever seen in my life. It was almost uncanny how, even with an akuma such as the Banshee, my own partner would be my undoing.

I suddenly didn't want the fight to end. I wanted the Banshee to win so I wouldn't have to deal with the crippling fear pulsing through my body right now because I knew that I had screwed up on an otherworldly level.

A shrill cry of "Ladybug!" shook me out of my trance instantly. My eyes darted to the pale-faced civilian, to the crowd of civilians surrounding me. I had to protect them, and if it meant having to look at those eyes again then I'd have to power through it.

We sprinted for the akuma at exactly the same time. I yanked my yo-yo, unravelling her from the string fast enough to leave her winded. Chat got to her first; one hard whack with his staff sent her sprawling. I tied her up again and together we scanned for an object to destroy. I could feel the effects of her ability slowly overtaking my senses again, making a strong feeling of dread settle in my gut.

"I'll say it again," the Banshee whispered. "I do not wish to fight you."

"All signs point to the exact opposite of that statement," Chat said flatly, and she laughed. It was a low, soft chuckle that hit me in the gut with misery, but Chat didn't flinch.

"Don't try to hide, little cat," she said. "I see the darkness in your heart. Heaven only knows how you were not consumed by the evil within you sooner."

My eyes narrowed. The evil within him? I knew now that there was something very, very wrong going on, but Chat couldn't be evil. He couldn't. I knew him.

Though at that point, I couldn't really be sure anymore.

"Okay, I've had enough of your creepiness for one day," he said. "I'm not buying this 'not fighting us' junk, so tell us why you're really here, Banshee. What do you want?"

"To let the true feelings of the heart take over." Her smile turned into a simper. "I was not sent here to fight or weaken you. I only needed to get the two of you in the same place, and you did that by yourselves."

We both froze. The Banshee's eyes grew wide with glee.

"People think the only thing banshees can do is scream, but very few know what we can really do," she whisper-laughed as her hair pulled itself free of its bonds and coiled into a large cloud of black that towered over me and Chat. "So tell me, young heroes..."

The dread in my stomach coiled into a powerful feeling of foreboding.

"...Have you ever heard a banshee sing?"

A low, haunting melody echoed throughout the entire street, and the feeling slammed into me like a truck. I sank to my knees, my vision blurring. As my senses faded away, I saw the faces of each and every civilian go blank. Some fell to the ground, some just stared into space. The last thing I saw was Chat holding his head, and then darkness was everywhere.

Darkness was everything.

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Word Count: 2179.

Umm, so there should be less than ten chapters left for this story. Just wanted to give ya a heads-up.

What are your thoughts on this chapter? I read every one of the comments (they light up even the dullest day) and I really liked writing this chapter, so...yeah.

Seeya when I seeya.