WARNING: This chapter is rated T!

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Adrien's P.O.V

"Adrien! I need chee—sheesh, kid. You look more awful than usual," Plagg pointed out. I could tell he was really worried about me behind his mean comments. My eyes had bags under them from lack of sleep and a million things raced through my mind.

"I'll..." I started, slowly and getting out of bed "I'll get your cheese."

I dully walked over to the mini-fridge and grabbed a slice of Camembert. The room went silent instead of me and Plagg's bickering over our opinion of cheese. I couldn't bring myself to argue or tease with my Kwami. Plagg didn't say a word as I handed over his cheese.

His ears drooped before tearing apart his cheese in half and offering me the slice. A small smile spread on my lips as I took the slice and ate it. Plagg only had to take one bite to eat his half and hummed in delight.

"Thanks, Plagg," I said, gratitude within my tone.

"Don't thank me. Thank my beloved Camembert. It told me to be nice," Plagg said, refusing to admit that he was being nice. I laughed a little before hearing a knock on the door.

"Adrien, are you up yet? Breakfast is ready," Nathalie informed through the door.

"Yeah, just give me a minute," I replied then went to get ready for the day that was about to come. It was going to be hard when seeing Marinette, especially with my broken heart and her so close but far from my reach.

I had to fix this somehow. Determination flowed through my veins and hope flickered.

"Oh no," Plagg groaned, "I know that look."

"Something is off about this whole thing, and I have a pretty good guess who is causing this trouble besides Hawkmoth," I told my Kwami then grabbing my school bag and heading to the dining room. Plagg flew into my jacket's pocket before opening my bedroom door.

After eating breakfast and the car ride to school (that felt like forever), I barely walked into the building when my fellow classmates ran out screaming in fear. I stumbled back a little in surprise before hearing maniacal laughter and flashes of green light.

I ran behind some nearby stairs and peeked around to only watch a student get hit by a beam of green light. A box of some sort formed behind the frozen student with an open lid and was sucked inside. The lid closed over the student then the box fell back.

My eyes widened when I realized what the box really was.

A coffin.

My heart stopped beating and felt pale when the coffin began to phase into the ground. I didn't think and ran into the danger to help. The coffin was merely two inches from being fully underground. I could hear the guy inside screaming and hitting the lid in terror.

I tried to open the lid with all my might, but it didn't budge. I had a feeling that it was magically sealed shut and the only way to fix it was to de-akumatize the new akuma, whoever it may be.

I felt the back of my hairs stand in a warning for the incoming danger and barely dodged the beam in a matter of seconds. The coffin I was trying to open was now long gone within the ground. The guy that was in that coffin was now buried alive along with the rest of the victims.

I had to free them before they run out of air.

My green eyes traveled up to meet soulless, pale white. The akuma was a girl.

Her eyes were blank white with no pupil. She wore a long black dress that was torn at the bottom, her skin was deathly pale, and hair as black as a raven placed into a bun. A red ribbon held it in place and stuck out the most on her look.

I assumed that was where the akuma was.

"Adrien," the akuma spoke, lowering her hand. I blinked in surprise before recognizing the sweet voice.

"Marinette," I said in shock before slowly standing up and asking softly, "What happened?"

"I'm not Marinette anymore," she said in a sinister tone, with a giant, sharp toothy grin and cocking her head to the side with cracking noises, "I'm Cercueil."

This was one of Hawkmoth's most sinisterly looking and powerful akumas he's ever made. She was more terrifying than Horrificator.

"Can you tell me what happened to you?" I asked, gently and cautiously moving towards her. Cercueil looked away shyly and stepped back a little unsure. This surprised me seeing some of Marinette's shy personality stick out more rather than her Ladybug confidence.

Akumatized Marinette seemed hesitant but opened her mouth to answer. She was about to say something when she perked up and snapped her head around. I froze when seeing the person standing there like a statue in complete horror. Suddenly, a devious smirk appeared on Cercueil's face.

"Hello, Alya," she said, nicely before darkly continuing, "...you backstabber."

Like a bucket of ice water was dropped onto me, I watched in slow motion as Cerueil shot a beam at Alya. Alya managed to jump out of the way, much to my relief. I quickly took action and tackled the akuma to the ground.

After trapping Marinette for a couple of seconds, she managed to easily escape. I ended up being thrown a couple of feet away and have an angry akuma after me. As she walked closer, I scooted back.

"Why did you do that?! She deserves to know how I've been feeling these past couple weeks!" Cerueil yelled, hands clenched and teeth gritted. I didn't say anything and tried to get away but was backed up into a wall.

"You know what, pretty boy?" she said, raising her now glowing green hand and pointing it directly at me. If I got shot, then it's game over for Paris.

"You were my favorite until I found someone else more precious to me," she continued, "It's too bad something that's even my second favorite has to go, something a little less precious but still precious." Her hand grew brighter and was ready to fire.

"But, I guess that's just how life works. It takes away things that are precious to you."

Everything happened so fast.

One minute, my life flashes before my eyes.

The next minute, some else's life does.

Just a split second before the akuma fired, someone jumped in front of me and took the shot. The person who took the shot was turned as a coffin was magically appearing in thin air.

"Go!" Alya yelled at me, "Go get Ladybug and Chat Noir! I want my best friend back so I can apologize to her!"

I nodded as her body was being pulled into the casket. I sprinted away to find a quick place to hide and transform. I looked back once more to see the lid close over Alya and fall back onto the ground.

I ran into the alleyway next to the school and quickly transformed into Chat Noir. I extended my staff up and landed on top of the school's roof. I looked down to see all the damage that has been done when I spot akumatized Marinette staring straight at me with that same creepy grin.

I felt chills going down my spine when she hopped up here a few feet away. Her grin disappeared and a warm smile was in its place. She walked over to me and it took every bone in my body as to not take a step back to show fear.

"Chat Noir!" she chirped, merrily. I swore I could see a slight pink forming on her cheeks and a skip in her step just like she would be when she is Marinette.

Sweet and bubbly, Marinette, who had the darkest shade of pink flower petals blooming from her smiling cheeks to her dazzling eyes and contagious laugh that would purify every akuma. I felt my heart beating and groaned as my face warmed up.

"Not the time, Agreste!" I yelled inside my head. Cerueil giggled, making me jump out of my skin when noticing that she was standing right in front of me with barely any space.

"What's wrong, Kitty?" she flirtatiously asked. She stood on her tippy toes and purred into my ear, "Cat got your tongue?" It was weird that an akuma was flirting with me. I didn't know where her sudden confidence came from, but I couldn't let it distract me.

I had to stop this akuma and fast. I placed my hands on her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes.

"Marinette, I need you to listen to me-"

"No, love. It's Cerueil, not Marinette," she cooed, cutting me off and shocking the daylights out of me. Cerueil slowly snaked her hands up my chest and wrapped her arms around my neck, our noses brushing.

"Just think..." she began, nuzzling our foreheads, "...we can finally be together now without anyone getting in the way or hurting us. We don't need to fear the world anymore. We don't need to hide anymore. We don't need to be in pain anymore. You can be my knight, and I can be your princess."

"That's a very tempting offer..." I replied, snatching the ribbon from her hair and making her hair drape upon her shoulders, "...but I want Marinette. Not Cerueil."

As I was about to Cataclysm the ribbon, I had to dodge a beam of light. I stumbled back and fell off the side, quickly grabbing the ledge. My baton fell down towards the ground and hit with a loud clank. The red ribbon was still in my hand but it was the wrong one.

Cerueil stood above me then stomped on my hand, making me cry out in pain.

"That's only the beginning of how much you hurt me," she hissed, her hand starting to glow an eerie green, "Now, you're going to feel the rest of it! The same amount I gave to that lying fox!"

A purple mask appeared over Cerueil's face as she and Hawkmoth were communicating. I tried to figure out a way to escape in the small amount of time I was given. A sinister smile appeared on her lips as she agreed to whatever Hawkmoth had told her.

"Before I send you to your grave, I need to fulfill my end of the bargain," Cerueil said.

Out of panic, I shouted the first thing that came to my mind, "Cataclysm!"

The villain flinched back, not wanting to touch my deadly ring. Yet, this only caused the whole entire school to turn into black ash and come apart. The school disappeared. We both fell a long way down.

How did this all go so wrong?

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Marinette's P.O.V.

Anger boiled within me as Lila continued to smirk.

"Oh, you should be thankful for what I did. Especially, with Alya," Lila said, cunningly.

"Leave her and my dad out of this. Neither of them deserved your petty way of revenge on me," I snapped.

"I wouldn't be quite sure about that," Lila said, fake pouting, "You see, I know who took that picture of you and Chat Noir kissing."

"It was probably you that did it," I huffed, crossing my arms and glaring heatedly at her. She grabbed her phone and pulled up something before showing me a conversation.

"Think again," Lila purred as I read the text messaging between her and...no. I sputtered, pulling at my pigtails and tried to think of any possible way Lila could have made this all up. Another cruel joke of hers. A lie.

Yet, it was all real.

The picture was sent the same exact night by my best friend.

"Y-You tricked her somehow into getting that, didn't you!" I accused, snapping.

Lila shrugged, that annoying smirk still on her face, "Believe whatever you want. Your supposed "best friend" still did it with no hesitation. You know why..."

She leaned forward until I was backed up to a wall as she continued, "...because everyone believes me and not you. You are the liar, and I am but a humble saint in their eyes. So, you can try to convince others all you want. But as long as I am around, you might as well say goodbye to everything that you love."

Lila pulled away and turned to walk out of the locker room.

Many emotions were running through me all at once.

Hatred.

Fear.

Anger.

Sadness.

Hurt.

Panic.

Heartbreak.

Revenge.

My breathing became uneven and head dizzy with every horrible emotion I felt all at once.

I want her to feel my pain. Everything that I went through. Every single tear that I shed. The sheer terror I felt. The flickering light that was soon to be gone into darkness forever. All happiness buried seven feet under, locked away with no escape.

I felt so...cold.

"Cerueil...my name is Hawkmoth," A devious voice whispered promises in my ear.

I sinisterly smiled and accepted his deal.

Before Lila made it out of the locker room, I was able to shoot a beam at her and bring her closer to me. I giggled when seeing utter fear laced in those green eyes. I cupped her chin with my free hand.

"You know..." I purred, digging my nails into her tan skin, "...you would look lovely within a coffin, slowly rotting away." Lila whimpered and was about to say something before I interrupted her, "Tell me...have you heard of the Iron Maiden?"

I could feel her heart skip a beat and eyes widen, even more, pupils dilated. I smiled, creating the Medieval torture device and slowly pushing her into the coffin with spikes within it.

She screamed and begged for mercy, tears falling down her face. She was scared—completely terrified.

I enjoyed every single second, giggling and smiling widely.

I tauntingly waved goodbye before shutting the lid shut, lowering it to the ground and watched as it slowly sunk into the Earth.

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