Take My Hand

Chapter 5

"So we meet, Ladybug...with your miraculous and Chat Noir's, I can have all the power I could ever want."

A dark shadowy figure stood firmly in his place, out looking towards Paris. Many moths flew around his surrounding, circling around the figure. His eyes focused towards the small tiny people walking through the streets, grinning towards the thought of what he could possess with such power. He could have anything he could want. All of the city could obey him; or even the country. Perhaps the world. Everyone would live in fear from him. Yet, this wasn't a motivation for him. The figure looked down to his hand, holding onto a small locket with a picture of a young woman framed into it. He wanted her.

The young woman was smiling towards the camera while holding her newborn son; he was seen giggling while holding onto a golden lock of her hair. He looked so much like his mother. The baby already had the same color of hair as his mother and had clear green eyes. He was beautiful. They both were beautiful. This warmed his heart, yet at the same time, it was filled with fury. He growled.

"I want you to grab their miraculous! No more teasing around, Insecurer." He hissed, gripping onto the locket even tighter. He was losing patience. "Make them see their worst fear possible!"

The akuma laughed. "Oui, Hawkmoth."

Through the eyes of the akumatized man, the figure could see the two heroes look up to him with different looks on their faces. Ladybug stared at him in horror and screamed. Chat just rolled his eyes and hissed at the evil man. The hero was getting annoyed. Hawkmoth noted this and gave an evil chuckle. He enjoyed the negative feelings Chat was giving.

They shall pay...they all shall pay for her...

"Now go, my akuma!"

…

In a second, the hooded man fled with fast speed towards them. Ladybug dodged the blow the akuma was aiming to throw. She couldn't believe anything that was happening to her at the moment. This wasn't who she was. She was no superhero. Ladybug never recalled fighting supernatural evil in her past. Never in her life would she ever think of seeing such a horrific monster in her life. All she could think of doing now was to run for her life. Slowly recovering her balance, she took a few steps away from the scene. Ladybug looked towards her companion as he was in full action of fighting the beast. He swung his rod around, jumping around the akuma and tried to defeat it. The heavy rain made it seem like a flash of black and red were spinning around in it.

"You will never have it!" Chat snarled. He flung himself to the man.

The two continued to fight, hurting each other with each blow. The akuma twirled around, grasping onto the side of his hood and swung his arm around, clawing Chat's sides. He screeched in pain as the akuma pushed him down. Chat's suit was now torn and drenched in his own blood.

"You...you will...never...have it." Chat spoke again in a staggering breath, holding onto the freshly made wound on his ribs. The akuma came towards him. He grabbed him on the collar, chuckling as Chat tried to kick him off, yet failed.

"I know your weakness, Chat Noir! You're a stupid alley cat, nonetheless. You're a disgrace to Paris!" Insecurer yelled towards the struggling teen, injuring him even more. He screeched even louder. "Look into my eyes, kitty! Look into them to see your worst nightmare!"

With his loose hand, Insecurer forcefully gripped Chat's chin and turned him to look into his eyes. Even though Chat would try his hardest to shut his eyelids to avoid the deathly empty eyes of the akuma, he failed and gave in. He was now hypnotized, stuck in a state of anxiety and shock.

"No one loves you. You will always be alone - no family. No friends. You're controllable; easily manipulated. You think you're not worthy of receiving. You're scared of the world knowing your true identity because you know you're real self is a trapped crybaby. You're pathetic, Chat Noir! And you call yourself a hero to Paris - I don't see one!"

Chat continued to deeply stare into the eyes of the akuma, tears streaming down his face. He violently shook and mumbled many different things under his breath that couldn't be identified. As his finger was now unguarded, the boney hands of Insecurer reached towards the ring being worn by Chat. It was his chance to get the miraculous.

No. No no no. Ladybug shook her head. She had to think of something fast. No one hurts my friends.

Ladybug took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, letting the rain touch her skin as she lifted her face towards the sky. Grounding herself, she knew she had to face the fear crawling in her skin. Although she did get many shivers, Ladybug had to fight the akuma. It was all up to her. She opened her eyes. At first, she started with a steady walk back to the scene which eventually turned into running as fast as she could towards Insecurer. Forming her hands into tight fists, she leaped off the ground and gave her first punch. Instantly, the akuma dropped Chat.

"I told you to not hurt him!" She loudly spoke in anger.

Ladybug had the look of determination. She had so much adrenaline running through her veins, that it actually felt amazing. She couldn't even believe what she just did, but she couldn't lose focus just yet. It wasn't over. Ladybug fully took in the presence of the akuma in front of her as she tried to identify the weak spot for him. That's when she spotted something peculiar standing out from the man; his chain necklace. Out of all the things that seemed fittingly for Insecurer, this item was heavily out of place. It lightly shined out of the darkness from his hood. Ladybug had to get a better look at the item.

"My lady..." Chat whimpered. Ladybug turned her attention to the masked hero who was laying in a puddle of blood mixed with the waterfall of the rain. This scene gave her a feeling that a thorn was being pierced into her heart as she saw him tightly hold onto his wound with gritted teeth. Even through all this pain, he continued to give her the brightest smile he could give. Her heart was madly beating again, but this time out of affection.

She made her way to him then kneeled down to get a better look at him. Chat now had a goofy cartoony grin plastered onto his face as he winked at her.

"You really are a superhero, my lady. You saved me."

Ladybug took his face into her hands and lightly brought him closer to her own. From the short amount of time she met him, Chat already became very precious to her. He meant the world to her at the moment as he held her hand through the unfamiliar world she was in. Could it be possible to say that something was developing in her heart for this masked boy? She didn't know.

"We're a team. I am not going anywhere." Ladybug leaned in as her head rested upon his, their foreheads supporting one another.

"You're ok, right?" She whispered to him, but only to receive him purring as he nuzzled her.

"Don't worry about me, bug-a-boo. I'm...ok. Worry about him. I believe in you."

Those were the words she needed to hear. Something shifted in her. It was something she never felt before. Being careful of not trying to hurt Chat, she gently released her hold on him and slowly rose up from her spot. Ladybug had to end this chaos with this villain one way or another. There was a look of anger behind her mask as she ghoulishly walked towards Insecurer.

He glared at the newcomer heading his way. "Aww, you were comforting your kitten. Are you going to fight for your boyfriend?"

Ladybug snickered at his question and shook her head.

"Yes. Not just for him. For all the good people of Paris you tortured!"

She stopped in her tracks as soon as she stood close enough to the akuma. The golden chain necklace was visible on his neck now. This necklace had to mean something. Her hands longed to just rank the chain off him and see whether that did anything. Only one way to find out…

"So tell me this. Where I can find a pretty necklace like yours. It definitely makes you shine." Ladybug rested her hands on her hips, tapping her foot on the ground with impatience. As badly as she wanted to jump on him and fight him, she had to think it through. One wrong move and she could end up like Chat.

"Don't mind that. Hehe. I sense something from you. You're scared of me, aren't you princess? I can see the fear in your eyes!"

"Hey! Only...I-I call her princess..!" Chat retorted loudly, but he was hushed with a growl from the villain.

"You never seen something like me. You thought of turning around and to hide behind that bush over there until Chat was suppose to defeat me. You know you aren't the real Ladybug. You want to go back to your world so badly. You know you don't belong here. You don't have the guts to fight me."

Ladybug just simply glared and gritted her teeth. "Try me."

…

Mornings were the worst. Always had been. Always will be.

"Alya! Come for breakfast! You don't want to be late for school! Your sisters want you to help them set this video game up as well!"

Ughhhhh...

It has been two days since the disappearance of Marinette. Her face was seen everywhere throughout the city in both national news, missing posters, and newspapers. Alya felt horrible and didn't have the desire to go to school and to sit next to an empty seat that belonged to her best friend. It was too much to bear. Marinette was what made her get through the day at school without cursing someone out or even getting into a fight; especially with Chloé being there. Yet she remembered she had other friends who were also in shock at the news.

Her screen was already glowing up with incoming messages from them.

[Rose: I do not want to come to class today. :( ]

[Marc: It's gonna be too depressing.]

[Nino: But we have that important lab work today. I'm sad too because Marinette was the best, but we have to keep being strong dudes. She would've wanted that.]

[Juleka: Rose, do you want me to meet up with you at your house in 15 minutes?]

[Rose: Yes please. I guess I'll go to class. Did anyone do the homework? If yes, can I please get a copy of it? Thanks!]

Alya yawned, stretching her arms and legs as well as cracking a few joints before she officially got up. She changed into her regular clothing, put on some light makeup, and walked out of her room into the sight of her family sitting around the dining table. Her mother was toasting bread, her father was reading the newspaper while drinking coffee, and her sisters were in their own world.

"Salut, Alya!" Her younger twin sisters spoke in unison with cake battered around their mouths as they ran to the couch. "Can you please set up Princess Fairy Academy on the GameToy? Pretty please."

Alya just turned her head to look at them both and gave a gloomy nod with a weak smile. "Yes, but it will have to wait till I get back from school. I promise. And remember that mom said to not stain the new couch!"

She took her seat at the table and sighed. It felt like a heavyweight was dropped inside her chest. Her thoughts were wildly racing from an idea towards another, but they gave no hope. Since their early elementary days, she and Marinette were the best of friends. Marinette was her only friend when she just moved to Paris. She was only six years old, being scared out of her mind, and Marinette helped her. From there on they were inseparable. They would walk to the park together, hand in hand, to play at the playground or get ice cream from a stand there. Alya would always be the one to get in trouble while Marinette was a goody two shoes who was picked on at times from being a crybaby. They balanced each other out. Marinette was the one who carried her books and backpack when she had a broken foot, as her life was a misery by walking around in a big ridiculous cast and she held onto her clutches. They both even told most of their secrets to each other. Alya loved Marinette as a sister. She wished she could see her again.

She didn't even notice her breakfast being served to her by her mother. "This news station called. They say they want to interview you about Marinette. They left their number with me in case you decide to call back. Also, could you please buy white lilies and give them to Marinette's parents? I'll give you some money and say they're from us as a gift of sympathy. I'm sure they could use some comfort after such a rough week."

"Yea, mom. I just...don't know what to do…" Alya took a sip of her orange juice and rested her head on her palm. "I feel so bad. I feel like it's my fault she's gone. I feel like she could also be dea-"

"Alya, don't speak like that! You know that's not true. Don't lose faith. She's a smart girl. Now, I have to go to the hotel. I don't want to be late for my job as well. Money is on the counter." Her mother kissed Alya on the forehead then proceeded to say her goodbyes to the rest then left. Soon after, her father left and it was just her and her siblings.

After quickly finishing her food and looking through her feeds, Alya made her way to her room to pick up her books; but that was when she noticed something that wasn't right. The comic book that was left behind by Marinette was glowing. It sat out on her bed, turning pages as if someone was scanning through it. Yet no one was there.

"What? How? Not again!" Alya snatched the book up, being a bit annoyed by it at this point. This was the sixth time the book did this in her possession. Since the time they found it, the group of friends decided to investigate the mysterious book as it wasn't like any other comic book they ever came across. Alya had a theory behind this book, but there was not enough evidence to support it. Yet, some things just didn't connect.

What she noticed first was the bond between two masked characters as their foreheads were pressed one another. The heroine in red held the feline-themed hero tightly between her hands. The hero in black was seen with blood all around his torso as well as a deep fresh wound, but his facial expression showed no pain. He simply smiled at his lady with shining eyes. Alya could tell that this character loved the one holding him. So much detail was put into those green emerald eyes of his that shined with the reflection of his lady.

Scanning a couple of pages, Alya found a full body pose of the heroine. She found out her name was Ladybug...how fitting as her costume was polka dotted. The character had an expression of anger as she stared at the viewer. This sent shivers down Alya's spine. She looked so much like Marinette. Same dark bluish black hair being held in pigtails. Same colored blue eyes. Same facial structure. This was a bit unnerving for Alya as she slowly closed the book and stuffed it into her backpack. Her friends had to look at this comic again.

I think I know where Marinette is...but there's no way for it to be true.

…

" 'You want to go back to your world so badly'...yeah, I don't know what to say, Alya. Ladybug looks so much like Marinette but I doubt that this is actually her. Your crazy conspiracy makes no sense. Magic like this doesn't exist. Life isn't like those Hollywood movies, you know?"

"Grrr, but this has to do something with Marinette being gone! I know so, Nino! Something tells me this character is our Marinette! How else do you explain all this talk of 'another world' in this thing! That world is ours! I'm becoming more certain with each page I read!"

Alya stared down all of her friends, her knuckles turning even whiter as she held her fists tighter. It was quiet between them even though they were in their lunch period at the cafeteria. They all tried to avoid her stare by either looking at their phones or just by hiding their face in the comic book. She shook her head in disappointment. Another thing that hasn't left her mind, leaving her restless for a night was the comic book of Chat Noir's adventures. It would do its normal habit of glowing up, but Ladybug was what caught her attention. She read the comic book from front to back, knowing almost every page by memory. There were so many mysterious elements involving this book that it was her last strand of hope for knowing where her best friend is.

"I know it's hard to accept that Marinette is gone…" Rose quietly spoke to break the silence. She was still trying to avoid Alya's stare.

Luka slammed his hands onto the table, startling everyone at once. "It's been only two days! We're jumping to conclusions so quickly! Marinette is fine!"

His loud voice was enough to even get all of the attention from the students in the cafeteria. Especially the attention of a blonde one who growled at him as her cappuccino was all over her meal. She glared at them. All eyes in the cafeteria now focused on the worst spoiled drama queen of all of Paris.

"Would you losers be quiet! I'm trying to enjoy my lunch in peace! Daddy had it delivered to me but you rats made me spill it all over my food! You all better buy me another meal!" Chloé hissed, crumbling the paper cup that once held her drink into her manicured hands.

"Shut up, Chloé! You have money to buy yourself all the food in the world. So be the wicked witch of the west somewhere else and leave us normal people in peace!" Alya snapped back. Some students couldn't help but let out a small chuckle to her statement.

"Oh paaleease! At least I'm not getting kidnapped like our dear special princess, Marinette!"

At once the room was quiet again. That was the sentence that made a group of friends snap; especially Alya. She got up from her seat, pushing the table a few inches away and stomped over to the blonde who just stood there with a smirk. Chloé knew what she said. She cracked Alya just like she wanted.

"Don't you talk about Marinette like that! She is not kidnapped! She's alive out there and will be back!" Alya loudly remarked, her head moving closer to Chloé's own. "So shut up, bi-"

"Hahaha, ohh poor wittle Alya. When are you going to wake up from this fantasy world and accept that she's gone? If she can't be found in France at all then she's probably gone. She isn't that smart to survive on her own in another country or let alone outside of Paris." Chloé lightly pushed Alya away from her, laughing a bit louder than before. "And don't forget that I can get you expelled again…"

Alya huffed then quietly backed away. Her look dropped to the ground in defeat. She stood firmly in place as her chest would slowly rise and fall. She didn't even notice Chloé making her way towards her lunch table. So much was running through her head again. Alya thought towards the time when Marinette would've held her back from starting a fight. She felt hurt again.

Once Chloé made her way towards the group, she sat on their table, her legs crossed as she playfully tilted her head to the side and evilly grinned. "So what have you losers been looking at this whole time? Les Aventures du Chat Noir? That is soo utterly riiidiiiculous!"

She snatched the comic book in her hands, out of Nino's grasp, and flipped through the pages. Her expression being none other than a poker face. Students continued to have their attention on Chloé as her next move was to pick up a nearby pen. Instantly, Nino got up from his chair and reached over to grab the comic book. Yet, Chloé was fast enough to jump off the table and dashed towards the other side of the cafeteria with the book and pen in hand.

"Give that back Chloé!" Nino ordered with anger. "This is not cool at all!"

"Ok, but you gotta admit, this comic book is so lame. I mean a cat boy saving this city? That's stupid, don't you think? The only good thing about this is the cute rich boy named Adrien, but that's it. Not even Nathaniel can come up with something more stupider than this!"

The addressed boy looked up from his sketchbook and glared back at her. "I'm better at art than you though. You even consider putting filters on your selfie as art. Nothing can get stupider than that."

Again, the cafeteria was filled with light chuckles. Chloé growled again and snapped her fingers, signaling her henchman Sabrina to come over. "Ok Sabrina, we're gonna show this whole school what good art is by giving this lame book a makeover."

Nino glanced over at Alya in concern, but she was still stuck in her gaze towards the ground. However, she quickly snapped out of it when she heard what Chloé was about to do. Alya turned around and ran towards the evil duo, but was too late. Chloé had already scribbled out one of the characters in the book and pierced through a couple of pages with the pen. She even drew a smiley face on it with her lip gloss. The comic book was permanently damaged.

"Well it looks like Chat Noir and Ladybug are gonna have trouble, aren't they?" Chloé happily asked, throwing the comic book to Alya. "What are our heroes gonna do?"

I'm going to try and make this a weekly update. I'll try to update this every Friday/Saturday! It gives me the whole week to work on this!

Please review/follow/fav because it makes me have more motivation to update more frequently. Tell me what you think of this story. Tell me any story ideas for the future and I might consider them. I'm open to anything! :)

-With Love, Gem Goddess

(PS: Who excited for the new episode of ML this Monday? I know I am!)