Marinette Chapter 25

Marinette shuddered and moaned. She was trapped in a room with a large circular window, surrounded by akumas that were slowly draining away her life and her powers. Adrien had seemed like he was just going to sit back and watch her die when she had been fighting the rock monsters. What was going on? She had always trusted Adrien with her life, but what if he was working with Hawk Moth? There would be no one to help her this time. She and Tikki were on their own.

"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in," Alyssa sneered, entering the room. A black and purple butterfly landed on her finger and she stroked its wing gently. "It's so nice that I don't even have to tie you up, my akumas are taking care of that for me. I figure you have about a day at most before your powers are gone. Two days before you're dead and your Miraculous is mine."

"Why not just take my Miraculous?" Marinette asked, each word sending tongues of fire down her throat. "You have me right where you want me."

Alyssa rolled her eyes, a smug smile flitting across her lips. "You're my catnip—the bait to catch your precious Chat Noir. He'll do just about anything to save you, including giving up his own Miraculous. Besides, if you die, that will be one less problem for me to deal with."

Marinette felt her stomach clench at those words. What was she going to do now?

Choking on the breath that had congealed in her lungs, she managed to wheeze, "I understand what Gabriel Agreste's motivation could be to take our Miraculouses. He would want to bring back his wife. But what about you, Alyssa? What could you possibly hope to gain?"

Alyssa blinked, obviously surprised the Marinette knew who her mentor was. But she recovered quickly, sending the butterfly flittering drunkenly away with an annoyed flick of her wrist.

"That's none of your business, Ladybug," she snapped, commanding the butterflies to swarm Marinette with a sweep of her arm. Marinette let out a screech of pain as the butterflies pulled more and more energy out of her body until Alyssa let her drop to the ground.

"I just sucked more of your life away," Alyssa hissed. "Any more comments from you and I'll kill you. Do we understand each other?"

Marinette nodded, barely able to hold her head up.

"What about Adrien Agreste?" she gasped before she could stop herself. "What's his role in all of this?"

Alyssa tipped her head back, letting out a silvery laugh that sent chills up and down Marinette's spine.

"Oh, Adrien's a beautiful little fool. He doesn't know that his father was Hawk Moth or that your precious partner almost killed him. I had to get close to that idiot to have a reason to be at the Agreste manor."

Marinette ground her teeth together. She hated hearing Alyssa talk about Adrien like this. He didn't deserve any of the blows life had dealt him and he certainly deserved better than being used by Alyssa.

"Well, let's hope your precious partner shows up quickly," Alyssa sneered, taking a step backward into the shadows near the door. "You're running out of time and I know Chat Noir would do anything to save his precious Bugaboo."

The last word dripped sarcastically from her mouth as she transformed out of her Hawk Moth disguise and into her normal clothes once again.

"Ta-ta, Ladybug," Alyssa smirked, closing the door behind her with a snap and locking Marinette in. Not that Marinette could have escaped if she tried, she was growing so weak…

Staring around the bleak room, Marinette dragged herself over to the window and peered out. It was a long way to the ground, but heights had never bothered her before. If she could just push open a panel…

She screamed again as the butterflies swarmed her, pulling more life out of her body. Her back arched in agony as the butterflies ate away more of her life. She let out another scream, wishing she could just die so it would be over.

When they released her, Marinette could barely manage to say "spots off" through her tears. She hoped that by transforming back, she could save some of her powers and Tikki's as well.

"Are you okay, Tikki?" Marinette asked hoarsely. Tikki shuddered and nodded as Marinette held out an emergency cookie she always kept in her purse.

"I'm alright, Marinette. What about you?"

Marinette let out a bitter little laugh as Tikki took a bite of the cookie. "Well, let's see—I'm a prisoner, I'm dying, and Adrien broke up with me. Things are just peachy."

"He only did that because he trusts your judgement," Tikki replied, curling up in a ball on Marinette's palm. "You are Ladybug, with or without the costume, Marinette! You're a hero."

Marinette didn't feel much like a hero at the moment, she was too weak to stand after that last akuma attack and her stomach rolled as though she might lose what little food she had in her stomach.

"Don't worry, Tikki," she moaned, sliding to the floor. Maybe if she rested for a minute, she would be able to think of a plan. "I'll get us out of here. I promise."

Tikki gave Marinette a wan smile. "I know you will. That's why you're my favorite Ladybug I've watched over. You never give up."

Marinette smiled as Tikki crawled beneath her jacket to keep warm. Her eyes began to slide closed, feeling heavier and heavier by the minute. Somewhere in the back of her mind, thoughts began to swirl, but before she could come up with a plan, sleep overpowered her and she dropped into fitful darkness.