57 Imprisoned
Khan held the watch and Fluff popped out of it, they had just began their conversation and Fluff introduced himself. There was a brief moment when Marinette crossed her fingers and hoped that that was all, maybe if Khan never learned what a kwami did … but her hopes got shattered.
"And what do you do?" Khan smiled.
"I can give you powers of time travel." The rabbit kwami chirped.
"Oh really, and how is that?" Khan demanded.
"Well, you need to transform first, you do that by saying 'Fluff clockwise' " The kwami began to explain. Mighty Khan ignored his men and started to walk away in the direction of the palace, this was between him and the kwami, his men became irrelevant.
"This is a disaster." Marinette grabbed her hair and pulled. "This is a disaster." She repeated. "This is all my fault, I should have ..." Adrien pulled her closer and held her firmly close to him, she had to calm down and he knew she was going to make a plan, she just had to calm down first.
"It is going to be okay, we are going to fix this." Adrien whispered. His hand rubbed circles on Marinette's back, it was soothing both of them. "It is not your fault, it is mine." He countered and continued to rub those circles.
Marinette pushed herself away only so much to be able to look at his face and glare at him. Her eyes were watery, she was on brink of tears, and her hands were clenched into fists on his chest while her piercing blue eyes tried to speak when her voice failed her.
"Okay, we are both to blame." He admitted. "But what were we supposed to do? If we stayed by the fire ..." He trailed off. She slid her fists from his chest and wrapped her arms around him, she pushed her face into his chest and tried not to scream.
"We should have just walked away and did all this somewhere safe, away from anyone else … and why did we send Tikki and Plagg away?" Marinette murmured to his chest. He was certain she was crying now, he felt how his shirt got wet.
"We had to, they were not supposed to witness the procedure. Kwami are not supposed to know how a miraculous can be fixed." He tried to sound reassuringly, for both of them, he watched how Khan talked with Fluff in the distance, but he wasn't able to hear them.
"But we just left the watch in the fire and left." Marinette moaned into his chest. "How could we?"
"Marinette." Adrien whispered soothingly. "We had to escape and hide and it wasn't possible to take the watch with us."
"We should have …. we should have … " She sobbed into his chest.
"It is useless now to think what we should have done." He was determined as he watched Khan who was still talking to the kwami.
"But what can we do now?" Marinette whispered. "If we leave the hiding place like this they will catch us instantly."
"And if we stay, we can't find Plagg nor Tikki nor take the watch from Khan." Adrien finished her thought.
"Where is Khan now?" She turned around and looked through the branches.
"He is talking to Fluff." Adrien shrugged. "Over there." He pointed through the branches.
"He haven't transformed yet, maybe if we sneak up to him." Marinette looked through the branches. "The sun is not up yet, perhaps if we sneak around, maybe we can catch up with him and get the watch … " She got down and crawled to the side and the next bush.
"After you, My Lady." Adrien muttered, got down and followed. He soon caught up with her in the next bush, she was looking for the best trajectory that would lead them to Khan without being seen by any of the guards. "Hey, don't you think we should plan this better?"
"There is no time … " She trailed off because Adrien chuckled at her mention of the word time. She glared at him. He stopped his quiet laughter and pretended he was serious. She turned away and he grinned again. "And really, wasn't that my line?" She inquired.
"Yeah, you always scolded me for jumping before thinking, true." He admitted. But then he decided to correct himself. "And you were right, but I always did it to protect you and … and I didn't have a better idea at the time."
"And I should have thought this through back in Paris, before we started, and I should have planned this better and I should have … " She muttered while she crawled further and reached a tree behind which both of them hid.
"No more bushes." Adrien noticed. "Only tree trunks."
"Very thin tree trunks." Marinette noticed.
"And many guards." He added as he looked around.
"Mostly sleepy guards, not alarmed yet." She sighed as she followed his gaze.
They continued to move from one tree to another, faster and faster, but they were less cautious, and more guards were waking up each moment, and someone was shouting a warning, and Khan was so close and not yet transformed that they took a run for it.
Khan turned around and saw them, he simply held the watch in his hand and watched them as they ran towards him. It was just a few metres away. Just a few more metres … Khan muttered the transformation words and soon he was washed over by bright blue light.
Adrien threw himself forward. Marinette wasn't far behind. Going after a villain with superpowers as civilians did not stop them against Hawk Moth. Adrien almost felt the watch with his fingers. Marinette was certain she touched it, but soon they were pulled back.
Both teens were held by two guards each and pushed towards the ground to stand on their knees.
"You are lucky I ordered my guard to catch you alive." Khan stated as he watched them from above. "Take them to the cell, I will question them later, about how they got inside and about this." He raised his hand that held the watch.
"Please don't use it." Marinette begged. She wasn't sure if she said anything comprehensible but at least she tried to persuade Khan not to abuse the power he just stumbled upon. "Please don't use it, it only brings trouble, please."
"Oh mighty Khan." Adrien started to talk, as solemnly as he was able while he was forcibly pulled up the path towards the palace. "We beg of you not to abuse the power given to you by the kwami. The consequences of your actions … "
"You will suffer the consequences of your actions." One of the guards warned him.
Khan definitely heard them both, but he did not look like he cared for their words, he admired his new light blue outfit and was angry at the appearance of the long rabbit ears on the top of his head and was puzzled by the umbrella that appeared in his hand.
"Please, no." Marinette gave it another try before she was pulled away.
Khan looked at the umbrella, fiddled with the handle, and then opened it by accident. He admired his achievement with a childish joy, he grinned widely and his eyes almost glowed with pride, he aimed the umbrella in different directions and frowned, unsure what was supposed to happen.
"Don't move it, do not move the umbrella." Adrien managed to shout before he was silenced again by the guards who forced him towards the palace.
Khan raised the umbrella above his head and studied the handle when the umbrella suddenly closed up on him.
"Ouch" They clearly heard him. He raised the closed umbrella from his head and checked on his long rabbit ears, annoyed that the ears were there and even more by the fact that he was able to feel them.
It was unintentional move when he made a circle with the umbrella. But the portal was created anyway, it glowed yellow and inviting. Khan observed it baffled by his own achievement before he outstretched his arm and tried to touch it with his hand.
To his utter surprise, his hand simply passed through the glowing disc and he wasn't able to see it any more.
"This is like glowing fog or mist." He grinned. Several guards who stood by and observed his actions with awe nodded to confirm they agreed. Other guards were hiding from this witchcraft that was discovered by their Khan, and even more were running away.
Khan took a step forward and allowed for his whole arm to pass through the portal. Then he retrieved it back and admired how it was still intact. Then he pushed his hand through the portal again and took one more step forward. Soon the Khan was completely behind the glowing disc.
"No" Adrien screamed. For a moment he managed to pull his hands from the strong grip of the two guards who were pulling him away and he made a step towards Khan, but it was in vain. Khan had passed through and Adrien was caught after only two steps.
"No no no no no " Marinette repeated desperately, she wiggled one of her hands free, but that was as far as she was able to go. Adrien was already apprehended, Khan had passed through the portal, she screamed in vain.
Adrien and Marinette were pulled into the palace and then into one tiny room on the side, they were barely able to sit side by side when the door was closed behind them.
"This isn't a cell. I have transformed in janitors closets that are bigger than this." Adrien muttered as he studied the space around them. There was no way out beside the door. He tried to bang on the door with his fist, but it hurt him more than it produced any noise.
"Stop it, Adrien, you'll just hurt yourself." Marinette whispered and wrapped her hand around his wrist to stop him. "We just need to find a way out of here and then look for Plagg and Tikki." She added quietly and tried to soothe him.
"Plagg!" He shouted from the top of his lungs. "Plagg!" He repeated once he inhaled again.
"Adrien." Marinette whispered to his ear. "Chat!" She whisper shouted.
"If Plagg appears, I can cataclysm this door and we are out." Adrien stated and then called for his kwami again.
"If Tikki returns, I can smash this door with my enhanced powers." Marinette tried to push the door open to demonstrate what she would have done.
"Plagg!" Adrien called again in vain. "He definitely found some cheese if he is not back yet."
"And Tikki is with him." Marinette concluded. "Tikki!" She tried to call for her own kwami, but nothing happened.
The tiny space was dark, it wasn't even sufficiently high for them to stand, a thin line of light that passed underneath the door wasn't enough to see all the details, but there wasn't much to see to begin with, few walls, a wooden ceiling, wooden door.
"Perhaps I could try and pick this lock." Marinette got on her knees and poked at what she assumed was the locking mechanism with her finger, but not much had happened.
"You know how to do that?" Adrien was surprised. "I never knew how to do that, I always used Plagg for that." He was deep in thought. "Actually, I do not remember I ever used a key, even the front door to the mansion opened to a fingerprint."
"Well, you can try and open up this one with a fingerprint." Marinette replied flatly. She tried to feel for the edge of the door with her hands. "This doesn't look like a sophisticated mechanism, it is probably holding us inside by brute force."
They examined the space quietly. The door was probably just a thick wooden board fastened to a wall with a latch or something similar. There were scratches on the walls and the door that revealed that the same space was sometimes used to hold wild animals.
"Did you know I'm claustrophobic … a bit?" Adrien whispered while Marinette examined that small opening below the door. She tried to stick her fingers underneath and lift it upwards, but it wasn't moving.
"Yeah … I remember … " She replied absent-mindedly. "There was that one time I put you in a sarcophagus in the Louvre. I actually forgot about it for a moment, sorry. Too focused on finding a way out." She mumbled.
"I … actually I was so angry at Plagg for not being here … and at myself for losing that miraculous that … I forgot to panic, but now I do." Adrien was breathing heavily but felt as if no air penetrated his lungs and no oxygen reached his brain.
"Okay." Marinette felt for his hand, but ended up hugging him instead. "Breathe with me, okay?" She whispered gently. She tried to guide him through that, she saw it done on other people, by other people, but it wasn't working.
"I … I can't!" Adrien panted. It is dark and we are locked up in here against our will and we can't get out and ..." He continued to ramble, but as he was speaking, his breathing was slightly less erratic, and his brain was busy forming words.
Marinette tried to soothe him while she was feeling helpless herself. They were locked up and without their kwami. Who knew when they were to be unlocked, Khan said he wanted to interrogate them, but he set off to another time and that was just another problem to solve.
They were locked up and perhaps forgotten until the moment Khan returned to this exact time, which wasn't very likely to happen before he did some ultimate disaster. She was a hero without her kwami, and her partner was panicking and the only way to solve any of those problems was to get out.
She made herself focus on there and then, she made herself forget about the lost miraculous, the missing kwami, she tried to focus on her surroundings, there had to be a way out of there, she had to go out and find kwami and then find Peagasus, Tuzi and Bunnix.
"Bunnix isn't here yet." She breathed out. "Bunnix isn't here yet." She repeated louder, her voice full of hope. Adrien stiffened and stopped his erratic breathing. Then he took in one slow breath. "Bunnix isn't here yet." Marinette exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" Adrien muttered. "It is good that she isn't here yet?" He wasn't sure he got it right. "So she doesn't see us? So she doesn't get our identities?" He sounded exasperated. "Sorry Marinette, but if she was here she would have gotten us out."
"Yes, she would have gotten us out if she was here, but she isn't here!" Marinette whispered. "Don't you get it? She is our last resort! If she is not here, that means we can get out of this without her help, otherwise, she would have been here!"
"If she was here … there would have been even less space." Adrien closed his eyes, he had trouble concentrating and making sense of any information he was given. "But she could smash this door open too." He was able to visualise that.
"There has to be a way to open it even without the powers." Marinette let go of Adrien who released a small whine at the loss and almost started to hyperventilate again. "Come on, let's try this together." She stuck her fingers below the board that represented the door.
"Okay." Adrien concentrated on that narrow streak of light and stuck his fingers there as instructed, he ignored the tight darkness all around him. "What do we do now?" He asked then and groaned. "I tried to lift it up, but it isn't moving."
"No, don't lift it up, there is another board just above that prevents it, try to … pull it towards us." Marinette instructed next, she was trying to do the same with her fingers.
"Pull it towards us? Are you crazy? That would make this space even smaller." Adrien protested.
"We can push it back out if this doesn't work … " Marinette trailed off as she tried to pull the door closer. "Don't push it up, just try to slide your fingers along the floor and let the door rest on them." She whispered and hoped he was able to cooperate on that.
"Can you explain me the logic of this, please?" Adrien tried to make himself less claustrophobic by closing his eyes, he imagined he was somewhere else, a wide open space everywhere around him and his lady by his side ...
"It is working." She whispered again. "It moved, pull some more. This was built to contain animals and people inside, if we pull it inside a bit the bits that hold the latches in place should release them ..." She trailed off and strained herself to pull the board a little harder.
"If the latches were build that way." Adrien filled in but he pulled nevertheless. A few centimetres more and they heard a tell tale sound that something behind the board had fell, they pulled a few centimetres more and they heard another similar sound.
"Okay, now push." Marinette grinned.
"I though you would never say … " Adrien pushed and the board fell to the floor outside with a lot of noise that echoed in the corridor outside and was probably heard all around the palace.
"Yess" Adrien was already standing outside, blinded by daylight.
"Smooth, real smooth." Marinette crawled out quickly and got to her feet.
"I bet this was heard all over the palace, we better run." Adrien grabbed her hand.
"Wait." Marinette took a quick glance around. "They heard it, but nobody saw it." She bent over and tried to lift the heavy wooden board off from the floor. "If we put this back into place they might assume we are still inside."
"You're brilliant as always." Adrien whispered and helped her quickly. They arranged the board as they assumed it should have looked from the outside and quickly ran away to hide behind a first tapestry in that corridor while they heard the approaching steps.
"Great, another dark enclosed space." Adrien muttered to himself, but Marinette heard him clearly, she took his hand and tried to shush him to stay quiet while several guards walked dawn the hallway quickly. They listened to the step that approached first, then slowed down, but then continued further down.
"Phew." Marinette swiped her forehead. She allowed herself to relax a little and take in a breath. "Do you feel this smell?" She inquired and turned around, away from the hallway. This was yet another dark room, but much bigger than the one they just escaped from.
"This place stinks like Plagg's cheese cabinet." Adrien noted. Then he started to turn around and observe the room. "I forgot how each tapestry hides something behind it." He spotted a small source of light close to the entrance to the room.
"Is this cheese storage?" Marinette asked while her nose was pinched.
"Then we found Plagg." Adrien replied.