The Algorithm

Chapter twenty-two - Code Name: Siren

"I don't know." Her voice came again, this time Tikki frowned, she didn't know? How could she not know her own age? Had she really been here so long that she could no longer tell what time of day it was?

But she didn't have much time to think about that, when the next thing she knew, Plagg was yelling at her to move as the Akuma agent standing right behind her, knife in hand, was ready to end her life.

Thankfully, though Plagg was larger than most, he was surprisingly fast, so before the man could move the blade an inch towards Tikki, he had him on the ground, the knife sliding across the room too far from his reach.

With Marinette out of her mind, Tikki quickly ran to the door and grabbed their weapons. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side today as she heard lots of footsteps coming for them. It seemed that Plagg had finally had the man unconscious, but they wouldn't be able to defeat every agent on their own.

Looking back at Marinette, she could see the fear was back in her eyes, she didn't even bother to hide it. This made Tikki enraged, she swore to herself that she wouldn't ever let these people hurt her again. The red-head whispered something into Plagg's ear, and seeing him nod once, Tikki ran over to Marinette.

She took the girl by the arm, gently, but firmly and got her to her feet. Marinette didn't try to fight against her. Tikki pointed to the South-East corner, and Marinette, along with the others ran to the spot as the fight began.

Needless to say, both Tikki and Plagg would be walking away with bruises but not as many as the Akuma guard sprawled on the floor. They took the children into the dark hallway after a brief protest. The kids seemed more willing to go with them after being promised safety.

The kids watched as these people fought against the soldiers that kept flooding into the room. Plagg and Tikki were dangerously outnumbered, they had no hope to defeat them and Marinette knew it.

Then the sounds of footsteps filled the air.

Lots of them.

The two agents heard the multiple feet coming for them and gave each other a worried glance, but when the soldiers came through the doors, that feeling immediately vanished.

Help has finally arrived. They were now on an equal playing field. Tikki and Plagg pulled themselves away from the fight. As their commander practically screamed at them for disobeying orders and running off alone he asked "Please explain to me what was so important you risk your lives and abandon your squad?!"

"Children sir," Plagg explained.

"What?"

Tikki and Plagg both stepped aside to show him the kids still hiding behind them. But there were only three.

"Where's Marinette?" The redhead questioned.

Then they heard the humming. Only a faint buzz until it started to echo off the walls.

"What is that?" Tikki asked.

"Marinette." The three children chimed.

Plagg nor Tikki questioned what the sound was, they merely sprinted off in its direction.

It was odd. The song seemed to lure them in, guiding them to its source. Nonetheless, they found her. They looked down over a balcony, gripping the steel railings while searching. And there she was, in the center of a storage unit, metal crates scattered around in heeps, none of which were touching the ground.

"What are you doing here?!" Marinette called. "Go!" But they didn't. They didn't realize what was about to happen. Marinette knew Akuma didn't care about the agents running around their facility, only their lost experiment. So, she would lure them out, distract them, and let the others get away. It's what Max would have done.

Tikki and Plagg stood confused and shocked while the trio flung themselves over the railing. Plagg gripped Luka's sleeve but he slipped through his fingers and Tikki gasped as they plummeted the 10 meters.

Despite the humming, they still expected to hear the distinct sound of bones cracking. But they didn't. Their descent slowed halfway through and they met the ground unscathed.

Impossible.

Tikki and Plagg stared at each other in a mix of disbelief and shock. In this line of work, you see a lot of things, but never, not even once, did Tikki see someone fall off a cliff from this height, and land without a scratch.

Gunshots were sounded out in the distance and the two field agents were snapped back into reality. They tightened their grip on their weapons and started the tread towards the noise.

Every 10 or 20 meters they would see an Akuma soldier lying motionless on the desert ground, but the rising and falling in their chests indicated they were breathing, Just...

Asleep?

They both looked at each other, the same question in their eyes, but despite their curiosity, Tikki and Plagg were focused on finding these kids. However, when they did find them, they did not expect to see them fighting almost 100 soldiers by themselves.

In a normal situation, they would have never stood there doing nothing. They were trained to fight, after all, but now, they just couldn't bring their feet to move. The scene played out in front of them in pure chaos.

Dozens of soldiers charging the children. Spark danced in Luka's hands that for a moment they thought he would catch fire. Alya would vanish in a blink of an eye only to reappear on the other side of the room. Chloe stood in a pool of yellow fog, unconscious men at her feet. And Marinette, in the center, the hum rattling her bones, as she focused on holding their attackers back.

Then Plagg understood. She was a siren, coaxing bewitched sailors to her with her song until their ships were reduced to splitters from the jagged rocks. Leaving her to scavenge the wreckage and reap the reward. Only she hadn't expected a reward when she snuck off. She expected to be caught, locked away in the dark, never to get her taste of freedom. And she was alright with that. Her friends would be safe, free, and happy. That was her reward.

But Plagg refused to let her suffer longer than she already had. They called in as much backup as they could spare. The kids were rushed away, but not before multiple people saw what they were capable of. They eventually escaped into the desert and were airlifted into safety.

The whole way there, all the kids could do was cling to the armrest of the chairs. Tikki had been in this line of work for a while, but she had never seen anyone so scared before. The blonde, who she recently learned was named Chloe, still had a few tears running down her face, but it was more out of shock than fear.

As they were finally reaching their destination, the plane hit some turbulence and Tikki could feel a small pair of hands wrap around her arm. Marinette had kept to herself the whole time only mumbling to herself every so often. Even though her petite hands couldn't hurt her, the girl was stronger than she looked.

It took her a minute to pry herself from the blue-eyed girl's grip, but when she did, Tikki put her arm around her and pulled the cover-up over her shoulders. The plane touched the ground and Marinette tensed up, but the feeling of the redhead's hand gently rubbing up and down her arm made her feel safe for the first time in forever.

Plagg and Tikki watched from a distance as the four children were wrapped in blankets being asked question after question before they dropped dead sleep into the spare bunks/

"What they can do," Tikki whispered as she watched them sleep. So small, so weak, so dangerous. "It's not natural. Akuma may have more like them." Plagg nodded slowly while his mind wandered. "What are we going to do with them? We can't turn them loose and act as nothing happened." The grim figure hardly heard a word out of the redhead's mouth. All he could mutter out was was,

"These kids are going to change the world."

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Word count- 3882 (not counting this)

Yes Plagg, yes they will.

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