Marinette Dupain-Cheng raced through the dark, flickering lights of the alley, breathing hard. "Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!" she muttered, as she turned and continued to run, not risking a single glance back behind her. The girl had never ran faster in her life, she was sure, and the adrenaline pumping through her system and the fear that had taken hold of her mind was the only thing keeping her going at this point.

The fearful bluenette fumbled for her phone, trying hard to pick the right icons to call Alya. The reading, clicking, and scrolling - it was hard to do while running, but it had to be done. She regretted not putting her best friend on speed dial. It started ringing, and she put the device to her ear.

"Hey, this is Alya Cesaire! I'm not available at the moment, but feel free to leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Beep!" her friend's ringtone cheerfully announced.

Marinette slowed her pace, forcing herself to take deeper breaths. "Hey, Alya, it's me, Marinette... I didn't know who else to call..." She glanced behind her, and stopped, finally finding herself alone, in this deep darkness. "I'm terrified... It's happening again. But this time, it isn't just a dream... Alya, I'm so scared..."

She looked around, quickly, eyes darting at the slightest movement in the dim moonlight. But she seemed to be in the clear... For now. She gulped, and allowed her muscles to relax a little.

"I'm afraid... I can't go on forever, I know that... But that thing can't either, can it? It'll have to stop... Right?" She glanced around again, licking her dry lips. Her heartbeat was slowing, that was good...

A sudden sound behind her! She turned, quickly and fluidly, and found herself face to face with a black cat, sifting through garbage. She let out a relieved sigh, shoulders slowly slumping.

She shook, trembled, really, still on high alert. "I just don't know... If it has already stopped. But... I do know that I probably can't outrun it. There's a box on my bed... I want you to have it, in case... In case something bad happens."

From the corner of her eye, she saw it, and turned, with a gasp, before speeding quickly in the opposite direction. Tears began to gather in her eyes from the wind. Her heart beat so fast, she felt like it might explode. She forced herself to swallow again, even though her core felt like it was burning.

She gasped as she came upon it - a dead end. She glanced behind her. That thing was still there, slowly, torturously approaching. "Alya..." the girl muttered, phone still pressed to her ear. "Please promise me... Promise me you'll try your best. Don't hold back... And good luck," she whispered, as the wicked little butterfly flew so close to her.. She dropped the phone, and in a second, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was gone. Another second later, all the lights came back on.

(A/N: you're probably like "hey, why does the akuma influence the lighting of the place? For dramatic effect, of course! Also, if you watch Stormy Weather, you can see the same sort of thing happening to the girl in the elevator. I may or may not continue this, depending on how well it is received. I hope you enjoyed!)