Chapter 20: What to Do?
When Alya said those words, Marinette did not understand what she meant, when she said she had been called off. The mere idea that someone would call her off was, for the lack of better word, ridiculous. And then, she remembered something. Apart from being your regular teenage girl, who aspired to be a world-renown fashion designer one day, when she graduated from college, she was also a superheroine.
"I've got what?!" -Marinette exclaimed.
"You got called off, Marinette! Or better yet, your other self has been called off!" -Alya told her over the phone. –"Don't tell me you didn't saw what happened in the sky?"
"Alya, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm having a really serious problem to deal with right here." -Marinette told her.
It took Alya just a couple of seconds to explain her what had happened with Madame Romani boasting to all of Paris about her having kidnapped Ladybug's number one fan and how she was going to kill that fan if she and the rest of the team did not show up at the La Defense until midnight. Upon hearing that, Marinette understood why Manon had been taken. She was taken because she was a fan of Ladybug. She then told Alya what had happened to the little girl. When she heard that, Alya almost dropped her cell phone in shock.
"You're saying that the fan Romani has captive is Manon?!" -Alya exclaimed. –"Are you sure it's her?"
"Yes. That gypsy witch left a magical double of her behind, so no one would even notice she was gone, Alya." -Marinette told her, while trying to hold her tears. –"I'm looking at that double right now, and I still can hardly believe it."
"Geez, it's a good thing that you can't really see Manon's face on the videos that are already on the Internet. If you could, then it would be difficult to explain how can she be in two places at once." -Alya said. –"But never mind that now. What's the plan?"
"Plan?" What plan?!" -Marinette asked her, speechless.
"What plan? The plan to save Manon and to teach that witch some manners, Marinette!" -Alya exclaimed. –"Come on, girl. You're the leader. What are we going to do?"
When Alya asked her that, Marinette did not know what to answer her. Half of her brain was still trying to grasp the fact that Manon had been kidnapped, while the other half was dealing with the fact that in every sense of the word, it was her fault that the little girl got kidnapped. She wanted to tell her best friend that she had a plan, but she did not have a single clue of what they were going do about all that.
Though Alya wanted to hear Marinette telling her she had a plan, she realized that her best friend was going through Hell right then. She could not even start to think how low she was feeling right then. It was bad enough Manon was kidnapped, but to blame oneself for it, that was too much for one person to handle on her own. The brunette knew her friend needed to hear some words of encouragement to get back on her game, so she told her what she needed to hear.
"Look, everything is going to be fine, Marinette. We're going to get her back, safe and sound." -Alya told her, trying to calm her down. Marinette would be of no good to anyone, if she could not think straight, and right then, the situation demanded that she was calm and serene. –"I'll call the rest of the team and tell them to teleport to the Garden of the Ancients in… let me check the time…" -she said, as she checked her alarm clock on top of the bedside table. –"…it's almost 10… how about 11?"
"O-Okay, that sounds good." -Marinette said. –"Call the others and tell them what's going on, if they don't know already." -she said. –"I'm going to try and find a way to also sneak out of here as well."
"Alright. And remember, positive thoughts. Everything is going to end up alright." -Alya told her with a sweet and caring voice. She knew Marinette loved to hear those things when she was feeling down in the mud, and right then, she needed to hear them the most.
"Thanks, Alya." -Marinette said.
"Anytime, girl. Anytime." -Alya told her, as she turned off her cell phone. –"Poor Marinette. She's really blaming herself for what happened to the little squirt. We have to save her, no matter what." -she thought to herself.
"You won't believe this, Alya, but your blog is probably the most visited blog on the Internet!" -Trixx said, as she watched the pageview number getting higher and higher by the minute. –"Plus, the blog's email account is practically full with the amount of videos sent by the people who recorded that witch's speech." -the little fox kwami told her.
"Usually, I would be thrilled with those news, Trixx, but we got ourselves an emergency." -Alya said. ´
"And you think I don't know that?" -Trixx turned her head to Alya. –"So, when are we going?"
"As soon as I call the rest of the guys." -Alya said, as she checked her cell. –"Let's hope they can all join us. We're going to need all the help we can get to save Manon from Romani's clutches." -she said, as she dialled the first number on her list. –"Come on, Adrien, pick up the phone!"
After Alya notified her of what was going on, Marinette told herself that if she was going to save Manon, a few things had to be done. First, she needed to feed Tikki a huge dinner; she was going to need every last bit of power the little kwami could lend her, and to do that, she needed to have a full stomach. And second, the blue-haired girl had to make sure her parents would not come to check on her or Manon in their respective rooms during the night. Since Madame Romani told everyone in Paris that she and the rest of the Miraculous Team had until midnight to show up, she hoped that they would have the whole thing solved by 1 in the morning, tops. And the only way that was going to happen, was if they both went to sleep earlier.
Taking full advantage of Manon's magical duplicate, Marinette ordered her to go downstairs and tell both Tom and Sabine that she was going to bed, and later, she would come to Marinette's room, so she could take her with her to the Garden of the Ancients. She wanted Master Fu to take a look at it. Plus, the last thing she needed was a second Manon in the house, when she brought the real one back with her.
Doing as she was told, the fake Manon went downstairs and wished Tom and Sabine a goodnight, before heading to guest room. Shortly after, Marinette went downstairs to also wish her parents a goodnight.
"You and Manon are going to sleep early today… well, you are at least." -Tom joked.
"I'm bushed, and I need to sleep, because tomorrow is Saturday, and I want to have lots of energy." -Marinette smiled, as she kissed her father goodnight. It was hard for her to even smile, with how much of a nervous wreck she was right then, but she could not risk her parents suspecting something was wrong.
"Well, then, goodnight honey." -Sabine told her, as Marinette kissed her goodnight. –"I better go and tuck Manon into bed."
"Oh, don't worry, I'll tuck her in on my way up." -Marinette said. She did not want her mother snooping around right then. –"What are you watching?" -she asked them, trying to change conversation.
"Just some old movie." -Tom said, when he was interrupted –"… uh? What's going on?"
"We interrupt our programming for a special news bulletin." -the anchor-man said. –"A few minutes ago, one of Hawk Moth's agents, somehow, projected herself in the sky of Paris, challenging Ladybug and the rest of the Miraculous Team for a fight at midnight tonight where they must surrender themselves, while stating that she has a hostage, whom she claims is Ladybug's number one fan." -he went on, as the footage showed a giant Madame Romani in the night sky. –"As of now, we don't have any kind of information regarding who the hostage is, except that it is a child. We'll keep you up to date, on this situation unfolds. And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming."
Hearing and watching that, Marinette cursed her luck. She was hoping her parents would not find out about Madame Romani until the next morning, but thanks to the news, they now knew.
"Oh, my, that's terrible." -Sabine said.
"Oh, don't worry about it, mom. I'm sure Ladybug and the other heroes will save that kid." -Marinette told her, hoping that that would be the case. –"We've seen her and the other heroes saving the city so many times already, that I'm sure they'll be able to save the day once again." -she said, trying to believe in her own words.
"I hope so." -Sabine said.
"They will, you'll see." -Tom told her. –"You've seen them fighting, Sabine. They'll know what to do to save that child, and we're going to read all about it in the morning." -Tom declared, absolutely confident in his own words.
"Dad's guesses are always right, you know that." -Marinette smiled, as she headed to the kitchen. –"Well, I'm just going to get myself a glass of water, and then I'm going to tuck in Manon and going to bed."
On the kitchen, Marinette quickly grabbed two boxes of cookies, a carton of milk and a glass. She quickly went back to her room, and gave them to Tikki, who ate them in a heartbeat, while Marinette kept looking at the time. To not rise any suspicions about not being asleep, the girl turned off all the lights and kept quiet, only talking to Tikki if strictly necessary, while continuing to watch the clock. She kept thinking of just how scared Manon was right then, with Madame Romani threatening to hurt her if she as so much breath. Tikki had told her that what was going on was not her fault, but no matter how much she repeated those words to herself, something deep inside of her did not allow her to believe them. Still, there was also something inside her that told her that everything was going to be alright. The trouble was, that something was incredibly small, when compared to the something that kept telling her that there was a chance something could go wrong, and that was killing her from the inside. A little bit later, she heard a slight knock at the door. It was Manon's duplicate. Opening the door, she let her in, as the clock stroke 11. Seeing that, Marinette signalled Tikki that it was time for them to go.
"It's time for us to go, Tikki."
"Alright." -Tikki said, feeling a little bit full, from all the cookies she ate. –"Let's meet the others. Just say that magic words."
"Okay, and you're coming with us." -Marinette told the fake Manon, who nodded her head. –"Tikki, transforme moi!" -she said. With those words, in a matter of seconds, her usual clothes were replaced by the skin-tight red and black polka-dotted Ladybug suit.
When she arrived at the Garden with the duplicate, some of the others were already there, like Corbeau Noire, Forest Doe, Arachnid, Chat Noir, Panda Rouge and Rena Rogue, who was the first to hug the scarlet heroine. Feeling Rena's arms around her, made Ladybug feel a lot better. With everything that was happening, a simple hug meant so much to her. It meant to tell her that she was not alone in that and that she had her back. The rest of the team showed up a couple of moments later, as Master Fu looked at what Ladybug had brought with her. When he saw Manon's magical duplicate, the old master was speechless. It had been quite a while since he saw magic like that with his own eyes.
"Fascinating…" -Master Fu said, as he observed Manon's magical duplicate. –"And you say that she recognizes you and your parents, but not Tikki?"
"Exactly, master." -Ladybug said. –"She only recognized me and my parents. When Tikki showed up, she did not even react. It was as if Tikki did not even exist. And it turns out that she doesn't recognize me when I'm Ladybug either. When I told her to grab my hand, so she would also be teleported here, she did not blink. I had to grab her hand, because she didn't recognize me as being the same person." -she declared.
"At least that means that that gypsy witch doesn't know that you and Ladybug are the same person." -Rena Rogue told her. –"With everything that's going on, at least we know that you're identity is safe." -she sighed.
"I'd love to believe that, but we still don't know if Romani has actually found out about my identity." -Ladybug said.
"I believe she doesn't know, my dear." -Master Fu told her. –"If that was the case, then this duplicate here would have known that both Marinette and Ladybug are the same person. You see, to make this duplicate recognize certain people, Madame Romani would need to imprint the information of who is who, in it." -he said. –"By logic, she knows that there were three people living in your house, but she does not know that of them, namely you, has a double identity."
Master Fu's words managed to tranquilize her a little. Being so knowledgeable, the old man knew what he was talking about. The rest of the team who were hearing the conversation, kept looking at the magical duplicate and wondered how did Madame Romani created it in the first place. Ever since they had become the defenders of Paris, they had seen many things, but never something like that duplicate. But, some of them were a bit suspicious about it, mainly Arachnid, who posed the hypothesis of the magical duplicate be working as a spy camera.
"How can we be sure that it's not a spy camera, that's feeding Madame Romani, or even Hawk Moth, information regarding her or all of us, right now?" -Arachnid asked Master Fu, while pointing at Ladybug.
"We can't, my boy. But, if this thing was a spy camera, I think we would know it by now." -Master Fu said. –"Madame Romani is quite ingenious, I'll give her that… this feat of magic is something else. But, I don't think she's smart enough to create such a duplicate, with a way for Hawk Moth to see through its eyes." -he said calmly. –"Plus, if he could see us through it, I think that he would have contacted us. He's not a person who enjoys playing games with others. Not when he can simply show up and start blowing things up, if you know what I mean."
"That's what Tikki also told me earlier on." -Ladybug said. Though she was now calmer regarding what was going on, deep inside, she was still nervous about it. She would only be able to calm down when Manon was safe and sound.
"So… I don't want to feel like I'm pressuring anyone, but, what's the plan?" -Forest Doe asked her.
"I… I don't really have a plan." -Ladybug declared, while waving her head. –"I've been trying to come up with a plan since I found out that that witch took Manon, and I can't think of anything that will work." -she said.
"Your making your fear for the kid's well-being cloud your judgement." -Rena Rogue told her. –"You can't let that happen, girl."
"I'm trying to, believe me… but the more I think about it, I can only see an option…" -Ladybug sighed. She did not even need to say what she was thinking, because they all knew what was the option she was talking about.
"You're not really thinking about handing over your miraculous to her, are you?!" –Carapace asked her -"Are you really thinking about walking up to her and handing her your miraculous?!"
"I don't know… I don't want to, but what other choice do I have?! Tell me!" -Ladybug exclaimed, clearly upset. –"If I don't do it, she might hurt Manon! It's my fault she's in this mess, in the first place." -she sighed in exasperation. She did not know what bother the most right then. If the fact that Manon could get hurt, or that she felt so powerless right then.
"Stop saying that! It's not your fault she took her" -Louve Grise said.
"She's right, you know?" -Queen Been nodded with her head. –"that witch is the only one to blame here. We don't really know why, of every single fan of yours out there, she chose her as a hostage to get you to do what she wants, but that doesn't mean that you are to blame yourself for what's happening. We won't let you do that."
"And if you think we're going to let you just walk to her and hand over your miraculous, you can forget it." -Grizzly Bear said.
"He's right. We're not going to let you do such a thing." -Corbeau Noire said.
"We're all in this, and I think I can speak for all of us that we're not going to let you do something you will regret, milady." -Chat Noir smiled at her. –"We're going to get Manon back, safe and sound and teach that witch a thing or two." -he winked at her.
"He's right, you know? We'll come up with a plan and save her." -Panda Rouge told her, as the others all looked her in the eyes, and silently told her the same thing.
Seeing all her friends and teammates like that, believing that saving Manon and defeating Madame Romani was not only a hypothesis, but also a reality, almost made her cry. But she held her tears, telling herself that once they had saved Manon, she would shed some of those tears of joy.
"Unity." -they all heard it. It had been Master Fu who spoke it. He had been silent for a little while, observing Manon's magical duplicate and when he spoke again, that was the first thing he spoke. –"Unity is something that you all have, and that neither Hawk Moth or his minions has or understands. They cannot perceive what it means, because though they all are working towards a common goal, they aren't working together to reach that goal." -he went on. –"You, on the other hand, stick together through thick and thin. And that is why, I know you will be victorious tonight."
"Another great piece of advice, master. That one was quite deep." -Dragonfly said.
"Thank you, but I actually read that one in a t-shirt just the other day." -Master Fu chuckled, to the kids' surprise. –"Come on, I may be old, but that doesn't mean that I'm like Confucius who wrote all those sentences you find in a fortune cookie."
Like always, Master Fu knew how to relieve the tension in the air. When he said that, the kids could not help but to share a collective laugh. It took them a couple of seconds to stop laughing, but once they stopped, Ladybug knew that in order to stop Madame Romani they would need a plan of attack, and to come up with it, they had put their minds together. But first, she needed to ask Master Fu for a small favour.
"First things first. Master Fu, what are going to do about that duplicate of Manon? I can't take it back with me." -Ladybug asked the old man.
"Don't worry about it. I'll figure out a way to make it disappear, so you don't have to worry about it." -Master Fu said. –"Though, I believe that even if you hadn't brought it with you, I think that eventually, this creature would disappear. Magic of this kind is not known for lasting very long." -he said.
"Well, you are, as they say, the expert in this kind of things." -Ladybug told him. –"Still, I know that this might be a strange request, but, I'm afraid that after this, Manon will end up having horrible nightmares. Do you have any, you know, amulet or charm that prevents her from having those?" -she asked the old master. She was hoping he would answer yes, because she did not want Manon to have any nightmares because of that horrible experience.
"Amulets or charms, I'm afraid I don't have any… but, I can create a concoction that will block all the nasty memories and allow her to sleep soundly." -Master Fu answered her. –"I'll get started on it, while you talk amongst yourselves, planning on what to do next." -he said, as he went to the other room.
Now alone, they all sat in a circle and tried to devise a plan to defeat Madame Romani and save Manon. They hoped that by putting their heads together, they would find a solution for that predicament, because none of them was willing to hand over their miraculous to that gypsy wench. The thought of handling them, just so Hawk Moth could destroy them and then, with no one to oppose him, rule the world, was one they did not even dare to think about.
"So, what are we going to do?" -Carapace asked.
"We know you don't have a plan, but that doesn't mean we can't come up with something together." -Queen Bee said, while throwing Ladybug a smile.
"Well, I'm all ears." -Ladybug said.
"We need something that is both audacious, but at the same time cautious. We have a hostage situation in our hands." -Antelope said. Being a fan of criminal drama series, he was used to hearing that expression all the time, but it was the very first he used it himself on real life. –"We need to be careful."
"He's right." -Flamingo waved her head. –"Until one of us has Manon in its arms, we can't risk fighting her with everything we've got. If we do that, she might hurt her just to prove a point." -she said.
"And I think I know how we're going to do that." -Rena Rogue smiled. –"Listen to what I have to say, okay?"
One more chapter completed. I'm sorry if this one took a little longer, but I bought myself a new videogame, and when I ger my hands on a new one, I only stop when I complete the first run... for those of you who want to know which game is, it's The Evil Within 2. I took the time to play it and it gave me a couple of ideas for future stories. Anyways, the team is about to go into battle, and I can tell you this... this will be a battle different from the others I wrote so far. Let me know what you thought about this chapter, and what you think will happen on the next ones, alright?