Chapter Fourteen:
"Duck!" Chat yelled. Marinette followed his order and hit the deck. His staff sailed over her head, spinning like a helicopter blade. It smacked Sabrina in the face, knocking her down. It didn't stop the other two, though.
Kim pounced at Marinette. Her skills kicked into gear. Ladybug swung her leg and tripped him. As he hit the ground, she dove toward him. He rolled over and held up his arms, blocking her hits.
"You know, Ladybug," he said, "this is for your own good."
Kim kneed her in the stomach. Marinette winced, then grunted as she stumbled back.
"I don't understand," she wheezed. "What have I done to deserve your hate?"
Eagle got to his feet and squared his shoulders. "You stole our spotlight."
He swung his fist. Ladybug dodged and punched his face in return. He growled, the lunged at her. She smirked. As he dove, she sidestepped, grabbed his arm, and flipped him over. Kim hit the ground with a hard THUMP! Marinette grinned at her handiwork and knelt down next to him.
"Fun tip, use your partner's energy to your advantage. Master Fu taught us that."
Kim nailed her square in the jaw. Marinette gasped, falling back and landing on her back. She cupped her hand over her jaw and looked up at him. He had gotten to his feet and was now towering over her.
"Another fun tip, use distractions." He gave her a mischievous grin then raised his leg to kick her. At that time, Marinette swept her leg under him again, knocking him off balance. She dove on top of him, holding him down with all of her strength.
"Don't be fooled by the same move twice," she spat.
She reached down to pluck the Eagle pin from off his jacket when she was fiercely tackled from behind. She and the unknown figure rolled through the field, then finally came to a stop. Before Ladybug could regain her balance, she was pinned down by someone's thighs. Her eyes widened.
"Well well, look what I've caught. A loser bug!'"
"Bee, let me go or I'll kick your butt," Marinette threatened, but her voice cracked halfway through, revealing how scared she was.
"Who says I should? Besides, I don't want to lose the pin I've been yearning to win." She reached down to grab Ladybug's pin. Marinette squirmed, trying to free herself.
"Chat!" She cried out, desperately trying to push Chloe off of her. "Chat, help!"
"He's too busy to help you," Chloe sneered. She gripped Ladybug's pin.
No, no, no, no, no!
"Bye bye, pest!"
"No!"
Ladybug shut her eyes tightly, waiting to be engulfed by the purple bubbles.
"Get off of her."
Chloe froze. A knife was pressed up against her throat by someone who was standing behind her. Chloe leveled her breathing, trying to stay calm.
"Get off of her or I spill your blood, Bee."
Ladybug opened her eyes. She stared up at the person in shock. Nathanael's eyes were flared with hatred, glaring at Chloe like he might rip her to pieces. She expected to see his hand trembling, at least, but the knife has held steady. He appeared so fearless. He must have been in so much pain, though.
Chloe let go of Marinette's miraculous and raised her hands. Tears were threatening to spill over in her eyes.
"P-please don't hurt me," she pleaded.
"Get off of Ladybug," Nathanael hissed. Chloe scrambled to her feet, allowing Marinette to sit up. "Now, leave and never come back to bother us again."
She didn't need to be told twice. Queen Bee bolted for the treeline. She was gone. Marinette took deep breaths to steady her nerves. She was still in the games! Her eyes drifted to Nathanael, amazed by the strength he was able to show even though he should have been in dire pain. She slipped a hand over her pin in awe.
"You saved me again."
He smirked. "We are a partnership, aren't we?"
Marinette let out a laugh and threw her arms around his neck, giving him a tight and loving hug. She then gasped.
"Oh no, Chat!"
She let go of him and got to her feet, stumbling back toward their camp. Once she entered it, though, all of her fear faded away. In the very center of their camp, Max, Sabrina, and Kim were tied up with rope and vines. Chat stood proudly over them, giving Ladybug a cheeky grin.
"Back so soon, my lady?"
She smiled. "Chat, you sly kitty." She held out a fist and the pair fist-bumped. "I can't believe you were able to snag all of them at once."
"Eh, it was no big deal." He knocked his staff up into the air and pulled it across his shoulders.
She laughed and flicked his bell. "Well, I think it's time to de-evilize these Charms, don't you?"
He smiled and bowed. "Of course, bugaboo."
Ladybug walked forward and crouched next to Kim. His face was downcast and he didn't look at her. She gave him a sad smile, then plucked his pin off of his jacket. Kim's eyes flicked up to hers and she saw fear bubbling beneath the surface. He was scared. She watched as he turned to silver mist and disappear in a shower of purple. Biting her lip, she moved on to the others. The Owl and the Hummingbird soon disappeared to join the Eagle.
The birds were gone.
Ladybug added their pins beside hers on her jacket. She was slowly moving up the ranks. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Nathanael. He sat at the edge of camp, giving her a proud smile.
Chat gazed up into the sky. "It's starting to get late. I think you two should get some rest. You need to be well-rested, especially you, Fox-face."
Marinette nodded, trying to distract herself. "You're right. This is only day one of the many hectic days ahead in the games." She turned to look at him, but he was already climbing a tree. "You need to rest too, Chat."
Once he got himself situated on a branch high above them, he shook his head. "We need to have someone on watch duty. You two get some rest." He smiled. "I'm here to protect you, my lady. Not to take cat naps." Wink.
Cat naps... Why did that sound so familiar?
Marinette folded her arms. "But don't you need to protect us tomorrow too?"
Chat smirked and extended his staff. He slid down just enough to be able to slip a gloved finger under her chin. The gaze he gave her with his intense green eyes narrowed her vision to only see him.
"Don't worry about me, Ladybug. I'll be back tomorrow night. I can stay until morning, but then I must go. I can sleep when we are not together."
Marinette blinked. "Wait, you can't stay?"
He gave her a sideways grin. "As much as I would love to stay with you twenty-four-seven, my lady, I cannot. I have a reputation and appearances to uphold. I cannot bring too much attention to myself of the Game Master will find me."
Ladybug nodded, a little sad. "Alright... Well, we better get some rest, then."
She gave him one last sideways glanced before turning away to help Nathanael. Vaguely, she saw Chat climb back up into the tree branch. She almost wished she could join him.
The rest of the night, Marinette attempted to sleep, but she couldn't. The night was cold, full of unknown sounds. Even with Nathanael's sleeping body warmly snuggled up to her, the chilly breeze was getting to her. She was awake all night. During that time, she kept her eyes on the boy in the tree branch above them. She watched him play with his high-tech ears, twirl his staff, even just stare up at the fake stars.
Who was he?
As the morning sun began to paint the sky pink, Marinette sleepily watched Chat collect his belongings. Once he was sure he had everything, he extended his staff down to the ground. Marinette quickly pretended to be asleep. She could hear his boots crunch the leaves on the ground as he came near. A shadow fell over her.
Then, she felt a pair of lips brush her forehead.
"Be safe, princess."
She heard him turn away. Marinette risked cracking one eye open. With her heart racing, she watched as Chat disappeared into the purple sky.
* * *
"Wow, is this a curved ball put into the games?"
"It might be, Alec."
"Man, who knew the protective Charm would come back! How long has it been?"
"At least forty years."
"That's amazing. It may be a different animal this year, but we definitely have another valiant Cham protector. Ladybug really is very lucky."
* * *
Gabriel Agreste glared at the screen, watching the replayed scenes from the night before. His plan had failed. Four against two should have been logically enough to take Ladybug out.
But this Chat Noir...
He was messing with his plans. He couldn't keep getting in the way. There had to be some way to get him out of the picture. If he kept side stepping into his path, it could ruin everything.
"Chat Noir, huh?" He muttered to himself, leaning back in his chair. He rubbed his chin. "I think it's time for some desperate measures if Ladybug decides to cheat."
President Agreste didn't notice, but behind him, a door had been left open a crack. All of his plans had been revealed to one person. In the hallway, Nino's eyes widened. He staggered away from the door, careful not to drop any of the tea he was carrying, then ran.
He needed to tell Adrien.
---
Ooooh! Looks like things are starting to get really heated up!
There is some super important information in this chapter, so I hope you guys can figure it out!
Next update should be soon. Hopefully, if I have the gumption to write, it'll be some time before my birthday this next Sunday.
(Yeah, shush. Don't make a big deal of it. No one is gonna be home for it anyways).
So yeah Thanks for supporting me in my writing thus far.
And, as always, have a miraculous day!
((PS: Sorry if the chapter was short...))