23: Misery

"Here's your food~" You spoke to Marinette. Her eyes were duller than before. You were in your normal form. You laughed, "What's with the long face? Come on, you need your strength if you wanna escape me..."

"Es...cape?" Her weak voice struggled. She was so determined; she wasn't devoid of all hope! Any other regular person would be.

"Aw, you don't want to? You'd rather stay with me? That's cute." You laughed. You pushed a loaf of bread into her mouth with a smile. "From your bakery. I didn't have a lot of money on me, so it's cheap. I was nearby anyway."

You had gone into the bakery with a hoodie that covered your face. Sure, you probably looked suspicious, but they gave you the bread nevertheless. She chewed slowly.

"Hmm... Want to watch the news with me? I'm sure everyone's freaking out about your disappearance~" You laughed. The girl didn't reply. "Hmm.. You're not saying no..."

You dragged a chair over and sat beside her, taking out your phone going to the Ladyblog first. Alya wasn't currently streaming, but she had a few videos. You pressed one of them.

"The unnamed Akuma was witnessed battling Chat Noir! After some asking around, it's been revealed that Chat ran away from the scene for unknown reasons, and the Akuma was immune to the majority of his attacks! We don't know the villain's weaknesses or strengths just yet, but we do know she grows stronger with every whisp... Worrying, am I right? But that isn't all!..."

Marinette mumbled something unaudible. You paused the video and glanced at her, prompting her to repeat her words.

"Chat... Is he okay...?"

You let out a laugh.

"Awww, you're so worried about him, it's adorable! He's fine, he's fine. He ran away, for whatever reason. Actually, Adrien showed up a while afterward." Marinette's eyes widened. "No, I didn't hurt Adrien... I might in the future, though~ Along with Alya, your parents, our class and-"

"NO!" She screamed out, struggling against her the ropes. The lively spark had fired up in her eyes as she fought against her restraints. She was still weak.

"Aww...~ I thought you wanted to stay with me, though~" You laughed. Marinette continued to struggle before letting out a deep sigh, relaxing into her chair. Her eyes returned to her emotionless state. "You're finished?"

No reply.

"Alright, you're finished~ I won't hurt them, don't worry. I don't need whisps right now. Come on, let's watch Alya's blog." You pressed continue on the video. Alya's voice echoed in the empty room.

"She also attacked a student, and my best friend, Marinette Dupain Cheng. Marinette went missing the same day... Please, if you have any information on her, or if you know where she is, please tell the police, there's a picture of her here. We really want to see her again..." Alya gulped. Silence passed by. "W-Well, that's my update on the whole situation. Don't worry, I'll ask around more and try to gather as much info as possible, it should be up soon, so make sure to check it out. Bye guys!"

...

"Are you crying~?" You asked with a smirk. Tears fell silently down Marinette's cheeks. "Ahh, don't worry about it... Once I get Chat Noir's miraculous, it'll all be over, alright? And once that's over, well..." You paused with a sigh. "I guess I'll just... Be normal again. I'm keeping the Akuma, but it'll be fine..."

"It won't... Just... Work out like that..." Her voice strained. You laughed bitterly.

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, I'm going out again. Don't go anywhere, Marinette." You smiled. You left the room and checked the next, making sure the Miraculous was still in the same place. You left the building, sneaking through the shadows. 

You ran off and decided to cause some trouble again the cause the hero to come back, but before you could, you saw Chat Noir drop down before you.

"Y/N." The voice spoke. 

"Chat Noir."

"...Where did you hide them?" Chat growled. You let out a sigh.

"I dunno. I forgot." You shrugged. You had no idea why you said that but decided to go with it. It'd confuse him. Chat's eyes widened his eyebrow twitching shortly after.

"H-Huh...?"

You let out a laugh, "My memories. They're messed up, you know that? I remember things from my last akumatization but not from this one. It's like my memories were exchanged, sort of..."

"W-What...? You don't know where they are?!" Chat's voice rang out as he extended his baton and pounced at you. You laughed. 

"I guess not... They're probably starving, and hungry... I couldn't feed them, since I have no idea where they are."

"Are you kidding me...?!" He growled ferociously.

"Yup." You smiled, realizing he'd go search the whole of Paris if you continued with this charade. That wasn't a wise move, but whatever. It was fun to see his reaction.

"H-Huh?"

"I know where they are. I'm not dumb. I fed them, so don't worry about it. I showed them the Ladyblog too." You smiled. Chat Noir's grip on his baton tightened as he grit his teeth. "How come you don't know her identity anyway? Come on, even I know it."

"Because it's dangerous!" He yelled. You weren't surprised.

"How is it dangerous?" You asked with a sly smirk.

"Because-... W-Well, it's dangerous because... Uh... I'm sure Ladybug would know..." He stuttered with an unsure stance.

"Does she, though? She could be just planting those ideas in your head so you wouldn't ever see the real her. Maybe she's just embarrasse-"

"Stop, stop it..." He spoke, his hair shadowing his eyes as he looked to the ground.

"Huh?"

"Stop telling me those things... I don't want to betray her. Don't let me betray her. Please." He begged, glancing up with pleading eyes. You were slightly unnerved by his change in demeanor.

"....Whatever." You sighed, bringing a hand to your forehead. You glimpsed back at him. His posture hadn't changed. "So we aren't going to fight? Right, you can't do anything without Ladybug, huh?"

"Please, just take me to them..."

You started to laugh. Your laughter grew louder.

"And would I do ?!" You laughed. Chat shrunk back.

"...Y/N... You're a good person..."

" I'm ."

"Please!"

"Saying won't do shit!"

"...Fine. I'll search all of Paris. I find her, no matter how long it takes."

"Yeah, sure." You rolled your eyes. He got ready to leave, his baton extending as it pushed him forward. You raced forward and tipped his baton over, causing him to fall down. You flew down to him and kicked him as hard as you could, sending him to crash against a building. He fell to the ground and you grabbed his baton, throwing it aside as you landed on the floor. It ended up under a nearby van. "What, did you think I'd you? I'm after your miraculous too, you know."

Chat Noir sent you a furious glare, getting in a fighting pose. You did the same, your whisps escaping from your fingertips as he snarled, "Alright, let's do this."