"I want a lot of things." Chloe purred. Chat growled in agitation.
"Where are you now?" He all but hissed. Chloe tsked and cut the call. Chat's eyes widened for a second but a moment later she was video calling.
"Oh wowww, so this is your face up close? Rawrrrr."Chat's nose twitched.
"Do you want to see your princess?" Chloe taunted and flipped her hair. Chat pursed his lips. "Of course you do." She snickered. "But first you have to say 'Please can I see her my fair lady?', go on, say it, Kitty."Chloe grinned sardonically. Chat took a breath. It was best to do what she said. He knew from experience that she was less cruel when she was met with no resistance.
"Please can I see her…My…fair lady."He gritted out, it was poison on his tongue.
"As you wish kitty."She purred and turned from front cam to back cam. Chat's blood ran cold at the sight of Marinette tied to the chair. "Marinette!" He gasped in horror. Chloe handed her phone to someone and walked towards Marinette, slinging an arm around her shoulder.
"Poor Marinette, so heavily sedated she can't even hear you, let alone see you. Wakey wakey Marinette." Chloe said, slapping her cheeks. Whoever was holding the phone had shaky hands and Marinette's face was alternating between clear and distorted.
Chloe laughed. "Did you really think you could win against me? Did you think I would let you get away with you humiliating my precious babies?" She smiled.
"Did you think you would live happily ever after?" She pulled the cover off Marinette's eyes and she looked around blearily.
"The sad thing is that you and your girlfriend over here last spoke and departed on such terrible terms, now her last thoughts of you will be the fight you two just had, boohoooo."
Chat began to panic. This could not happen, everything he did was so that this wouldn't happen. He couldn't lose Marinette like this, not to here.
"Okay, I lose, you've won. I accept my defeat. I will give you Adrien back if you return Marinette to me. Your issue is with me, not her."
"Hmmm, I think not. You see, I've waited much too long for this moment, and you're going to watch."
Chat's eyes widened as Chloe was handed a revolver.
"Chloe stop! Just tell me what you want and I will do it! If you want to lock me up or torture me then I won't resist, please just don't do this to her!"He shouted.
Chloe laughed.
"I want you to watch very carefully."
And she pulled the trigger.
The sound resounded in Chat's ears as Marinette's shirt stained crimson around her stomach area. Marinette didn't scream, she was quiet, but after a moment she let out a choke noise, and blood seeped into the gag in her mouth.
"STOP CHLOE I WILL DO ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING,DON'T HURT HER PLEASE DON'T HURT HER, I SWEAR YOU CAN PUT ME IN A ROOM AND SHOOT BULLETS AT ME ALL DAY FOR ALL I CARE BUT STOP HURTING HER,DON'T HURT-"
Chloe shot again, this time the bullet hit Marinette in her leg.
"STOP IT!" Chat didn't even realise he was crying. Chloe looked at the camera.
"Ohhhhh, is the kitty upset that his itty-bitty pwincess is going to die and it's all his fault? You know, I have to thank you Chat Noir. I've truly hated this woman for a number of years but you gave me the momentum and reasoning to actually go after her. So in reality, her death is all on you."
"No…"Chat sobbed pulling at his hair.
"Yes, I'll admit, the attack at the exhibition wasn't intentional, I only meant for them to ruff her up, but, boys will be boys won't they? And then today!" She burst out into laughter as Marinette became paler and paler.
"To think, I didn't have to even fight you to get to her after your lovers spat, we literally just dropped in and picked her up." Chloe said and Chat choked on his sob. This was never his intention. He didn't mean for this, he left her alone out of anger. He was just angry.
A large tank, filled with water, with a ladder attached to its side was rolled in front of the cam.
"And in her dazed head, even she knows Chat Noir isn't coming. You were supposed to protect her and always be there for her, didn't you say she was your reason for living?"
"Stop it." Chat said through gritted teeth.
A man suddenly came up behind Marinette and picked her up with the chair.
"What are they doing?!"Chat asked in horror as the man was joined by another and together they climbed up to the top of the tank.
"You know what I think? I think that under that mask of Chat Noir, you're just a scared, lonely little boy-"
"Shut up!" He growled.
"And everyone treated you like shit, and so you decided to treat them like shit too, and then perfect little Marinette came along and made you feel like you belonged." She laughed.
"But now little Marinette is going to die, what will you do now? Are you going to try and get revenge on me?"
Chat looked at her with panicked eyes.
"I think Marinette would really hate you even more if anything happened to her sweet parents, don't you think so?" Chloe purred out.
"Chloe please, I'm begging you not to do this to her, please let her go, please, please don't hurt her anymore-"
He had no idea where she was, so he had no way to get to her. All he could do was watch. He was powerless to Chloe, once again.
He was always, always powerless.
"I'll give you thirty seconds to tell her what you need to, since it's such a wonderful evening after all!"
Marinette looked up blearily.
She had lost a whole lot of blood and was deathly pale.
"I'm sorry…"Chat choked. "Marinette, I am so, so sorry, I've failed you. I don't deserve your forgiveness, I'm the cause of all this, but Marinette I love you, I love you so much, I love you, I shouldn't have said those things. Princess, I don't want to live without you, I can't do it. I can't do it…"
He was unraveling right in front of his Arch-nemesis…and he couldn't care less.
Chloe grinned.
"Well, as touching as this is, we'll have to round this up. Bye bye Mari!" Chloe said and gave the signal for the men to drop her into the tank, still strapped to the chair.
The chair sank to the bottom, and Marinette's eyes widened.
Chat let out the most agonized, gut wrenching scream as he watched the love of his life get drowned, not able to do anything.
"You should probably just kill yourself now Chat Noir. I mean, now that she's dying over there, you have nothing left to live for, right? And you can't get revenge on me, because I will get revenge on her parent's, so you're powerless. Just do it. Kill yourself. You're nothing. You were only a something in Marinette's eyes, and those eyes will be lifeless soon." Chloe taunted speedily as Chat screamed.
Marinette's body became limp and her body stopped fighting the restraints.
Chloe grinned at the screen.
"And that, Chat Noir is what happens when you mess with what's mine."
And the call was cut.
The phone fell out of Chat's hands as he detransformed and continued to scream, falling to the floor and curling in on himself as he screamed and pulled his hair.
"Adrien!-"
It was too much.
Everything was too much.
He had held it in. He had kept it all in. The pain, the hurt and the agony inside him that he learned to hide so well.
But something in him snapped at that moment.
Images began to flash through Adrien's mind, going right back to the last day he saw his mother. Her smile, her laugh, she loved him, and all he did was disappoint them. He made them sad. He made her sad.
All they fought about was him.
More images flashed and he was suddenly sprawled out as Chloe took advantage of him. Over, and over and over again. And the pain-wracked at his body drawing out the sharpest and most deadly of his memories, memories so frightening that the very image of them began to suffocate Adrien. And no longer could he breathe as he clawed at his chest in the hope of relieving himself of the aching feeling of loss.
He had lost her. No. He had killed Marinette, and the ache wouldn't subside.
It wasn't leaving and the words bounced around his head spiraling him down into insanity as black-spotted smiles taunted him with the words that everyone around him said on a constant basis when they thought he couldn't hear, but he had always heard. Always.
"Dumb-ass square!"
"If he's so perfect how come he's always alone?"
"His father despises him…I heard that this one time he chased him off the studio because he was being emotional."
"I said take your pants off now!"
"Stupid bastard, he thinks he's all that? He probably starves himself to look that way."
"Nathalie, where did I go wrong with this boy?"
"Oooooh I bet he does whatever daddy says!"
"Do it or I'll tell your father what you did!"
"Mr Agreste, the only way your son can maintain that weight is if he eats less than 500 calories a day,it may take a toll on his health, but it's worth a shot."
"Chat Noir is the alter-ego of a boy desperate for a certain kind of attention."
"Obviously I wasn't going to keep it, what would that do to my figure?!"
"He's just a pretty-face, but he has absolutely no substance to him."
"Ugh, that Adrien Agreste thinks he's all it because Paris loves him, I offered him my body and he said no! Who does this asshole think he is!I'm a supermodel too!"
"You will act as if you're enjoying it, Adrien, or so help me I will tell all of Paris."
"Bet his daddy bends him over the table."
"He's so gay."
"He's blonde, he's dumb as shit, have you ever even seen the boy do anything but model? He probably can't spell 'egg'."
Everyone who didn't adore his angelic Adrien persona automatically found every fault ,created fake faults too, and harped on it.
Marinette never harped on any of it. Never.
Everyone expected something of him, but all they did was take, and they never gave back.
"Adrikins, meet me at my room at five."
"Ohhhh my gosh,can I have a photo and can you autograph this?"
"Great job Adrien, remember to ask your father if he and I can do a collaboration collection."
"Adrien, you will be modelling for a friend of mine on the fortnight of this month, Natalie will be watching your diet until then."
"Urggh Adrihoney you can do better than that!"
"Ahhh young Master Agreste, glad you could make it,I need a big favour, one of the models in my Winter Wonderland collection has fallen ill, could you model for both the Winter Wonderland and the Mysterique collection?Your father said you would…"
"Adrien! Adrien!It's Nadia Chamack!Could we have an interview?Just one-"
"Adrien,we need you to-"
"Mr Agreste,just the man we were looking fo-"
"Adrikinsss-"
They all used him. And he let them use him…
And his mind filled with images of the woman he loved. It was suffocating as his mind forcefully replayed every moment. The hugs, the kisses, the late-night talks. Her smile, her jests, every small quirk, and her acceptance of him…
"You know, you're probably the most talented person I've ever met."
"You, Chat ,are the cheesiest cheeseball ever."
"You're really beautiful, I mean on the inside, but your face is gorgeous too,uhh hee heee…"
"As much as you'd like to think it, your soul isn't really black kitty, it's a meme."
"Let's watch a movie, oh look, what's this? Completely carb free low calorie snacks?You bet it is, ha ha…Shut up and come give me attention over here."
"I love you, but next time you're not picking the musical, CATS, seriously?"
"I'm not leaving you."
"Okay, then we won't eat kale in this house."
"Please tell me whats wrong…"
She always cared.
The pain was too much, and suddenly the room disappeared. Everything was a blur as Chloe's voice taunted him, telling him to kill himself. His last few words to Marinette when she was on that ferry rung in his head.
"Don't call me the monster, if anything you're just as bad as her."
His blood ran cold as he remembered everything he had said to her, spitting out the harshest thing he could say.
"But I didn't mean it." He choked to himself.
"Oh my God Marinette I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it Princess I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He ground his teeth.
He clutched at his face.
"Adrien listen to me-"Plagg tried, he was at his limit in terms of strength.
"I love you and I'm sorry Princess." He sobbed. His clawing at his own arms had begun to leave red lines on his skin, which then formed streaks of blood.
"I killed you. This was on me." He was sobbing and speaking to someone Plagg could not see.
Adrien wasn't in the room with Plagg, no, he was in a room watching Marinette die again and again. He was standing outside a tank and he couldn't get near her. She was staring straight at him, her eyes open in the water, pleading for him to do something.
Anything.
He was no longer thinking normally. All that existed was Marinette dying and him watching ,unable to move.
"DO SOMETHING!" he was screaming at himself and as he began to hit his head against the floor in the physical world, and a stream of blood from a break in his skin ran down his temple, in the mental world he was trying to hit himself to try and get himself to move and save Marinette.
But nothing worked.
"Kill yourself."
"You have nothing left to live for right?"
But Marinette was still dying, bleeding out in front of him in the water, and he could only watch as she stared at him with the color draining from her face.
"Kill yourself now."
"Marinette I'm scared." He whimpered, pulling at his hair that was covered in sweat.
His chest hurt. It hurt to breathe. It all hurt. His heart was at its limit.
Blood began to drip from his nose.
"K-Kill?"
"Adrien!Adrien snap out of it!"
"You can't leave me here alone…You promised!" Adrien's eyes focused on something that Plagg was blind to.
"I know you didn't mean those things you said because if you didn't love me I wouldn't have felt it when you were with me."
He began to rock back and forth, not aware that he was screaming.
"Take me with you!" He screamed hoarsely, his throat was raw from the screaming and his voice seemed gone. He looked utterly drained. "Don't leave me here, I don't want to be here without you…I'm sorry."He whimpered.
"Adrien!Whats this, tell me what it feels like."Plagg commanded shoving a pillow in the man's hands.
Adrien's hazy eyes seemed confused.
"Soft…"He muttered.
"What shape is it?"
"…Marinette is-"
"The shape, Adrien, its soft and?"
"S-Square…"
"Good,and the Material. What material is it?"
"Po-Polyester…"
Adrien's eyes began to focus.
"Adrien."Plagg floated in front of his chosen exhaustedly.
Adrien's face was streaked with scratches, blood on his temple, red-tear-lines, and blood from his nose. He slowly turned his wide, red-rimmed eyes to Plagg. They were pooling with tears. His breathing was erratic and was taking time to control.
"I know kid. I know."
Adrien squeezed his eyes shut. He had been reduced to silent tears, fifteen minutes he sat there, still.
Eventually,he stood up slowly and Plagg eyed him wearily.
He was staring at the Panda he had gotten her not too long ago.
Something was sticking out from under it.
Slowly, shakily, he walked towards it.
He crouched and pulled at what he found to be a journal.
'I misplaced my diary when I was putting my stuff away. Its important that I find it.' 'Oh?' 'Mmmmmmm,you see, I wrote things…'
Chat closed his eyes.
"I found it."He said to the air.
No response.
His index finger toyed with the pages of the journal. He had no right to look inside it. His curiosity however led him to turn to her last entry. It was today.
His brow furrowed.
Plagg lay on the floor,watching Adrien carefully.
Adrien took a breath…And began to read the final entry.
'Dear diary
Well, you're the only one the world who I've actually told about Chat, and now, even as I'm feeling like the dumbest girl in the world, and I really need a hug and some advice, you are still the only one I can open up to…
I've made a mistake.
A dumb,stupid,silly mistake and I don't know how I'm going to fix it.I think I knew at the back of my mind that Marcus wasn't Chat, but I wanted to believe that Chat was going to tell me who he was, and I was so stupid. When I asked Chat yesterday about him going somewhere at noon he said yes, and I naively thought he was Marcus. I should've known better. I should have picked up that he wasn't Chat…
And I hurt him so bad,I said the most horrible things I could come up with. I don't know what came over me at that moment but I just wanted him to hurt. I had no right to do that…That wasn't me… He's right. I'm just like her. They all hurt him, I was supposed to protect him from that and I failed.
I said I couldn't love someone like him. What the hell is wrong with me? What have I done? I love him so much and now he's somewhere doing I don't know what under the impression that nobody loves him because I'm a stupid asswipe. This is my fault…He's hurting and it's my fa-'
Adrien closed the book, unable to read anymore.
He placed it on the ground next to him and Plagg cautiously crawled over to him. He could no longer fly. He was at his limit.
"Adrien…"
"Don't say anything, ."Adrien whispered.
Plagg stared at him. He himself didn't know what to say. They had just watched Marinette die right in front of them,and they couldn't do anything.
Chloe had threatened the lives of Marinette's parents if he did anything to seek revenge for Marinette.
Adrien could do absolutely nothing about it and Plagg wanted nothing more than to make his chosen's pain go away.
Adrien inhaled slowly.
"I'm tired Plagg."He whispered from his raw throat.
Plagg just stared at him silently.
Adrien let out a soft laugh.
"Bad luck."He muttered as he fiddled with his ring.
Plagg eyed his actions.
His eyes fell on Plagg who looked up at Adrien in his eyes.
Adrien let out a small smile.
"Let's get some Camembert for you. Don't think I haven't noticed, you look half dead Plagg."Adrien said, gently picking Plagg up.
Plagg stared at him with wide eyes.
"Adrien?"He asked in confusion.
"Yes,Plagg?"
"Uh…"
"I'm sure Marinette left cheese in here somewhere."He hummed.
Plagg's eye twitched.
Adrien walked down there stairs, he noted that the house was three stories high instead of four like her parent's home, it explained how Chloe's helpers got to the trapdoor that easily. He hadn't gotten a tour. He didn't know.
He shook his head and placed Plagg's cheese on a plate, setting it down in front of the Kwami.
"Uh…Adrien…I'm not feeling that hungry right now."
Adrien blinked at him.
"You need to gain your strength back Plagg, please eat."Adrien said gently. Plagg looked at the cheese.
He had no desire to eat for a good week or two after what he had just seen. But the look in Adrien's eyes seemed as if he was trying to pretend everything was okay, just for a while.
With a sigh, he gave in for Adrien's sake. He could pretend everything was okay.
He began to hoark down the cheese as he would have done on a day that he was well and Adrien's smile brightened.
When he was done, he burped. Adrien yawned.
"We should probably rest, "Plagg said as casually as he could.
Adrien rubbed his eye.
"Probably."He muttered back and gently took Plagg into his hands before placing him in his hair. Plagg yawned too as Adrien slowly walked back upstairs.
"Are we not going back to Nino's?"Plagg asked when Adrien flopped onto Marinette's bed. Adrien was quiet for a moment as he looked at the black smudgy puddle looking stain on Marinette's pillow.
After a moment he realised it was diluted mascara.
He took a calming breath.
"Can we just…stay here tonight?"He asked Plagg.
Plagg's ears drooped when he saw the smudge.
"…Sure,kid."He said,settling on top of the stain to hide it from Adrien's view.
"Plagg…"
"Yes kid?"
"You know I love you,and I'm thankful that you've stuck with me all this time,right?"
"Likewise kid…I'm glad I met you."Plagg said, staring at Adrien who had his eyes closed.
Plagg waited a moment before crawling closer to Adrien's face and cuddling against his forehead.
It was hard for him to believe that Chloe had won. But they had seen it with their own eyes.
Marinette… She was a good person.
And Adrien loved her so much, but now she was gone and Plagg would have to watch as Adrien destroyed himself over it.
A dizzy spell washed over him and he took a calming breath. He was in desperate need of healing but he knew he couldn't go to Fu…
The day that he had gone to see him was the day he noticed the negative Aura emanating from the place, he couldn't sense Tikki and the others, and he knew then that something had gone down. His intuition told him that Tikki was alright, but he had no clue about the others.
He had instantly made an excuse to get Nino to leave the place and had been making excuses about going to see Fu ever since.
What was going to happen now that Marinette was gone? Would Fu choose someone else?
But how could he if Marinette was Adrien's soulmate. Choosing someone else would meaning taking the Miraculous away from Adrien…
Plagg was not ready for that…He was not done with this didn't want to leave him.
Slowly,as he thought, his sickness combined with his exhaustion took over and he fell into a deep slumber.
Adrien waited half an hour before he slowly lifted himself off the bed,careful not to wake Plagg who was softly snoring. Adrien picked up a bit of the blanket and covered Plagg who seemed to be shivering.
He stared down at the Kwami and down at the ring on his finger.
What was the point of anything anymore?
He slipped the ring off his finger and placed it next to the sleeping Plagg.
Then, he retrieved Marinette's diary, sat in the corner, turned to the first page…And began to read.
…
Plagg sneezed and lifted a flipper-like arm to rub his eyes.
"Adrien?"He called and sat up exhaustedly. "Adri…"His eyes widened at the ring that lay next to him. Next to the pillow was a note.
"Hey Plagg
Sorry you have to wake up to this…I really am,and I know you're probably wondering where the hell I am, and it sucks that I cant tell you…But I just wanted to say Thank you,Plagg. For everything… For the laughs…"
Plagg's eyes widened in horror. "No…"He breathed.
"…and the cheese, and the pick-up lines, and those horrible puns that you rubbed off on me, for helping me with Calculus, and anti-derivatives,for cracking those lame jokes during the tutorials for Applied Maths, for never leaving me alone,even with Chloe,I know you hated being there, but truthfully, you suffered with me,you took the pain with me all that time,and even if you didn't realise it…I appreciated it so much…
And for helping me escape all these years, for giving me freedom,and accepting me even though I was an ungrateful immature bastard who never listened to anything you said. You stuck with me even before Marinette came along,and you always had my best interest at heart. I feel that without you there I probably would have done this a long time ago, but because of you, I got to experience love,and even friendship from Nino, Marinette and you,and I'm so thankful that I had that opportunity. Plagg, you will forever be my best friend,and yes as much as I don't like to admit, you were the best adoptive dad ever.
Just…Thank you for entering my life when you did, and maybe if you're unlucky enough, you'll get to see my dumb ass self in the afterlife or something…So I'm counting on you to be as unlucky as you possibly can, okay Black Cat?
Yours truly
Kid
P.s,please tell Nino that I love stupid hats,he'll understand it."
He gasped, forcing himself up and falling off the loft.
He couldn't fly, he was beyond his limit now.
But still, he pulled his small-self off the ground and looked around.
"Adrien this isn't funny!"He said and angry tears formed in his glowing eyes. He stumbled towards the stairs and toppled down it, beginning to crawl around once he got to bottom.
"Adrien wherever the hell you are you better come out NOW!I'm not playing games anymore! Where are you?!"He looked around in fear,his arm still wrapped around the ring.
"ADRIEN!"He shouted as loud as he could.
He looked at the clock on the far side of the room.
It was thirteen minutes past two.
Plagg stumbled into the kitchen and looked around.
"…Sorry,I'm sorry."
Plagg froze and slowly looked up. Berry was looking down at him from inside his cage.
Plagg climbed the bars.
"Alright Little Shit. You and I are going to find that Little Big Shit,and when we do, you have my blessing to give him shit from hell...Let's go."Plagg snarled, throwing the cage door open and jumping on Berry's back.
**********************************
Marinette blearily opened her eyes.
Her body felt like lead and her eyes were really sore. She groaned. For some strange reason, it felt like she was being restrained. After a moment, her sleepy thoughts rearranged themselves and her eyes widened in realisation. She was indeed tied up, lying face down in a cold, dark, damp smelling room with only one light dangling from the ceiling. Her mouth was covered with duct tape and her wrists were cable-tied,bound with tape, and rope too. Her feet suffered the same treatment. She wriggled herself into an upright position. How did she get here?
Who brought her here?
She forced herself to calm down.
If she was indeed kidnapped, then she needed to devise a plan of escape, and she had the advantage of being alone in the room. Whoever abducted her didn't allocate a guard. It was hard however to keep her wayward thoughts from venturing into the land of anxiousness.
She had just been asleep. How had she not heard or felt anything? What did they want from her? Would she be sold into illegal prostitution? Would she be murdered? Her eyes darted around the room,there must be some way to escape.
"Check her again, if she's awake, give her another shot. Can't have her trying to escape again."
Again?
What?
SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER
Tikki flew to the bakery on Gotlib Street at full speed despite her hunger and exhaustion. She had an odd feeling about tonight. Maybe Plagg was just letting out his negative vibes. She was worried, but she knew she had to keep her head on straight. Her priority right now was finding Marinette before Elijah did. Her eyes lit up upon seeing the golden logo of the bakery. This was the place for sure.
Without hesitation, she flew through the door and made her way up the stairs.
The household was quiet and her flying slowed down. Cautiously she scanned the lounge and made looked around the downstairs. A male and female voice alerted her to a bedroom beyond the kitchen and she quietly peaked through the door to find a middle-aged couple.
"-try icing sugar instead."
"Let's just experiment with new ideas tomorrow."
"Okay, we can take some to Marinette as a housewarming gift."The man said.
"You just want an excuse to visit her,don't you?" The woman laughed.
Tikki's eyes widened.
Marinette had moved.
"It's literally only a few doors away and we won't be long." He said.
"I don't know, I feel as if we're cramping her independence." The woman said.
"Yeah but we're her parents, we have rights to do as such." The man snickered.
"True, very true, I'm also concerned about how she's doing...We'll go see her tomorrow."
The woman nodded and put the lights off.
"Goodnighttttt."The man yawned.
"Night."The woman said through a massive yawn, and the couple was silent after that.
Tikki flew back into the lounge.
If Marinette was literally just a few doors away, then if she checked the houses in the proximity she would find just needed to know what Marinette looked like…
The kwami flew to some pictures on the shelf in the living room and zoned in on the Half-french, half-Asian girl in most of the picture frames.
"Marinette…"She said.
With resolve, she forced the image of Marinette into her mind and took off, flying through the wall of the apartment and out onto the street. Most of the lights seemed to be off.
Which way to go first… She looked to the left and noticed a black van driving by. She frowned. Well, that was odd.
Her tummy tingled and a harsh shiver wracked her body, this feeling wasn't good.
The van came to a stop and Tikki flew over to it on a hunch. A man got out, masked, and her eyes widened as he pulled out what looked like a grappling hook.
Tikki frowned as he climbed the building. Her tummy tingled again.
This was Marinette's house, she just knew it. She zapped through the walls and up into the attic to find the girl lying asleep. Suddenly something dropped into the room. Sleeping gas.
Tikki's eyes widened. She quickly flew over to Marinette and hastily put the earrings on her and slipped into Marinette's shirt.
She frowned as the man put Marinette in the body-bag.
"How cliché."She muttered and then realized she had gotten there, just in time, on a hunch, just like what happened in all those cliché movies. She sighed. Looks like the whole situation was as cliché as it came, but she knew that whatever would happen henceforth, she would protect Marinette from whoever was trying to hurt her, be it Elijah or the woman that Chat said was after Marinette. She would get her chosen out of this.
*****************************
Elijah tapped a finger on the table. He had all but two of the Miraculous.
He needed them all.
With a heavy sigh, he ran his hand through his hair and went back to his notes. From what he knew, Chat Noir only came out after crime time in Paris, but for the past few weeks the decline in attacks couldn't be ignored.
Fu looked up tiredly. He was cuffed to the wall on the far side of the room.
"You know, Ladybug will stop you."He rasped.
"You make it sound as if I'm plotting world domination. All I want are the two remaining Miraculous. Frankly speaking, if Ladybug were to attempt to stop me, all the better, she is an inexperienced hero given that she hasn't had much of the time to practice her new powers seeing as she's only gotten her Miraculous recently."
Fu remained silent as Elijah flipped through several pages.
If he was going to get out of here, he needed help. He didn't see where he would get that help from, however. The Miraculous box was hidden somewhere in Elijah's Manor. Wayzz was inside it now aswell.
Fu sighed. If he could just find the box…
Then he could get the Miraculous to their respective chosen ones…
Elijah looked up and Fu kept his eyes glued to the ground.
He would get out of there.
**************************
Again?
What did he mean again?
The door began to open and as silently as she could, Marinette lay down and feigned sleep.
The sound of heels clicking against the ground could be heard and then she felt a hand checking her restraints.
"Everything seems to be fine here." The man said after two minutes of inspection.
"She's still unconscious right?"
"Pretty much, if I didn't know better, I'd say she's dead."
The men snickered and left the room. Marinette stayed down for a few more minutes before sitting up again.
She took a few calming breaths and blinked away the tears that threatened to spill over.
No, she was not a weakling. She would escape, and if she couldn't, then Chat would…
Chat would…
Shit. Chat was angry at her.
Suddenly it was all too much, and the young woman began to cry.
A small red head popped up from her cleavage area and stared up at her with wide cerulean eyes, but she didn't see it. Tikki quietly floated to the corner of the room, knowing that popping up in front of the woman suddenly would elicit a scream, which would not be good for either of them.
"There, there Marinette. I'll get you out of here." Tikki said.
Marinette froze, and looked around.
Tikki paused, what would be her best approach?
"Well, you don't know me, but I know you… And I will help you and show myself if you promise to keep quiet." She said.
Marinette frowned before nodding.
Tikki floated out of the dark corner.
Marinette's eyes widened.
"I'm Tikki, nice to meet you."Tikki said.
Marinette stared at Tikki in shock.
"Okay let's put it this way, you know who Plagg is to Chat Noir,right?"Tikki tried to explain.
Marinette blinked and nodded slowly.
"Well, similarly, I'm supposed to be your Kwami, so like Plagg makes his chosen Chat Noir, I will make you Ladybug."
Marinette's eyes widened.
Tikki frowned at the duct tape on Marinette's mouth.
"Oh Marinette." She said sympathetically. "Let's get this off you." Tentatively peeling away the duct tape.
"Wait wait wait, so I'm going to have powers like Chat?"
"Pretty much." Tikki said.
Marinette frowned, Chat was a supervillain.
"But you see, Chat Noir is originally meant to be a superhero, all Miraculous wielders are heroes, but the young man that the Guardian chose to wield the Black Cat Miraculous was troubled…Still, the Guardian has his mind set on him."Tikki looks up at Marinette.
"But that aside, we need to get you out of here. I would have been able to get you out earlier if I used reversal, but since you haven't done your first transformation as yet it would have been harmful to your health, so I had to wait for you to get up, but now that you're up, we can escape.I chewed away at the duct tape on your hands before but then those guys came in and thought you had tried to escape. I don't understand how they had even thought that though seeing as you were still unconscious."
"Transform?" Marinette stuttered.
Tikki nodded.
Marinette looked at her nervously.
Tikki smiled. "Don't be scared Marinette, you were born to do this."She encouraged but Marinette's brows contorted.
"As much as I would love to get out of here, I honestly don't think I'm cut out to be a hero, sometimes I can barely save myself." She said.
Tikki tilted her head. "If you someone about to die would you stand by or help them?"
"Help them, but that's different-"Marinette started but was cut off by Tikki.
"It's the same thing, Marinette." She said, flying up to Marinette's face.
Marinette looked down.
"As we speak, Chloe Bourgeois is upstairs planning something completely diabolical. And Elijah is after Chat, we need to stop them." Tikki said with finality.
"Listen, I know that it's sudden, and I know you feel as if you're not cut out for this, but Marinette, we need you, the Miraculous need you, Paris needs you, Chat needs you. As much as you're scared, you're born to be a hero, it's in your blood, nevermind if you mess up or get it wrong sometimes. Mistakes make you human, all that counts is that you try."
Marinette looked up at Tikki.
Tikki stared back at her.
*****************
Chloe twirled a piece of hair, staring down at the girl bound to the chair, eyes covered, mouth gagged.
"I'm not going to ask again." She said coldly to the man in front of her.
The said man looked at her hatefully.
Chloe walked around him.
"If you do, then only she dies. If not, then you and her both die. Which will it be?" She whispered into his ear. The man gritted his teeth and looked at the ground.
The girl in the chair was almost an exact replica of the woman in the cellar. The same eyes with shorter lashes, the same mouth, hair and body structure, but her nose was smaller and differently shaped. She would be killed today all because she looked like to a woman who this daft bimbo wanted dead.
He slowly walked over to the young woman and with pained eyes and began to work.
"Smart." Chloe said and watched him sculpt Marinette's nose on the woman who seemed too exhausted to even cry anymore. When he was done, he stood back and looked at the woman's face, adding touch-ups to make her identical to Marinette.
"Perfect."Chloe said,smirking.
She walked around the fake Marinette.
"It's nothing personal love, you just have a really horrible face." She snickered. She looked back at the cosmetic artist.
"Tie him up and put him in one of the cells." She waved a hand and a few men came over to grab the man who looked down resignedly.
"I'm sorry." He said to the woman in the chair. "I'm so sorry."
Chloe sighed. "And now we wait. I wonder how many days it would take before he plucks up the courage to go apologize and find her missing." She said.
She pulled out her phone and video called Sabrina.
"Is there any news on Adrien's whereabouts?"
Sabrina shook her head. "Urghhh."Chloe said, putting the phone down.
She sat on her luxurious chair and tapped her chin thoughtfully. After Chat Noir's little episode today, she decided to look into all of his attacks, and it took her no time at all to realise his little pattern.
He mutilated, he maimed, but never had he killed.
She was going out on a limb, but if that were true, then it was possible that he wouldn't be able to kill Adrien either.
If he thought Marinette was dead then maybe he would be disoriented, and easy to capture. Or maybe he would become sloppy, and it would be easier to locate Adrien. It was a risk, but it was a risk she was willing to take.
After all, you never gain something without losing anything right?
She picked up her phone, maybe she should call every hour.
After an hour, Chloe grinned as he picked up the phone. If Chat Noir tried to make a deal involving returning Adrien to her, she would refuse, because as much as her plan was risky, she was killing two birds with one stone. Adrien would forgive her. She could picture Chat Noirs face when he realised that he couldn't speak his way out of that one, she could already taste his agony. And Marinette? Oh it was going to be fun torturing her.
****************************
"And one last thing, I know I told you that the lucky charm would help you, and every time you transform you get one but I don't want you to say Miraculous Ladybug till we fix Chat Noir okay? And trust me, we have a lot of fixing to do."
"What do you mean?"
Tikki sighed.
"Who do you think cleans up after Plagg makes a mess?"
"Uhh… You?"
"And since you're ladybug and he's Chat Noir, who's going to fix this huge mess that he's made?"
Marinette's eyes widened.
"Me?!"
"Exactly."
Marinette's mind flashed images of all Chat's victims and the property that he destroyed over the years.
"Don't think too much as yet. Just say transform me."
"Transform me?Why Transfor-" Suddenly she was transforming.
Marinette's eyes widened.
"Oh my God."
She looked over at herself. What had just happened? Tikki had told her that she had super-strength like this and would be able to easily break the bonds.
She looked at the restraints and pulled her hands apart. The cuffs, rope and duct tape ripped effortlessly.
"Whoa." Ladybug said with wide eyes, tearing the bonds off her legs.
She began to stand. With a glance around, she ripped the door off its hinges and peeked outside. The dark halls were clear.
Ladybug looked around warily.
This place was more of a dungeon than a cellar.
She saw another door next to her room and heard sobs. With a frown, she peeked in and saw a man with streaks of foundation on his arm, as if he were a makeup artist who had tested out the cosmetic shades on his arm first.
She yanked open the door and the man squeaked before his eyes widened.
"Hey Sir, I'm Ladybug, and we're getting out of here!" She said, grabbing his hand and hauling him up.
"You've come to save me?" He looked shocked.
"Well, actually, I'm trying to escape, but I'm not going to leave you here."
"Are you a superhero?" He asked desperately.
"Uhhh…Amateur hero at the moment I think."Ladybug scratched her neck nervously.
"There's a girl upstairs who's about to be killed, can you save her?Please!"
Ladybug's eyes widened.
"Killed?"
"She looks like a young woman that Mme. Bourgeois hates, like Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and Miss Marinette is also trapped here, please help us." The man's eyes watered.
Ladybug stared at him in shock before her shock became determination.
Nobody was going to die because they looked like her.
"Where are they?"
The man looked around.
"That way."
The two began to run through the cellar that seemed to never end.
They came to a staircase with a door at the top.
"Okay you take care of the girl,I'll deal with any goons, don't let them see you okay?" Ladybug confirmed.
The man nodded.
Ladybug ran towards it just as Chloe ended the call with Chat on the other side.
Too little, too late… It was just that Marinette had no clue…
Chloe turned around in shock and Ladybug's eyes zoned past all of them, instead, she focussed on the tank filled with water. With all the force she could, she kicked it resulting in the tank exploding and sending water gushing out.
Chloe's eyes widened.
"Who the hell are you?" She snarled.
"Question is, Why am not surprised to see you?" Ladybug said to herself.
Ladybug pulled out her Yo-yo, as men surrounded her. She needed to get that girl to a hospital fast.
She looked at the biggest of the three and ran straight at him, dropped and skidded under his legs, when he turned, she kicked him back into the other two, causing them to all fall. Before they got up, she tossed her Yoyo right at Chloe's head, and knocked her out.
The men stood up and one made a kick at her head, but she dodged and grabbed his leg as he made his next kick, she spun and threw him into a wall. He slumped, unconscious.
The next man made to punch her but she wrapped her Yoyo around his hand and yanking him forward, elbowing him in the head, and he slumped onto the floor.
The last man ran to pick up Chloe's gun, he cocked it, pointed it at Ladybug and began to shoot. On instinct, Ladybug began to spin the yoyo and the bullets deflected as she ran towards him. She grabbed him by the collar and slammed his head on the ground.
All of them were out.
The artist had the young woman in his arms.
"She's got a pulse, but it's weak. We're very near the hospital though!" He said fervently.
Marinette nodded.
"Lead the way." The man began to make his way out of the building, it seemed they had been in an old warehouse.
He ran outside.
"That way." He began to run in the direction of the hospital that was across the road next to a petro-port.
They duo skidded into the building.
"Help us! Someone!" The man said and instantly nurses came over with a bed, extracting the woman from the man's trembling arms.
The nurses wheeled her off and Ladybug and the man followed as far as they could.
"Is she going to be alright?"
A doctor looked at him.
"We'll do our best sir." Was all that he said in what Marinette thought was English before putting on his scrubs uniform hurriedly.
Ladybug looked at the artist, only recognising who he was at that moment.
"You're José Havóre."She said, wondering why she hadn't realized it before, he was a famous French movie Makeup artist.
He looked at her for a moment before gasping.
"We left Miss Marinette behind with that demon!"He gasped.
Ladybug's eyes widened.
"I'll go back for her, you take care of her."Ladybug gestured to the ICU room.
"Your effort will not be in vain Ladybug, I will make sure she lives."The man said.
Ladybug nodded before opening her mouth to voice a question.
"Wait, why were you locked up?"
"That bitch. She's blackmailed me. She threatened my life. I didn't know what to do, she made me make this woman look identical to Marinette, and I did so she wouldn't kill me. I can't testify against her without proof, however. I have no proof, and word of mouth from this woman- Fleur- and I would be worth nothing against the Mayor's daughter." He hissed the last part.
"It doesn't matter if I'm famous too, if it's her word against mine, I'm dead."
Ladybug frowned.
"Wait, wont she come after you now?"
"Not if I keep my mouth shut. She allows the people she's blackmailed to live because she knows we won't say anything."
"So none of you are going to even testify?"
"And get beheaded or something by order of the Mayor for spreading 'false rumours'?I think not."The man looked at the ground.
"We're pathetic…But we do want to live."
He looked up at Ladybug.
"Please save Marinette."
Ladybug nodded. "Okay, but is it safe to be here with Chloe that close?"
"No, but as soon as she's stabilized I can get a transfer for this young woman,Possibly out of London."
"Wait ,where are we?"
"London…" José said.
"I need to go to Paris."Ladybug said.
"I can get you there in my jet if you like."José offered.
Ladybug nodded.
"I'll save Marinette and meet you back here."
"I'll call one of my agents to get you transported to the airport," José said.
Ladybug nodded and left the hospital, running back to the warehouse to find everyone still unconscious.
She wasted no time in dragging them downstairs and locking them in the cells after duct-taping their limbs. She needed to buy time for José and that woman, Chloe and her goons could rot down here till the woman could be transferred out.
How could Chloe be so cruel? Why did she kidnap her in the first place?
And why did she make Jose make that woman look like her and hurt her instead of fighting Marinette herself?
She knew Chloe hated her but why would she go that far?It just wasn't adding up.
She ran back to the hospital to find José waiting outside.
"She's safe, and I locked Chloe and her goons downstairs." José nodded.
"After Fleur is transferred I'll tip one of the cops off that someone is being held captive over there so you don't have to worry about her dying down there because of you or anything."he said.
Ladybug smiled and a car pulled up.
"This man will take you to the airport."
Ladybug frowned. "I don't have my passport."
José tapped his chin.
"Do you plan to go through customs?"
"No…" Ladybug said.
José grinned. Then who's going to check.
"Isn't that illegal?"
"Are you going to get caught?"
"I'd like to think not."
"Don't let them see you get onto the Jet, and when it lands, don't let them see you get off. You can do this."José said.
Marinette smiled gratefully.
"Thank you so much José, I appreciate it."
He smiled. "No, Thank you for saving me! Until we meet again, Ladybug."He said and Ladybug stepped into the car.