We're on chapter 15 already? Crazy!
Warning: This chapter has themes of horror, as Marinette and Adrien hallucinate disturbing imagery.
—
Her nap was cut short with the loud pounding on the metal of the cage. It echoed and rattled, startling her suddenly.
"Dinner time!" Salo sang with delight.
Dinner?
Food!
Yes! She was so so hungry! It probably wasn't going to be good food, in any capacity, but food!
The slots in the door opened, and a plate was set on the edge. There was a little plastic cup of water too.
"Thank you." Marinette said genuinely, taking the plate.
The meal was not identifiable. It looked like a slice of meatloaf, but it had a strange smell to it. Something that smelled familiar and but unrecognizable. She bit into it, finding it hard and bland in flavor. But it was food, and hunger was the best spice.
"What is this?" She asked outside.
"Food loaf." A voice, not Salo, said.
"What's…what's in it?" She asked.
"We had a nice dinner last night. What ever was left over, we ground up, and baked it into a loaf. It was all good at the time."
She looked at the rubbery slab, taking another bite out of it. "Would you tell me what you had for dinner?" She begged.
The voice laughed. "Oh let's see…fresh salmon, with some broccoli, and mashed potatoes. There was some avocado toast, and this strawberry gelatin dessert. Oh, and the Miss made some coleslaw that had celery, mayonnaise, grapes, and pineapple chunks in it."
"And…all of that is in here?"
"A little bit of all of it, yeah."
She shouldn't have asked. "Thank you…"
The slot closed again, and she was left to her meal.
"You don't realize how much texture goes into food," Adrien stated, his mouth full.
"No kidding. I still can't tell what's in this. Though, I can definitely get a fishy aftertaste from the salmon."
"It's not any worse than that cat food, at least."
They lapsed into silence again, eating their dinner.
"This is weird." Marinette finally said.
"Yeah, not how I expected my week to go."
"Adrien..."
"Sorry, Yeah...uh, my coping skills aren't the best."
"I...I figured."
"You figured?"
"Er, yeah…I didn't think you found our situation amusing."
"No, absolutely not." He paused, to chew and swallow. "What were you saying about this being weird?"
"Oh…I just…I was thinking, earlier, when we were chained up and waiting…I was looking at you, as you slept. And…I felt like I was looking at a stranger. You're my best friend, and I care so so much about you, but…You're not Adrien anymore, and you aren't Chat. You're just…different."
"Oh…yeah, I see what you mean. I…I kinda feel the same. I'm so used to seeing Ladybug so fearless and sassy, and then Marinette shy and adorable…seeing Marinette being rebellious and…humiliated like this is…foreign."
"Were you disappointed?" She whispered.
"What?"
"Were you disappointed? You said, a few days ago, that you were in love with Ladybug. Were you disappointed when you found out I was her?"
"No." He said without hesitation. "Well…I was disappointed in myself. I promised that I would know you immediately, out of the mask. And so allowed myself to fall head over heels in love with you. In fact, there was a handful of people I would have been disappointed with if you had turned out to be them. But you were with them in person, so I didn't worry."
"Oh, like who?"
"My father for example."
She barked a laugh. A real true laugh, her first in many days. "Your father, Gabriel Agreste, as Ladybug!? How the hell did you think that as an option!?"
"You don't know! The miraculous could drastically alter someone's appearance! If my father wanted to look like a 15 year old girl…then that's on him, I guess."
She giggled some more. "Boy, I hope Salo doesn't have cameras in here right now."
"In case she does…sorry father, that was a joke."
Marinette calmed herself, before anyone could hear her and punish her for it.
"I looked for you." He said softly. "I looked everywhere for you. But…you had been there, all this time. And I never noticed. I'm so sorry."
"You don't have anything to apologize for."
"What about you?" He asked. "You have, or had, a crush on me. But you always rejected Chat Noir."
"I'm so happy that you're my kitty." She croaked, emotional. "I always thought that you were so kind and forgiving…it makes sense that you're him."
"I'm glad." He hummed. "Back before all this, before the photo thing…I thought you hated me."
"What?"
"Yeah! I mean, you were always so…uncomfortable around me. I thought maybe you were still holding a grudge a little from the whole gum incident."
"What! I would never!"
"I know that now." He snickered. "I just...I'm sheltered. I still haven't picked up on all social cues."
"Oh, I think you're doing pretty okay."
"Yeah?"
"Most of the time."
He hummed. "Then I guess you'll just have to stay with me to help me with the few I miss."
"Adrien."
"What?"
"What what?"
"Didn't you just say my name?"
"No...?"
"Adrien."
"You so did! Just now!"
"I said 'most of the time' and that's it!"
"I could have sworn—"
"Adrien."
"What?"
"I didn't say anything!"
"Well someone did! I just heard my name! I keep hearing someone calling for me!"
Marinette was quiet, then, "You…you didn't just say my name, did you?"
"No…and I didn't hear it either."
"Adrien."
"Ugh this is freaking me out! Is it a ghost?"
Marinette scoffed. "More than likely, it's a tiny speaker that Salo hid in your cell. Mine too."
"Adrien."
Adrien felt his hands go clammy, and his face flushed. A tingling sensation started in his toes. "Oh…I don't feel too good."
Marinette didn't answer.
"My lady?"
He was sitting on the floor, bare butt to the cement, and suddenly, it started to bow underneath him. "Oh whoa whoa!"
The ground was moving, it was falling, he was falling. His stomach was weak and nausea took place, but he had finally gotten food and he wasn't about to loose it all. Instead, he clawed at the door, prying the metal off the hinges.
It came clean off, and he stumbled out. The rumbling of the cement cracking, breaking, crumbling into dust.
"Adrien."
That wasn't Marinette's voice. That wasn't his lady.
But it was coming from her cell.
So he started walking towards it, the ground under his feet turning to goo and melted at each step. Each step took longer than the last, and the cell was getting farther and farther away.
"I'm not dreaming, am I?" He asked aloud, though his voice echoed on and on. His arm felt heavy, heavier than normal. He glanced over, seeing his arm turned into cement.
Oh yeah, that's right. That happened.
"I'm not dreaming, am I?" He asked again. "Didn't I just say that?"
He had.
Finally, finally he reached the door, and pulled it open.
Inside was a corpse. Nearly blue in skin, and eyes open and unseeing.
"You're not Marinette." He told the body.
Its neck popped as its head moved slightly. "Oh, would you rather have her than me?"
It then occurred to Adrien that the corpse was someone he knew.
Who?
"Have we met before?"
"Have we met before?" Parroted the body.
"Yes of course!" Said Adrien, "I'm your son!"
The body snapped and popped back into a living, breathing person, Emilie Agreste standing in front of him like all was right in the world. "Hi Hunny Bunny."
"You're my mommy!" Adrien giggled, his hands over his mouth.
"That's right!" she covered her face.
"Peeka boo!"
Adrien giggled.
"Peeka boo!"
He giggled again.
"P̴̨̮̹̪̮̮͎̻̩̩̀͊̓͌ę̵̛̯̱̻̠͓͙̻̦̠̈́͗͊̔̍̕ͅḛ̷̢̡̢̯̜̺̦͎͍̙̮̱͓̌̍͆̏̒̀͆̆̒̒̀̍͆k̵̡̢̺̤̲̜̥̺̮̈́͊̎̔́̽͒͆͂̾͐̂͌̐̚a̴̫͋̚͠ ̸̮̰̠͓͙̾̾̓͌̇͋͆̀͠ͅb̴̤̙̠̮͖̦̔ǫ̵̢̛̜͓̙̘̼̳̳̠̲̋̂̈́́́͋̄̊͊o̶͙̭̣͛̏̊́̋̚͜!̶̺̳̮̭͍̥͓̳͓͎͓̥͈͍̪̀̆̉̆̎̈̌̉̂͊̊̌̚͝͝"
Adrien screamed.
That was definitely not his mother. His mother was beautiful and sweet, and did not have snakes for teeth! Or mouths for eyes! Or—Or!
He panicked and began to run. But he ran so fast that he ripped right out of his skin. His body frozen and staring in horror.
Thinking quickly, Adrien grabbed his wrist and pulled his body along with him. Occasionally, they would fuse back together, but then he would run too fast and they'd pull apart from each other, and separate.
"Come back hunny bunny! I just want your heart!" Emilie sang. "I just want to chew it up nice and tasty like!"
If Adrien ran fast enough, he could break through that wall, right? That sounded reasonable.
So he ran at top speed, ripping out of his clothes, his skin, his muscles, his bones, and collided head on with the wall, all of his layers congealing into one amalgamation of teenage boy.
"Oh, did that hurt?" Emilie asked, standing over him. Her features looked human enough, though she had a halo around her head of blue and then red and then green.
"I'm not dreaming am I?"
"You already said that."
"I'm losing my mind."
"Quite possibly."
She lifted him off the ground, dusting off the leather of his suit, straightening his belt. "My my, how much you've grown."
"Did I finally find you? After all this time?"
She smiled at him. "No, hunny bunny. I found you." She weaved her fingers through her hair, turning it red on the way down. Then she tied her hair up in a bun and put a pair of reflective sunglasses on her face.
"No." Adrien fell on his rear, the floor bowing very slowly beneath him, swallowing him up. "This is not happening. It can't be. It can't."
"Oh, but it can be. And it is." Salo's too long fingers reached out, scratching his cheek. "What's wrong hunny bunny? Thought mommy was too perfect for this? Never thought mommy would hurt you?"
The goo of the ground wrapped around his legs, pulling him into the abyss. The tendrils were sharp and burned against his skin, and once again he found his soul ripping from his body.
The walls spun and twisted, converging into one surface, and then many. He became the walls, the floor, the air, everything. He was everything and nothing.
He was…
He was…
Who was he again?
The world undulated and twisted, pulsing and throbbing in his ears, in his mind. All the pain that ever existed in the world crushed upon him, beating against his chest, clawing its way to his heart.
Was he screaming? Or was he singing? His mouth opened and noise came out. But his jaw was tense, and he gnashed his teeth.
He was floating.
He was sinking.
Everything was beautiful, but yet so so ugly.
This had to stop. This had to be a dream, or something. There was no way any of this could be real! But it felt more real than anything in his life. He felt real pain, searing, stinging, aching pain, and it was swallowing him whole. He tried to fight back against it, pressing his hands against the floor. His cat claws dug in, and he began to claw his way out of the darkness.
For a moment, everything settled, his heart beat was the only thing echoing still thundering.
It was a dark room, with only a flashlight laying on the floor. His cage was nearby, the door open, as well as the cage next to him. He was on the floor, in his robe, and above him was Marinette, poised with a crowbar raised above her head, ready to strike. She had tears rolling down her cheeks.
"My lady?" He asked softly.
The clanging of the metal against the ground was incredibly loud, and it echoed with voices of those who he had killed.
Obviously, he had to have killed people if he was in prison and Ladybug was fighting him.
"Chat? Is that you?" She asked.
"I…I don't know." He answered honestly. "I feel like…I'm not me."
"Me neither."
The floor bowed once again, and the whole delusion started over again.
—
"What?" Adrien asked.
"What what?" Marinette asked back.
"Didn't you just say my name?"
"No...?"
"You so did! Just now!"
"I said 'most of the time' and that's it!"
"I could have sworn—...What?"
"I didn't say anything!"
"Well someone did! I just heard my name! I keep hearing someone calling for me!"
"Marinette."
Marinette was quiet, then, "You…you didn't just say my name, did you?"
"No…and I didn't hear it either." He moaned, "Ugh this is freaking me out! Is it a ghost?"
Marinette scoffed. "More than likely, it's a tiny speaker that Salo hid in your cell. Mine too."
"Marinette."
"Look, let's just ignore them, okay?"
Adrien didn't respond.
"Kitty?" She asked softly.
There was silence. An awful, deafening silence.
Her heart pounded, and her fingers started to tingle. "Adrien, if you can hear me, please answer me!"
But he didn't. He was long gone.
Marinette braced herself against the walls of her cage, the metal starting to push back against her, growing tighter, constricting. Like a snake, or the grip of a giant.
"Chat!" She screamed. But it came out slow, like water overflowing.
The metal was now pressing on all sides of her, crushing her as if she was made of glass. She felt herself cracking, shattering, shards of her very being flaking off and falling into another world.
Because that's where she was being forced, wasn't it? Forced to another world, another dimension. Spirited away, and erased from all she knew, and all that knew her. Her parents would never know they had a daughter, her room a guest room, her possessions losing their attachment. There would never be a Ladybug, and Adrien would have never known her.
A mistake of the universe, being folded over and ironed out.
She was pinned flat, paper thin, all air being forced from her lungs. Frozen in a solitary form.
Then there was a door opening, a breeze catching hold of her paper thin form and rustling her.
There stood a figure in the way, formless, and ever changing.
"You're not Marinette." They said.
"I'm not?" She replied. Well, then why was the world trying to erase her? What had she done to treated like so?
"Have we met before?" Asked the stranger.
"Have we met before?" She asked right back.
"Yes of course!" Alya responded, stepping closer. "Don't you know me?"
"I don't know who you are anymore," said Marinette, her head cocking to the side.
"I'm not dreaming, am I?" asked Chloe.
Marinette breathed, her three dimensionality returning as she stepped forward. The action made her dizzy, her head growing huge, inflating like a balloon.
She put her hands over her face, trying to stop the sensation.
Manon giggled.
She removed her hands to see, only to find Lila standing in front of her, laughing.
"Look at you! Look how far the great Ladybug has fallen! Too bad! Maybe I'll go tell the others where to find you! I'll tell Salo where to find your parents!" She started to run away, teasing her as she moved.
Ladybug, furious, took chase, her body not moving like she wanted to. Lila was so much faster, so much much more nimble.
The hallway twisted, turning sideways, upside-down, the walls dividing into more sides, a hexagon, a decagon, spinning.
Hawkmoth turned around, laughing as he ran, then splated against the wall, turning into an amoeba-shaped blob, all sorts of radiant colors exploding from the collision.
"Oh, did that hurt?" She asked, as the figure's blood flowed over her shoes.
"I'm not dreaming am I?"
"You already said that."
"I'm losing my mind."
"Quite possibly."
An arm snapped out of the goo, grabbing hold of her wrist. The fingers curled and twined around her wrist, forcing their way up her body. "And you're being so brave. Faced with nothing."
"No!" Marinette screamed, lashing out to scratch the face emerging from the ooze.
Salo's face.
"You can definitely try to stop me, but it won't work! No one's coming for you! No one remembers you! No one wants you!"
"No! No no no!" She shrieked, pulling away from the monster. "I don't believe you! This isn't real! It can't be real!"
But it felt more real than anything she'd ever experienced before.
She felt like she was finally awake.
Chat Noir! He'd know how to help! He could save her!
"Chat!" She screamed.
He didn't come, but something cold touched her foot.
His baton.
Yes! Yes that would work!
"Try and stop me. I'd love to see you try!"
She grasped hold of the baton, and began to hack at the figure. Like a rose, blood gushed from the chest, flowing and gurgling forth. She kept hitting them. First Salo, then Hawkmoth, then Lila.
Then…
"My Lady?"
Adrien.
She paused, the crowbar over her head, ready to swing down.
Terrified, and taking a grasp of reality, the crowbar slipped from her hands and clattered on the ground.
"Chat? Is that you?" She asked.
"I…I don't know." He answered honestly. "I feel like…I'm not me."
"Me neither." She whispered back.
A mistake. She had made a mistake. And the world need to fix it!
The ceiling began to fall, crushing her into pulp, and the delusion started all over again.
—
How long had it been?
Hours? Minutes? Days?
Marinette didn't know. She had been flattened and folded over and over, like a paper crane.
Adrien had been ripped apart and sewn back together.
Both laid on their backs in silence. They were uncaged, and nothing kept them from running out the door.
Nothing but the inevitability of reality slipping away again. As dazzling colors and beautiful patterns twisted in their visions, all they could do was lay on the ground, and cry.
Because who were they now? What were they? Humans? Higher beings? Cosmic dust?
There was no way to know.
"Wow, that did a doozy on you two." Salo said.
Marinette flicked her eyes over, unable to move any part of her twisted body.
"Well, it's been over 14 hours. I'm sure it'll wear off soon. Let's get you two back to where you need to be."
Neither moved, both having to be dragged back into their cages.
Things were starting to make sense now. Breathing evened. Hearts slowed. And the bitter cold settled on their shoulders.
There was no peace to be had.
This was hell.