Chapter Seven:
Chat Noir ducked behind a roof, peeking around the corner. He spotted Ladybug looking out the window. Did she see him? And if she did, had she recognized him? He hoped not. It might have put her in serious danger.
Watching her a little longer, he had the idea to include her in his mission.
No, she can't get involved, he scolded to himself. She is one of the competitors. If she knew what would be in the arena...
That thought gave him pause. She would know what the arena would hold, like him. She could figure out how to survive the longest, she was that clever after all, and she could win. And he could be with Ladybug forever.
No, he decided firmly. She does not need that stress on her shoulders. She already is suffering enough. More stress would do her no good, maybe even lessen her chances of winning. And if she were caught cheating, she could be put to death. He wouldn't put his past his father to do that to her.
With sad eyes, he watched her disappear from the window. He held back the idea of chasing after her and turned away. He had a job to do and didn't need to be distracted by a beautiful, brave, and smart girl.
After taking a deep breath, Chat Noir took off across the rooftops, heading toward the Game Master's secret lair. It has in one of the Capital's government buildings, which didn't surprise him much. The Game Master was creating a government project, after all.
Stopping on the roof of the government building, Chat wrapped his arms around himself. Not only was it a little chilly, but the thought that his father, Gabriel Agreste, had actually approved of the Miraculous Games sent shivers down his spine. His own father had hired someone to create a death trap for a bunch of kids. That had to be against some sort of law. But it wasn't against just any kids, he was going to put Ladybug in there.
Would he be able to stop what inevitably was going to happen?
Setting his jaw, Chat separated himself from the situation. He was not Adrien in this costume. He was Chat Noir, protector, guardian, and spy for the Charms. He had a legacy of protection to uphold. He would not have any of them suffer for him, or at least, his public-seen side. Adrien could not get hurt. Chat Noir, on the other hand, was created for the purpose of protecting the Charms.
Though he may have been the heir to the country, he was not like his father. He cared about his people and was willing to throw himself in harm's way for them. Chat Noir represented that side of Adrien, and Chat Noir deserved the utmost respect for that.
Chat, after preparing himself, pulled out his staff and jumped down into the alley below. He crept into the building, found the painting of the gold women and side table, and made his way into the Game Master's lair.
Luckily, nobody was home. Though still keeping his staff in hand, Chat walked toward the main console.
The Game Master had been creating the Miraculous Arena for the past few months, and Chat had been keeping an eye on him. He had a picture of every draft of the arena, and when a change was made, he would update his information. Overtime, Chat had created his own personal map of the arena. He knew where every danger hid, trap was set, and resources were found. And, as a bonus, he knew every mistake. He knew how to get in and out through secret areas that would not be patrolled or would even be believed to exist.
Glancing around cautiously, Chat opened up the arena's plans. He raised his staff and took a quick picture. Looked like another lake and pond had been added to the south side.
This year's Miraculous Arena was not particularly evil,m like it's previous brothers and sisters. Some had taken place in giant cities, others in deserted deserts, but this years was a simple forest with a few lakes, trees, and some mountain caves. Chat had no doubt Ladybug would kill the competition.
He just hoped not literally.
He knew how he could get in and out of the arena, but what he really worried about were the Charms. There weren't many resource areas, such as food or weapons. The arena may have been a forest, but most of the trees were maples, birches, pines, and pretty much any other tree that did not bear fruit.
Chat made a split second decision. Logging into the holographic computer, he quickly made a change to one tree, one single tree that stood behind a giant boulder.
That should help it go unnoticed, he thought.
Behind him, he heard the painting open. Chat panicked. He quickly shut down the holographic computer, tucked his staff away, then launched himself into the rafters.
Chat held his breath as the Game Master strolled up to the exact same spot he had stood merely moments before. The small of his back began to sweat
Please don't notice, please don't notice the tree, he silently pleaded.
He stayed there for a good long hour, watching the Game Master develop the Cataclysmacopia. He did not notice that one tree hid away, the tree that Chat knew would save lives as well as bring hope to the Charms.
Slipping out of the room without being seen, Chat Noir's heart was soaring. Maybe through the small and simple things,he could save the people who were risking their lives for him.
And maybe, just maybe, it could save Ladybug.
* * *
Marinette tossed and turned in her bed. The night was slowly ticking on, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fall asleep. It was as if the charm gods were frowning down upon her, forcing her to lose valuable sleep.
With an undignified puff, she ended up flopping on her back to stare up at the ceiling. Stars sparkled across the hologram ceiling tiles, no doubt there to help her sleep, yet they were doing the opposite effect. They were keeping her up.
She had been laying there for hours, dreading for the next morning to roll around. She wasn't ready to face the other Charms in the training room and, much less, ready to fight them. Would she have to kill them or only disarm them somehow? Maybe she would figure that out in the morning when they went to practice their skills.
Did she even have any skills? Marinette could bake and draw, but that was pretty much it. Though PE had been required, she had never enjoyed it. Man, she despised running. She had a feeling she would have to get used to it. If she were to survive this ordeal, she had to be in shape. That reasoning pushed her down another trail of thought.
Nathanael.
They were just friends, right? After all, he was there to support her and vis versa, but the dance really had thrown that off for her. Did he like her? And, more importantly, did she like him back?
Marinette couldn't help but think of how kind he was to her when they had first been chosen. She had seen him around school and town, but being in the same ordeal together really had, well, pushed them to a new level of friendship. Was she okay what that?
Rubbing her eyes, Marinette decided that she was just being overly dramatic about the whole deal. He was probably just there being a friend and that her chances of being with Adrien were just as high as Nathanael getting a high-class job. She just needed to take each thing one step at a time.
First on the list: sleep. Sadly, she was even failing at that.
She sighed, giving up all hope of actually drifting off to dreamland. Not even the thought of being with Adrien would get her to fall asleep, so she might as well get up and do something productive. Pushing the sheets away, Marinette swung her legs over the edge of the bed and got to her feet. The carpet was so soft under her toes, she let a small smile tickle her lips. She couldn't wait to tell her family about her experiences. They wouldn't believe her if she told them that the carpet was made from the finest materials, but it was.
Making her way toward the door, Marinette pulled a robe over her PJs in order to keep herself warm and modest. After all, she was only wearing shorts and a tank top. Wouldn't want anyone stumbling into her rummaging through the fridge for ice cream and that sort of attire.
Marinette walked into the kitchen, the hardwood floors giving her feet a very drastic difference in comfort. She hopped over to the fridge, trying as much as possible not to have her feet stay on the cold floor for longer than she had to. Why hadn't she just grabbed some slippers?
As she was thinking about the fluffy bunnies that had been waiting in her closet while digging in the fridge for the milk, something crashed behind her. Marinette squeaked and whirled around. She threw her hands up to protect herself, milk jug and all, but she realized then that she was face to face with Nathanael. His red hair was an unruly mess, sticking out in all directions, and he too had a robe on, only his was orange while Marinette's was pink.
"What are you doing up?" Marinette questioned.
Nathan shrugged, walking into the light of the fridge. "I could ask the same thing of you."
Sighing, Marinette placed the milk jug on the counter and turned back to the fridge. "I couldn't sleep, so I decided I would make myself a snack."
"Really? What are you making?"
"I was thinking either a smoothy or some sort of cookie."
Nathanael smiled, sitting in one of the bar stools that lined one side of the kitchen island. "I think that cookies would take too long. It's already three in the morning, anyways."
Marinette spread her free hand while the other held a bowl of grapes to set next to the milk. "I could probably whip up some real fast, but you're right. With training tomorrow, I also don't want to be slowed down the sugar."
"Clever," Nathan remarked.
"That's what I thought."
The pair exchanged a small smile before Marinette turned away to pull out apples, peaches, and other various fruits that they could put into their smoothie mixture.
"So," Nathanael started, rubbing the back of his neck, "what do you think you're going to practice at training tomorrow?"
Marinette didn't respond for a long time. She continued to pile fruits into the blender at the far end of the kitchen. In the small light from the fridge, Marinette felt like she was talking to a ghost. Would answering him make her feel any better? They were a team, after all.
"Well," she finally said, "I was thinking about trying the ropes course. I feel like I need to work on my flexibility. What about you?" She swiveled her head to look at him. He was nodding at her answer.
"That's a clever choice. Honestly, I wanted to see if I could work on my camouflaging. My dad taught me a few things about painting, so I was thinking about practicing that, but only on myself. Who knows, it might save my life." He gave her a weak smile.
Marinette realized something about Nathanael in that moment: he was scared. More scared than she was, and that was saying a lot. She imagined what his gameplan was. It probably was along the lines of trying to stay hidden in plain sight before attacking his enemy. Still, that was risky, if that was his actual plan. They hadn't talked much about how they were going to work together as a team, but she hoped that the more she got to know him, but more he would feel comfortable around her.
"That sounds like a really smart concept," Marinette complimented.
He nodded but didn't say much else. Taking that as a cue to turn on the machine, Marinette pushed the blending button. The milk, ice, and fruit all were chopped up into tiny, pureed pieces while the blender roared like an insane psychopath.
Once it was done, however, and Marinette was pouring some of the contents into glasses, Nathanael finally spoke up.
"Marinette, how are we going to show our audience that we love each other?"
She froze, a glob of smoothie dropping into one of the glasses with a plunk. She hadn't thought about that.
"W-well," she choked out, then cleared her throat. "I think a good way to start out would be to stay by each other and kind of do the same things. After that, we can start extending it to hand holding and maybe the exchanging of dreamy looks." She picked up one of the smoothies and was about to walk over to give it to him, but as she turned, she almost ran into Nathanael. She jumped in surprise and was lucky enough that he caught the smoothie cup that had almost hit the floor.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized rapidly, his face turning bright red. "And I think that your idea is brilliant. When should we start?"
With a nervous swallow forced down her throat, Marinette quickly tried to pull her composure back together. "I think we should begin the domino effect at the training today. It might give the signal clearly to the other Charms and the audience."
And that audience included Adrien...
Nathanael nodded, then looked into her eyes. "You've been really supportive, Marinette. I don't think I can thank you enough for that."
She gave him a weak smile. "I'm happy to. After all, it may save both of our lives."
Nathanael appeared as though he wanted to say more, but he forced his lips into a smile and raised his glass.
"To luck?"
Nodding, Marinette raised her glass as well and clinked their glasses in cheers.
"To luck."