The Ladybug and The Black Cat: Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Unusual Meltdown

Marinette continued her walk home frowning and all soaking wet from the puddle. And when she finally came home and opened the door, her parents took notice.

"Hey, Marinette! How was your-" Tom was about to ask before they both saw her wet and rushed towards their daughter "Oh Sweetie! You're all wet!" Sabine said in concern.

"What happened?" Tom asked with the same amount of concern, which Marinette replied "It's nothing, just got splashed by a puddle on the way home" while looking down with the same frown she had for a while. "I'm gonna go take a shower." She then said walking past them and going up the stairs while her parents watched her, knowing that something was not right.

Marinette took all her wet clothes off, washed herself and then put on her pajamas and landed on her bed. She just couldn't get over the fact that she horribly screwed up at Adrien's place, so Tikki floated right next to her to try to cheer her up.

"What's wrong Marinette?" Tikki asked concerned.

"Oh Tikki, dinner with Adrien was horrible! Not only was I clumsy in front of his dad, but I accidentally blurted out that Adrien's scarf was from me instead of him!" Marinette cried.

"Well, he was going to find out eventually." Tikki replied.

"Yeah, but I didn't want him to find out like this! Marinette said before groaning. "He must think I'm a total klutz!"

"That's not true! Remember all the other times you were clumsy in front of Adrien?" Tikki insisted.

Marinette then remembered all those times, like when the umbrella closed on her head and they both got a good laugh out of it, or when she waved to him awkwardly on the subway train next to Alya and he waved back with a smile, or when she dropped all the macaroons when he was about to try one, yet he still tried one and even complimented both her baking and her dancing.

Then she sat up on her bed and looked at Tikki as her frown turned into a smile "You always know how to cheer me up, Tikki." Marinette said as she held her little kwami with her hands causing Tikki to giggle.

"You know, I actually spotted a bunch of Ladybug action figures on Adrien's dresser." Marinette whispered.

"Get out!" Tikki exclaimed.

"No seriously, he even has the rare ones!" Marinette said.

"Wow! It's like he has a crush on Ladybug as much as you had a crush on him!" Tikki said as a joke, making them both laugh.

Marinette's laugh then started to fade as she realized that what Tikki just said could be a possibility, she looked at all her Adrien posters around her room and thought 'Is it... possible?' then she remembered the love letter he threw out on Valentines day which she put on display in her room.

She read it again as it said "Your hair is black as night, your pretty bluebell eyes, I wonder who you are underneath that strong disguise. Every day we see each other and I hope that you'll be mine, together our love could be so true, please, will you be my Valentine?"

Then she stopped and thought 'Strong disguise?... Is it possible that he was referring to... Ladybug?' then she figured, there was only one way to find out.

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Meanwhile, at Agreste Mansion, Gabriel Agreste was at his office and he thought to himself 'That girl was so clumsy, there's no way she could be Ladybug! Yet, she looks exactly like her!... I just don't get it!'

Adrien entered his father's office after he called him from his room to come see him so they can have a talk about earlier.

"You wanted to see me father?" Adrien asked in which Gabriel turned around and replied "I think we need to have a word with about the baker girl?"

"What about her?" Adrien asked as he started to get a little scared with what he was about to say next.

"Are you... interested in her by any chance?" Gabriel asked which Adrien replied with a slight shock "What?! No! Marinette's just a friend, father! I swear!"

"That's good." Gabriel replied thus confusing Adrien.

"Wait! How's that good?" Adrien asked his father who replied with his strict monotone voice "I will consider hiring Miss Dupain-Cheng someday, however, I'm afraid she's a bad influence towards you."

"You can't be serious!" Adrien said as his confusion slowly turned to anger.

"I am serious, Adrien! In fact, I don't want you anywhere near those kids in your class other than the mayor's daughter!" Gabriel said as his voice started to get a little louder.

"I ended my friendship with Chloe!" Adrien said shocking his father a little "What?!" his father said.

"I couldn't stand her anymore, Father! It had to be done!" Adrien argued with his father which he said "Do you know how this could affect my relationship with the mayor, Adrien?!"

"Is that all you care about, Father?!" Adrien yelled, making his father speechless for a minute.

"I spent my whole life hiding from you because you never trusted me enough to do things on my own! Adrien exclaimed before Gabriel walked towards his son and noticed the lucky charm in his shirt pocket.

"...And I'd rather live with any of my REAL friends by this point than with you! Because they gave me the best time of my life, and clearly you're not seeing it!" Adrien continued before Gabriel unexpectedly grabbed the lucky charm out of his pocket, making Adrien gasp.

Where'd you get this?! Gabriel asked angrily.

"Hey! Marinette gave me that!" Adrien exclaimed. "What for?!" Gabriel asked. "It's for good luck!" Adrien replied.

"Oh, really? Then I'm afraid I'm gonna have to keep it with me!" Gabriel said as he was about to put it in his pocket.

"Why?!" Adrien yelled.

"Because it's for your own good son! Now go straight up to your room! You are grounded!" Gabriel exclaimed.

"No! Give me back my Lucky Charm!" Adrien yelled back as he tried to get the lucky charm back only to have his father throw it to the ground and stomp on it, breaking it.

"Don't argue with me, Adrien! Gabriel said to his son very angrily. "Now go up to your room, and stay there because I don't wanna see you for the rest of the night!"

Adrien just couldn't believe what his own father did to him, so he stormed out and went straight up to his room as he was told.

Gabriel then looked at the lucky charm he just broke and immediately regretted what he just did. 'What have I done?...' He thought to himself.

Once Adrien entered his room and closed the door, he aggressively took what he could find in the room like his globe or his trophies and threw them against the wall.

While he was throwing stuff, Gabriel knocked on the door to try to apologize "Adrien?" Gabriel asked before Adrien screamed "GO AWAY FATHER!"

"But I just want to-" Gabriel said before Adrien interrupted him by saying "NO! I DON'T WANNA SEE YOUR FACE YOU SELFISH, HEARTLESS JERK!" sending him away.

Once Plagg saw what was going on, he said "Adrien, calm down!"

"NO! I'VE HAD IT WITH HIM USING ME AS A TOOL FOR HIS BUSINESS! PLAGG-" Adrien exclaimed as he was about to transform into Cat Noir to release his frustrations before Plagg interrupted by saying "WAIT!... This isn't like you Adrien!"

Adrien looked at Plagg with no response and his anger started to decrease. "When I first met you, I saw a different boy than what I see now!... What happened to that boy?"

Adrien then looked at the dresser, opened it, and took out his scarf that Marinette made for him. And as he was looking at it, he thought about what Marinette said at dinner and saw it as further proof that his friends care about him more than his own father, but he also thought it still wasn't an excuse for him to snap at both Chloe and his father earlier.

"...I don't know, Plagg..." Adrien said as he just realized what he did and started to cry.
Then he turned around and looked at a picture of himself and his 3 best friends, Marinette, Alya and Nino that was on the floor, and took it out of the picture frame he broke.

"*sniff* I'm so sorry Marinette!... I don't know what I'm doing anymore!" Adrien said as he bursted into tears.

Adrien didn't even bother cleaning up the mess he made, and he just put on his pajamas and went straight to bed.

Adrien did not have a good night sleep however, as he started to see flashbacks in his mind of the times he was hypnotized by the past akumas, and it even included some moments where he almost killed Ladybug with his cataclysm.

It was followed by a vision where Cat Noir was hypnotized once again, and Ladybug tried to stop him.

"Come on, Cat Noir! Snap out of it!" Ladybug shouted as she tried to restrain him only to have Cat Noir yell "Cataclysm!" and then touch her with it, causing her to scream in pain and let go of him.

Ladybug then fell to her knees and hands and then gave Cat Noir one last look with tears in her eyes before disintegrating.

The hypnotized Cat Noir looked at the dust with a sinister smile before Hawkmoth himself grabbed his shoulder and said to him "Well done!".

Then Cat Noir started to take off his ring, "Adrien, No!" Plagg tried to say inside the ring, but it was too late, and he gave it to Hawkmoth who also picked up Ladybugs earrings from her ashes and proceeded to laugh manically while looking at the two miraculouses he always wanted right in his hands. And Cat Noir started laughing with him.

"NOOOO!" Adrien exclaimed as he just woke up from that horrible nightmare and sat up on his bed breathing hard.

"What's with all the yelling?" A cranky Plagg yawned as Adrien's scream just woke him up.

"*sigh* Nothing Plagg, It's just..." Adrien started to say but stopped midway as he had no idea what to say about what he just saw.

Plagg started to become concerned for his miraculous holder, so he floated in front of him and asked him "Come on kid, tell me what's wrong."

"*sigh* I don't know exactly...But it's like I was starting to see flashbacks of when I was hypnotized by an akuma..." Adrien explained.

Plagg looked to the side with his concerned face as he suddenly remembered the things he did during those times.

"Plagg..." Adrien said, getting Plagg's attention again. "Did I almost kill her?" He continued.

Plagg had no response as he didn't want to upset Adrien even more. "Well?!" Adrien asked, demanding an answer.

"Listen kid, Cataclysm is a dangerous and unpredictable power. That thing you visioned in your sleep did happen once... It was a tragic moment for all of us... But since then, other Cat Noirs learned from it and accepted the responsibility and fear of carrying such a power. If you can accept it too, then something like this will never happen to you and Ladybug." Plagg said, making Adrien feel a little better.

"Look, maybe you should go out for some fresh air so you can clear your mind." Plagg suggested.

"Thanks Plagg, I will." Adrien said as he was about to transform when suddenly, there was a knock at his window...