Fighting Akumas was hard. Fighting Akumas in small spaces was frustrating. Trying to find an intentionally hiding Akuma in a factory filled with nonsensical rooms and a maze of neverending corridors was infuriating. At least, that's how Chat felt after a good hour of running through the factory with Marinette. Willy Wonka definitely was a man with a wild imagination.
They'd already found a few rooms. The first had been small, completely empty with shockingly white walls. The second had housed a very complicated looking machine with a wide, transparent tube full of swirling rainbow colours that vanished into the ceiling. From there, the corridors just twisted and turned, descending further underground. With a growl, Chat threw open the door at the end of the hallway they were in, nearly stumbling over the frame as he stepped through.
"I'm the clumsy one, Kitty," Marinette chuckled softly, grabbing his tail to pull him backwards. "Not you."
Shooting her an irritated look, he pulled his tail out of her grasp and rubbed it in an overdramatic manner, making her laugh again.
"Focus, Chat," she chided, gesturing into the room. A small shudder of deja vu ran through his spine and he turned and fully walked into the room with Marinette close on his tail. They only had taken about three steps when they both froze in amazement at the sight. They were on a landing overlooking an overwhelmingly huge room that looked like a living meadow of bright green grass strewn with countless flowers of a brilliant array of rainbow-like colours. Down the centre of the room was a waterfall and river - all made of liquid chocolate. The sweet smell of chocolate and sugar almost burnt their noses.
"Tikki would die of happiness here," whispered Marinette with a small gasp of awe. Chat, too stunned at the sight of the room they had discovered, just nodded absentmindedly to her comment, not fully absorbing it.
"Wow," was all he could breathe in response.
Slowly the pair made their way down the staircase to the ground level, pausing at the bottom to each grab some of the candy grass and pop it into their mouths, sighing a little in utter delight as it melted with a soft minty flavour on their tongues. It was heavenly.
Chat bent down to grab another blade when he realized that he was being watched. From behind one of the bushes stood a tiny little man with golden-brown hair, peering intently at Chat with eyes that felt like they were boring a hole right through him. Chat backed up slowly, grabbing Marinette's hand and pulling her beside him tightly, eyeing the rest of the bushes in the room with a sudden worry that they would be jumped by an army of little Oompa's and dragged off to somewhere concerning.
"Mari," he hissed as she pulled back. "Oompa Loompas." At that she froze, looking around him to see the little man in the bush.
"Oh, Hi there, sir," Marinette said sweetly, bending down a little to better make eye contact. "We could use your help." The man stepped around the bush and moved a little bit closer. Chat kept his tight hold on Marinette's hand, determined to run if anything suspicious happened. "We are looking for a woman who broke into the factory. She's got a really weird skirt, and -" The Oompa Loompa cut her off with an excited nod and bolted off ahead of them.
Shocked at his sudden movements, it took a moment for Chat to register what was happening. The little man paused, turned around and waved for them to follow. Scooping up Marinette and throwing her over his shoulder into a piggyback position, he raced along, trying to keep up with the surprisingly quick being.
They sprinted across the whole length of the chocolate room, reaching the waterfall, which crashed loudly onto the candy stones at the bottom, churning the liquid until it was frothy. It was here that the Oompa Loompa stopped, half-hidden by a bush, and pointed at the rushing cascade of chocolate.
"She's there?" Chat breathed, unable to believe his luck when the man nodded before vanishing. Setting Marinette down carefully, he stared at the waterfall hoping for some glimpse of his opponent. Unable to see anything, he looked around the area, trying to come up with a plan. Usually, it was Ladybug who put together the strategy - not him. He was much better at impulsive attacks and distraction tactics than intentionally put together plans.
"I have an idea," said Marinette, softly. A pained look flashed through her eyes as she continued, "Well, she's not interested in me, right? She's just after you. What if you do what you are best at - getting her attention? And I can try to sneak up behind her to get the book?"
Chat didn't like the idea. In fact, he hated the idea. But, he definitely had to admit that there was some merit to it. BookWorm was single-mindedly focused on getting his ring so Marinette might be able to get close without being noticed. Then again, she might get hurt. That thought made his stomach twist painfully.
All his emotions were clear on his face. Marinette smiled at her kitty, placing her hand on his cheek to calm him down.
"Do you trust me, kitty?" she asked, staring him right in the eyes. He blinked slowly, gaze trapped with her intensely blue eyes, as he puzzled through the nagging feeling that pulled on the back of his brain. Something was struggling to piece itself together, but he just couldn't make it happen.
"Yes, Princess," he admitted, "but it's HER I don't trust. She might hurt you. Then I might lose you." His voice fell to little more than a whisper. "I don't know if I could do that." A flash of surprise flickered in her eyes as they stood frozen for a moment before a determined look of steel replaced it and she pulled her hand back from his cheek.
"We have to get the earrings back, Chat. We HAVE to. Please, let's try it." At his slow nod, she turned towards the waterfall and made her plan of attack. Before she could take a single step, he grabbed her arm and connected eyes with her again before blushing and looking down.
"Please. Be safe," he whispered, causing her to blush in return before he let her go.
"I promise, Kitty," she pledged, running towards the rock candy that lined the edges of the rushing chocolate waterfall and scaling up them with an agility that he normally wouldn't attribute to his typically clumsy classmate. Heart in his throat as she approached the opening of the waterfall, he decided he'd better get going on his own part of the deal.
Flexing the fingers on the hand that held his ring, he grabbed his baton and jumped over the river, racing up the other side of the precipice. Slipping in quietly behind the water, he waited for a second to allow his night vision to activate before looking around the space for their least favourite librarian. It was empty.
Growling angrily, he backed out of the small cave to where Marinette crouched in wait.
"She's not here," he said gruffly. Marinette's face fell and she let out a disappointed sigh.
"I miss home, Chat. I miss my parents. I miss my friends. I miss Paris." The words started just tumbling out of her mouth, her voice a strained combination of frustration and a sob. She knew it was more than that. She missed Tikki. She felt useless and a dead weight for Chat in this fight against one of the most challenging Akumas they'd faced so far. She just wanted her Miraculous back so this could be over. Traitorous tears belied her ability to be strong, spilling over and running silently down her cheeks and making her vision blur.
Chat felt caught off-guard, not quite sure how to proceed. He knew this was harder on Marinette than she had been letting on, but seeing his friend reduced to tears rattled him a little.
"I know, Marinette. I am sorry that you got dragged into this with me, but… for what it is worth, I am thankful that you saved my ring from that creature even though it brought you with me. And…" he paused awkwardly, rubbing his neck anxiously, "I am thankful that you are here so I am not alone."
"Oh Chat!" she cried, throwing her arm around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder. It was too much, she realized. He had to know that she was Ladybug. She had to tell him, and yet… something kept the words firmly locked in her brain instead of out loud. Fear. Fear of letting him down. Fear that he would be disappointed, or maybe even fear that he wouldn't be and pursue her with even more intention. Fear of what would happen next. All of it. And it all came out as a blubbering sob as she clung to him tightly while he held onto her like she would break if he touched her for real.
It was a silky smooth voice from the cave behind them that sent a jolt of heart racing panic to his core.
"Aww, so touching. I almost loathe to interrupt such a precious moment, but I have a job to do. Sorry." Bookworm thrust her hand forward, ordering the words from her skirt to leap into action. Chat did the same, tightening his grip on Marinette as he threw himself sideways and rolled to a stop with his body huddled protectively over hers. Blue eyes wide in surprise, Marinette lay still as Chat nodded at her before pushing himself off the chocolate dirt of the cave and skidding to a halt in front of BookWorm.
"You know, I am too fondue my ring to give it away," he quipped, carefully dodging the attacks she sent his way. Distraction tactics in motion.
Realizing he was counting on her to follow through with her idea, Marinette hastily wiped the lingering tears from her eyes, steadied her breath, and evaluated the situation. The Akuma's attention was firmly on Chat, although she did seem to have him at a disadvantage as he was being pushed back towards the mouth of the cave and closer to the liquid chocolate that rushed past it.
Thinking quickly, Marinette moved into place behind the Akuma and, as silently as possible, moved in closer. The book was still grasped in BookWorm's one hand while the other commanded the text arms from her skirt. Where had she put the earrings?
When she was close, Marinette sprang, landing on Bookworm's back and latching herself as tightly as possible around the woman's neck and body, kicking at the book in an attempt to knock it loose. For a single moment, Marinette thought the plan might work as the villain paused in surprise. At least until Bookworm sprung back into action, forcing Chat to the edge of the waterfall where she grabbed him with the extendable text lines around the waist.
"Give me the ring!" she yelled roughly, voice caught beneath the strong arms that wrapped around her throat. The text arms had taken hold of his arms despite his attempts to cut through them and Marinette could see that Chat was going to lose, no matter how tightly he curled his fist.
One more attempt at kicking the book free failed, and Bookworm laughed Maniacally, pulling the book in front of her and beginning to read in her typical mumbling tone. Her eyes were watching the letters overtake Chat's hand, inching ever closer to his ring.
Chat made one of his infamous impulsive decisions, and with a quickly mouthed "sorry" shoved himself off the edge of the cave and into the thick rush of chocolate. Marinette screamed his name as he vanished into the torrent.
Unable to untangle her extra limbs in time, Bookworm's body jolted beneath Marinette's and they were both yanked violently over the lip and into the downrush. Marinette lost her grip on the Akuma when the strength of the falls hit her, shoving her down into the churning candy rocks below. Wet chocolate covered her whole body, making it impossible to see, to hear, to breath as she flailed helplessly. Expecting to feel herself smash into the rocks at any moment, she suddenly lost every possible sense of anything - like floating in a swirling vortex. BookWorm somehow must have opened a portal, although memory was hazy of the events that had just happened. Desperately, Marinette scraped the chocolate out of her eyes and off her face.
"CHAT!" she screamed, arms and legs thrashing wildly, somehow hoping she could find him in this chaos. Something caught her wrist, yanking her harshly out of her spin and crashing her against hardness until softness wrapped around her waist.
"Oh thank God, Marinette," a familiar voice gasped near her ear and she knew she'd be okay, wherever they landed this time.