Find Ladybug. Learn what she's hiding. Make her understand the pain she caused.
It seems so straightforward when he puts it like that. Uncomplicated and without any unwanted consequences.
He knows precisely when Ladybug catches sight of him, because that's the moment he watches her heart shatter.
She doesn't try to fight him, only to defend herself, and that only physically. Chat Blanc is barely aware of what he says to her. She told someone else her identity; betrayal! Other superheroes have known each other's identities, and she knew that, and she let Rena Rouge keep being a hero until——and Carapace still is a hero, rushing to her side even now—betrayal!
"You don't trust me!" Chat Blanc shouts. "I thought I found one person who trusts me—I won't help you if you don't trust me!"
Ladybug dives away from a staff strike and stops, on one knee on the pavement in the middle of the intersection by the bakery, panting for breath. She doesn't try to rise.
"Fine," she says, a word that rings with finality. She lifts her head. "Fine. Do whatever you think best."
Take her Miraculous!
Chat Blanc doesn't answer him. He summons a flicker of destructive power, enough maybe to hurt her body enough that she understands how she hurt his heart, enough to make sure no hands he trusts less than hers ever touch her Miraculous. She stifles a gasp at the sight of it; tears sparkle on her cheeks in the light of it.
"Go on," Ladybug says. "Take my Miraculous, if that's what you want. Destroy it or me, if that's what you want. Make me hurt how I hurt you, if that's what you want."
"Shellter!" Carapace shouts. It's meant to keep Chat Blanc inside, he knows, and he doesn't care—he's so much more powerful than Chat Noir ever was, and Chat Noir could have brought down Shellter easily—he's not trapped at all, no matter what Carapace—
It's also meant to keep Ladybug outside. She was meters away. Now she's thrown herself at his feet, inside the dome with him.
"Ask my name," Ladybug says, sobbing against his hip. "Ask for a kiss. Ask how I feel about you, fuck, ask me to fall in love with you—Gods all know keeping all that to myself hasn't done a fucking thing to protect you—"
Tell me her name!
Chat Blanc drops to his knees, too, catching her under one shoulder so she stays upright. Being so much above her—in a way he can't make short jokes about that'll end with her bopping him on the head—he's not supposed to be above her. "Protect me from what?" he asks.
"This." Ladybug spreads one hand over the white leather on his chest, over his heart. "This is—this is exactly what I was afraid of."
You are so close! Why are you hesitating?
"You know," Ladybug says, hiccuping a laugh between sobs, "I bet with a big enough blast, you'll get Shadowmoth and Mayura, too."
"And Carapace," Chat Blanc observes. "And Marinette, if she's home. Probably also if she's not. And—" He doesn't want to see who else might be close enough he'd have to watch them die, if he did this. If he did this to her.
—Why is she saying he should do this?
What are you waiting for?
"What are you waiting for?" Chat Blanc repeats. His akuma is in her reach. Why isn't she reaching for it?
Ladybug shrugs the shoulder he's not holding her up by. "If I try to defeat you without your cooperation," she says, flat the way he feels when all he had strength left to do is fall in bed and now he's fallen, "either we lose or I lose you. Either way, I'm done."
No. No.
"And I don't think our team can beat you at all," Ladybug says. "Especially if I try to help you do what you want, get what you want, instead of helping our team stop you."
Their team might just be Carapace, at the moment. Chat Blanc doesn't think about what role anyone but Ladybug might be able to play in gathering teammates. She's right, though: a cooperative effort from enough of their team would probably bring down Chat Noir, yes, but that's not who he is right now.
"I want to love someone who trusts me," Chat Blanc whispers. The other half—I want to trust someone who loves me—sits heavy on his tongue. His father, Ladybug—he won't even think the third name, though he can't help but picture how she looks in pink and gray.
I trust you to do as I say. Bring me the Miraculouses and I will love you like my own son.
He has enough parents who treat love like a business contract, thanks.
"I trust you," Ladybug murmurs.
Chat Blanc nods. "Lucky Charm," he says.
"Lucky Charm," Ladybug repeats.
He closes his eyes: whatever advantage the Charm gives her, he doesn't want to share it. He closes his hand: whatever harm he could do her, he doesn't want to risk it. He closes his heart—
Something bounces off his head. "No more evil-doing for you, little akuma," says Ladybug, voice shaking.
Chat Noir opens his eyes in time to watch the white butterfly flying away.
"I'm sorry," Ladybug says, voice unsteady, her hand trembling as she draws an akuma-shield charm from her yo-yo. "I'm sorry. I thought—" She stops, eyeing the silver-spotted white charm. "But if you keep this, it's safe to tell you!" She starts giggling, helplessly, breathlessly. "I can tell you everything!"
"Everything, huh," Alya says. Chat Noir jerks, overbalances, and falls over, taking Ladybug down with him. The Shellter dissolves, unneeded; Carapace, probably pretending for somebody or other's sake he doesn't know Alya, hangs back. "Here," Alya adds, "you're on top of the Lucky Charm, let me—" Alya picks up the small hard object as Chat pushes himself back up. "Huh, this looks like the one—"
What it looks like is the central bead of Adrien's Marinette lucky charm. But he's not going to say that aloud. He's going to pass it back to Ladybug, who is not Marinette, because there is no possible way he is that lucky. It must mean something else.
"He's not interested anyway," Ladybug tells Alya, like it's something she's reminding Alya of. "Don't get my hopes up." Alya looks like she very much wants to say something and won't. "Miraculous Ladybug! Anyway," Ladybug tells Chat, "I know I fell in love with you twice already. The first time was a speedrun, even." She glances away, blushing. "A third time shouldn't be hard, right?"
"…Take it easy on my heart rate," Chat begs. It's skyrocketed. Ladybug half smiles, pressing just a little on his chest where (he abruptly realizes) her hand hasn't left his heart.
[Miraculous Ladybug] no little white lie
Chat Blanc is a simple cat with simple desires.
Find Ladybug. Learn what she's hiding. Make her understand the pain she caused.
It seems so straightforward when he puts it like that. Uncomplicated and without any unwanted consequences.
He knows precisely when Ladybug catches sight of him, because that's the moment he watches her heart shatter.
She doesn't try to fight him, only to defend herself, and that only physically. Chat Blanc is barely aware of what he says to her. She told someone else her identity; betrayal! Other superheroes have known each other's identities, and she knew that, and she let Rena Rouge keep being a hero until——and Carapace still is a hero, rushing to her side even now—betrayal!
"You don't trust me!" Chat Blanc shouts. "I thought I found one person who trusts me—I won't help you if you don't trust me!"
Ladybug dives away from a staff strike and stops, on one knee on the pavement in the middle of the intersection by the bakery, panting for breath. She doesn't try to rise.
"Fine," she says, a word that rings with finality. She lifts her head. "Fine. Do whatever you think best."
Take her Miraculous!
Chat Blanc doesn't answer him. He summons a flicker of destructive power, enough maybe to hurt her body enough that she understands how she hurt his heart, enough to make sure no hands he trusts less than hers ever touch her Miraculous. She stifles a gasp at the sight of it; tears sparkle on her cheeks in the light of it.
"Go on," Ladybug says. "Take my Miraculous, if that's what you want. Destroy it or me, if that's what you want. Make me hurt how I hurt you, if that's what you want."
"Shellter!" Carapace shouts. It's meant to keep Chat Blanc inside, he knows, and he doesn't care—he's so much more powerful than Chat Noir ever was, and Chat Noir could have brought down Shellter easily—he's not trapped at all, no matter what Carapace—
It's also meant to keep Ladybug outside. She was meters away. Now she's thrown herself at his feet, inside the dome with him.
"Ask my name," Ladybug says, sobbing against his hip. "Ask for a kiss. Ask how I feel about you, fuck, ask me to fall in love with you—Gods all know keeping all that to myself hasn't done a fucking thing to protect you—"
Tell me her name!
Chat Blanc drops to his knees, too, catching her under one shoulder so she stays upright. Being so much above her—in a way he can't make short jokes about that'll end with her bopping him on the head—he's not supposed to be above her. "Protect me from what?" he asks.
"This." Ladybug spreads one hand over the white leather on his chest, over his heart. "This is—this is exactly what I was afraid of."
You are so close! Why are you hesitating?
"You know," Ladybug says, hiccuping a laugh between sobs, "I bet with a big enough blast, you'll get Shadowmoth and Mayura, too."
"And Carapace," Chat Blanc observes. "And Marinette, if she's home. Probably also if she's not. And—" He doesn't want to see who else might be close enough he'd have to watch them die, if he did this. If he did this to her.
—Why is she saying he should do this?
What are you waiting for?
"What are you waiting for?" Chat Blanc repeats. His akuma is in her reach. Why isn't she reaching for it?
Ladybug shrugs the shoulder he's not holding her up by. "If I try to defeat you without your cooperation," she says, flat the way he feels when all he had strength left to do is fall in bed and now he's fallen, "either we lose or I lose you. Either way, I'm done."
No. No.
"And I don't think our team can beat you at all," Ladybug says. "Especially if I try to help you do what you want, get what you want, instead of helping our team stop you."
Their team might just be Carapace, at the moment. Chat Blanc doesn't think about what role anyone but Ladybug might be able to play in gathering teammates. She's right, though: a cooperative effort from enough of their team would probably bring down Chat Noir, yes, but that's not who he is right now.
"I want to love someone who trusts me," Chat Blanc whispers. The other half—I want to trust someone who loves me—sits heavy on his tongue. His father, Ladybug—he won't even think the third name, though he can't help but picture how she looks in pink and gray.
I trust you to do as I say. Bring me the Miraculouses and I will love you like my own son.
He has enough parents who treat love like a business contract, thanks.
"I trust you," Ladybug murmurs.
Chat Blanc nods. "Lucky Charm," he says.
"Lucky Charm," Ladybug repeats.
He closes his eyes: whatever advantage the Charm gives her, he doesn't want to share it. He closes his hand: whatever harm he could do her, he doesn't want to risk it. He closes his heart—
Something bounces off his head. "No more evil-doing for you, little akuma," says Ladybug, voice shaking.
Chat Noir opens his eyes in time to watch the white butterfly flying away.
"I'm sorry," Ladybug says, voice unsteady, her hand trembling as she draws an akuma-shield charm from her yo-yo. "I'm sorry. I thought—" She stops, eyeing the silver-spotted white charm. "But if you keep this, it's safe to tell you!" She starts giggling, helplessly, breathlessly. "I can tell you everything!"
"Everything, huh," Alya says. Chat Noir jerks, overbalances, and falls over, taking Ladybug down with him. The Shellter dissolves, unneeded; Carapace, probably pretending for somebody or other's sake he doesn't know Alya, hangs back. "Here," Alya adds, "you're on top of the Lucky Charm, let me—" Alya picks up the small hard object as Chat pushes himself back up. "Huh, this looks like the one—"
"Shut—" Ladybug starts hiccuping. "Shut—shut up, Alya!"
What it looks like is the central bead of Adrien's Marinette lucky charm. But he's not going to say that aloud. He's going to pass it back to Ladybug, who is not Marinette, because there is no possible way he is that lucky. It must mean something else.
"He's not interested anyway," Ladybug tells Alya, like it's something she's reminding Alya of. "Don't get my hopes up." Alya looks like she very much wants to say something and won't. "Miraculous Ladybug! Anyway," Ladybug tells Chat, "I know I fell in love with you twice already. The first time was a speedrun, even." She glances away, blushing. "A third time shouldn't be hard, right?"
"…Take it easy on my heart rate," Chat begs. It's skyrocketed. Ladybug half smiles, pressing just a little on his chest where (he abruptly realizes) her hand hasn't left his heart.