Keep the Mask, It Goes With Your Costume

~Chapter Five: The Truth~

She wasn't at school, she wasn't at home, she wasn't at Alya's, she wasn't at the Eiffel tower, she wasn't anywhere. He looked around for three hours, and the sun was already set. He should have eaten dinner over an hour ago, but it would be impossible to eat while he was this anxious. It was time for Cat Noir to get help. Marinette wasn't anywhere around and wouldn't answer her phone, something must have happened to her. With a heavy heart and great guilt, he would tell Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng that their daughter went missing. And not only that, she went missing right after he had promised to keep her safe.

Cat Noir told himself that this has gotta be the biggest failure in the history of superheroes, and he didn't deserve his miraculous. Marinette was one of his best friends, and he suspected she was potentially in love with his civilian self. If Adrien's theory was correct, Marinette did love him, but he couldn't test that theory of Marinette was missing! Either way, Marinette was an amazing person and deserved to be saved, if she was indeed in trouble, that is.

He walked slowly to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, knowing what he had to do. It takes lot of confidence to admit your mistakes, but a mistake as big as this was going to take more than just confidence to admit. After this Cat Noir wouldn't be surprised if Master Fu just took away his miraculous, after all he didn't deserve it for losing an important citizen like that. But he still needed to tell her parents she was gone, and that it was all his fault....

In reality, of course, it was not Cat Noir's fault for Marinette's disappearance. And as far as he was concerned, Marinette wasn't a secret superhero, so the only logical explanation was that it was Cat Noir's fault for leaving her alone. At first he thought maybe she was just lost, but it is unlikely she would get lost in her hometown, and even then she would still be answering her phone. The Cat hero was beginning to believe may be she had been kidnapped, which would explain why she wasn't answering her phone, and can't be found in Paris. If that was the case Cat Noir had to act fast, before something horrible happened.

Ladybug landed behind the bakery, hoping she'd be able to hear what was going on with Cat Noir, without being seen. Cat Noir kind of stood there for a minute without doing anything, and he looked really....nervous?? Ladybug was pretty confused why he wasn't going in already, and why he seemed worried.

Cat Noir reached his hand toward the doorknob of the bakery, and sighed. Before he had the chance to chicken off and not go in, he quickly pushed the door open and burst inside, breathing heavily.

Ladybug could see through the window what was going on.

Of course, the Dupain-Chengs were perplexed, after all the was the first time Cat Noir ran into their bakery looking so scared and urgent.

"Cat Noir!?" Marinette's mother asked, usually Ms. Sabine is very calm, but even she was worried. "What's going on!?"

Cat Noir couldn't get the words out, he just kept panting as if he was running of air. His eyes filled up because he knew they would be so worried, but he just had to stay it. No matter how much he didn't want to, this was what a superhero needs to do.

"Marinette is missing!" He barely managed to get out, but he was glad he did.....until he saw the look on their faces.

The couple looked at each other and their eyes widened, they were terrified. Cat Noir felt horrible.

Ladybugs eyes widened as well, this is it, this is where it starts. It wouldn't be long before the whole city was looking for her, and no one was going to find her. When she saw her parents it was even worse, they were so, so heartbroken. They were going to have to suffer for months with the thought that their daughter was missing, she couldn't do that to them! But it didn't matter, she had absolutely no choice.