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Marinette's P.O.V

My vision went completely red.

Anyone trying to call out to me is merely a far away, muffled echo. My body is moving by itself without the control of my brain sending out messages to stop. My adrenaline kicked in, blood rushing through my veins.

   Everything went blurry within a flicker of the mocking lighter's flame. It's like something within me snapped, a trigger blindly being pulled after the threat.

   This isn't right. I shouldn't be doing this. I need to stop! This isn't who I am! This isn't like me! I don't hurt people over pettiness...

Do I?

Why am I even asking myself that in the first place? I'm supposed to be a hero! I'm Ladybug! I'm suppose to save and protect people from danger, not inflict it.

   Why am I so conflicted? My mind and body aren't getting through to each other. One acting without the others consent, a disagreement between the two. A constant war of do and don't.

   She's a brat and needs to be punished!

   She's probably scared and putting on a tough getup.

   She has mistreated you ever since her arrival!

   She's my sister!

   She tore out a page from your designing book and burned it, nearly doing the same to the family photo!

   I can feel myself splitting into two people. One righteous. One logical. One justice. One revenge. One Ladybug. One Marinette. There is more than just the fight I'm having with my sister but within myself as well.

I need to stop, right now!

I need to stop!

"Marinette! Stop it!"

I'm pushed away from Shadow, regaining my control over my senses and emotions. I blinked for a moment, regaining my composure. My hands are shaking and my breathing is irregular. There is a few scratch marks on the back of my left arm, luckily not deep enough to spill blood.

   Slowly, I can feel myself gradually returning but the tear between my two personas is still making itself apparent. I quickly covered the cracks in my mask and drew my eyes over to the two on the floor by my desk.

I see dad dumbfounded—in disbelief—with what just occurred. He's never seen such an outburst come from me before...although, I've never reacted that way before. If not, I'm just as flabbergasted. I've never blew up so badly in my entire life like a dormant bomb waiting to explode.

   I've never done that before and I hope I don't ever do it again.

   Dad glances over at me ever once in a while, trying to stay steady and calm. He's attending to Shadow, asking if she is okay. She puts on a performance with a few alligator tears as the cherry on top. Every time dad looks away for a second, Shadow gives me the smuggest smile I've ever seen on a person.

Like she wanted this to intentionally happen.

I kept a stoic face, biting the inside of my cheek. This is all of her fault. This is all her fault. This is all her fault! She went too far with burning up a page then nearly doing the same with the picture, speaking poorly of mama.

This is all of her fault!

"...but I'm also in the wrong," I thought, arguing in my head again, "I shouldn't have attacked her even if she was going to do something awful."

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng! What in the world were you thinking?" Dad asked, making me wince. I did not reply, having no good explanation for my actions. Not even a decent reason. What am I supposed to say? She toyed with my vulnerability and played me like a violin?

Anything I say will only sound like an excuse.

So, I didn't say anything and stared at the floor, making myself look worse.

Dad took in a deep breath, trying to calm down before turning to Shadow.

"Mallorie, can you please go downstairs?" Dad requested, earning a small nod from my twin. She pretended to be weak and hurt. Yet, I can tell there is triumph in this battle she won. Once she left, the room went silent. I still didn't dare look at dad. I can see his feet move over to the chaise and heard the cushion creak from him sitting down.

"Marinette, we need to talk. Whatever is going on, this isn't you. Ever since Mallorie arrived, you've been acting differently. I thought you were acting this way because of me but I think there's more to it than just that," dad said, "So, come over here and sit."

I obeyed, standing up from my spot on the floor and made my way over the chaise. I crossed my arms, encasing myself protectively with how small I feel. Dad isn't the only one in disbelief of what I did. I am as well. What I did was uncalled for.

   "I can't do anything to help if you don't tell me the problem," dad urged, "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

   I felt my eye twitch and shot him a side glare. He doesn't have the right to say that! Not after everything he's been hiding from me! Why should I tell him anything while he can just hide other important things from me!

   "Funny how you say that while you've been keeping everything from me," I huffed, agitated.

   Dad winced, words suddenly dying off on his tongue. His shoulders sagged and face scrunched up in remorse. It took him a minute to regain his thoughts.

   "I know that I should've told you about it all. About you mother and her illness. About your twin sister. I wanted to tell you so badly a long time ago but there's a reason we've never said anything," dad explained, "But, you need to start getting used to the fact that Mallorie is here to stay and your mother...she isn't-"

  "Don't," I quietly cut him off, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence, "Just...just tell me the reason you felt like keeping all of this secret."

Dad seemed hesitant on whether to explain the reasoning behind all the secrecy or not. After a full minute of anticipation, he finally answered, "I don't think you're ready to hear it yet."

I shot a cold gaze over at him, teething grinding against each other, "What? Why can't you tell me? I have every right to know the truth!"

"You're not ready to hear the truth yet. It's a lot to unpack. I need you to have a clear conscience or you might misunderstand what I say. Also, I would like Mallorie to hear this too. The only way I can do that is if you both are getting along and being on the same terms. It isn't going to be easy but it's usually never is," he explained.

"You don't understand what she's actually like," I muttered under my breath.

"What did you say?" Dad asked.

"Nothing...I'll think about it," I replied. He gave me a look before standing up from the chaise.

   "I'm going to make dinner in an hour. If there anything specific you'd like me to make?" He asked. I shook my head, staring the the tips of my shoes. Without another word spoken, dad awkwardly walked over to the trap door and left.

   I sighed, hiding my face in my knees.

   "Um...Marinette?"

   I snapped my head up at the sudden voice and looked around. My eyes latched onto Sabrina unsurely poking her head into the room through the skylight. I began to wonder how long she has been there and how much she heard. Yet, I didn't bring up the questions. I merely stared at her, wondering why she is here while the sun is still decently high.

   "Is it alright if I come in?" She asked. I quickly got to my feet held my hands up in a halting motion.

   "No! I mean—how about we talk outside? It's a beautiful day!" I stumbled over my words, earning a tilt of the head from the redhead. She nodded her head and pulled her head out of the skylight. I hurriedly climbed my loft's ladder and slipped out of the skylight.

   "Why do you want to talk outside? We usually converse inside so nobody sees us," Sabrina questioned.

   "You can just detransform out here in the back corner. No one should be able to see you," I said, pointing to the back corner. Sabrina made a suspicious face before doing as told. Tikki sprang out of the earrings as soon as Sabrina detransformed and flew over to me.

   I happily welcomed her into a l hug, feeling her small head nuzzling against my cheek.

   "Oh, I miss you, Tikki," I lovingly said, placing a small kiss on the side of the Kwami's head.

   "I miss you too, Marinette," Tikki happily replied before her face fell into sorrow. Worry infiltrated my heart, asking, "What's wrong?"

   I looked over at Sabrina, who seems just as troubled as Tikki. Now, I'm really anxious and can feel my skin growing chillier.

   "Well..." Sabrina began, "...it's about Chat Noir."

   "What about Chat Noir?" I asked, trying not to lose my cool. My emotions are a complete mess at the moment and this added stress isn't helping.

   "He has not shown up to patrols lately and won't answer any of our calls," Tikki explained, "Then, we tried tracking him down but he somehow blocked his location. We don't know where he is or what happened to him."

   A weight fell onto my shoulders, crushing my soul and pushing this churning feeling in my chest down into the depths of my stomach. My blood felt like it ran cold in disbelief and shock. My wondering of Chat's whereabouts these last few days has gathering into one pool of a tenfold anxiety and fear.

   "What?"

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Adrien's P.O.V

"This is by far your worst idea you've ever come up with," Plagg complained, "I mean, seriously, you even forgot to grab my precious cheese! Now, I've got to live off of shredded mozzarella or cheddar! This is like my worst nightmare becoming a reality!"

I let out a huff. I should be used to Plagg's complaining by now. He does practically complains or jokes ever day. Yet, something about it now in this kind of situation seems to only irritate me. Maybe, it's because he isn't taking this serious? I mean...it's Plagg. He doesn't take anything seriously.

"Don't you understand the situation we're in Plagg? My father is Hawkmoth! If he finds out I have a miraculous, he's going to take it! It's been his entire goal since day one!"

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you had to change my cheese. It's not like anybody was suspicious. They probably thought you have some weird cheese fetish," Plagg chortled before adding, "Besides, it also doesn't explain why we're in this abandoned warehouse either."

"Yeah, because of your cheese fetish. Anyway, I'm going to be storing your cheese here from now on," I explained, "I found it on one of my patrols and found out that the electricity is still running. Meaning, I hide a mini fridge in a corner and everyone will be none the wiser. I can't have anyone finding a bunch of cheese in my room. It's starting to smell too."

Plagg blinked in disbelief, probably raising an eyebrow and looking at me like I've lost my mind.

"Don't you think this is a bit overkill. It's not like anyone was suspicious before. They just went along with whatever so long as it did not interfere with your schedule," he said.

"It's not overkill. It's precaution," I corrected him.

"It's suspicious," Plagg retorted, blandly.

"How is this suspicious?" I questioned, crossing my arms.

"Where should I start?" Plagg sarcastically started, "Well, all of this is very unnecessary."

He gestured to the entire warehouse. I'm about to argue back but he continued, "You not showing up to school for three days without telling anyone except making up a lie to your principal."

I winced at that point, feeling bad for not telling my friends why I'm missing school. Although, I don't think I would've been able to lie to them...again and I obviously can't tell them the truth. It's best if I avoid them for the time being as much as it hurts.

"Lastly, you act differently around your old man. If that isn't suspicious, I don't know what is," Plagg stated, finishing his reasons, "It's all unnecessary and suspicious. If you keep acting like you do every day then it would bring you less attention."

"You don't understand. My father's Hawkmoth-"

"So you keep mentioning-"

I narrowed my eyes towards Plagg for cutting me off then continued, "I have to keep a lower profile and time to put it into action but it's hard to pretend around him. It's hard to act normal like nothings different when I know his giant, dirty secret."

"Now, you're making him sound like someone nasty," Plagg commented, making me sigh in agitation.

"That's why I made this plan," I replied.

"It's a stupid plan."

I shook my head, a frown twisted my lips. I began to mess with my ring—my miraculous—nervously, knowing what I'm about to do next will surely earn Plagg's disapproval. Plagg carefully watched me, wondering what I'm up to right now.

"Well...there's one more thing I decided to add to my plan..." I said, guilt crushing my heart. Plagg narrowed his eyes like he is trying to find the answer written on my forehead.

"What's that?" He asked.

Slowly, I begin to slide my ring off of my finger and immediately catching Plagg's attention. He instantly went from curious to disturbed.

   "Kid...w-what are you doing?" He asked, voice wavering.

   "The only way I can protect you, Plagg," I spoke, voice cracking and a reassuring smile on my face, "but don't worry, I'll summon you for emergency reasons and to eat. For now, I can't have you running off and getting into trouble."

   Plagg shook his head in disbelief, weakly saying, "No, kid. Don't do this."

   I slide the ring off my finger. Plagg waved his arms in a panic and tried to fly towards me. Yet, he disappeared into thin air, his voice echoing one last word.

   "Adrien!"

   I'm left standing alone in the warehouse by myself, tears running down my cheeks.

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