7. Blame and Losses

"I love the stars."

The two of you were no older than seven or eight, and you sat on the rooftop balcony just above your room. It was way past your bedtime and the two of you felt especially sneaky for being out there.

"Why do you love them?" Marinette asked with a puzzled expression, being this was the first time you mentioned this.

You shrugged and turned to look into her big bluebell eyes. "They remind me that there's a whole world of people out there waiting for me to meet...it makes me feel less lonely."

Marinette snorted, "How do you even think you're alone?"

You shook your head, "I didn't say alone, I said lonely."

"Wrong you can't be lonely." She said simply.

You furrowed your eyebrows, confused why she was fighting you on this. "Why?" You asked softly and she turned and faced you with a goofy grin.

"Because you have me silly! You can't ever be lonely with a twin, we're like built in best friends!" She giggled and held out her pinky towards you.

You smiled, happy with her response. "Always and forever?" You asked as you held up your pinky too.

"Always and forever." The two of you linked your pinkies, before falling asleep under the watchful eye of the stars.

"Peace Wrecker," His voice drew out every letter in the name he assigned to you.

You were gripping your head and trying desperately to fight back against him. "Who...the hell...are you?!" You gasped out and continued to grip your hair tighter, "Let go of me dammit!" You screamed as the tension in your head caused tears to poor from your eyes. The echoing sound of his sly laugh rang through your ears.

"Don't struggle now...all I want to do is help you. Peace Wrecker, my name is Shadow Moth. I personally wanted to welcome you back to Paris."His condescending voice droned on. "Ever since you returned you've felt nothing but, dread, sadness, anger." Every time he spoke he put more emphasis on the emotions you've been feeling.

"Fuck...off!" You cried out, desperate for air.

"Fight it Y/n!" You heard Marinette yell but her voice was barely processing in your head as you tried to fight off his power.

"Everyone around you has made you feel miserable for returning...I simply want to help you get revenge on all of those who have hurt you. Take away their peace! Make all of them feel as worthless and angry as you feel! I can give you the power to do all of this...all I need from you in return is Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous."

In the end, Shadow Moth's desire won over your dwindling will to fight.

"Yes...Shadow Moth." Tears streamed down your cheeks as you were submerged in his power.

Marinette began to run, yelling over her shoulder, "Everyone! Hide!" She dashed out of her friend's eye line to transform.

Marinette ducked in an alleyway and Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse. "Marinette..." her voice was disapproving and sad.

But her eyes, she looked fearful.

"I know Tikki! Jeez I know! I just don't even know why I'm like that!" Marinette sobbed.

"Jealousy. Marinette, not everything is her fault, I think-"

Marinette gritted her teeth, not wanting to hear her kwami say all of the things she already knew, "Tikki, spots on."

"Wait—Marinette-"

Marinette ran out of the alley as Ladybug with a pained expression across her face. She made her way back to the barge to find you standing on the very top of it.

You were laughing maniacally and spinning around dangerously close to the edge of the houseboat. You were now covered in a skin tight body suit that was black on the torso and thighs, and your arms and legs were adorned with a bright red fabric. You had a spiky black mask on your eyes and your backpack had morphed into the source of your evil magic, as you shot your power through the straps on the sides of your backpack that now connected with the black latex gloves on your hands.

"Anger...isolation." You called out with your arms held wide as you stared down at your cowering friends. "All of you deserve to feel how I do!" Your voice echoed throughout the streets of Paris, disturbing the peace. The pitch of your voice left your mouth in visible sound waves, breaking the branches off the trees and knocking over cars. Ladybug noticed the tears streaming down your face as you shot a beam of energy at the group.

Luka, Juleka, Rose, Mylene, and Ivan all went into a frenzy. Luka and Ivan were in the midst of a fist fight. Ladybug went wide eyed from worry that they were going to throw each other overboard.

Rose and Mylene were screaming at each other, and Juleka laid in a fetal position, unable to move. She was completely overwhelmed by sadness and loneliness as she watched the anger consume her loved ones.

Ladybug was frozen as she watched your vile actions in horror. She tried to move, to reach out to you, but it was as if her feet glued to the ground the moment she saw your tears.

She wasn't worthy of comforting you when you cried.

You hopped down on the deck and faced Zoe head on. She cowered at your presence which made your wicked grin only widen. "I saved the best for you, my one and only friend." You gathered your power with a simple lift of your hand as your face fell emotionless and shot it at Zoe.

She was sent into a massive wave of tremors as every single emotion you had felt since returning to Paris overwhelmed her. The sadness you felt for leaving the city of your dreams, the frustration you felt for your sister, the social isolation you caused yourself, and the overwhelming anger.

Zoe felt it all.

Ladybug stood there with tears forming in her eyes, because she knew all of this was her fault.

She didn't know how to fight her sister, the one time it truly counted.

"M'lady, what're your doing standing here when there's an akumatized victim right in front of you?" Chat Noir was now standing next to her with his hands and chin placed against his staff.

He stood there with her, ever hopeful that she knew exactly what she was doing. His hope fell when he saw her eyes.

Ladybug's lip trembled and she felt the horrible trembling sensation fall to her chin, "I-It's my...fault." Her voice was hardly audible and Chat Noir placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to help her regain her calm.

"What?" His voice was soft, but tense.

Ladybug shook her head, trying to regain her confidence. Her eyes met his and she morphed her expression to show her seriousness—even though her eyes were soaked with tears.

"That's Y/n Dupain-Cheng. We need to help her fast. The akuma is in her backpack." She spoke is short, choppy sentences.

The life from Chat Noir's skin seemed to drain at the mention of her name. 'Y/n?'

Chat Noir lifted his hand to hoist himself in the air with his staff. His hands were shaking from emotional backlash of terrifying situation. He was immediately brought back to that night he approached you on the ledge. He remembered thinking if you made one wrong move that you would be dead on the ground in front of you. His worries for you only grew when you confessed how out of place and lonely you felt living here.

He couldn't save you.

There you were tormenting yourself and your friends and he couldn't save you. He failed you again. You already left once and now, all he could see was the faint image of you walking away from them all again.

He refused to let that happen.

Chat Noir let out a low growl, angry at whoever made you upset enough to get to this state.

He took a deep, steadying breath and extended his staff. Chat held out his arm to Ladybug, his face almost emotionless. The only proof of worry was the tension scrunched up between his tightly furrowed brows.

"Come on," he spoke as he pulled her against him, "Let's go save her."

You were pacing the deck of the ship as you watched your friends wreck the thing entirely. Zoe was writhing on the ground in front of you and you had a look of disappointment.

"This is boring." You groaned as Zoe continued to sob, not able to move her body or control her emotions.

"Then why don't you try and switch courses? Maybe go after the miraculous?" His voice was tense and laced with anger as his words ran through you.

"They haven't even showed up yet! Fucking Marinette is gone and that bitch needs to drown in the god damned ocean!" You screamed.

'Stop it Y/n! Stop it please!' You cried out to yourself, far back inside your mind. Your body was moving and speaking on its own. Yes, you did feel everything that was being revealed, but you never wanted to inflict that same pain on anyone else.

You especially didn't want to kill your sister.

"MARINETTE!" Your scream sent another visible wave of disturbances throughout the city streets and you noticed that the pedestrians fell over at the strength of your voice.

You grinned wickedly, "Now that's quality entertainment." Tears still fell from your eyes, serving as the only proof that your consciousness still resided somewhere in your body.

There was a hard kick to your back, making you scream as you toppled over. You landed on your stomach and lifted your head slightly to see Chat Noir pointing his staff towards you.

"Chat Noir." Your voice was spiteful but your eyes were filled with fear.

He noticed the sadness deep in your eyes, coated with tears. It was a look he saw in himself all the time. You jumped up and moved to sweep his legs out from under him. Instead of his balance being thrown off, he kicked your legs out from under you.

You landed on the ground with a loud thud, and Chat Noir immediately pinned you to the ground. He hovered over you, holding one hand to the left side of your face and his right hand pressed firmly to your right shoulder. He held your head still to force you to look into his eyes.

"Fight it, Y/n." His voice held strong, "I'm here with you. I know I was too late, but I promise you I'm here now." He let so much of his Adrien side show as he spoke to you.

"I..." Your voice sounded completely breathless, "want too." You sobbed.

"Then do it." Was all he said, believing in your strength wholeheartedly.

You sucked in a deep breath of air before you let out your loudest, blood curdling scream. Ladybug called her lucky charm behind the two of you to fix any damage caused. Ladybug watched you, not with the eyes of a hero but the eyes of your sister. She admired your strength and felt so proud of you for fixing the mess you made.

You let out a cry of relief as you broke free of Shadow Moth's power. Chat Noir held you tightly against him as you regained yourself. You sobbed and breathed uncontrollably as you were held tightly against him.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" You choked out in disbelief. You remembered everything, and you were so ashamed for the pain you caused your friends.

As soon as you calmed down, Ladybug approached you slowly. She crouched down onto the level you were on with her partner. She held out a charm to you that was a ladybug pattern colored with the flag of Paris.

"Y/n, this is a magical charm that will protect you from falling victim to ShadowMoth ever again. I know I was very mean to you the other day and it was inexcusable. I hope you will take this as a peace offering from me to you, and stay safe and happy." Ladybug's words were soft and she wished she was speaking to you as Marinette.

The look on your face was skeptical. You took in a deep breath and let out a sigh as a tiny smile formed on your face. "Thank you Ladybug. I'll try my hardest." You took the charm from her and the string extended so you could wear it as a necklace.

Ladybug smiled, "Bug out." She threw her yo-yo and swung back into the alleyway.

"Spots off." Her voice broke and her back slid across the bricks leaving a sharp stinging sensation across her skin.

Marinette broke down into sobs. 'I'll try my hardest.' Your simple but meaningful response to her played on repeat in her head. Tikki hugged the side of her face, trying the best she could to console the emotionally unstable teen.

Marinette had never viewed you as someone who tried hard to accomplish things. It always seemed like you did everything so effortlessly and never had to put in the work to be good at something like she did.

She envied you for that, for years.

Even though you didn't verbally say it she could see in your eyes that you forgave her as Ladybug, when she didn't even deserve it.

She was wrong for hating you all this time...and she didn't even know where to begin to fix her mistakes.

"You won again this time Ladybug and Chat Noir. While that may have been the case today, I clearly found a weak point of Ladybug's strength...Y/n Dupain-Cheng will be my most lethal weapon. No magical charm will stop me from using that."

Edited 5/16

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