Chapter Text
here’s the link to the YouTube video
The air was thick with smoke as fire blazed around them. Every breath Marinette sucked in caused her lungs to scream in pain. With a shaky stance, she glared at her former partner.
She knew things with them had been strained since she became guardian. They couldn’t be equals—she was ranked above him whether he wanted her to or not.
And she tried, Marinette really did, but Chat was so childish, and most fights he wasn’t as helpful as he used to be. She couldn’t rely on him like she used to.
So she stepped into her role as Guardian of the Miraculous, leader of the Miraculous team. She became more strict and tried to get Chat to take things seriously. People were dying, Akuma attacks were dangerous, but he still treated them as a game. As a chance to win her over.
The Miraculous responded to their strained relationship. Chat Noir’s Cataclysm couldn’t destroy as well, and her miracle cure didn’t bring everyone back to life. They were supposed to be partners. Not necessarily equals, according to Tikki, but still able to work in tandem with each other. But they couldn’t.
So Marinette did her best to mend their relationship. She set up training exercises and invited Chat to patrol with her even on days when the lack of sleep was hitting so hard ever copious amounts of caffeine couldn’t help her. But Chat was unwilling to meet her halfway. Heck, he wouldn’t even meet her a third of the way! He insisted that their Miraculous meant they were made for each other, that until she agreed that they were soulmates he was unwilling to work with her.
She tried to explain that just because the Black Cat and Ladybug complement each other doesn’t make them soulmates, that even if they were soulmates she wasn’t ready for a relationship. She had given up on her pursuit of Adrien after her therapist helped her realize it was an unhealthy obsession. That she didn’t like Adrien so much as the idea of him. But when he got an idea in his head, he wouldn’t hear anything but agreement.
Marinette didn’t know what else to do. She didn’t ask for this responsibility. She was only fourteen.
Marinette was violently shaken out of her reflection by a hand to her throat.
“I tried to explain it to you. I was patient,” Chat whispered into her ear. She attempted to scratch his arm to get him to let go of her suit, to no avail. The Akuma had been long and hard to defeat, lasting almost seven hours, and Marinette was just so tired, all she wanted to do was sleep and not worry about the world collapsing without her for one freaking second. “But you still refused to accept that we are soulmates, we were made for each other, bugaboo.”
Marinette was about to tell him to go fuck himself when a figure came up behind him and startled the words out of her mouth. Marinette knew Chat was too far gone, had known it since he slipped during a fight a week ago and cataclysm the Akuma. He hadn’t even been upset, had said it would be fine. That she would fix everything with her miracle cure, not mentioning the fact that the cure still wasn’t working. That not everyone was saved by it.
She could still hear the Akuma’s screams of agony as their skin cracked before her eyes, unable to fully decay and left in a state of paralyzing agony until they finally bled out.
So, Marinette knew Chat had gone too far. She knew she would have to take his miraculous. She had been putting it off because of her memories of the old Chat, the one she would joke with and who held her when she cried. The one who she loved like a brother.
That Chat was clearly gone, and behind him stood the man who had caused her and the rest of Paris so much pain for almost three goddamn years.
Hawk Moth.
Marnette struggled harder, fatigue and pain be damned. “Chat, kitty, what are you doing? Why is he here?”
“Ah ah ah, Ladybug,” came Hawk Moth’s cruel drawl. “Chat Noir is on my side now.” He rested a gloved hand on Chat’s shoulder. “He got tired of you and the nonsense you spew. He knows he deserves better than a partner who treats him like dirt beneath her feet.”
“I don’t—" Marinette started, but Chat Noir quickly cut in.
“You do! You treat me like I’m nothing! Like we don’t belong together! We're soulmates, and I’m going to prove it to you when I make my wish!” Chat Noir screamed like a child who was told no in a candy store.
Marinette let herself gape for a second. Chat really thought he should use the miraculous to make a wish? What kind of backlash would a wish like that have? What, no, who was he willing to sacrifice?
A crash suddenly sounded to their left as a building collapsed under the structural damage caused by the Akuma paired with the fire still raging all around them. The heads of the two people in front of Marinette swiveled at the sudden crash, distracted for a moment, but that was all Marinette needed.
She quickly snatched the ring off the now-loosened fist on her suit, revealing none other than Adrien Agreste. Marinette didn’t let the shock of the reveal get to her. She quickly backed away, uncaring of the pain in her ankle. Definitely broken.
As soon as Chat, no, Adrien noticed the absence of his ring he lunged towards her with a cry, Hawk Moth not far behind.
Marinette was quick to slip the ring on her finger and merge her miraculous. She knew this was a bad idea, but she couldn’t think of anything else, and she was just so damn tired. She was tired and she was just a kid. She didn’t want to fight this war anymore.
The merging of the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculous brought with it a wave of power that knocked Adrien and Hawk Moth to their knees.
She felt Tikki and Plagg purr beneath her skin, both fully trusting her. It was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
She took a deep breath and gathered her courage. What she was about to do would change the course of history. She wasn’t sure if it was the right decision, but it was the only thing she could come up with.
“I, Guardian of the Miraculous and true holder of the Ladybug miraculous, wish to release all Kwami from their confines. I wish for them to be free to use their powers as they wish and never be used against their will again.” Her voice didn’t shake.
She could see Adrien and Hawk Moth try to speak up, to come closer and stop her, but power was thick in the air, and they couldn’t bring themselves to move.
“A wish such as this would come at a steep price,” came an ethereal voice. It had no discernable origin, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. “What do you offer in return, Chosen One?”
Marinette took a deep breath.
“I offer myself.”
She could feel Tikki and Plagg writhe beneath her skin, begging her to stop.
“My life and my soul.”
The voice almost sounded amused. An airy chuckle surrounded them, like a gentle gust of wind.
“So it is, and so it shall be.”
The last thing Marinette thought before everything went dark was at least I finally get to sleep.
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Hello all, I am writing this within the chapter rather than the authors note because “What If Deku” channels simply copy-paste fanfiction into their screen readers, and if another of those channels steals this work, this note will either be present within the video, or they will purposely delete it, implying malicious intent. I will state this plainly. I do not permit “What If Deku” YouTube channels, or any other entity other than approved, human Podficers, to utilize, repost, or otherwise take my work and post it on another site. I have had multiple of these channels steal this story and it is incredibly disheartening, I don’t think I will be able to handle another time. If you happen to find this or any other of my works somewhere other than here or on my YouTube, please please let me know. I appreciate all of you, and I hope you enjoy my stories.