Moving On?

It's Here

*Updated 3/19/24*

The cool breeze twisting through the streets of Paris blew the scent of freshly baked goods Adrien's way as he neared the Bakery. Still blindly following the girl with the blue pigtails.

With his head held high, the smell caught his attention. He had been brought right to her house. Maybe now she'll finally stop running away, he thought to himself. Utterly and completely confused by the weirdness of everything going on.

Unfortunately disaster followed him, seemingly cursed with destruction for all eternity. Off in the distance he spotted the all too familiar violet magic carpet. Turning nightmares into reality.

Then looking at the pigtailed girl nearing the front stoop of her bakery, her back still turned, the realization hit him. His nightmare, once worse than any confinement, never speaking to Marinette again.

No wonder he couldn't seem to catch up with her, when that's not even really her to begin with. How could he have been so blind, especially with seeing her in his room. There's no way she would've been able to get into the house.

Frustrated, Adrien held his head in his hands, trying to stabilize himself enough to think clearly. But his eyes moved to the night sky, watching, and listening to those words, those 9 eerie words. "The Sandboy just checked in, now nightmares can begin!".

Distracted, Adrien continued to look to the night sky, the silhouette of Stealth, shining under the moon, charging at the akumatized villain. Adrien wishes nothing more than to be able to go and help his cousin. And Ladybug, not having shown up yet, didn't do anything to help his worries, needing his nightmare to end.

A loud thud echoed throughout the empty Paris streets, startling Adrien.

He looked to the source of the noise, which happened to be right back at the bakery. Sprawled out on the ground was Ladybug and Chat Noir. Chat Noir?! But it wasn't really Chat Noir. It may look like him, the suit, the hair, the bell, the build, but he wasn't so much Noir. And more like Blanc. Chat's signature electric green eyes seemed to be traded out for a pair of icey blue.

Is this version of myself Ladybug's nightmare? Adrien wondered. The question only created more questions for himself, dying to know what this meant, who this really was, and why must she be so scared of this version of Chat?

He could see more clearly now that Ladybug was face down on the ground, completely exhausted. It seemed that Chat Blanc passed out cold, but like he rose from the dead, a bit of stirring led to him slowly but surely getting up from the fall.

Warning her wouldn't be enough. He needed to transform to make it to her, he needed to help his partner. For he could see overhead that Stealth was way too preoccupied with Sandboy to help the spotted heroine. But transforming wasn't an option. Not only had he left the house without bringing Plagg, but he was still in no shape to safely transform.

In an attempt to help his partner, he tried running to Ladybug as fast as he could, calling out to her to warn her in the process. But quickly he had to halt his approach, forced to grab his stomach as a reaction to the pain shooting through him. All that soreness got worse from his attempted sprint.

"Behind you!" he shouted as a last resort, pointing his finger to right above Ladybug. Right where Chat Blanc was about to strike.

Quickly, she rolled over onto her back in response to Adrien's warning to see what he was referring to. And right there hovering above her was the nightmare that just wouldn't go away. Chat Blanc.

Already mentally defeated from the situation, she didn't have a quick enough reaction time. Chat now had the upper hand, pouncing and pinning her down to the ground so she couldn't move.