Adrien reread at the message Ladybug sent Chat Noir several days ago for the umpteenth time.
"I'm going away for about a week. If you need anything, message me okay? I'll try to come by ASAP. Don't do anything rash on your own, you hear me?"
He just shook his head and smiled. What can he do, realistically? It's his job to protect Ladybug; he was designed that way. Ladybug was the one able to cleanse the akuma. He was the one able to take them out so she can cleanse them. She worried too much, really.
Marinette woke up and threw her window open. She breathed in the summer air and sighed happily. Her parents surprised her with tickets to the seaside after they'd seen how stressed she had been in school and this is where they'll be having their holiday for the entire week. They even had tickets to go there by train. It was a wonderful little adventure planned out.
She was a little apprehensive at first to be leaving Paris but seeing all the trouble her parents went through to close the shop just for their little excursion she couldn't help but be a little excited. She sent a message for Chat Noir before she left to tell him that she'll be away and he shouldn't hesitate to contact her if he ran into any trouble.
She almost felt sorry that she'll be going home tomorrow but she resigned to the fact that this is a natural chain of events. Sometimes she's not there and sometimes he isn't. They just had to get used to it. Shouldn't they?
Adrien was jolted out of his reverie when he heard a crash, followed by screaming. From his window, he saw people running helter skelter away from downtown. Quickly, he dove for his remote and switched the TV on. He flicked through the channels until he finally came to the one he was looking for.
"Breaking news," the news anchor said solemnly, "downtown Paris is being torn up by what appears to be a monster of some sorts. Reports have been coming in nonstop by civilians on the scene as they're all just trying to stay alive and away from the monster." The news anchor put a finger to their ear and then said to the camera, "It seems there have been some new development. One gutsy civilian seems to have the activity on camera. We will cut to the footage."
The screen blackened for one second before cutting to video from a camera phone. In the background, a woman's voice screamed, "What is that? Oh my god, it's coming right at me! Help!"
The footage shook as the woman turned and ran before it came back to the monster, who was shooting fire around it. The footage shook violently as the woman tried to run and film at the same time.
Then the footage turned to black and the TV was once again filled by the news anchor. "I do hope she got out of there safely. The question now is where are Ladybug and Chat Noir?"
Adrien transformed into Chat Noir and sent Ladybug a quick message before rushing to the scene.
Marinette kissed her parents good morning and ran out of the double doors of the chalet that led straight to the beach. She had enough of sunbathing and just dove straight into the water. Since it was still quite early in the morning, the water was still quite cold and she let out a small gasp as she waded deeper and deeper into the water. When the water was up to her hips she dove gracefully into the water and swam around for a while.
When she resurfaced, her parents had made breakfast and were already setting up the picnic blanket. They smiled at her and asked her if she enjoyed herself as they passed her a towel. She laughed at her father's joke as she dug in to the wonderful breakfast they made.
As she was about to jump into the water again her mother took her aside and explicitly told her that she couldn't go in the water so soon after eating. Pouting slightly, Marinette decided that she should take the time to walk around the chalet as she waited for the right time to jump back into the water.
As she was walking around she chatted to several boys who came up to talk to her. They complimented her and bought her a drink. They laughed and called her cute when she said she was still too young to drink but got her some freshly squeezed orange juice instead. She said her goodbyes, downed her drink and headed back to the beach.
Chat Noir was run ragged and bleeding from several different cuts around his body as he checked to see if his message was sent. Did she get his message?
The person was akumatised to resemble a fire breathing reptilian creature of some sorts. Its hide was thick and scaly and it had a long about and small yellow eyes that fixed him with a beady glare as it opened its mouth to scream to the heavens. It turned its body to face him and charged.
Chat Noir waited for the right moment before dodging out of the way. The akumatised monster didn't have enough time to follow him but managed to turn aside so that it didn't hit its head on the side of the building.
As it slammed its huge body on the side of the building, some of the windows cracked and fell. Chat looked up and quickly sprinted away but one of the pieces caught him in the leg, slicing through the suit but thankfully just grazing the skin.
Where is she?
It was probably almost evening when the sky darkened and the Dupain-Chengs ran inside their room, laughing as they tried to not leave anything out on the beach. Marinette turned to snatch up her mother's book as she ran back to her parents and the sky began to open up, rain pouring in torrents on her.
She handed the book back to her mother as they both laughed at how the rain washed away the seawater from her hair. She then went into her room for a much needed shower.
Marinette came out of the shower with hair still damp and in a towel to find her parents sitting on the couch with the TV on. They both had a look of solemnity and her mother was even in tears. She looked at the TV screen.
"Paris is torn asunder as the monster continued its rampage," the news anchor said solemnly. "Chat Noir is seen on the scene to give it his best shot but he is desperate. Where is Ladybug?"
The scene cut to a grainy footage of an akumatised person screaming into the heavens as it let out a plume of flames. Then it also cut to some footage of civilians pulling Chat Noir out of some rubble. He pushed them back and seemed to be yelling at them to run as he ran towards the monster. She could see that he was bleeding and that his suit was torn in several places.
Marinette went up to her parents and begged them to let her back to Paris. Understandably, they told her by no means was she allowed to go back. Not when Paris was under siege like this.
No matter how she pleaded, begged and cried, her parents were resolute. So she had to resort to going to their room and turned their drawers upside down as she retrieved her return train ticket to Paris. She apologised to her parents and dodged her father as she ran out the door and into the rain.
In the taxi to the train station, Marinette told the cabby to switch off the radio, where news reports from Paris flooded in. The cabby just gave her a look through the mirror and acquiesced, switching to a radio station that played some sickly sweet pop tunes. She nearly threw up in her fear at the thought of what's waiting for her in Paris.
In the train, it was more spacious for her and she spent the entire two hours pacing the car, much to her travel companion's annoyance. She only sat down to cry when the emotions were too much for her to bear.
Finally, finally, they reached Paris. The moment they did, Marinette ran to the toilet and changed. She then swung through the city to Ground Zero.
She saw the akumatised person live in front of her. It stood about 9 feet tall with a thick, scaly hide. It blew out flames at her when it noticed her and she easily dodged. Then and only then, did she notice a limp Chat Noir in its hand, blood dripping out of his forehead.
It was her worst nightmare come true.
A/N: Part of Marichat May: Day 10; Nightmare. I can't guarantee that I'll hit all the days but I'll certainly try!