who are we (if not who they've made us to be)?

Five

"Well, my wish would be to fix everything, so we could be in love again!" Chat Blanc declared. Ladybug desperately looked for a way to use her Lucky Charm but she couldn't see anything.

"And have a hamster too," he continued, "You've always dreamed of having one. We'll call it..."

He stopped in front of her. She could only stare as he raised a hand to hold her cheek, heart shattering. Then, just as he reached for her Miraculous, she grabbed his wrist, throwing her legs up and slamming him into the ground. She wrestled for a firm grip on his arm before snagging his belt and retreating. This time, she didn't even bother saying her catchphrase as she snapped the belt in two. Still no akuma.

"C'mon, Ladybug!" Mylene cheered, squeezing Ivan's hand.

"You're not even listening," Chat Blanc spat. "You don't understand."

Dead eyes stared at her while she pulled out her yo-yo. Without a word, he shot a cataclysm at her feet, breaking the ground under her and sending her falling into the depths of the water. She screamed, hitting the water hard and barely avoiding being hit by debris. Blinking and holding her breath, Ladybug turned to see the street by the dance studio. She almost cried. People were standing on the streets, frozen in time as decayed humanoid shapes. She wondered if her friends were down there somewhere, her parents. Flipping her yo-yo open to use as an oxygen tank, she swam to ground. A huge scorch mark marred the ground like an explosion had gone off, and in front of it, two bodies stood. The first, with that distinct cane and outfit, was Hawkmoth. The second...

Ladybug swam closer. The figure had their hair back in pigtails and a familiar mask on. A dust yo-yo sat on their waist.

"Is that...?" Adrien almost puked. Forget trying to kill Ladybug, he'd already succeeded.

"N-No way! Chat Noir's a hero, he wouldn't..." Kim stared in horror. Rose sobbed, hiding her face in Juleka's arms. No one else could find their voice.

Ladybug reached out. Just as her fingers grazed this version's face, it (she) crumbled into dust and got swept away by the water. She couldn't stand being here any longer. She had to get Chat Blanc's akuma and make everything right again. Wrapping her yo-yo around the Eiffel Tower again and yanking herself up, Ladybug landed facing Chat Blanc's back.

"What did you do to them?" She couldn't help asking. Chat Blanc didn't even turn to face her.

"I didn't mean to," he said, and even though his tone was blank, she knew it tore him apart. He barely glanced at her.

"Why won't you try and help me fix it?" He wondered, before his tone hardened. "The simple truth is, you don't love me anymore! So I might as well destroy you, me, our memories, everything!"

Marinette hugged herself, sobs wracking her body. My kitty. My poor, poor kitty.

Raising his hand to the sky, Chat Blanc started charging his biggest mega-cataclysm yet. Ladybug was scared.

"No!" She shouted, reaching for him. The mega-cataclysm only grew, bigger than the city, then the planet, then the galaxy. It would destroy everything if it was released.

"Okay, okay! I'll give you my Miraculous, Chat Noir!" Ladybug relented. In an instant, the cataclysm winked out of existence. Chat Blanc watched her with sad eyes, shaking his head.

"I'm not Chat Noir anymore. I'm Chat Blanc." He flicked his bell. Ladybug walked up to him, head down. Putting her hands on his chest, she wondered if he could feel how her whole body trembled. Meeting his eyes, Ladybug blinked away tears.

"You'll always be Chat Noir to me," she murmured, slowly leaning forward. Her eyes fluttered as their lips just gently skimmed each other. Right as he ducked down to kiss her, she snatched the bell off the front of his suit, cracking it open and watching as his akuma finally escaped.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma." Sliding open her yo-yo, Ladybug took the akuma right of the air, releasing a purified butterfly seconds after. Black sludge covered Chat Blanc's body, revealing a confused Chat Noir. He looked around quickly, cupping his hands as the butterfly landed on them. Ladybug smiled so as not to cry.

"Mini-bug, you did it!" Bunnyx cried from behind her. Ladybug was about to run for the portal when Chat Noir finally spoke up.

"Future me?" Alix perked up.

"Marinette? What happened? What's wrong?"

She said nothing, eyes on the floor. She couldn't bare to look at him after all that had happened.

"You're still calling me Marinette," she murmured. "You're not supposed to know who I am. It means that if I use my Miracle Cure to fix everything now..."

Bunnyx sighed. "You'll still have this memory of her."

Ladybug stared at her eraser, blinking when it lit up. Glancing around, she saw Bunnyx's portal covered in her pattern too.

"Of course!" She realized. She still couldn't quite look him in the eye, but running at Chat Noir, she hugged him close.

"Don't worry, Chat Noir. I'm going to fix everything. I promise," she whispered.

Making a break for Bunnyx's portal, she barely heard his confident, "You always do."

The screen faded to static.