Welcome back! I was super worried that I was going to have to go on a bit of a hiatus. If you follow me on Twitter then you probably already know all of this, but I was having some majorly huge technical issues during these past few days. Both my laptop and my computer started playing up, leaving me unable to write. Luckily, I managed to get my old laptop to work, thank goodness. I was panicking so much over the whole thing. I would have found a way to write eventually, but still, it's scary when both your main source of writing AND your back-up decide to break. I'm trying to get used to this keyboard again, so editing this chapter should be a lot of fun. I just hope that I catch all of the errors.
Anyway, thank you so much for all of your wonderful reviews! They're really what help me keep writing and let me know that my hard work is paying off. I always really appreciate your feedback. And thank you so much to those who have added this story to their favourites and followed it. Your support means the world to me!
Chapter 4: Medusa
All Marinette could do was watch in horror as the dark magic of Hawkmoth completely consumed the woman standing a few feet in front of her. She noticed Luka edging himself slightly in front of her out of the corner of her eye, frowning at the scene in front of them, knowing exactly what was about to happen. Marinette knew it too.
She needed to get away, but how was she going to do that without making Luka suspicious? For now, Marinette appeared to be trapped, and that thought made her panic even more. She just hoped that Chat Noir would quickly notice and swoop in, distracting this new akuma long enough for Marinette to try and get away to transform.
But before Marinette could even begin to conjure up some sort of plan, the broken-hearted woman had already transformed. The black ooze faded away, leaving a terrifying and almost familiar looking creature standing before them. She stood up straight, her eyes squeezed tightly closed and her hands balled up into tight fists by her side.
Her previous stylish looking clothes had been replaced by a white toga as if she had just walked straight out of ancient Rome or Greece. Her skin now almost had a green hue to it. But the most terrifying new feature was her hair. Her long, flowing blonde locks had been replaced by terrifying looking snakes that suddenly came to life, rearing their heads up to hiss menacingly at the man who had broken her heart.
The man let out a loud squeal of fear as he began to slowly back away, unable to take his eyes off her. Marinette held her breath as she watched the scene unfold, with Luka still showing no signs of running away and leaving her. If anything, Luka just took an even more protective stance before gently grabbing hold of Marinette's arm, and very slowly, so as not to attract the akuma victim's attention, pulled them back in attempt to hide them both behind a bush.
Marinette had no choice but to relent and follow, grabbing hold of Luka's arm in return just in case things took a turn for the worst and she needed to yank him out of the way. Her superhero instincts were beginning to kick into over-drive, yet Marinette was powerless to do anything at the moment. Her heart was in her mouth, and adrenaline was beginning to pump around her body. She felt so powerless right now. She really needed to find some way of getting Luka to safety before disappearing.
"L-Louise?" the man stuttered out, his eyes worried and wide in fear.
Louise began to cackle at the mention of her name, throwing her head back to laugh hysterically, still keeping her eyes tightly shut as her whole body shook. The snakes hissed even louder, never taking the eyes off the man, who stumbled backwards slightly upon hearing such a terrifying laugh.
"There is no Louise anymore. I am now only Medusa!" Medusa cried out. "Never again will a woman be scorned! Never again will women experience heartbreak at the hands of men! Never again will women suffer at the hands of men! I shall be their guardian! Women will be a whole lot better in a world without men!"
Medusa then looked down and finally opened her eyes. Marinette couldn't quite see what they looked like, but she soon gasped in horror as the man shrieked before instantly turning to stone, eternally locked in the position that he had just been standing in, an expression of pure horror and fear on his face. This caught the attention of a few other people in the park, who immediately began screaming and running for their lives, all the while Medusa continued to laugh hysterically. A few people accidentally looked her in the eye as they tried to see what it was exactly they were running away from. That was their last mistake, as Medusa instantly turned at least five other people into stone, her eyes scanning the park, hoping the catch as many people's eyes as possible.
"Well, I think it's pretty clear that things have gotten off to a rocky start here," a familiar voice teased from the top of the oak tree that Marinette and Luka had just been sitting under.
Marinette looked up and sighed in relief to see that Chat Noir was finally on the scene. He was leaning cockily against another branch while he looked down, smirking as he spun his tale around in his hand. Medusa looked up at him in annoyance, however, she soon smirked, no doubt realising that Chat Noir would likely glance up at her soon. That's when Marinette realised that he probably hadn't seen what had just happened. She then watched, panic-stricken, as Chat Noir's head began to look up, almost in slow motion.
"Chat Noir! Don't look her in the eye! That's how she turns people into stone!" Marinette yelled, immediately catching Chat Noir's attention as he looked down in confusion, trying to find whoever had just yelled that advice at him. He was distracted now, but at least he wasn't looking Medusa in the eye. The last thing Marinette needed right now was her vital partner turning into a statue.
Both Medusa and her snakes hissed in Marinette's direction. "A fellow sister would betray me?"
"Turning all men into stone will not ease your pain!" Marinette yelled back, making sure to keep her eyes now pinned to the ground.
"Well you'll certainly never get to find out, because you'll be joining them," Medusa hissed, and Marinette could feel her intense gaze boring into her.
However, Marinette refused to look up, once again keeping her gaze firmly locked on the ground. Medusa grumbled in frustration before she began storming towards them. Marinette began backing away, her heart beating fearfully in her chest as she began to squeeze her eyes tightly closed, as no doubt Medusa would try and force her to look at her.
A large, warm hand grabbing hold of hers instantly began to wash away her fears though, as it tightly clung onto her and pulled them both backwards. She could sense Luka right next to her, refusing to leave her side, the two of them facing the oncoming threat together. As she was pulled back, still able to hear Medusa storming towards them, Marinette continued to rake her brain for some sort of plan, but her mind was still blank, completely consumed by panic at the thought of Luka now getting hurt because of her. She should have kept her mouth shut. She wasn't Ladybug right now, she was Marinette. She should have run off with Luka as soon as she had shouted her advice to Chat Noir.
Just as Marinette was getting ready to yank Luka out of the way and try to run away with him to get to safety, the sound of Medusa yelping in pain and shock caused her to freeze in place. Cautiously, Marinette risked opening one of her eyes slightly, making sure to keep her focus on the ground while trying to observe what was happening out of the corner of her eye.
She vaguely saw Chat Noir's silver baton shining in the sun as it fell to the ground, and she sensed rather than saw Chat Noir land on the ground a few feet away. Medusa was still crying out in frustration, and Marinette looked up a little bit more, keeping her eyes firmly focused on Chat Noir. He was smirking at her as he picked up his baton and got into a fighting stance.
Upon Medusa now being distracted, Luka finally managed to pull both of them behind the bush at last, both of them peering through slightly in the hopes of seeing some of what was going on. Luka kept his arm wrapped tightly around her waist, and Marinette could feel her face heating up, her mind almost turning to mush. However, she quickly shook her head and forced herself to focus. She still needed to figure a way out to transform. No doubt Chat Noir was starting to wonder where she was.
"I don't want to cast the first stone, but isn't it a little petty to act like this when rejected?" Chat Noir half-joked as he kept his eyes closed, his ears twitching as he paid closer attention to the sounds around him.
"I was not rejected!" Medusa growled out. "He cheated on me!"
"So that means that every man in the world and everyone who opposes your opinion has to suffer? I'm sorry for what you've been through, but you can't let your anger and pain control you like this," Chat Noir said, trying to speak softly with her and get her to see sense. "Soon you'll find people who really do care about you. I guess it just means that this guy wasn't the one. I know it hurts now, but time is a great healer."
"Silence!" Medusa screamed. "All men are the same. Nasty, cunning, vicious creatures that do nothing but use women for their own selfish gain. I've been hurt by them too many times now. Never again. And I will make sure that every woman on Earth is protected from their wicked games. Now, look me in the eye and honestly tell me you've never hurt a girl in your life."
"Nice try," Chat chuckled out before turning serious again and almost sombre. "Do you think it's only women that get hurt by men? That women can't hurt men too? That men can't love a girl and not have that love returned?"
Marinette winced at those words. She knew exactly what Chat Noir was talking about. Everything was such a huge mess. Maybe Adrien's lack of interest in her was karma because of her lack of interest in Chat Noir. Was fate just trying to give her a taste of her own medicine? The pain she had felt when she had overheard Adrien talking about his love for Kagami…was that the pain that Chat Noir experienced when she had told him that she was in love with someone else?
But she didn't love Chat Noir…at least not like that anyway, and it wasn't something she couldn help. She couldn't just change her feelings for his sake. That wouldn't be fair on both of them. They would both be living a cruel lie, and how would that make either of them happy?
That's when Marinette realised. She couldn't expect Adrien to change his feelings either. He was in love with someone else, and Marinette was going to have to accept that, just like Chat Noir had to accept that she was in love with someone else. It still saddened her a great deal, but she couldn't force Adrien to love her. She could feel her heart breaking even more at the thought, but…maybe it just wasn't meant to be. That was a fact that she was just going to have to accept. It was wrong of her to blame Adrien for any of this. It wasn't his fault. He couldn't control his feelings. It was up to Marinette to handle it in a mature way, otherwise she could end up like the poor akumatized girl in front of her.
Maybe all of this had also happened for a reason. Maybe it was a sign. A sign that Marinette needed to learn to let go and not let pain, bitterness and envy consume her. Because if you really love someone, their happiness comes before your own. You have to let them go.
However, it didn't appear that Medusa was listening to Chat Noir's words as she simply screamed at him. The snakes that now made up her hair hissed and seemed to grow in size, rising into the air as they locked their eyes onto Chat Noir, coiling their bodies into an 's' like position, ready to strike. Though Chat Noir couldn't look up, it seemed like he sensed what was going on, his ears still twitching as he tried to pay close attention to everything that was going on around him.
Finally, one of the snakes lunged at him, and Chat Noir yelped, managing to leap out of the way just in time by jumping into the air. Despite his eyes opening in shock, he still managed to make sure that he didn't look Medusa in the eye as he grabbed his baton from around his belt again. Chat then ran off in a direction where there was hardly any people, likely eager to make sure that she didn't manage to turn anyone else into stone.
Marinette sighed with relief. He sure could be a smart kitty sometimes, and she was so grateful to have someone like him as a superhero partner. Hopefully Chat Noir could now distract her long enough for her to get there. But Luka's hand around her waist was firmly making sure that that didn't happen right now.
"Are you alright, Marinette?" Luka's deep voice snapped Marinette out of her attempts to try and come up with a plan.
"Oh – umm – yeah. Are you?"
"Yeah. I'm just glad that you're alright. What you did just then was incredibly brave," Luka praised, smiling down at her.
Marinette once again almost found herself lost for words, just like when he had praised her bravery when she had saved them all from Captain Hardrock. She could feel her heart beginning to delicately flutter in her chest, as if it was trying to fly away and sore high into the sky. Luka thought she was brave? He was genuinely worried about her. He was so sweet and caring and…focus, Marinette, she mentally scolded herself, continuing to try and come up with an escape plan.
"Do you think that Ladybug is going to show up soon?" Marinette asked, hoping that maybe she could suggest that they split up to 'look for her' or something. Anything that would get her away from Luka just long enough for her to transform without being seen.
"I know she will. She always does," Luka replied, sounding pretty confident before letting go of Marinette to peak around the bush to try and see what was going on. "She'll probably show up at any time now."
Marinette saw her chance, and she took it. She hated doing this, but this would likely be her only opportunity to slip away, and she had to think of Chat Noir and Paris. While Luka was distracted, she quickly slipped away, trying to keep her footsteps as light as possible as she ran away. Her heart clenched slightly in her chest as she could hear Luka faintly calling her name, having now noticed that she was missing.
Marinette forced herself not to look back though, and quickly found shelter behind another tree and all but ripped open her purse to let Tikki out. Her kwami immediately shot Marinette a sympathetic look, but Marinette didn't have time for all of this right now. She had a job to do. She needed to save Paris. So before Tikki could even open her mouth to question what was going on, Marinette uttered the magic words.
"Tikki, spots on!" Marinette commanded, unable to help but sigh in relief as the familiar pink magic engulfed her. She had been so worried that she wouldn't be able to get away to fight. Now she could help Chat Noir in taking on Medusa, and then she could get back to Luka and hopefully try and come up with a reasonable excuse, and hopefully, if she was lucky, he wouldn't hate her.
Once she was finished transforming, Ladybug peaked around the trunk of the tree, making sure to keep her eyes slightly downcast so that she wouldn't accidentally make eye contact with Medusa. She could just about see her fighting Chat Noir in her peripheral vision. She kept trying to get her snakes to attack him while Chat Noir did everything he could to dodge her attacks, all the while also making sure that he didn't accidentally look into her eyes. But Ladybug knew that it would only be a matter of time.
Medusa then lurched forward, ready to strike again, and this time, it looked like she might actually win. Panicking, Ladybug swung her yo-yo forward and wrapped it around Medusa's ankle before yanking her backwards, knocking her off her feet. Medusa shrieked in shock and annoyance, turning her attention around to Ladybug. Ladybug made sure to quickly look away, instead, focusing her attention on a very relieved looking Chat Noir.
"Did I ever tell you how much you rock, my lady?" Chat Noir purred at her.
Ladybug rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smirk back. She immediately ran over towards him, taking up a defensive stance in front of him, deciding to take the brunt of whatever Medusa had to offer after Chat Noir had spent so long trying to keep her occupied while waiting for her to arrive. She kept her eyes planted on Medusa's feet as she finally stood back up, hissing at the both of them.
Medusa's snakes struck again, snapping their sharp fangs at them as Chat Noir grabbed hold of Ladybug just in time, pulling them both out of the way. Ladybug was so grateful for Chat Noir's ears at this point. Without them, they likely would have lost at this point.
"You two would make lovely statues. But of course, it would be wise to hand over your miraculous first," Medusa taunted.
"How are we supposed to fight someone we can't even look at?" Ladybug questioned.
She knew they couldn't just keep simply dodging her attacks forever, and that thought was further validated when some of the snakes from her head lunged at them again, almost biting Ladybug's wrist as Chat Noir once again pulled her out of the way. Ladybug was essentially completely blind right now. All she was able to work out was Medusa's location and that was it. She couldn't risk looking up to see what she was doing, nor she could tell when once of her snakes was preparing to strike. She was completely relying on Chat Noir in that regard.
"I don't know, but we need to think of something soon," Chat Noir replied, yanking them both out of the way again so that they were both now standing on a tree branch with a bird's eye view of the park.
Ladybug began looking around, though still made sure to keep her gaze away from Medusa's general direction. There had to be some way that they could defeat her. But…how? Ladybug couldn't even risk looking at her. She knew where the akuma was, but she couldn't get to it. Not without potentially looking Medusa in the eye anyway, or without getting attacked by one of her snakes.
"Marinette!"
Ladybug could hear a familiar voice calling her name. She looked down and gasped to see that Luka had left their previous hiding spot and now appeared to be out looking for her. There was a panicked expression on his face, and guilt and panic immediately stabbed Marinette in the chest. He would risk his life to look for her? Ladybug couldn't believe it…
However, it seemed like Ladybug wasn't the only person who had spotted him. Ladybug gasped when she saw out of the corner of her eye that Medusa had now begun moving in Luka's direction, stalking towards him as if he was nothing more than a small animal, her prey. Her snakes hissed and recoiled back, getting ready to strike, yet Luka didn't seem to have noticed as he continued to frantically search for her.
This was bad. This was so bad!
"NO!" Ladybug screamed as Medusa continued to approach Luka.
"My lady?" Chat Noir questioned in confusion, but Ladybug ignored him as she leapt off the tree branch and flew towards Luka and Medusa without thinking.
She tackled Luka to the ground just as he was about to turn around and accidentally face Medusa, who hissed in frustration as Ladybug blocked Luka's view of her. Luka quickly caught onto what was happening, despite the shock of being suddenly pinned to the ground by Ladybug, and quickly shielded his eyes, leaving just enough room for him to look Ladybug directly in the eyes.
"What are you doing?!" Ladybug cried. "Don't you know how dangerous this is?!"
"Ladybug! My friend Marinette disappeared! I need to find her!" Luka exclaimed in panic.
"It's okay, she's safe, but we need to get you out of here before I can explain," Ladybug urged, pulling Luka up and swinging her yo-yo, ready to pull them both to safety.
"Ladybug! Watch out!" Luka suddenly yelled.
Without thinking, Ladybug looked up just in time to see a snake leaping towards her, its yellow eyes glowing as it opened its mouth wide, ready to sink its fangs into her. Ladybug didn't even have a chance to scream as she closed her eyes, bracing herself for impact and to potentially be turned into a statue.
But nothing happened.
Instead, all she could hear was the crackle of stone just in front of her before there was silence. Medusa then began laughing, and that's when Ladybug finally opened her eyes, only to see nothing but what looked like a giant rock in front of her. She moved her hand back, feeling around, hoping to maybe grab hold of Luka and let his warmth reassure her that they were both okay. However, she couldn't feel anything. Just the soft grass beneath her.
That's when Ladybug's eyes finally travelled upwards, finally realising that Luka had jumped in front of her, and had now been turned completely into stone, his protective stance in front of her frozen forever.
Oh no! This doesn't look good, does it? Once again, I'm really sorry if this chapter quality isn't the best since I'm working on a laptop that's much different to the one that I'm used to. I'm not used to having the keys spread so far apart or having to slam down on them as much. Not to mention I'm still getting over all the panic and stress, and action chapters are always so hard to write. But here's hoping I still did a good job; you guys are ultimately the judge of that. On that note, please feel free to leave a review letting me know your thoughts as it always helps me out a great deal. See you all again soon!