Of course it was raining today, Marinette thought gloomily, it's not like this day could get any worse. She hadn't slept properly in 4 days; the nightmares were now happening every time she closed her eyes and the voice was starting to speak to her even while awake. It would be there while trying to dance, eat or anything that required some semblance of thought.
"Alright ladies, follow me! Then as we complete the combo, I want you boys to do the same," Tikki instructed to the group assembled in front of her. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven and ei-"
There was a loud bang and the lights went out suddenly. The girls screamed in the darkness and the boys jumped, startled.
"Strange, the power box should have stopped that from happening," Tikki mumbled to herself, "Stay here while I go and sort this out" she said to the dancers.
As she walked out of the studio, the door began to slowly close behind her. Marinette's eyes went wide as she saw, hiding behind the door, wearing a white lab coat and goggles, was Plagg. He was twirling a set of keys around in his free hand as he shut the door with the other, locking it.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" He asked in a strange accent, "Fresh meat for my experiments it seems"
"Plagg? What is going on? What are you wearing?" Adrien asked, a quiver of fear in his voice.
"Plagg? Who is this Plagg you speak of? I am Dr Plaggenstine! And now my little pets, it's time to dance for me, mwahahahahahahahah!"
'DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN' the intro to Toccata and Fugue in D Minor started playing the moment Dr Plagginstine stopped talking.
"Crap!" Nino screeched as he ran for his bag, grabbing his phone out, "Uh mum, hey yeah I'm ok. Uh, if you don't hear from me by tonight, send help to the dance studio please… Yeah I love you too, thanks, bye." Simeltaneously, Adrien had bolted to all the windows trying to find one that was open, his eyes wide with a frenzied look, usually seen in trapped animals. As he reached the windows, the outside shutters all started closing, one after the other as if some supernatural force was behind the movement.
"Now just where do you think you are going my pet?" Dr Plaggenstine purred, "You don't want to miss all the fun do you?"
Adrien just turned to face him, whimpering before collapsing in the foetal position, rocking back and forth. As Marinette ran to him she could hear him mumbling under his breath, what seemed to be a dance combo. She realised he was flashbacking to whatever hell the boot camp from last year thrusted upon him.
Oh god, if he can turn Adrien into a blubbering mess with just a few words, I am a goner.
Hmmmmm, I like this Dr Plaggenstine, he has the right idea on how to deal with stupid little bugs who don't know how bad they are.
Go away, you're not real.
Whatever, if you manage to make it out of here, you will be so much more fun to play with. I need to get this guy's number…
"Now my pets, let's all line up in a nice row at the back of the room so I can explain what will happen today." Dr Plaggenstine grinned, "That means you to, my favourite, dear, sweet little pet". He said gesturing to Adrien's figure on the ground.
"Piroette, grande jete, plie…" Adrien kept rocking back and forth, hands on his head, blocking his ears while his eyes were wide with fear.
"Hmmm, I think I may have broken him… Oh well, maybe next time," Dr Plaggenstine turned to the rest of the group. "Now let's beg-"
"PLAGG! YOU LET ME IN NOW! HOW DID YOU GET MY KEYS?!" Tikki screeched from the other side of the locked door.
"Damm she got back faster than I had hoped," Dr Plaggenstine muttered, shrugging his shoulders, "Why haven't you started yet my pets? Don't make me break you!" As soon as the words left his mouth, random lightning flashed from inside the room! Everyone, excluding a broken Adrien screamed and cowered in fear.
"He can control the weather?" Alya yelled above the noise.
Maybe this is a dream, a very vivid and realistic dream. Marinette thought.
Dr Plaggenstine just cackled maniacally, "I'm waiting my pets." He almost sung.
On the other side of the studio, Tikki was frantically trying to unlock the door. She only noticed that her keys were missing when she had reached the stairwell to the basement, intending to turn the lights back on. As soon as she had realised that her keys were missing she just knew that Plagg was up to something. He had been unusually absent from practice today, for all of his bluster, he was a dedicated dancer and teacher and had never missed a rehearsal before now.
She looked around for anything she could use to open the door but cursed at her good sense to keep the studio clean and clear of debris and clutter. You could never be too careful with 100 dancers in a small area, they are almost guaranteed to have at least 1 broken leg each week otherwise. She raced back towards the stairwell, maybe if she got the lights on, she could find the crowbar that was in the storeroom to open the door. She knew that Adrien wouldn't last long in that room, if he hadn't already collapsed. Tikki was the unlucky one who had found him after the first boot camp Plagg thrusted upon him and it wasn't a pretty sight. She reached the last set of stairs and jumped over the railing, landing almost cat like on the floor, before running towards the power box. 'YES! ' She cheered mentally. The power was back on and she could finally see again. Now to find that crowbar, maybe I'll use it on Plagg after I save the kids.
It took her 10 minutes of rummaging through the storeroom to find her weapon of choice. After making a mental note to make Plagg come down, clean up and inventory the room, she raced back up the stairs taking them two at a time before reaching the landing. She sprinted towards the locked studio and as she reached the door, used all the momentum of her run to jam the bar into the lock. She heaved as hard as she could, trying to break the heavy-duty lock. When did we install a lock this strong?
A bang echoed through the studio as the lights flashed back on as suddenly as they had gone off 30 minutes previously.
Hmm, Tikki must have gone to get the power back on… Troublesome woman, Dr Plaggenstine thought to himself.
Another loud clang was heard. "I'm coming kids! Don't worry I'll have you out of there in just a minute!" Tikki yelled through the door.
"Hurry Tikki! Please!" Rose cried as she hid behind Felix.
"RUN!" Tikki shouted to the kids as she wrenched the door open.
The instant the door was open, Adrien's head snapped up, and in an instant he was running out of the room.
"Knees to chest, knees to chest," he chanted with an alarming amount of speed for someone who had been comatose for the past half hour. The rest of the dancers bolted out behind him, giving Dr Plaggenstine a wide berth.
"Plagg…" Tikki growled, as she approached him, the crowbar clenched menacingly in her hand.
"Now now Tikki, it was just a bit of H-Halloween fun….." Plagg stuttered backing away from the woman who was now frothing in the mouth. All they could hear as they sped out of the studio was a loud thud, Plagg's scream in pain, another thud and Tikki bellowing at him.
The next day, when they all returned, Tikki was standing happily in the studio with a bandaged Plagg next to her holding her coffee and cookies while she read a magazine.
