In the Support Lab...
Marinette didn't want to leave Lila behind on her first day here, but then her classmates took over for her. Adrien smiled at her and told her to go to Support Class. She smiled back and ran over there as fast as she could. She was already late, so she knew that she might not get as much time with Hatsume or Melissa this time around. Powerloader was nice enough to let her come in and out whenever she got around to it. He even told her that she could invent or tweak things whenever she fit the time into her day.
Once she came running to the door, Hatsume surprisingly didn't blow anything up. Melissa was already there helping Hatsume build the portal. She could tell that they were getting close to finishing it based on the fact that it was standing up on the ground. It just barely touched the ceiling, which told you how big it was. Marinette didn't understand how they were even going to get this thing out of here, but she didn't question it.
She set her backpack down by her desk and could tell that Melissa was having a hard time getting through to Hatsume.
"Mei, you still haven't put the battery in," Melissa pointed out as she put a screw into a piece of the portal.
"Of course! You can't put it in until my baby is finally all complete!" Hatsume exclaimed to her.
"Yes, but we have to make sure it works," Melissa said to her, "It might not even turn on or connect to anything for that matter."
"Hold on, just give me a minute! My baby needs some tweaking around the legs!" Hatsume exclaimed as she screwed in it real tight.
Melissa looked like she was running out of patience. She then noticed Marinette watching them putting it together.
"Oh. Hey Marinette," Melissa said to her, "I didn't see there. We're almost done with the portal. You should stay and see if it works. We might need you to check a few things for me."
"Sure! I'd love to help," Marinette said back with a smile.
Marinette was overjoyed to help them and practically tripped over things on the floor just to help them. Melissa guided her over to a screen that was attached to the portal. It was turned off since the battery wasn't in yet. Hatsume finally finished screwing in the legs, making Melissa relax some more. She finally looked around for the battery and soon found it. Marinette was surprised to see how big it was.
It looked like the size of a cd. It was even flat like one.
Melissa latched it into place and soon screwed in the piece to cover it up. She smiled, but was nervous by the looks of it.
"Alright Marinette. There should be a switch on the right side of the screen," Melissa said back, "Flip it, and it should turn on."
Marinette took a deep breath in and out and flipped the switch. They all stared at the screen, hoping that it would do something. After what felt forever, it finally turned on. It opened up to a screen that was trying to connect to something.
"Umm... Do we need the internet to use this thing?" Marinette asked them.
"Fortunately, we were able to use less eletricity and convert over to using the internet here for power," Melissa explained to her, "Me and Hatsume agreed that it might help connect to your Paris easier."
"That's a smart move. It might cause a power outage if you do that," Marinette explained to them, "This could help it hold up a better portal as well."
They all noticed that the internet finally connected to the portal as it turned on. Marinette smiled, hoping that this would be the time to try it out.
"My baby should be able to put up a portal if you want to try it out," Hatsume said to Marinette.
Marinette couldn't believe this. They were this close to getting home soon. Something about it made her feel a little sad however. She thought that she and her teammates would have more time to settle down and get to know everyone more. She even thought about Midoriya in that moment, realizing that she never got the chance to talk to him. She tried to shake it off and faced the screen.
"Alright. What do we have to do in order to make this work?" Marinette asked them.
"Well, we have some files that might help it connect to your Paris. But it might be best to use a history search on this thing," Melissa explained to her, "We were able to get it to keep any data before it broke down a while ago. So, it should have somewhat of a connection to your Paris aleady."
Marinette looked at a file and noticed one called, History.
She clicked on it and found only two times that it went off. It said: Paris 001 and Paris 002.
"That's it," Marinette said under her breath, "That's gotta be it."
She couldn't believe it. It was there, right in front of her. All she had to do was pressed the button to activate it, and they could go home. For some reason, she was having a hard time pressing it. Melissa noticed her hesitate, and Marinette tried to press it.
"What're you waiting for? Press it! Let's turn my baby on!" Hatsume exclaimed.
"Mei, give her a minute. This is still a lot at once," Melissa said to her, "This is their way home after all."
"I... I can't do it," Marinette said to her, "I didn't expect us to be here so early. I actually thought that we would have more time spent with all of you. I didn't even get the chance to talk to Izuku. After what happeend with him, he's been distant and doesn't wanna talk to me. I..."
Marinette could barely look at Melissa as she held her arm a little nervously. She felt Melissa place her hand on her shoulder for support. Marinette looked up at her and could barely get the words.
"I... I don't want things to end a bad note. I want to talk to him and let him know that we're friends, not matter what," Marinette said as she felt tears coming up, "I still care about him, even if things between us are a little weird right now."
"Marinette. We don't need to do this right now if you're not ready," Melissa said to her, "You should talk to Deku. You two have clearly been through a lot together. If you need more time to sort things out, I understand. Right, Mei?"
"Aww! But I wanted to turn my baby on! Just to see if it works! Come on Melissa!" Hatsume exclaimed.
Marinette saw Melissa gave her a dirty look, which made her laugh a little. She was grateful to have such good friends here to help her through this. She wiped her tears away, feeling much better talking about this. She looked at the portal and then at the screen. It reminded her of when Midoriya was captured by HawkMoth. The screen looked like something similar to that one back in Paris. When they got that message from Class 1-A and AllMight. Something about it felt like she was going through the same thing as them.
She clenched her fists, ready to finally turn it on.
"Okay. I think I'm ready," Marinette said to them, "Mei, why don't you turn it on? It is... your baby after all."
Hatsume's eyes lit up and gently pushed them to the side as she got ready to push the button.
"You two better stand back. It might blow up," Hatsume warned them.
Melissa and Marinette backed away, and soon enough Hatsume pressed the button. Right away, the portal tried to form around the outside of the machine. Marinette and Melissa both held hands, really hoping that it would work. They noticed it slowly forming and spreading to the middle of it. They both walked around it to face it head on. They couldn't take their eyes off of it as it tried to power up.
It was white and kept trying to make its way towards the middle. Something about it felt a little familar to Marinette for some reason. The energy felt similar to a Miraculous, but not quite. It looked like it was having a hard time staying on for some reason.
"Mei, does it have enough power? It looks like it's struggling to open up," Melissa asked her.
Hatsume looked at the screen, but Marinette could tell by the look on her face that everything was fine. Marinette squeezed Melissa's hand, hoping that it was just taking a long time to open.
"Nope. It's all good!" Hatsume cried out, "It should open any minute now."
Marinette and Melissa looked at the portal, hoping that it would work. It soon made its way closer to the middle and was barely touching.
"Come on..." Marinette said under her breath.
Once it made contact, the portal soon cleared up which surprised both Marinette and Melissa. It looked different from the last time they used it. It looked like they were looking into a moving image of a city.
It was Paris. They were under the Eiffel Tower just like last time.
Marinette's eyes widened in shock, seeing her home right in front of her. She couldn't help but squeal for joy as she pulled Melissa in for a hug.
"Melissa! Mei! You did it! We're going home!" Marinette cried out with tears in her eyes, "Thank you so much! I don't know how I could do this without you two!"
Before they could say anything, Marinette spotted someone from across the Eiffel Tower. She was sitting by the leg of it, looking a little down.
Marinette's widened as more tears ran down her face.
It was Alya. She was just sitting there. Alya was waiting for her to come home.
Marinette couldn't believe it. Something about seeing her through the portal almost got her to jump through it and hug her.
"Alya...?" Marinette said without thinking.
Alya sat up straight as if she heard her. Her eyes widened, and Marinette smiled when she saw her friend looking at her through the potral. Marinette really wanted to reach out and hug her, but she had to wait for the others. Marinette walked up to the portal and reached out as she barely touched it. Alya walked up to her, but hesitated to do anything.
"Marinette? You're finally here. B-But how? How are you doing this?" Alya asked her.
"It's our friends. They've found a way to get us back home," Marinette said to her through the portal.
Alya looked at the portal, and Marinette noticed her smile grow as she looked at how amazing this all was.
"This... This is crazy! First Quirks, now portals! This is not something you see everyday!" Alya exclaimed, "I can't wait to tell everyone! They're going to be so surprised to see you finally home--"
Suddenly the portal starting to shake a bit, causing the connection to flicker. Marinette's eyes widened in shock and noticed her friend looked just as frightened as her. The portal kept flickering as Hatsume tried to fix it.
"Mei, what's going on?!" Melissa asked her.
"I don't know! It shouldn't be doing this! My baby should be able to handle this kind of power source for a long time!" Hatsume explained to them as she tried to fix it, "Maybe it's the internet connection?!"
Marinette noticed Alya looking worried, and she reached out touch her. Melissa stopped her from going through, but Marinette wasn't going anywhere.
"Ma-Marinette... wha-... -ing... on...?!" Alya asked as the portal flickered.
"Alya! I'm okay! We'll come back! All of us!" Marinette called out, hoping that she can hear her, "I promise!"
Marinette wanted to reach out to her, but knew that it was dangerous. Soon the portal shut off, not able to hold the connection. Marinette stood there, feeling a little shocked that just happened. Alya was right there, and she could've jumped through to see her. She was tempted to hug her, but she knew that she couldn't leave without everyone else. It wouldn't be right to do that to everyone.
"Don't worry about it Marinette. We'll get it working again," Melissa said to her with kind eyes.
"I can fix this no problem. It just needs some adjusting with the power source," Hatsume told her as she got to work right away.
Marinette smiled, still in shock.
"Wh-What... What was that all about...?!"
Marinette and Melissa whipped around to see Midoriya standing there with the door open. His eyes were in shock to what just happened. He could barely move, and Marinette could barely speak. They all stood there, not sure what to say to each other for a long time.
"Y-You... You actually got it working?!" Midoriya exclaimed to them, "Th-That's crazy!"
Marinette felt a little awkward that Midoriya had shown up after talking about him with Melissa. She stood there and let Melissa do the talking. Melissa explained to him what happened, and he was blown away by how fast they got this portal together. Midoriya explained that he came here to get some upgrades for his hero costume. Marinette hesitated to join in on the fun, and she could tell that Melissa noticed her.
"This is crazy that you three did this and managed to open it!" Midoriya exclaimed with big eyes, "This has got to be the best thing you guys have ever made! It looks better than before!"
Marinette smiled at his bright eyes and smile, happy to see him enjoying himself finally. After a few days of settling down, he finally seemed like himself. Then he noticed her staring at him, and he pulled away a bit. She felt bad for him and knew that she had to say something to him. At this point, she knew that they were leaving soon. There's no way that she could leave without saying something to him.
"Izuku. Can we talk... alone?" Marinette asked him.
Midoriya's eyes widened, and she knew what he was thinking. He hesitated, but Marinette soon guided him out of the support lab. Midoriya followed her, and they soon stopped by a window to look at the view. She felt weird looking out at this place, knowing that she was leaving soon. She knew that it would still take a bit to make sure it works properly, but it was sooner that she expected.
Marinette looked at Midoriya, and he seemed a little thrown off by this whole thing. He looked excited for them, but then things seemed to unfold for him. She knew that he was thinking the same thing as her.
"Izuku... I want you to know that we're still friends," Marinette said to him, "I don't blame you for saying those things back there the other day. I just care about the fact that you're okay. We got you back, and I'm so happy that we got the chance to be here. Nothing would ever change that, even One for All."
Midoriya's eyes widened and looked at her with such passionate eyes. She knew that he still cared about her just by the way he looked at her. She felt like she finally told him what he needed to hear. He seemed hesitant to say anything as he bit his lip.
"Marinette... I... I'm sorry," Midoriya said, feeling a little choked up, "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. You were just trying to help me get my Kwami and Miraculous back. I could never hate you. I was just angry at what happened. Besides, I really wanted to talk to you about this anyway. You just beat me to it."
Marinette couldn't help but laugh at his honesty. She felt a little emotional and soon felt herself hugging him tightly. He hugged back, and she felt him tearing up in her arms. Marinette felt her hand shaking, feeling like she needed this. She could feel his warmth comforting her and remembered how much Midoriya meant to her. He didn't even back away from their hug as she pulled him in closer.
"We're still friends," Marinette said to him, "We always will be. With or without One for All."
Midoriya cried some more and tightened his grip around her. She felt like he really needed this and let him cry it out. She smiled, feeling a bit of tears form under her eyes. Marinette soon looked up to see Adrien, Iida and Uraraka coming over to get some upgrades on their hero costumes. Marinette noticed Adrien looking a little worried about them, and so did Iida and Uraraka. He walked up to them as Marinette separated from Midoriya.
"Marinette, what's goi--"
Adrien was soon pulled into a hug from Marinette, and she cried into his embrace. He hugged her back, but was still confused as to what was going on.
"We did it," Marinette said back through tears, "The portal needs some fixing up, but we did it. We can go home soon."
Adrien's eyes widened, and Marinette felt him shaking a little. He hugged her tightly as he looked up at Midoriya. Marinette smiled through her tears and grabbed Midoriya to pull him into a hug. She could tell that he was feeling a little awkward about it, but soon relaxed into it. She could tell that he was still feeling a bit emotional after finally talking to her.
"I-I'm sorry Adrien..." Midoriya said through tears, "I didn't mean to get mad at you. I was just angry at what happened. I don't want to lose any of you. You guys mean a lot to me. With and without One for All."
Marinette noticed Adrien getting emotional as well and hugged them back. Marinette smiled and couldn't help but hug them some more. Uraraka and Iida both watched in the distance, knowing full well that Midoriya and the others needed this. They both got emotional just seeing them hugging it out.
"You guys are the best," Adrien said back through tears, "I'm going to miss you Izuku."
Midoriya smiled back, still feeling emotional.
"I gonna miss you both so much."
Another amazing chapter!
I love this chapter and how things are going! The portal's working! Don't worry, there are still things going on before they go home! This is just a way to let the characters know that they're going home soon! Besides, it still needs some tweaking and fixing up. Hatsume and Melissa are pretty funny together the way they work together. I feel someone like Hatsume wouldn't be very fun to work with at times. LOL! Midoriya's relationship with them is so sweet! I just how much they care about each other and look after one another! I like that that's all it is. It's just a really wholesome friendship and that they care about each other because of what they went through together!
What's going to happen next??
More to come soon!