It was late, and Marinette was walking home by herself. She heard some footsteps behind her and without looking back, Marinette walked faster. The footsteps also sped up. Clutching her purse tight to her body, Marinette broke out into a run. Looking behind her, she saw a dark shadow quickly catching up to her. Marinette was sprinting now, but he was so close. She felt his calloused fingers brush against her wrist and she yelped. Giving Tikki a silent apology, she swung her purse as hard as she could at his head. He growled, and yanked the purse from her hand and tossed it to the side. "Now, now," the man said, "Don't fight this, Princess."

Marinette glared. She could see his features more clearly now. He was obviously drunk, reeking of whiskey. His eyes were bloodshot and his smile was malicious. "Only one person can call me that," she growled, "and you're not him."

"C'mon, Princess," the man slurred, "I don't wanna hurt you."

"So don't. Leave me alone."

"Now what's the fun in that?"

"The fun is that you won't go to jail, now leave me alone." The man reached for her wrist but Marinette caught it. "What did I say?"

The drunken light that was seen in the man's eyes died. "Oh, Princess. Wrong move."

Seemingly out of nowhere, the man pulled out a knife that glinted in the streetlight. He drew his arm back, and before he could strike, Marinette kneed him in the balls and took off. With a pained howl, the man took off after her, quickly catching up and tackling her. He straddled her and took his knife out again. "Come on, girlie. Loosen up a bit." With his free hand, he tried to stroke her cheek. With an angry growl, Marinette somehow managed to flip him and he was now underneath her. She snatched the knife from his hand and held it to his neck.

"What's your deal?" she panted.

The man narrowed his eyes but said nothing. Marinette glanced behind her to see how far her purse was. If she yelled loud enough, could she transform? The man took the opportunity to drag himself from underneath her. Marinette's head whipped back around, her eyes wide. He reclaimed his knife back and slashed her cheek. Marinette yelped and the man seized her wrist and proceeded to drag her to an alley. Marinette kicked and screamed, but to no avail. He thrust the knife in her face. "Shut up, girl," he growled.

Marinette glared at him. "Fuck. You."

With a roar, the man raised the knife. But before he could bring it down, a gloved hand caught his wrist. "I would think twice before hurting her again." The man gulped and slowly raised his bloodshot eyes to meet glowing green ones.

"C-chat Noir," he whimpered.

Chat Noir's eyes narrowed. "That would be me, yes. Would you like to see what happens to people who try to take advantage of women like her? Cataclysm." Chat Noir reached up and the man flinched. But instead of touching him, Chat Noir tapped the knife that was still raised. It disintegrated into dust and slipped through the man's fingers.

Thinking that Chat Noir was now defenseless, the man got a sense of confidence. "Very smart, Chat Noir. You used your only weapon. And now you only have a short amount of time before you change back. I, on the other hand, have more than just a rusty knife. He dropped Marinette's wrist and she scampered out of the alley. "Aw, she didn't even stay for you. How does that feel, Kitty?"

Chat Noir growled. "Marinette's smart enough to not stick around." With that, he lunged and clawed at the drunk thug's face. He screamed and reached behind Chat Noir and grabbed his baton. Pressing a button, he extended it so that it threw Chat Noir back into a wall. Chat grunted and the man smirked. Tossing the baton aside, the man knelt down and picked up Chat's hand. "Such a pretty jewel. I wonder how much I can get for it. He proceeded to slide the ring off the superhero's hand.

Clang

The man stiffened, then passed out. He fell to the ground to reveal a disheveled Marinette, with Chat Noir's baton in her hands. She made eye contact with Chat Noir, who was still winded. Dropping the baton, Marinette rushed over and knelt in front of her friend.

"Chat! Are...are you ok?"

"Just...purr-fectly peachy...Princess" groaned Chat.

"Oh, gosh." Marinette cupped Chat's face in her hands. "W-will you be alright? Do you need to come home with me? I-I'm sure I have something that could help you."

Chat Noir smiled weakly. "I'm...the one who's supposed to be protecting you, not the other way around."

"Shut up. You're still human, and you did everything you could." Marinette kissed Chat Noir's forehead. "Thank you for coming to my rescue."

"Of...course. Thank you for coming to mine."

Marinette giggled. "What are friends for?"