10/09/24
2 Reviews, 4 Favs, 5 Follows
Ladybug was struggling with akumas these past few weeks without her kitty. It wasn't easy without his cataclysm and it was pointless. But she had to save Paris without him and not risk having Shadowmoth claiming her miraculous.
"This is wearing me out! I might need the entire team to help" Marinette said.
"Calm down, Marinette. Last time with Volpina again, we managed to defeat her" Tikki said.
"But that was different. She almost fooled me with her Adrien illusion again but thank god, Rena Furtive communicated with me through my earpiece that it wasn't the real Adrien" Marinette said, explaining how Volpina almost succeeded but failed yet again.
"And it still doesn't fix that Cat Noir is gone. Maybe he's still upset about our argument"
(Flashback)
Ever since Ladybug was too focused on being the guardian, Cat Noir was always trying to offer a helping paw, but she never took it. And the more she brings out the new heroes, it causes Cat Noir feels like he was never needed at all.
"I get that we always need the others, but I feel like you no longer need me" Cat Noir pointing out his point.
"Of course I need you. You barely show up" Ladybug glared.
"Neither do you when I have to fight the Akuma! We both have the same issues with our double lives than just my 9 lives as a cat!" Cat Noir said.
"Are you saying I'm irresponsible?!" Ladybug gasps.
"Sort of!" Cat Noir replied.
"So are you with getting hit by akumas to save me! It hurts me a lot to think that what if I can't bring you back!" Ladybug yelled.
"Don't you ever say that to me! I take hits because only you can fix the damage with your miraculous ladybugs! I can't! Only you can! But seeing with the other teammates, it almost feels like you don't trust me with anything! Master Fu trusted me but you don't!" Cat Noir shouted and Ladybug gasped at this.
"If you want to rely on the team, I'm on my own!" He sternly said and then turned to leave, leaving Ladybug shocked at his words, "Farewell, Ladybug"
(End of flashback)
And that was the last time she saw him but it wasn't like him to disappear at the exact moment when Adrien also disappeared too.
"This is all my fault for ignoring Cat Noir and deeming him unreliable" Marinette sighs.
"He may have a different life but life is never easy at times, Marinette" Tikki said.
"The two of us were an effective duo but I treated him so badly and none of the teammates are like him," Marinette said and climbed up to her balcony, where Cat Noir would have usually been to visit his princess. Memories of his visits usually were fun whenever he felt the need to talk to someone, he would always go to her. Marinette began to tear up that she'll never see Cat Noir again nor have the chance to apologize to him after he left her as Ladybug.
"It's been 4 months now but maybe he just needed more time to himself, even if he has a family life," Tikki said, knowing full well what happened to him.
"I suppose, and I hope if Adrien has survived, he hasn't forgotten everyone he knew" Marinette wipes her tears.
"You heard the Jaguar. Jungles are full of traps. My previous holders who were from South America, one of them were like hunters at war" Tikki said.
"I need to know from her how it's going down there," Marinette said.
"Marinette, you gotta trust her. Worrying will only make it worse for you. Guarding the miracle box was very stressful for you. Especially how you told Alya you're Ladybug, she trusted you" Tikki said.
"I know" Marinette slumps down on her chair.
"You can't always do everything alone, Marinette" Tikki said.
"I failed Tikki, for four months and still I have to endure Shadow Moth, Lila, and Chloe and I'm really on edge now" Marinette sighed.
x
In the deep jungle, Panthera found the Amazon River which connects to the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. From the news of Adrien's bodyguard, he only said that Adrien dangerously fell out of the plane and landed somewhere in the Amazon River. Yet no body has been recovered or been found at all.
Not only does her power Track lead to where her target or a scent trace is but also uses clairvoyance vision to reveal the past of the event from how it started to where it goes.
"Track" She called on her power and paw prints on the ground appeared as they led to the site of the Amazon River as she followed it.
Then she came to a scent of a trace of a washed-up piece of white cloth of Adrien's jacket which is months old but covered in dirt.
(Panthera's vision of Adrien's incident)
Adrien splashed in the river before hearing an explosion from the distance and the storm was picking the river up into a strong current. He swims with all his strength to not follow with the currents. The rocks underwater nearly injured him but gave him scrapes. The current was pulling so hard that the stream was picking up and a waterfall was near. He grabbed a nearby branch at the last second as he saw the fall. Grunting with his might to climb up while lifting his body out of the heavy moving water. He soon pulled himself on solid ground, coughing out water. He felt his arm injured with a scrape. He removed his jacket and ripped a piece to make a cloth on his wound.
"Agh! Damn it!" He groaned as he got up.
(End of vision)
"He survived. He's still alive out there. How is that possible to survive the fall in the river?" Panthera questioned herself since she saw in her vision that Adrien fell without a parachute to save his fall.
Lucky for him there weren't any piranha areas to skin and eat his flesh in seconds, "I got to inform Ladybug to confirm he survived" She said.
x
With Adrien, he did manage to find people but they weren't friendly, and they were mercenaries with guns.
"Just don't lose the radio signal again. We got enough shit to deal with than getting our asses lost in the goddamn jungle" The mercenary said before getting the gun loaded.
Adrien had to be stealthy and quiet or he's caught. He found mud as he covered himself with it as camouflage to blend in through the trees. He readies his bow and climbs up the tree to hide while observing how many there are right now and so far, only 4 of them.
"Those are people, kid" Plagg whispered.
"They are people but they are mercenaries. They have guns and show no mercy. I got no choice but I also need equipment too" Adrien whispered back and readied his arrow filled with paralysis like a tranquilizer.
He targets one mercenary and shoots a paralyzing arrow to stun him.
It alerted the others until they checked the paralyzed man, "Someone is out there! Get your ass ready! NOW!"
Adrien predicted it and then a rock far away to confuse them.
"I'll go check," Said one of the mercs.
Adrien slowly climbs down to use stealth mode to sneak up on the one that is further away from its comrades. Using the knife and covers the mercenary's mouth and stabs him in the neck to kill him before moving his corpse into the bushes to hide it.
"Shhh! You heard that?" the third mercenary heard the rustle.
"Yes, it's near and... It's just a capybara" They spotted a capybara.
Adrien readies his bow and shoots the mercenary's back head to kill him, causing blood to splatter on the last remaining mercenary.
"AH! Show yourself!" The last one fires in his direction.
Adrien dodged the bullet but the mercenary saw movement and the cover was blown. Adrien ululated and dodged again to hide behind the jeep, hissing in defense.
"You think you are very clever to kill my men, huh?! I will make sure they are avenged once I make you lick the bullet in your sleep!" The mercenary goes to the spot Adrien hid but he wasn't there, "Playing hide and seek won't work on me!"
Adrien was above the jeep and stabbed him from behind, "Hide and seek this!" Adrien stabs deeper to kill him.
The mercenary fell down dead from the stab. Plagg was horrified that Adrien actually killed people. Adrien didn't care but he didn't know these people but he knew they were mercenaries and mercenaries would always do something bad in life for money.
He goes to the jeep to find the equipment he needs to survive. He even found shaving cream for beards which he needed to trim his beard a bit. Grabbing a razor and moves the side view mirror of the jeep to carefully shave his beard with shaving cream. He also grabbed a spare jacket. A backpack would be useful too since he needs something to carry as well as his arrows. Even a radio talkie too in case he needs it for SOS or anyone to reach out to him.
"Kid, I'm not very impressed with you as a hunter to kill your kind," Plagg said.
"Humans are always at war for centuries, Plagg. It's called surviving" Adrien slowly shaves his side cheek to trim the beard before applying another cream.
"Of course" Plagg searched through one mercenary's backpack and picked out a slice of cheddar cheese, "Finally, some cheese!" He munched greedily.
"Knowing the Amazon River, Brazil is a big country in South America. Nearly the same size as USA" Adrien said, knowing a little bit of the fact in his savage mind, "Ah, finally some air for my face than an itchy beard" Adrien sighed in relief but his messy long hair was the problem because he's no hairdresser type.
"Hold on" Plagg grabs some scissors and starts trying to cut the hair, "I may not be a hairdresser but I'll try"
"Are you crazy?! You'll poke an eye on me!" Adrien said.
"Just don't move! I know what I'm doing!" Plagg said.
Adrien stood still as Plagg cut his hair shorter. There was a lot of hair that grew for months to his shoulder length but at least he can finally have it trimmed. If Plagg knows how to bring his owner's original hairstyle it used to be.
Adrien then looked at the side view mirror of the jeep to check his hair once Plagg was done, "Thanks. The real me but not completely stable with my mentality yet. I can barely remember what civilization was like at home" Adrien said before grabbing a backpack.
"Shouldn't we just drive through the jungle than on foot?" Plagg asked.
"Nuh-uh. As I've seen in movies, jeeps don't last long in the jungles. They can often get stuck in the mud, quicksand, and sinkholes. I'm not taking that chance with it" Adrien said before removing his worn-out sneakers and replacing them with the new ones from the mercenaries, "And besides, I don't even have a driver's license" He added.
"There's no rules in the jungle," Plagg said.
"Not a chance," Adrien said before walking at the trail hoping this could lead to finding civilization or not but it's better than hiking in the jungle.
"Better than running through the jungle" Plagg followed.
Then they heard monkeys savagely chittering as if wanting to attack the human teenager or not.
"Don't….run. Just….walk slowly" Adrien said carefully, knowing some animals are social creatures but some are not friendly whenever they see a human with weapons.
The monkeys soon minded their own business as the two searched for any village.
x
With Ladybug, the Jaguar heroine informed her that Adrien was not dead but managed to survive the crash. Yet no sign of him at all but Panthera believes he was either struggling to survive in the jungles alone or captured by natives which Ladybug doesn't wanna take a second guess at what has happened to him.
The only good news is that Adrien is alive but unsure how long until he loses his humanity altogether and mentally goes savage like a wild man in the jungle. Some who get stuck on islands for years tend to lose their sanity and their human behavior altogether.
"That's a relief, but he must be found before he can't resume normal life again," Ladybug said.
"Don't worry, I'll find more traces like the first one. He was very lucky to survive the fall in the river. In the meantime, no one should know this, not even that cold man Gabriel Agreste. We can't cause a panic, chica. If he can't remember who he used to be, we can't force him to jog his head, not even from his father to make it worse" Panthera said on the bug phone.
"Okay. I'll try to hold out a little longer" Ladybug said.
"Plus, a human can go savage like an animal. We are evolved but deep down we are still primates and the primate family is still in the animal kingdom, chica. And if he still is himself or mixed with savage behavior, I know someone who can recall his memories. Right now, I just need to find more traces. I know a thing about surviving in the jungles and I did it many times" Panthera said.
"Good luck on your mission," Ladybug said.
"Gracias. And good luck on defeating Akumas again. I hope Shadowmoth can just take a break for once" Panthera said before hanging up.
"I hope so too," Ladybug said.
Like every other time she tried to call Cat Noir, the caller just simply goes red whenever he's not in his Cat Noir transformation.
"Oh Kitty" Ladybug sighs sadly, "But at least Adrien's alive"
x
Panthera used Track again and she came to another trace of Adrien's scent left behind and it led to the corpse of an archer that was covered in flies.
Using her clairvoyant vision to see the past of what really happened here.
(Clairvoyant vision)
Adrien was suffering from scrapes and injuries in the jungle until he came across an upside dangling corpse of an archer with a bow and arrows in the tree. It was as if the person suffered months without getting free until they died from too much blood rushing to their head, starved, thirsty, or simply died from exhaustion.
Adrien sighs at this and carefully climbs up the tree to reach it without falling off. He gasped at a snake close by and whacked it away before it got the chance to bite.
He reached and tried to pull the bow off but fell down with it when the rope snapped, luckily he wasn't hurt and he tried out the bow. The stench of the corpse smelled horrible and Adrien backed away from it. He's never seen corpses in real life but it's best to not know how this person died. He brought the arrows as well. Even a knife too from the corpse which he can use for cutting.
Until he spots something moving in the direction like an animal camouflaging in the greens. Adrien was startled and he had to be brave to learn as a hunter or die. He saw it looked like an anaconda and it surely could kill an average man and possibly swallow them too. The snake rose up and tried to wrap itself around him.
Adrien jumped out of the way and ran since there was no way he could fight the world's largest snake as a man, not even as Cat Noir. So instead he ran into the jungle to save himself. The snake was fast the slither but not fast enough until Adrien jumped off the edge of the waterfall.
Splashing in the water and almost nearly hitting the rocks but he swims to move before resurfacing for air, gasping and coughing but at least he managed to get away from the anaconda before it gave up. He swims to the shore and gets out of the water.
"That was close" He ran into the jungle.
(End of vision)
"He survived again. And…found a weapon to defend himself. That's another stage of survival instincts. He was smart that anacondas are very dangerous to face as an average person" Panthera said and ran into the jungle to try to find him.
x
With Adrien, he managed to shoot an animal for food and make a campfire to cook meat to eat. Even if he never communicated with Ladybug through Cat Noir, he still is upset with thinking about her. After all, her actions proved that she's not capable of trusting him at all and he will make sure he doesn't get in her way this time. But at the same time, he missed his princess as Cat Noir.
"Marinette, be strong for me" He drew Marinette on a rock wall.
"Thinking about pigtails again? You seriously think that she'll see a wild cat becoming a street cat?" Plagg asked.
"Yes, she has suffered enough from Lila's lies," Adrien said.
"At least you still remember that liar. I don't know why you defend her actions the same way you do for Chloe until they just continue hurting everyone" Plagg said.
"I just didn't think of it that way. I never get bullied at all in my life, Plagg. Somehow, it's like the apex predators in the jungle are tormenting me now like bullies" Adrien said, blowing the meat on an arrow stick, "But I swear I'm gonna try to talk some sense into her before it's too late" He said.
"Good luck with that if you somehow become a legend as a wild man" Plagg ate his grapes, despite being a picky eater.
"I'm no Tarzan yet" Adrien replied.
"But you will if you lose your human behavior and sanity" Plagg belched.
"Not as long as I have you," Adrien said.
"Technically speaking, I'm a kwami, not a person," Plagg said.
"I know but you're the only one I can really talk to," Adrien said.
"Even if I annoy you with cheese metaphors," Plagg said.
"Yeah, and you only found some with the mercenaries," Adrien said and ate the meat.
"And for you to need supplies you can find in the jungle for months," Plagg said.
"Yes, well, at least I had a bit of survival techniques. Yet my father thinks I'm not like the rest of everyone. He was wrong and even if I do get home, he's gonna kill me" Adrien said, unsure why his father blames him for everything.
"His own flesh and blood" Plagg gulps another grape.
"He was the reason I got sent here," Adrien said.
"And he never told you why? Does it seem weird that whenever he makes you come home at the exact moment an Akuma or sentimonster shows up?" Plagg asked.
"No, just some other excuse to send me" Adrien replied and laid down.
He then looks at the stars, seeing the different asterism patterns among the stars.