Dawn on the Horizon

Chapter 1

An Insistent paw batting at her face was what woke Emo Marinette up early that morning. "Finally, I've been doing that for five minutes. You okay, Nettie?" The goth girl groaned and opened her mouth to start saying something, but a raspy cough interrupted her attempt to speak.

The gothic bluenette sat up slowly and squinted her eyes against the harsh sunlight streaming in through the window.

Emo Marinette groaned into her hands, feeling like one of the Akumatized supervillain from the alternate world had slammed her into the Eiffel Tower over and over again.

She cursed silently under her breath and rubbed furiously at her eyes. Her head felt like a tone of bricks as she lifted her gaze to meet the worried face of her kwami.

Tikki's worried face came closer to Marinette's as she placed one of her paws on the young superhero's cheek. A few seconds later, the little ladybug kwami cursed under her breath and pulled her paw away from her charge's heated skin. Emo Marinette coughed again and slowly got ready for the day. But as she was brushing her hair, she suddenly felt very dizzy and it felt like she was falling,.

"Are you okay Nettie?" Tikki asked her holder as she watched her drag herself out of bed and toward the small closet that stood near the back of her bedroom.

The pigtailed bluenette turned a pair of tired and glassy bluebell eyes onto the worried sky blue ones of her little kwami friend.

"I'll be fine Tikki, I'm just feeling a little tired that's all." She told her while waving a dismissive hand in response to Tikki's question. As she was talking, Tikki took note of how raspy the Ladybug Miraculous holder's voice sounded. "I'm sure I'll feel more awake once we're outside."

The little ladybug kwami frowned worriedly and flew over to sit upon her charge's head, humming softly to herself and playing with some of the loose strands of the goth girl's blue-black hair.

Tikki frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "I told you not to go out last night didn't I? But you just wouldn't listen to me. Here's my advice, the next time you decide to go for a walk in the cold at least bring a jacket." Tikki gently scolded the Ladybug Miraculous holder while staring up at the dark-haired teenager with a concerned expression forming on her face.

Emo Marinette groaned softly to herself as another raspy cough tore through her throat. She sneezed a few times before she quickly blew her nose and hoisted her schoolbag a bit higher over her shoulders.

The walk to school was pretty slow but Emo Marinette felt a lot better when the cool air brushed over her face. She sighed softly and let a wide smile split across her face as she caught sight of her girlfriend and her three best friends standing on the school steps.

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Emo Marinette sighed softly to herself as the teacher went on and on about some war that happened in the early 1900's. Her vision grew blurry and before the goth girl knew it, she had fallen asleep.

But even if History wasn't one of her favorite classes, she was at least somewhat grateful that it was her last class of the day.

About 35 minutes or so later, the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day had finally come. The loud sound startled the dark-haired girl awake and she lifted her head from where it had been resting on top of her folded arms. She stifled a yawn and blinked blearily up at the worried faces of both her friends and girlfriend.

"Nettie are you feeling alright?" Akari was the first to speak up, staring with concerned blue eyes as Juleka reached across the desk to feel her girlfriend's forehead.

She hissed and pulled her hand away as if she'd been burned. Emo Marinette just groaned softly and did her best to stay awake.

Glassy and fever-glazed bluebell eyes drifted mindlessly around the classroom, just now noticing that they were the only ones still in the classroom. She rested her chin on the palm of her right hand and with the other one she played with one of her pigtails.

"Come on Nettie, I'll walk you home." The sweet voice of her girlfriend speaking to her made Emo Marinette turn to look at her with a small nod of her head.

With a heavy sigh, the pigtailed bluenette packed up her things in her backpack before hoisting it higher on her shoulders before making her way out of the classroom with her girlfriend walking right beside her.

The walk home to the bakery was slow but it gave the dark-haired girl some time to think. Tonight she had patrol with Claw and Betterfly.

Once she had arrived home, Emo Marinette headed upstairs to her bedroom collapsed onto her bed with a tired groan.

Emo Marinette could hear Tikki saying something but the kwami's voice sounded very far any to her ears. The last thing she saw was Tikki flying toward her pigtails before her eyes slid shut and sleep claimed her.

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Before the goth girl new it, she felt a small prodding at her face. She groaned and batted whatever it was away from her face. "Ugh! I just want to sleep, leave me alone." She muttered tiredly before baring her face into her pillow.

"Come on Nettie, you gotta up. It's time for patrol with Claw and Betterfly." It was Tikki who was calling out to her. "The sonner you leave the sooner you can go back to sleep." The little ladybug kwami told the Ladybug Miraculous holder while tugging gently on the girl's pigtails.

With a tired groan, the pigtailed bluenette sat up and reluctantly removed the blankits from around her. She didn't want to get up, but she also knew that she had to go out and do patrol.

"Tikki, Blots On!" She called for her transformation. Once transformed, Shadybug unclasped her black-and-red spotted yo-yo from her hip and tossed it forward.

She had just swung her yo-yo out in front of her to make another throw, but her foggy brain made her think that she had latched the black string onto the chimney of the rooftop across from her.

Shadybug shook off the sudden dizziness from her head and jumped off of the rooftop. But as she felt the cold air rushing past her ears, she was too late to realize that the yo-yo string had not attached to the building like she had had first thought.

A terrified shriek broke free from the spotted hero's throat as she continued to fall. Her vision began to darken and the last thing she saw before blacking out was the blurry outline of Betterfly reaching out to catch her and then everything went dark as she fell into unconsciousness.