Chapter 4
Marinette was lost. She was lost in her own mind. Everything just felt so...weird. Her head seemed to be almost empty, but at the same time it didn't. It felt so odd that she just couldn't describe it. It felt almost like it was full of...nothing. It was like someone had shoved a brick in her head where her brain belonged. Just a large mass of nothingness. The more she learned, the more she was able to fill that nothingness with knowledge. But still, it just felt so wrong.
From what she had gathered, her name was Marinette. But she was also called Ladybug, whenever she wore the red and black suit. That was still really confusing. Nino, was it? He had been wearing it before for some reason. Now Nino, he was her friend. It seemed that she knew him before, not well, but enough to call him a friend. And Alyssa, no, no it was Alya. Yes. Alya said she was her best friend. Marinette could only assume that meant they were very close friends and that they knew each other well. And then the name Adrien started popping up. Alya seemed really down when the name caused no recognition in the young girl. Marinette only assumed he was another good friend of hers. But she still had yet to meet the guy.
But after that, she had met two other people. Nino came back in the weird outfit, and brought her and Alya to-a house,was it?-that smelled really good in Marinette's opinion. A woman that looked surprisingly like herself (or so she assumed) ran out of the building and had water leaking from her eyes. Alya had been doing that earlier.
Marinette had of course tried to comfort the woman, but she could tell that was of no use. The woman clearly knew her and she couldn't do anything about it.
After a bit of explaining from Nino, she and Alya were led into the house where many brightly colored 'pastries' were scattered about. She had needed to ask Alya for the correct term, but after learning it, Marinette thought the word 'pastries' really fit. It felt right somehow, as if she had been hearing the word her whole life.
As they led her up through the house, Marinette recalled passing a large man with a very blank expression on his face. She felt somewhat sad when she saw him, and when she felt something tickling her face, she found wet 'tears' there. It was a weird feeling.
After that encounter, Marinette had been ushered into a very creative and bright looking room. Alya kept saying that she needed to help Marinette regain her memory, whatever that meant. The auburn haired girl would bring over pictures of a blonde kid around her age. She referred to the boy as Adrien. Marinette could only assume that this was who the girl had been talking about earlier. And by the looks of him, she really could see him being another close friend of hers.
Alya had kept on rushing about for a while after that. She would bring Marinette a new item, and then proceed to tell her everything about it. Marinette tried to remember everything the girl told her, but that was next to impossible.
But one thing Alya kept returning to, was pictures of Adrien. She even had a few 'videos' on what she called her 'phone'. The more Alya told her about the boy, the more Marinette seemed to like him. That was when she started to wonder where he was now.
Marinette, for the most part, knew where everyone else was. Everyone else referring to everyone she knew about at the moment. But for some reason, Adrien's location had never popped up.
At one point, she dared to ask Alya this question. And though she was delighted at the girl's interested in the boy, Alya shrugged it off, saying the boy was probably safe at home, and that she shouldn't worry.
But that didn't stop her worrying, somehow things just felt even more wrong than before.
It didn't feel right, hiding out here with Alya. Marinette had no idea what it was, but she almost felt like something was pulling her away. Like she wasn't supposed to be here. She was needed somewhere else, but she still didn't know why or where.
Then she looked down at her hands. The black bands were still there. But they seemed to be lighter than before, more like a light gray than a black. Tentatively, she touched one. It was cold. Cold and lost and empty. That was when she felt her mind clear. It wasn't as of her memories had returned. No, that wasn't it. She still had no recollection of her life story. But she had a certain feeling now. One that seemed very familiar, and even more important. She was needed, someone needed her. She had to go.
Cat Noir and 'DJ' had been making their way throughout the town for about a half hour by now. The two had argued a bit of course, that was expected, but Cat had given in eventually and apologized profusely for his actions earlier. DJ had apologized too, even if he hadn't really needed to.
Thankfully, after that, they were able to get along for the most part. They weren't quite 'bros' yet, but Cat could tell that there was some familiarity to the hero that he found he approved of.
The two were currently scouring the city for their missing akuma victim. Chloe had just vanished after the mishap. They had no leads, no clues, and no information on where she was. It was a desperate search, but they didn't really have any other choice.
It had only been around 20 minutes when the two heroes had grown tired of their search. Nino was the first to speak.
"Sorry dude, but I think she's gone. We lost her."
Cat knew they had lost her. That was obvious. But it didn't mean they would stop looking. Just one of the many, many things he'd learned from being a hero.
"Yeah, but we'll find her. We have to."
The two continued looking in silence for a few more minutes before Cat, who was leading the two, stopped on a large roof and surveyed the area. After finding nothing of interest in the area, Cat plopped down and started strumming his fingers against his cheek. Then the strumming stopped.
Cat's ears twitched. "Hey DJ, did you hear that?"
The hero stopped and listened, holding his hand up to his ear to better hear what his partner was referring to. He waited for nearly a minute before he groaned and let his hand fall. "There's nothing there Cat, I can't hear anyt-"
And then someone screamed.
Cat jumped up, looking toward the source of the sound, his ears twitching again to catch any more unnatural sounds in the city.
Another scream, this one coming from behind them.
Both heroes turned. Then they spun and looked to the other. As quick as they could the two agreed to split up, DJ going to the first scream and Cat to the second. They would contact the other if they found anything.
Cat leapt off the roof and began making his way toward the second scream. The city was eerily quiet by now, and he was still unsure where exactly the scream had come from. There were no other sounds of fighting or struggle. Surely, if someone had screamed, then something was going on. But no, it was just silent.
Something was up.
Cat was sure it was something he didn't want to be involved in. But being a superhero, he didn't exactly have a choice.
He had made his way down a few streets when he heard a small shriek. This time he was close enough to find where it had come from. A small alleyway a few buildings down. He was sure of it.
Before anything could stop him, Cat quickly made his way to the small alley. He slowed as he approached. The alley was dark, but that was to be expected. It was covered in shadows and without his night vision, he wouldn't have been able to see much. He took a few steps in and stopped. No one was there. It was completely empty aside from a few boxes and piles of junk at the end. But then, where had the scream come from? And that was when he saw a shadow overlapping his own. Oh no.
Click. Click. Click.
Cat froze. It was her.
Slowly, he turned, but he hardly recognized the figure standing there. It was true that she looked like Chloe, she was wearing the same outfit Forget-Me-Not had worn earlier, but she was still vastly different. Her diamond heels caused the ground to sizzle and blacken with each step. He could clearly see where the girl had come from, because it was all black. Little trails of something akin to smoke rose up from her heels while she walked, as well as some emanating from her diamond fingertips.
She also wore a grin that was so unlike Chloe, that Cat nearly grimaced. But the real difference was in the eyes. Chloe was gone, her eyes, normally having been full of vengeance and conviction, were now only filled with hate. Pure, dark hate. Not to mention the longing for destruction and the utter confidence that she had already won. It was truly terrifying.
Cat was rooted in place. He couldn't move. She was coming. Coming for him.
"Here kitty kitty." She cooed. The voice sending chills up his spine. His tail stood stiff and frozen as he processed what he had just heard.
Hawkmoth. He could have sworn it him, b-but it couldn't be. The voice was distinctly feminine, but the mocking tone mixed in to create the voice of his enemy. A voice full of pure evil.
"It's too late you know." Cat cringed. "She gave up, you're 'friend' is gone. And guess what? No. Ladybug. Is coming. To save you."
He had been right, it was Hawkmoth. Had he taken control of Chloe? Could he even do that? Cat didn't like Chloe's attitude one bit, no one did. But did she really deserve that? Did anyone deserve such an awful fate? There had to be some way-some way to save her!
He had to go find DJ.
Cat stepped back hurriedly, expecting to have enough energy to get away, but his legs collapsed from under him and he fell.
Was he really so terrified?
But after looked up at the looming figure above him, he realized that he was. He was so scared. He felt like they were playing cat and mouse. But he wasn't the cat anymore. He was the mouse now. He was lost, and he was scared. Scared of losing not Chloe, but her.
And worst of all, he was nearly crying.
Only nearly though, a hero couldn't afford to cry. Even if he couldn't move, he might as well stand his ground and die fighting.
Screeeech!
Cat looked up. So did Forget-Me-Not. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The only thing Cat could see was...an open window? What was that about? Had that always been open?
But quickly his mind snapped back to his imminent doom. There was no time to dwell on an open window. Chloe had made it to him at last. Her face was now inches away from his own, her clawed hands softly skimming the front of his outfit. Yet again, it sent shivers up his spine.
Then, before he knew it, those hands were gone. In fact, all of Forget-Me-Not was gone. One second she was there, glowering over him, and the next, she was just...gone. All in a blur of brown and pink. Well, not gone exactly. She was on the ground. And without even looking, he knew she did not like that.
In slow motion, Cat looked down. And that was when he saw...Marinette. Marinette had just-she just tackled an akuma!
What?! Marinette?! What in the world was she doing here? Wh-how had she-where? What?! Cat took a step back.
Here was his classmate, his friendly, cheery classmate, tackling the most powerful akuma he had seen so far. And she was...she was winning… B-but how? Marinette was his classmate, his friend! His sweet, smiley friend! Why would she be here? She was putting herself in danger! A-and...had she known he was in trouble? She couldn't have, but she arrived when he was only seconds from...death. Maybe...she just saved my life…
But that was when he heard her gasp. No longer was she winning.
In an instant, Marinette had flipped over till she lay on her back. The girl who had been clear of injuries beforehand, now had four short, but painful looking, scratches on her arm. She was staring wide eyed at the red, sticky blood coming from the wound. She looked as if she had never seen blood before. And she almost looked as terrified as he was…
And then Cat saw Forget-Me-Not getting up. He started towards her and grinned slightly when he found he was able to move. It was probably thanks to Mari being there. No way he was going to let her get hurt.
The akuma groaned in a way that was still somehow terrifying. She held her hand to her head, growling slightly and glaring at Marinette, the glint of a ring catching Adrien's eye as she stood.
That was when Cat took his chance.
He pounced, his hand stretching out to grab the cold, diamond wrist. Forget-Me-Not flinched and turned her head to face him, but not fast enough. Cat had her ring in his hand and a few feet between them before she had registered what had happened.
Then Forget-Me-Not began barrelling his way. Without thinking, he threw the ring over Chloe and straight to Marinette. Well, close to Marinette at least. The ring clattered to the ground and slid into the street and Mari jumped as she began looking for the ring.
Forget-Me-Not's gaze had followed the ring as it sailed over her head and into the street. She now moved to retrieve it, but Cat was ready for that. He stepped forward and grabbed the girl around her waist, holding her back in a sort of bittersweet hug. The girl struggled and attempted to push his arms away, but Cat wasn't letting go.
"Marinette! Get the ring to DJ! Argghh, I mean Ladybug! GO!" The girl popped up, ring in hand and confusion on her face. She then looked down and stared at the ring cupped in her open palms, not moving an inch despite Cat's loud warnings.
"Marinette!"
The designer ignored him. She was still staring at the ring for a good minute or two until suddenly, she gasped. Recognition lit up in her eyes and she stared in awe at the akumized object. Her eyes filled with life and and her mouth went wide. She gave one quick look to Cat before stumbling a bit and sprinting away.
And then just like that, she was gone.
Cat then made the mistake of letting his guard down, and Chloe knew it. He relaxed his grip on the girl ever so slightly, but not a second later he was yowling in pain. He felt the tip of a very sharp, very hot diamond heel digging into his right foot. He let go. And that was his biggest mistake.
She ran.
Immediately, he moved to run after her, but he didn't make it one step before he was on the ground. His foot felt like it was on fire. He grabbed it instinctively, painfully curling up into the fetal position. The soft click, click, click of Chloe's heels faded away as Cat stared at his injured foot. There was a hole. And it was red. Dark red.
Without thinking, he touched it, and yelped.
Cat looked around frantically, cringing at the pain but desperate for something to stop the bleeding. He was holding back tears. But no, no, he didn't have time for that! What was he thinking? There was nothing around here anyway, and once DJ purified the akuma, Cat wouldn't have to worry about the hole in his foot anymore.
Slowly, he stood. He was sore all over and he was sure his foot would fall off any second, but somehow, he made it to his feet. He then proceeded to limp out of the alleyway and into the street. Forget-Me-Not and Marinette were gone.
What had he been thinking?! He had thrown the item Forget-Me-Not wanted most to his friend! And now she was the one who was in danger.
No, he thought. I will not let my classmate get hurt, I will save her.
Marinette will be okay.