Chapter 19: Caution: Love Zombies
The scream Alya and the others heard was coming from the school's entrance, and upon hearing it, they did not waste time in trying to find out what was going on. Wondering what could have happened, they feared the worst. Not knowing what kind of Akuma was running wild in the city, the possibilities of what could be happening right then, were nearly infinite. If the Akuma happened to have fire powers, it could be torching things and people up, On the other hand, if it happened to have water powers, it could be flooding the city, and turning it into the closest thing to Venice. And that was just if they had elemental powers. With Hawk Moth granting each Akuma a different power, trying to guess which powers would the next one was like trying to guess the winning combination of the lottery.
Hoping that whatever happened that had caused the person they heard to scream, was not as bad as they thought, they rushed to check it. But upon arriving at the courtyard, they saw that it was even worse than they thought. Several people were entering through the school's entrance and were seemingly chasing after everyone they saw in front of them. They were giggling and laughing like crazy, and their eyes were red, just like the eyes of a white rabbit. As soon as they grabbed hold of a person, they would kiss it or hug it, resulting in this person beginning to act just like it. The only difference was that instead of having red eyes, its eyes became pink.
"What's going on?" -Marinette asked, as she saw what was happening.
"I have no idea. But I don't think we want to really find out, milady." -Adrien told her.
"Look out!" -Alix yelled, as a possessed girl made a run for them, giggling and laughing like a maniac.
Dodging to the sides, they all managed to evade her. But a student that was passing behind them was not so lucky. As soon as she placed her arms around him, she immediately kissed him. And like it happened with the remaining victims of Aphrodite's love powder attack, the boy became smitten, his eyes turned pink and began to kiss the girl. Seeing this happening in front of them, neither one of the heroes could do anything to stop it.
"Whoa… this is… this is messed up. She attacked him, and now they're kissing." -Nino said, without being able to look away.
"This is wrong in so many levels." -Alya declared, as she looked around and saw the same thing happening to more and more people. –"They look like… like love zombies, or something." -she said, as she saw one of the school janitors, who had just been kissed by a brunette, and was now kissing her back.
"What do we do?" -Rose asked, as she too kept looking at what was happening.
"For starters, let's head to our classroom. We'll be safe there. Come on!" -Marinette told them all, as she began running.
Making a dash for it, the whole gang followed Marinette, crossing the courtyard, while nearly doing the impossible, to make sure to avoid being the target of any of the "love zombies" as Alya had called them. Looking around them, they saw so many of their fellow students being attacked and turned into the exact things that had attacked them. Climbing the stairs, two steps at the time, all they thought was to get to their classroom, where they believed they would have the privacy and the security to think of what they were doing next. Ivan, who was at the rear of the group, was attacked by one of the fellow students and was forced to dodge her. Mylene seeing this, instantly stopped and ran towards her boyfriend, who told her to keep going.
"I'll handle this! Just go, Mylene!" -Ivan said as he dodged the girl's attempts to hug him.
Mylene did not want to leave Ivan behind, but she knew he could take care of himself, and that she needed to get to safety. Gritting her teeth, she started to climb the stairs, hoping that Ivan would come after her, sooner after. At the same time, already on the first floor, the rest of the gang, led by Marinette was making their way towards the classroom, hoping there they would be safe. And they were not the only ones who had had that idea. Some other students, noticing there was something wrong going on, also decided to head to a place where they felt would be safe. Panic was quickly settling in. Looking down, Marinette saw one of the teachers down on the courtyard ordering the students to run, while allowing himself to be caught, to buy them some time to run.
"This is getting out of control! We've got to do something and fast!" -Marinette thought to herself, knowing it was imperative for her and the others to put a stop to what was going on.
Arriving at the classroom door, she turned the knob and opened it, allowing everyone to enter, one by one. When Mylene entered, Marinette was about to close the door, when Mylene prevented her from doing it. Looking her in the eyes, Marinette saw she was worried.
"Don't close it, just yet! Ivan's still out there!" -Mylene told her.
"We need to close it, or those things might see the door open and think of coming here and see what's going on!" -Max said.
"He can take care of himself! He's a big guy!" -Chloe shouted at them.
"No! We're not leaving him outside with those things!" -Mylene shouted back at Chloe, before turning to Marinette. –"Please, Marinette, don't close it, just yet. Give him some time, please!" -she begged her.
"I'm sure he… wait, here he comes!" -Marinette said, as she saw Ivan running down the corridor towards her, with a couple of love zombies on his tail. –"Come on, Ivan, hurry!" -she told him.
Hearing Marinette's voice, Ivan ran as fast as his feet allowed him, knowing he was being followed. He had been able to get rid of the love zombie that had attacked him, but as he was climbing the stairs, two more tried to grab him, pulling and ripping his shirt. Holding his breath, he sprinted the last couple of meters, his footsteps echoing on the walls. Allowing him to enter, Marinette quickly closed the door and locked it, as the love zombies tried to enter. Turning around, she saw Adrien, Nino and Nathaniel holding Miss Bustier's desk, with the intent of using it to barricade the door. Getting out of the way, she allowed them to do just that. With the desk blocking the door, the three of them felt a little safer.
"There! That should keep them out." -Adrien sighed. –"We better also lower all the blinds." -he suggested.
"Good idea! The less people know we're here the better." -Marinette agreed.
Hearing her say that Rose and Juleka quickly lowered the blinds on all the windows, as Adrien himself turned on the lights. At the same time, Mylene was checking in on Ivan, who was on the floor, still panting from all that running. She could see he was exhausted and feared that he might have been touched by one of the love zombies. If so, that would mean he would be turning into one of them, and become a danger to himself and everyone else in that classroom.
"Did they touch you?" -Mylene said.
"No… they we're not fast enough to do that. But my mom's going to kill me, because of this." -Ivan said, as he pointed to his shirt which was ripped. –"And the worst part is that it's brand new." -he sighed
"Are you sure? Because if you were, we'll have to toss you out, buddy." -Kim asked him, as he approached Ivan.
"This isn't the Walking Dead, Kim, and we're not going to throw him out." -Sabrina told him.
"Look, I'm just saying…" -Kim said, when Alix interrupted.
"We know what you're saying, but it's like Sabrina said. This isn't the Waking Dead or any other stupid post-apocalyptic series that you watch in your spare time. This is reality. And if Ivan says he wasn't touched or kissed, then there's no reason for us not to believe him." -Alix told him.
"Well, excuse me if I'm just trying to look out for everyone's safety!" -Kim shot at her.
The two of them continued to argue about it, but that did not matter to neither Ivan nor Mylene. He was just happy to be there with her, and she was happy he had managed to escape that attack and was there, with her.
"Don't do that again, okay?" -Mylene told Ivan, as she hugged him. –"Don't ever tell me to just leave you behind, you big idiot" -she told him, though the last part was said with sweetness and care.
"C-Can't say I won't do it. But I promise I'll try not to." -Ivan smiled, as he hugged Mylene back.
The loving scene between Mylene and Ivan was interrupted, when the love zombies that were at the door began to pound their fists against it, trying to get in, while speaking of how love would set them free, mixed with some scary laughs and giggles.
"They're coming in!" -Juleka said.
"Everyone shut up!" -Alya ordered everyone. –"If we don't talk, maybe they'll go away." -she whispered.
Doing as they were told, everyone stopped talking and silence flooded the whole classroom. The only sounds heard were their own breathing and the incessant noise the love zombies were making outside the door, trying to get in. Time seemed to stop, as the passing seconds felt like hours. After a bit, the pounding on the door ceased, and the rest of the noises the love zombies were making also ended. They did not know if they had gone after someone else, or if they were still at the door, waiting to see if any of them was still inside, hiding. And so, a few more seconds went by, until Alya finally broke the silence.
"I think they're gone." -Alya whispered to the others.
"Do you think they're really gone?" –Nino asked her.
"Maybe they're just really quiet, and are biding their time to get in here." -Chloe said, slightly afraid.
"I don't think they're smart enough to do that, Chloe." -Alya whispered at the blonde.
"Stay here and don't move. I'll go and look." -Trixx whispered, as she and the other kwamis appeared. In all that bustle, the teens had forgotten that they were with them.
Flying silently, the fox kwami went to investigate. Moving the blinders just a little bit, she looked outside and saw that things were not looking alright. More and more students were being attacked and turned into love zombies. And the faculty staff was no exception. Looking down, she saw Miss Bustier on the courtyard and her eyes were pink, as she looked around, giggling and laughing, before starting to kiss an unknown stranger, who had just entered the school. Ignoring that for a moment, she looked to the side and saw that the love zombies that had chased Ivan there, were gone, and there was no one at the door. Telling herself she had seen enough; she closed the blinder. Flying back to where everyone was, she told them what she had seen.
"I've got good news and bad news, guys. The good news is that those love zombies that were chasing Ivan are no longer at the door, so we can all talk without risking them getting in." -Trixx said. –"The bad news is that things out there are getting a little out of hand… oh, and Miss Bustier was caught and is now smooching some unknown guy." -she said.
"Oh, no, poor Miss Bustier." -Rose said, worrying about their teacher.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine, once you guys finish this." -Flint told her, sensing she was feeling guilty of what had happened to Miss Bustier.
"Look on the bright side. At least this way, you guys don't have to worry about getting out and deal with the Akuma." -Muria told them.
Just like the bear kwami had said, that was the bright side of that whole situation, indeed. But it was not bright enough to make them forget that their teacher, who was like a second mother to them all, had once again been caught in their fight against Hawk Moth. It pained them to see that happening to someone, who was so dear to all of them. To tell them that what was happening was not their fault, would be lying. It was their fault hawk Moth sent those Akumas to take their miraculouses. Still, they knew that if they did not stop those Akumas, something much worse would happen to everyone they cared about. And as always, it was Marinette's job to remind them of it.
"Flint and Muria are right. She'll be alright, once we take down this Akuma." -Marinette said. She knew there was no use crying over spilled milk. Right then, they needed to focus on what they could do to deal with that situation.
"Guys, just to let you know, Master Fu must be tired of trying to call us." -Max said, as he checked his cell phone and saw several lost calls and nearly a dozen texts from the old master. –"I think he must have been trying to warn us about the Akuma, since we didn't show up to fight it." -he said, while reading the texts.
"Well, now we know, and he didn't even need to tell us." –Nathaniel sighed.
"Come on, it's not the time to sulk, Nathaniel!" -Mulan told him.
"Your kwami's right. We need to gather as much information as we can, regarding this Akuma, before we go after it." -Alya said, as she went to get her cell phone. –"Let's see what the news are, and check out what has been sent to the Miraculous Blog." -she stated.
In a matter of seconds, she connected online and saw what was going on. Everyone gathered around her to see just how bad the situation was. Like always, the citizens of Paris had photographed and recorded the Akuma and posted the photos and the videos, for the whole world to see what was happening.
"So… it's a girl this time, and her name is Aphrodite." -Alya said, as she checked the video of the Akuma coming out of the Printemps building, surrounded by several people who were under her spell. –"And it looks like she's making people fall in love with one another, their own reflection or merely objects." -she stated, as she read the several comments under the video.
"That explains why things are the way they are outside." -Kim said.
"At least now, we know what we're up against." -Sabrina said.
"So, what are we waiting for? We can't waste time. Let's spring into action and take this Akuma down." -Alix said. As always, she was eager to take down the Akuma.
"Not so fast, Alix. We still need to come up with a plan." -Marinette told her. –"We need to come up with a way to get out of here, without being seen. But more importantly, we need to know where to go, after." -she declared. –"Alya, do you know where Aphrodite was last seen?"
"I'm trying to, but all these photos and videos place her all over the city." -Alya said. –"I'll need a couple of minutes to go over them all, and see where she is right now." -she stated.
"That will give us time to take care of one, very important thing. The school security cameras." -Nino remarked. –"We can't transform with those cameras functioning. If they catch us, we're screwed."
"Do you want us to go and disable them, like we did in the Louvre, two weeks ago?" -Wayzz asked Nino.
"No, Wayzz, that'll take too long. This is not like the Louvre. There are too many cameras." -Nino told him. The idea of having the kwamis disabling the cameras was good, but it would take too long, given the size and the number of cameras.
"Then, we go to the source. Everyone knows that the security cameras are all linked to the security console in the principal's office." -Kim said, which made everyone look at him. –"W-What?! It's common knowledge and I may have seen it, that one time, when I was sent to his office." -he said.
"So, we turn off the system?" -Juleka asked.
"How about we just destroy it? One little touch from my powers, and that thing gets turned into dust." -Plagg said. –"It's faster, and I don't want to lose time pushing several buttons." -he stated.
"You think you can do that, without being spotted?" -Adrien asked him.
"Leave it to me. While I'm gone, don't do anything stupid." -Plagg declared, as he flew upwards and disappeared into the ceiling.
"How can we do anything stupid, it you're taking all the stupidness with you?" -Ari told him, just as Plagg went through the ceiling.
While Plagg went to take care of the security cameras, Alya continued to gather all the information regarding Aphrodite's whereabouts. To help her do that faster, Max and Nino joined her, going over every video and photograph that was online, trying to pinpoint where Aphrodite was right then. At the same time, the rest of the heroes paced back and forth, waiting for Plagg to come back. Marinette herself was worried about what would happen, when they got out of there. That whole situation they were in right then, felt like the plot of one Romero's zombie movies, when the heroes were trapped inside a room, with no way out, no weapons and no chances of survival. Still, she tried to see the bright side of the situation. They were all there, they were safe and they all wanted to save the day. Thinking about it, what else could she want from them? She knew she could count on them all, just like they could count on her. At the same time, she also tried to focus on the idea of what she was going to do, once the Akuma had been taken care of, to give her the strength for the battle ahead of her.
"Have a little patience Marinette... if it took you all this time to tell him you love him, then what's another hour or two?" –Marinette thought to herself.
And she was not the only one thinking about what she was going to do, once the Akuma had been taken care of. Rummaging inside his backpack, Adrien was looking for the pendant he was going to give Marinette, when he asked her to be his girlfriend. He had asked Plagg to keep an eye out on it, but the kwami did not tell him where inside the backpack he had placed it. With so many pockets and hidden pouches inside it, it was head for Adrien to find out. Finally, he found it. Knowing it was safe, the blond then tried to focus on the task ahead of him. This would be one tough Akuma to beat, but he had an extra incentive to deal with him, as quickly as possible.
"Guess this will have to wait until a little bit later." -Adrien thought to himself, as he closed his backpack, placing it on the floor.
Seeing Mylene by the window, peeking through the blinder, Marinette decided to check on her, and see if she was alright.
"How are things outside, Mylene?" -Marinette asked her, as she approached her, placing her left hand on her shoulder.
"Not good. Everyone that gets touched by one of the people that is under the influence of the Akuma, instantly gets under its influence as well." -Mylene said, as she kept looking through the window's blinder, just enough not be spotted.
"If that's true, that's the first time this happens." -Alya pointed out. –"That never happened before. Usually, the only way for something like that to happen, is if the Akuma catches you and puts you under its control." -she said.
"Well, it's like they say. There's always a first time for everything, Alya… including minions under the control of the Akuma, who can make others fall under its control, by just touching them." -Marinette said, realizing that once again, Hawk Moth had upped his game against them.
"Do you think if we get touched by one of those love zombies, as Alya has called them, we'll also fall under Aphrodite's control?" -Rose asked Marinette.
"I don't know… maybe." -Marinette said. –"I want to tell her that that will not happen, but I don't really know. I don't know if our miraculouses will prevent that from happening, whether we're transformed or not." -she thought to herself.
"Our miraculouses prevent us from being akumatized, and they also protect us from taking fatal damage from most magical attacks. But I don't know if they'll protect us from being infected by those people's touch." -Nino stated, not knowing if "infection" was the right word to describe the way people ended up under the Akuma's influence.
"Well, I don't want to find out." -Chloe said. –"I can't even imagine what it will be like, to be under the influence of an Akuma." -she declared.
"I agree with, Chloe. Who knows what could happen if we ended up under the influence of an Akuma?" -Sabrina declared. –"We could be forced to hurt people, or each other… or even worst, we could be forced to reveal our identities." -she said, imagining it. –"I don't even want to think about it…"
"Wait a moment… Tikki, tell us, can we end up under the influence of an Akuma, when were transformed?" -Marinette asked the scarlet kwami. If there was someone who could answer that question, it was her and the remaining kwamis.
"Usually, no… when you transform yourselves, our magic is strong enough to prevent that from happening, most of the times. But from time to time, Hawk Moth creates an Akuma, who might have some kind of persuasion power to it, that is powerful enough to put some of the miraculous holders under its spell; but only temporarily." -Tikki answered her. –"Still, I don't know if this will be the case."
"And what about when we're not transformed?" -Nathaniel asked.
"When you are transformed, the protection that we grant you is a lot more powerful, because that's when our full power is activated. But when you're not transformed, it's a little bit trickier." -Tikki admitted. –"If the Akuma has the power to put people under its spell, then you might be affected. Of course, you won't remain under its spell permanently, but it will take you longer to snap out of it." -she explained.
"Then, I did the right thing running away from those…"
"Yup, you did, big guy." -Muria said, finishing Ivan's sentence.
"So, there's a real chance we can end up under its control, if we're not careful." -Juleka said.
"Real chance or not, we don't have much of a choice. We'll just have to find ways to deal with them, without touching them." -Marinette declared, trying to cheer everyone up.
"That's the spirit! No matter what, you kiddos will defeat that Akuma in no time. I have faith in you… in fact, I think all of us, have faith in you, like always." -Mika said, as he and the rest of the kwamis smiled at the whole team. –"You will defeat him." -he said.
"That is, if Plagg hurries back." -Pollen said. –"He's taking his sweet time in getting rid of the cameras." -she pointed out.
"Did someone call my name?" -Plagg said.
Turning around, they saw the black cat kwami hovering in the air, with a grin from ear to ear. Adrien knew that whenever his kwami had that grin on his face, it was because he had accomplished a task, he had set his mind on.
"Is it done?" -Adrien asked him, as Plagg made his way back to him. –"Are the cameras still a problem?" -he asked.
"Don't worry, I took care of it. There isn't a single security camera working in this school. You should have seen what happened, once I used Cataclysm on that control console. Everything turned to ashes! I may be 5000 years old, but my powers are as powerful as they were on the day I was created.!" -Plagg declared triumphantly. –"But, let me tell you this. Your principal has got a couple of secrets, he clearly doesn't want people to find out about." -he said in a joking voice.
"What are you talking about, Plagg?" -Adrien asked him. –"You know what? Never mind that, now. We've got bigger things to worry about." -he said.
Without the security cameras to catch them on film, Marinette and the rest did not have to worry about their secret identities being discovered and recorded in them. But that did not mean they were out of the woods yet. They still had to find a way to go into battle, without anyone seeing them leave their classroom.
"With no security cameras, we'll be able to go out." -Alix said. –"Let's not waste more time. Let's transform and start cleaning up this mess." -she smirked at Daria, who like her, was ready to lend her his powers.
"Not so fast, speed queen." -Nino said. –"We can't go out through that door, as our superhero selves. Most people outside might be zombified or lovefied, or whatever, but there might still be one or two who have managed to keep themselves from ending up as mindless love zombies. And they might see us getting out." -he pointed out.
"Well, then, let's use one of the windows to go out." -Kim said.
"You and Alix love to see who comes up with the dumbest idea, don't you, Kim?" -Chloe shot at him.
"Hey!" -Alix exclaimed.
"What?!" -Kim said.
"If we go out through one of the windows, we might be spotted as well. People will know we attend this school." -Chloe pointed out. –"We can't be seen, or people might put two and two together, and we kiss our secret identities goodbye." -she said.
"And that's not just our only problem." -Alya said. –"Nino, Max and I haven't been able to pinpoint where Aphrodite is right now. But we did manage to restrict her current location to three different places." -she declared.
"That means, once we manage to get out of here, we'll have to split up into teams, and hope one is able to find and fight Aphrodite." -Max pointed out.
It was not the first time the whole team split into smaller separate groups to deal with an Akuma, but it did not mean it was something they liked to do. Ever since they had been granted their powers that they had figured they were stronger as a whole team, instead of separate groups or individuals. But they also knew that there were times, when the only way to defeat the enemy was to split up.
"I'll be honest, I don't like doing that." -Nathaniel said. –"Remember what happened when we faced Spectrum on Halloween? He sent us on that wild goose chase, just to tire us." -he reminded them.
"Yeah, but this is different." -Alya said. –"Besides, if we don't do this, Aphrodite will continue to move." -she said. –"I know that not knowing her exact location is a problem, but not even the media seem to know where she really is now. We'll have to split up and look for her, whether we like it or not."
Sensing some of his friends were not completely in favour of the plan, Adrien decided to back up Alya, with a little motivational speech.
"Look, the more time we spend in this classroom arguing on what we are going to do or not, the longer it will take us to solve all this." -Adrien said. –"As I see it, we do what we always do. We get out of here, we split into smaller teams and we save the day. It's what we always do." -he added.
"What about the love zombies, or whatever they are really called? What if we get touched or kissed by them?" -Juleka asked.
"It doesn't matter. If we get touched, we get touched and we'll find a way to battle it. Besides, it's like Tikki said, we might be under the Akuma's control for a short period of time, but we'll try to fight it. We'll deal with it, and as always, we got each other's back." -Marinette answered her. –"If one of us gets touched or kissed, another one of us will keep an eye out, and make sure he or she doesn't get into trouble, until they return to normal. Remember, we've got each other's back."
"Okay, then, now that we are all on the same page her, how do we get out, without being seen?" -Kim asked.
"We can use the ceiling. We pierce it, and then get out." -Ivan suggested.
"Or we can go down. If my memory serves me right, beneath the section of our classroom where Miss Bustier's desk usually is, is the broom closet. We can break the floor, go through it, and then access the sewers." –Marinette said.
"The sewers?! Ew! No way, I'm not going into the sewers, forget it!" -Chloe said. –"Just thinking about it, it makes my skin crawl!" -she stated.
"Let's think about this." -Max said. –"If we decide to go through ceiling, it'll be faster, but we might get spotted." –he declared. –"But, if we decide to go through the broom closet, and into the sewers, we can come out of them, a short distance from the school, and if we get spotted exiting the sewers, no one will ever think we came from here."
The idea of going through the sewers was not idyllic, but it was no doubt the safest. As they discussed idea, Tikki went down to see if Marinette was right about what she had said about the broom closet, and to also check if this one was deserted or not. A few seconds later, she came back, saying that indeed there was a broom closet and that it was deserted. Hearing that, Marinette put it up to vote, and almost everyone chose the sewers, much to Chloe's displeasure.
"We'll take the sewers, then." -Marinette said, before turning to Chloe. –"Sorry, Chloe, but sometimes we've got to do things that we don't like." -she told her.
"Ew… I'm going to need a bath after this. No, make that several baths!" -Chloe complained about it, as she imagined herself in the sewers.
"Alright, let's do this. We've got an Akuma to find, a city to save and… and that's about it." -Marinette declared. –"You guys ready?" -she asked the whole team.
"Yes!" -they all answered in chorus, though one could hear Chloe's disapproval in her voice.
"And you, are you guys ready?" -Marinette asked the kwamis.
"You bet!" -the kwamis all said in chorus.
"Just say the magic words, Marinette." -Tikki said.
You guys have no idea on how much fun it was for me, to write this chapter. At first, I was only going to have our heroes jump into action, and that would be it. But after thinking a bit, I decided to use this chapter to also strengthen some of the characters' relationships and to add a little bit more lore to my AU. The hardest part of writing this chapter was to give everyone a little bit of airtime, because I wanted everyone to have a say on what was going on. And I know, I know, not all of the kwamis spoke, but I promise you that they will play a more proeminent role in later chapters of this fic. As for the funniest part of it, was the references to Zombizou, Dawn of the Dead and other zombie related shows that I managed to insert into it, along with one or two other things related to the original show... well, that, and Chloe's reaction, when they all agree to escape through the sewers... I could picture her face in my head, as I wrote her reaction. xD
Next time, we will see our heroes finally going into action, and we will see the introduction of another character from the show. Who could he or she be? Make your bets, people, because that character is going to appear and I think you are all going to enjoy the way I will make it appear. In the meantime, feel free to comment, fav and leave suggestions and/or ideas to improve this fic, or future ones.
P.S. Tonight, I'm going to watch season 3 of Netflix's Sabrina, so, the next chapter might take a little longer than usual. Stay safe.