The road to hell is short and paved with painful memories. The ones that keep you awake at night, paralyzed in fear. The ones you'd beg and plead to with whoever or whatever you believed in to forget. The ones that changed who you are, that molded you into the person you see everyday in the mirror.

She had plenty of those memories. Mostly they were from bad fights with friends, or emotional events like break ups or her parents finally splitting up. Some, however, were different.

One in particular she would trade every memory she had to forget.

When your best friend turns out to be a superhero- that you not only had been documenting, but that you'd had a huge crush on- you begin to notice things. You notice the bruises and cuts. The scars. The bags under their eyes from when they were up all night the day before keeping you and the whole of Paris safe.

The way they cover everything up with lies, clothes, and a bit of strategically placed concealer. You see parts of them that you'd been blind to before.

"Alya, are you okay?" A voice asked from somewhere to her left.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Why, what's up?" She asked, looking toward Nino.

"Well, there's an akuma loose, and you're not running to catch coverage of it." He pointed out, smiling. "Although, it looks like it may be an easy one, Dude."

Alya's eyes grew wide as she realized where that meant her best friend was.

She burst into motion, unlocking her phone and grabbing her bag before heading through the door at a breakneck pace. Hopefully she wouldn't need the first aid kit she has packed away in the front pocket of her bag.

Nino trailed close behind her as they emerged from their school, and she quickly decided to drag him with her towards a turned over car.

The scene around them would be considered breathtaking if it weren't so terrifying. Light glittered off of metal poles that stuck out from the sides of nearby buildings- giant sewing needles she soon realized, as she tracked the wires of thread attached to them with her eyes. The wires formed a giant spider web like structure, with two figures near the center.

Alya looked straight at the figures, one of them clearly the akuma victim. The victim, a brown haired girl in a dress made of a myriad of different fabrics patched together, looked absolutely enraged with the boy clad in leather in front of her.

Chat Noir's figure was wrapped up like a bug in a cocoon, his face comfortably set in a grin. "I've heard of cat cradles, but this seems a bit ridiculous, don't you think Seamstress?" He asks.

The villain lets out a frustrated scream, preparing her needles as she orders, "JUST GIVE ME YOUR MIRACULOUS. I DID THE WORK, I DESERVE IT!"

Alya looked around, expecting to see Mari- Ladybug, but not spotting her anywhere. Either she was already caught (oh please, no), or she hadn't been able to transform yet.

Just as that thought had crossed her mind, Alya and Nino watched on in awe as Ladybug launched herself off of one of the threads towards the Seamstress. With her yo-yo already aimed to hit the akuma, everyone present thought it would be over pretty quickly.

They had thought wrong.

The akuma turned to face Ladybug, sneering as she launched the already prepared needles towards the heroine. Ladybug dodged the first of them, but was not fast enough to not be hit by the second.

The metal pierced through her shoulder, threading through her easily as if she were fabric. It dragged her along with its momentum, slamming her back against the building it anchored itself to, effectively knocking the scream from her lungs as she was pinned, helpless after having dropped her yo-yo when hit.

Alya watched on in horror, screams sounding from all around her as the Seamstress advanced towards her best friend.

"Fine, you can give yours to me first, I'm sure Hawkmoth wouldn't mind."

Blood could be seen dripping down the wall Ladybug had been pinned to. Even so, the spotted heroine smirked. It looked more like a grimace. "Take it if you think you earned it."

The akuma victim growled, lunging at Ladybug before being hit in the face with a flying baton.

Alya's head whipped around as she looked at Chat Noir, who was in the process of freeing himself. "Sorry my Lady, you know how much cats love yarn!"

"Be careful not to choke up a hairball, Kitten. It's in her bracelet!" "Got it!"

Finally freeing himself, he launched off of the web as Ladybug had done earlier, going straight for the Seamstress's arms.

She screamed as the cat boy ripped the bracelet from her wrist, throwing it towards his partner.

Ladybug caught it, preparing to smash it against the wall she was pinned to, as another needle pierced through her stomach.

The scream that Chat Noir released was full of emotions: fear for the safety of his Lady, rage at Hawkmoth, and hopelessness as he watched Ladybug's body slump, being held to the building by the two needles protruding from the building.

Alya thought fast, running to stomp on the now discarded bracelet. She stomped hard, releasing the anger and fear she had experienced while watching her friend be impaled twice. This released the dark butterfly from its prison.

"Chat! FIX THIS NOW!" Alya ordered over the sound of the screaming akuma victim who was realizing that she had lost.

Chat Noir quickly grabbed Ladybugs yo-yo from the ground where it had been left after her first injury, and used it to catch the akuma. "I hope this works," he whispered in a broken voice as he threw the yo-yo into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug." He choked out.

In seconds the streets were blanketed in red, fixing any problems the akuma had caused.

Ladybug was released from the wall, falling two stories into Chat's waiting arms.

He took off quickly, carrying the fallen girl like a bride. The sight of unconscious Marinette in ladybugs torn up costume being etched into Alya's mind forever.

The road to hell was short, just a few steps outside of the school Alya attended everyday. It would always be stained in her best friends blood to her, and no amount of begging could fix that.