Marinette shoved the key into the front door in a panic. It was like some sort of horror movie, a monster upstairs chasing her down in the dark. And now she couldn't get the door open.

Her sweaty fingers couldn't grip the key properly, so she kept jamming it in wrong.
All while she heard his quiet, cat-like footsteps padding down her ladder.

There was no time to transform, the light would be a dead giveaway in the darkness that shrouded the bakery. But Tikki was hovering right next to her, she'd woken up just as Chat Noir landed in the room.

"Come on, come on!" Marinette murmured desperately, and finally, there was a click.

Pushing the door open with such force, Marinette tripped over the threshold and nearly found herself sprawled on the ground in the middle of the street! Almost. She slammed the door behind her. 

Half-running, half-tripping, she ran to the other side of the building. Barefoot, the cold cement of the street chilled her. She had no idea where Chat was, but she knew he was dangerous. She'd never heard him speak in that tone before, and if the picture of the park was anything to go by, something was horribly wrong.

Spinning round into an alley where she could transform safely, Tikki stopped her before she could say the magic words.

"I think he's been akumatised," she whispered to her chosen, as if following a train of thought. Chat Noir could never have wrecked the park like that on his own.

Marinette frowned. But how?

"He must have taken off his ring. It's the only possible way he could have been akumatized."

"It's too late to talk now Tikki; I guess I'll figure it out when I find him. Or rather, when he finds me. Spots On!"

Marinette ducked behind some sort of box in the alley, trying to conceal the light. There should totally be a way in which she could transform in 'stealth mode'. But that was for another time.

Ladybug swung out of the alley in seconds, pulling herself to the nearest roof. Now where was that pesky cat, and why had he taken off his ring in the first place?

Ladybug jumped at a sudden crash. Thunder? She looked up in alarm, noticing for the first time how close those dark thunderclouds were. The ones she'd seen on the horizon earlier that day.

She shook her head, praying that the thing with Chat would be sorted out before it started raining. She did NOT feel like getting soaked tonight.

She swung over to the door of the bakery she'd stumbled out of moments earlier, only to find that it had disappeared, nothing but a pile of ash-like shards lying in its place.

Putting the pieces together, she scanned the area for any signs of the mad cat. She swung up to a different building hoping to get a better view, when a brilliant, jagged bolt of lighting was flung down from the sky. It struck some distance away, but it illuminated the city for a brief moment, nothing but a flash, and revealed the silhouette of an angry, feline boy. Standing on the roof of a building, a block or two down.

Unfortunately for Ladybug, he'd spotted her too.

Snarling, he bounded over to her lone figure, and for the first time, Ladybug noticed that his suit was white.

"Chat Noir! What are you doing?!" she screamed as he lunged for her, extending his glowing white hand.

She missed his outstretched claws by the skin of her teeth as she dodged. Chat went sprawling on the other side of the roof, almost slipping off, as he couldn't control his momentum.

"It's Chat Blanc now," he spat, his coal-black eyes gleaming.

He stood up and stared at her, his eyes narrowed to slits, trying to figure out his next move.

His gaze was becoming unnerving. Ladybug clasped her yo-yo in her hand, spinning it to form a magical shield. It shone bright pink in the darkness, illuminating the white-clad teenager in front of her.

He just needed to touch her. One little touch, that was all. The earrings wouldn't be affected by his power, and when he touched her, she would scream in agony before her ashes would whisk away, completely destroyed.

Chat Blanc licked his lips in anticipation, picturing the scene. Revenge was going to be sweet.

Without warning, he lunged again, this time aiming for her neck, the part of her that wasn't completely protected by her makeshift shield.

She ducked, trying to fend him off all while avoiding his glittering claws. She'd guessed that was where the evil version of the cataclysm was activated, as it was normally.

He was almost on top of her, and she kicked him off using every ounce of her strength.

"Why are you doing this Chat?" she asked, terrified. He had become a monster. She tried to hide the fear in her voice.

"You hurt me Ladybug! I thought I knew you! But you're nothing more than a selfish pig!" he yelled back, as he pulled himself to his feet.

Ladybug gasped. That was rich, coming from him! How dare he! Anger flooded through her veins.

This isn't the real Chat Noir you're talking to. He doesn't know what he's saying.

Tikki tried to talk some sense into Ladybug before she did anything irrational. She could feel her chosen's anger, radiating off her.

"I will destroy you Ladybug. And once I have, I'll take those earrings, you won't be needing them anymore," he snarled.

Ladybug paled, realising the true weight of the situation. It was only her. If she couldn't defeat him, she didn't have a backup. Hawkmoth would get both Miraculouses, he basically had one already. As long as Chat was akumatised, he would do whatever Hawkmoth desired.

She needed to purify him, and fast.

Chat Blanc tensed, ready to pounce.

He dived for her, but she managed to wrap her yo-yo around his dangerous arm just in time. He struggled against the wire, still swiping at her with his uncharged claws, before she flung him back off the roof. He slammed into the ground below.

There was a time when Ladybug wouldn't have dared hurt her partner, but those days were long gone. After what he'd done...

He hit the ground with a horrifying crack, and Ladybug felt a pang of regret, remembering the ties of loyalty that had once lay between them. She shook her head quickly. Their partnership was over, and even if it wasn't, he was akumatised! She'd be forced to hurt him in order to save him.

Focusing on the battle at hand, she ran her eyes over his stumbling figure on the ground, searching for the object that hid the akuma. Why had he been akumatised anyway? The reason behind often linked to the object.

His words from moments before echoed back to her.

You hurt me Ladybug! I thought I knew you!

Well yes, she'd said some nasty things to him as Ladybug after purifying Frostbite, but they were well-deserved! She'd meant every word she'd said. He had hurt HER.

Ladybug stopped short. He didn't know she was Marinette, so he didn't know that she knew who he really was, and why he'd hurt her. But still! Playing two girls like that and manipulating them, he could have guessed why Ladybug was so upset!

Her train of thought halted as Chat Blanc picked himself up off the ground. He snarled at her and got ready to pounce back onto the roof where she stood.

"You mean nothing to me, Ladybug! Not anymore..."

Grabbing his staff, he shot up to the roof, landing on all fours. Ladybug began spinning her yo-yo once more, preparing for another attack. She couldn't do much until she figured out where the akuma was, and to be completely honest, she didn't want to hurt him if she could avoid it.

Her best option right now was to retreat.

Without warning, she flung her yo-yo to the right and yanked. A millisecond later, she was sailing off the roof into the air. Chat Blanc's eyes widened in surprise.

He considered his choices. He could either chase after her or hunt Marinette down, as he'd been doing earlier. She couldn't have gone very far. There was a wicked glint in his eyes, coloured such a pure black, they seemed to be bottomless pits behind his mask. Yes, he'd hunt down his classmate. That sounded like a splendid idea.

No! Go after Ladybug! I want that Miraculous!

Hawkmoth growled in his head. The signature, glowing outline formed on Chat Blanc's face.

"Relax," Chat said calmly, cracking his knuckles.

"As soon as I've found Marinette, I'll go after Ladybug. I want to bring her down as much as you do," he reasoned.

Back in his lair, Hawkmoth considered his victim's request. He could still feel Adrien fighting against his akuma, he was one of the harder people Hawkmoth had ever akumatised. He decided it was best to keep Chat Blanc happy and not risk his chance at the Miraculouses. He'd waited years, what was another few minutes?

You may find Marinette first, but go straight after Ladybug once you've killed her.

Hawkmoth said in an authoritative tone. He didn't want Chat Blanc to forget who was boss either.

Chat smirked a dreadful smirk.

"Of course," he replied, and the butterfly-shaped mask fell from his face.

~~~

"Tikki, Spots Off!"

Seconds later, it was Marinette that now stood behind Alya's house.

"Marinette, I don't think detransforming is the best idea," Tikki squeaked worriedly.

"He's after both Marinette and Ladybug, remember? None of your identities are safe, and you stand a better chance against him as Ladybug"

"I know Tikki, but at the moment he's after Ladybug, not Marinette."

"Is he?" Tikki questioned cryptically.

Marinette stiffened. It was true, he hadn't gone after Ladybug. That meant that Marinette had a blood-thirsty cat stalking her right now.

"But I needed Alya's help! I can't walk into her house, uninvited, as Ladybug!"

"Why not?"

Marinette considered the idea, not liking it at all. But every shadow seemed to be shaped like a cat, every little noise in the night sounded like claws scraping across tiles. She was becoming paranoid.

The first drops of rain started to fall, splattering onto the ground. It was suddenly an awful lot colder.

Tikki was okay to transform, her last transformation had lasted only a couple of minutes. And she was right, Marinette would be a lot safer as Ladybug at the moment. She couldn't risk her life right now, for the sake of the entire city. If he got her, there would be no one to stop him returning her miraculous to Hawkmoth. And there was no telling what would happen after that. The fate of the entire world practically rested on her shoulders.

There was a flash of pink light, before Ladybug stood tall in Marinette's place.

She crept nearer to the house and tapped softly on her best friend's window.

But she hadn't realised that Alya's house was the very next place Chat Blanc was heading for, in search of Marinette.

~~~

It's a full on maze now, and I'm not at all sorry XD