Chapter 11
*Ladybug POV* (While the previous chapter was happening, this is what she was doing)
I had to find help from someone. After Fu told me my mission, I went to the first person with access to all the files I had no clue how to find.
Nathanael.
Of course, his blind infatuation for me made talking slightly difficult, but after I managed to convey my situation in between his swoons over my talking to him, he seemed to change.
His body went rigid, his eyes became darker, his fingers flying furiously over his laptop.
"The Akumas. The Akumas, The Akumas, The Akumas…" He repeated, muttering, and eventually, he brought out a file. "Here's something."
I glance at his screen. It was a file from about thirty years ago, with a blurry image of the writing 'The Akumas' in black, a purple and futuristic outline of a butterfly or moth surrounding it.
"That's weird, and cool, but it doesn't tell me anything about their secret base." I say, frustrated.
What can I say? My days haven't really been all that great, lately. I'm a little grumpy.
"Uh, sorry, scroll down a bit…" he mumbles, and turns it back to himself, fiddling with the tracepad, before turning it back to me again. I almost gasp.
The writing was on the ground, next to a building with red bricks, and tall rooves. The college I go to. Or, an older version of it. It was missing the front office building, and the bricks now are painted grey and white, but I clearly recognise the tall, grand tree standing at its gate, the same overbearing thick branches blocking sunlight onto the pathway.
"Nathanael, I owe you one." I laugh, and draw him in for a hug before standing up, and walking out of my room.
Let's drop home to… prepare.
*Nathanael POV*
The moment she left my sight, the blush and smile I had forced onto my face fell away instantly, and turned my gaze to the bathrooms.
For the next half hour, I observed who went in and out. I stood and calmly walked over.
If what I saw was correct, there should be barely anyone in there now.
Drawing my phone from my pocket after discovering my observations were correct, I typed in its passcode. Clicking 'phone', the little device called the only number it was able to call, as it was built for that specific purpose.
To make contact with a person, without knowing what the number was.
It dialled once, twice, three times before being picked up.
"Ladybug. She's coming over to HQ." I say straight away.
"Explain." The voice growls.
"Well." I continue, gulping slightly, but standing my ground, "she asked me for help finding you guys. You know I'm not good at lying with words."
"So you told her where we are? What were you thinking?" The voice rages.
"Listen for a minute. Master Fu had sent her to find you by herself. She is not permitted to have any partners, I know, I was listening. So, I figured, if I sent her to you, then called you, you could all be waiting for her, that way she gets taken down easily." I whimper, blurting something I thought of two minutes prior.
The gruff voice goes silent, then grunts in acknowledgment. "Fair enough, good thinking."
"Thank you, sir."
"When do you suspect she will arrive?"
"Ah, in a few hours? She will want to gather supplies first, and maybe get into better suited clothing for sneaking into a base."
"Thank you, Nathanael. You have helped us greatly."
"You're welcome, Hawkmoth, and thank you."
He hangs up, and my gut starts to churn. I may have been pretending to like Ladybug at the start, but it was harder and harder to not admire her as she continued working.
Ah, well, it's too late.
No-one knows where she's going–
"Oh, hey Nate." A voice says. It's Chat Noir, swaggering in with narcissistic pride. God, I hate him.
"Oh, hey Chat."
"Whatcha doing talking to yourself in here?"
"Nothing, I was just on the phone."
"Oh, okay then."
He lingers. "Uh, is there anything you want?" I ask, pretending to be intimidated by him.
"Yeah, actually, I was wondering if you had seen Ladybug."
"Ladybug? Why?"
"Ah, I just, uh…" He trails away.
"Chat?" I wonder what on Earth he's doing. I've never seen him act like this before. Suddenly, he whirls on me, and my back is pressed against the wall with a loud thud. Suddenly, my phone slips out of my pocket, and lands on the ground with a shattering sound.
"W-woah. Ch-chat. Hey, calm down–"
"Shut up for a second, okay?" He says, uncertain.
"U-uh, yeah, sure." I didn't really have to fake the stuttering.
He knows he knows he knows he knows-
"Okay. Ladybug wasn't allowed a partner to go with her, right?" He says, with a kind of desperate look on his face.
What.
"And the rules about partnership state that unless you've been unassigned your partner, you must remain with them, is that correct?" He continues, the same look on his face.
Oh, I get the look now. He's desperate for me to understand.
"U-um, yes?" I agree, unsure of what he wanted.
"Yes, they do. Now, I've got Volpina as a partner, don't I? So I'm obligated to stay with her as my partner until Master Fu says otherwise, right?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, well, I'm going to break every single one of those rules." He concludes with a smirk.
After being forced to tell him where the base was, I figured that it was easy enough for me just to call again and tell them to be prepared to receive two.
Unfortunately, after I patted down my pockets, I remembered where it had fallen.
Out of my pocket in the bathroom.
I raced in, sweating.
I bent over to pick it up, and when I turned it over the screen was all but shattered, barely recognisable as a screen. I whimpered, and turned it over in my hands, pressing the on button over and over.
"Oh, God." I pant, "Oh God, no." I whimper, "SHIT!" I yell, pressing the on button once more and finally giving up, throwing it against the wall.
Shit.
*Chat POV*
After finding out where The Akumas base was, I figured it couldn't hurt to stock up on supplies.
I had gone to Nate because he was one of the few that knew exactly where to get all the information necessary for a mission where there is no information to find.
What's the time?
I check the clock.
It's 9:30pm.
*Ladybug POV*
What's the time?
I check my watch.
It's 9:00pm. Time to go.
I race to the college, leaping on rooves, jumping over laundry lines, spinning around electrical poles.
I was equipped with far more than was strictly necessary. I had my one throwing knife, my hand gun, equipped with a muffler, my wires (quite a silent way), my rifle strapped to my back, twin daggers strapped to my thighs, a tranquilising dart in my boot (I can throw those very accurately), my remote in case I needed to contact Miraculous, and lastly, a yo-yo.
I wasn't very practiced with the thing, (as in, for assassin standards) in fact I found them quite fickle objects, preferring to go with something less complicated, but it was all else I could fit.
It had been a while since I was decked out like this.
As I leapt down from a rooftop, I slid down a streetlamp, jumping the last couple metres, landing with ease.
As I made my way to the office building, I noticed everything.
The lights were off, there were about three people, all of which were unable to see me at the time, there was a slight breeze, the ground was still warm from the sunlight, there was the faint sound of leaves rustling.
I also took in escape routes. An easy way: the building to my right had a small car parked out front, and above that was a ledge of a balcony. The balcony then had a small, loose brick about the right size of a foot hole, and from there it would be easy to reach the roof.
Another: The park in front and to my left slightly had a large fountain in the centre, which at the moment was turned off. That meant there was probably a piping system nearby, and wherever there's a piping system, there has to be a maintenance tunnel for that system. Yes, there. A small, round and bronze plate covered a hole in the ground, and it would be simple enough for me to hoist it out of the ground and allow me to crawl in. Less preferable, but knowing Paris, it probably connects with the sewers, and the sewers lead everywhere.
I listed another seven possible escape routes, within the space of about a minute, my eyes simply flicking to each position and each next step, formulating a plan.
The time was about 9:10pm.
*Chat POV*
I was running, I was sprinting to the college I saw in the photos. It was easy enough for me to find, but I had gotten lost a few times.
It was about 9:35.
*Ladybug POV*
Now or never.
I took a few steps forward, and glanced around to the building the writing was next to in the photo. The small building, where one of the smallest lecture theatres are.
I glance around, not finding any of the paint I had seen in the photograph. Damnit, what now?
I had been relying on that to give me some kind of indication to its entrance, but I wasn't expecting for it to be completely gone.
Shit.
That's when a noticed a tiny speck of purple paint, just visible out of the corner of my eye.
I swiftly stepped towards it, careful to avoid the large beam of light from the streetlamp overhead. I ducked down, bending my knees to rest my hands on them and take a closer look at the paint.
It was an arrow.
A small one, granted, but it still looked vaguely as if it pointed in a direction.
I looked where it pointed, and saw another splotch of slightly pointed purple paint. I followed each one, each arrow pointing to another, then another, then another.
I glanced at the direction they were taking me.
It was towards one of the abandoned buildings at the back of the school.
For as long as I had known the place, there were three buildings at the back supposedly 'ready to be knocked down', but they never were. The buildings on the outside were covered in tarps and scaffolding, and even though it wasn't very far into the school, it was obvious that barely anyone would have been inside.
It was such a strange tactic. Place a top-secret building in the middle of a school, where it was in plain view. Then again, I suppose it makes sense. All the people here, all the students, wouldn't be able to take the time off of schoolwork to ponder the contents of a rickety old building.
At the very least, even I came here every day, and I never noticed anything strange about it.
As I made my way up to the old doorway, I seemed to notice even more.
My heartbeat pounding in my ears at a strange rate.
My fingers twitching and jerking at the slightest of sounds.
My light footsteps tapping onto the concrete beneath me.
Yet, even though I had done everything I normally would have; checked exits/escape routes, monitor my own wellbeing, take note of any bystanders, I still felt off.
Something was wrong.
No, something was missing.
Then it struck me. What was so different about this mission? What was so strange that it made me worry this much? What terrified me to be doing this?
I was alone.
My partner wasn't here.
Chat. He wasn't there with me.
I was alone.
It was 9:30 when I stepped inside the doorway, and at the same time, I didn't know, my partner was leaving to come find me.
It was 9:31 when I took in my surroundings.
The inside of the building reflected the wellbeing of the building on the outside, too. It was clear that the rooms were older than any of the others ones, but it was also clear that it was a classroom. An old one, though.
It had a chalkboard with dusters, wooden desks with trays underneath them, and even a couple of empty ink wells.
Just how old is this building?
It was then that I looked at the blackboard more clearly. It was… open?
Like a door, it was swung slightly ajar, a darkness spilling out behind the opening.
With two quick and nervous treads I made my way over to it, running my hand along the doorway.
I looked up, checking to see if there was any kind of trap behind the board.
This just kept getting weirder.
*Chat POV*
It was 9:31 when I realised I was still lost. I had no clue where I was going, and the streets of Paris were littered with people too busy or too tired to notice me perched atop a streetlamp.
Where the hell is it?
Standing, I leapt over to the building next to me, landing easily on its low roof. I glanced around, and headed up to higher ground.
If I managed to get a good view, I'd surely be able to recognise it a bit better, wouldn't I?
Climbing on top of one of the largest buildings in view, I scanned double-storey near me.
It had to be around here somewhere!
It was 9:35 when I spotted the building, and mentally sighed in relief. Sprinting and leaping, I jumped over the gaps between narrow alleyways, where couples were settling down for dinner dates and people were doing some late night shopping.
It was 9:38 when I made it there.
*Ladybug POV*
Looking left and right, then up and down, I decided that it wasn't just that my eyesight needed adjusting, it truly was completely pitch-black.
Just as I decided on that, bright LED lights flashed directly in front of my eyes, and I was blinded. Realising someone else was with me, I bolted to where I knew the blackboard was on the other side, and pressed my back up against it.
Just as quickly as the lights had come on, they had turned back off again. One extreme flashing back to another.
"Oooh, clever. Very clever, little one." I recognised that voice, too. It was that yellow-coloured assassin, the one that tried to kill Volpina and Chat.
Spice.
"Now, now. It may have been clever, honey, but it really won't do you any good." I tried to pinpoint her voice, but it kept shifting back and forth. She must be moving between the rafters. "You see; I have these wonderful goggles. They allow me to see quite well in the dark. You, on the other hand, are left completely blinded by the darkness."
"Who are you?" Of course, I asked this question because it was Marinette that saw her. Not Ladybug.
"Who am I? Well, that's nothing to worry about, is it? It won't matter soon."
"How so?" I took out my yo-yo, and was formulating a plan.
"Because, little one." I could hear her smiling. "You're going to be too dead to care."
In an instant, one of her knives imbedded itself onto the wall next to my head. I squeaked slightly, but then immediately brought my hand up to it. Judging by the angle it was planted in the wall, and the force of which it hit it, she was about… There.
Lancing my yo-yo out to swing in her direction, which was; in the overhead rafters, in front of me and to my left, I took a shot.
I heard a yell as it connected with something, and then a hiss of annoyance.
"Well, you truly are quite talented, little bug." She sounded pissed.
"Thank you. You aren't too bad yourself." I smirked, "But one little thing you forgot."
"Oh?" She sounded so condescending. "And what would that be?"
"You forgot to keep moving."
At that, I swung my yo-yo out again, and followed that with yanking it back and lashing out again. Each slash hit her, or some part of her body, and I continued flicking my yo-yo out to get her.
When she wasn't moving, and was too busy in shock that I had managed to hit her at all, I was able to locate where she was. It was quite simple.
I hit something harder than the other things I had been hitting, and then I hear a thud followed by silence.
Taking a cautious step forward, I followed the light sound of heaved breathing. Accidentally tripping over something, I managed to catch myself before falling down.
That thing then turned out to be a person as I inspected it with my hands, and found a thin and feminine body lying on the ground.
Exploring her body further, I located her head, resting on the ground.
Finding her neck, I felt for a pulse. It was there, but it was extremely faint, and very, very slow. Brushing my fingers over her head, they came into contact with something wet, warm, and slightly sticky.
Retracting, I brought my fingers to my nose, and smelled it.
Blood.
Metallic and thick, there was blood coating my fingers.
Swearing, I wiped it off on her body, and then began to steal goggles she was boasting about from her face.
Removing them from her head, I struggled to get them over my own eyes in the darkness, but just managed to.
I wasn't sure why I didn't want to end her. I didn't know why, but the idea of killing her made me ill.
Why?
I shook my head, hefting my knife. But I stopped, and nearly was sick when the thought of what I was actually doing came back to me.
Now being able to see, I looked around, and grunted. I was in another old classroom, only this one was different. It looked more like a science lab, and had Bunsen Burners and metal tables lined up on either side. On top of them were multiple test tubes and flasks, each one containing dark liquid that seemed to move on its own.
Watching them made my stomach turn, so I looked away.
They hid a classroom behind a classroom? What the hell was this?
Then I saw something else. A staircase at the other end of the room, leading down. Like a dungeon.
Jogging over to it and hopping over Spice's body, I quickly took a look down the steps. Even with the goggles, it was almost impossible to tell how far it went.
Grunting and biting my lip, I started down them.
It was 9:40 when, at the bottom of those stairs, I was led into another room, wheezing with the descent.
It was 9:41 when I decided to open the door to that room with my fingers still slippery in blood.