Chapter Eighteen:
The sound of crunching leaves made Nathanael stiffen. He froze, flicking his attention up from the dirt to all around him. Someone was close by.
What should he do? Marinette wasn't here to help him. She was having her own personal session with Egotistical-Noir in the cave. Which Charm was after him? Which one hated him now? It couldn't be Queen Bee, she was too girly to come alone. Did someone hear his mumbling?
A twig snapped. Nathanael spun around, getting to his feet as fast as he could and using the stick he held as a weapon.
"B-back off," he stuttered to the darkness, trying to be brave, "I-I'm warning you. I have a... a stick. Yeah, a m-magical stick that could impale someone straight through their chest." He brandished the stick he held, attempting to lie his way to victory. In all reality, though, the stick would snap if anyone tried to fight him.
More rustles in the trees. Nathanael gulped, his nerves causing his legs to wobble and his hands to shake. The next thing he knew, he was sent flying sky high. He couldn't help it; he screamed like a girl.
* * *
Marinette jumped at the sound of Nathan's scream. She spun around, and attempted to get to her feet, but Chat gripped her shoulder.
"Don't," he ordered, "I'll go find him."
She turned to glare at him. "Chat, I can help. Just because I'm hurt doesn't mean I'm useless."
"Ladybug, please." Chat's eyes pleaded with hers. "I can't have you get hurt any more than you already are. I'm here to protect you and that is what I'm going to do. Please," he brushed her cheek, "stay here."
And with that, he bounded out of the cave. Marinette sat on the dirt floor, stunned at how he had treated her. Stay here? Heck no. No matter how much she cared about her cat, she was not going to let Fox get hurt.
She listened, silently trying to piece together the sounds that she heard. Crunching leaves must have meant footsteps. Chat's voice. What was going on up there? And why wasn't Nathan responding to Chat's calls?
Pulling herself up to her feet, Marinette winced. Pain flared in her arms and legs, and though it was toned down thanks to the medicine, she could still feel the soreness in her muscles. Chat had been right. She needed to rest and stay here so her body could repair itself.
But if that meant losing her district partner, she would have to take the risk. Besides, she had already promised him that they would both make it out alive. If he could fight, then so could she.
Marinette stumbled across the rocks, climbing her way up to the cave entrance. Pebbles slid under her feet, her weak body unprepared for the slipping and the sliding to occur. Chat and Fox had made it look easy...
By the time she was halfway to the top, she heard Chat cry out in surprise. Marinette's heart skipped a beat, which then caused her to slip on a pebble and slam her chin into a bolder. Groaning, she rubbed her chin and tried to climb quicker. Though her body protested, the will of her mind won out. No one was going to hurt her friends and get away with it.
Ladybug crawled out of the top of the cave, breathing hard. She looked around to see if she could find Fox or Chat, yet no matter where she turned her gaze, they weren't there.
"Chat?" she called out, scanning the ground for any traps he could have fallen into. "Chat? Fox?" She spun in a circle, her limbs aching, her eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary.
"Well well, looks like the bug finally decided to fly out of it's hiding hole."
Marinette whipped around to face a girl with blonde hair tucked into two ponytails and blue eyes that were as cold as ice. Ladybug didn't recognize her at first. Then, as her brain caught up to the action, she realized it was a Charm, not that her Polar Bear necklace gave it away or anything. It was Aurora.
"What did you do with Chat and Fox?"
Aurora, Polar Bear, laughed, tossing her head back. "Oh, for being the favorite, you're not very smart, are you?"
Marinette scowled, but before she could say anything, Polar gestured above her. Ladybug followed her gaze and froze -- yet her freezing was much different than her friends. They were encased in full blocks of ice, frozen in fear, hanging high in the treetops. Nathanael's terrified face and Chat's shocked expression was enough to make Marinette's blood boil.
"Let them go, Polar!"
Her opponent chuckled, popping a hip. "Why should I? Besides, I've been given special orders and a special reward if I'm able to knock you out of the game."
Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. "What? What do you mean?"
"Oh, it doesn't matter. I'm going to succeed anyway, HA!" Polar waved her arms and ice flew out of her fingertips. Marinette was barely able to dive out of the way before they hit her. The tree behind her was soon covered in sharp ice shards.
"Dodging won't do you any good, Ladybug!" Polar taunted, cackling evilly. "Soon, you'll run out of energy and be forced into my cage!"
Another sheet of deadly ice. Marinette yelped, hitting the ground and covering her head just before the ice hit her. The poor bush behind her that had been minding its own business was now embedded with spikes of ice. Rolling, Ladybug was barely able to miss another shot from her opponent.
"What do you want from me?" Marinette yelled. "I don't have anything to offer!"
"Yes, you do!" Polar insisted, her breath turning into steam as she created ice in her hands. "If I kick you out of the games, it's one less opponent we all have to worry about. And, besides, having you choose between which boy you're going to save is entertaining!" She chucked the ice balls in her hands. Marinette was barely able to miss them by rolling away from the blast zone. Polar was right about one thing, though. She couldn't save both boys.
"It can't be just that," she insisted, getting cautiously to her feet. "There has to be another reason."
Polar scoffed, tossing one of her blonde pigtails behind her shoulder. "Why should I tell you?"
"Because I'm probably going to die anyway. I can't share anything if I'm dead," Marinette answered, carefully taking a few steps toward Nathanael's frozen cage above.
Spreading her hands, Polar smiled. "I promised I wouldn't tell the amazing prize when I kicked you out. Looks like you're going to have to watch me from the outside!" She waved her arms and a giant window-sized pane of ice hurdled toward Marinette. Ladybug squeaked and ducked, but not before the side of the sharp, flying, frozen water hit her arm and left her with a decently sized cut. She winced, then glared at her.
"It's not like anyone's going to hear you! Just spit it out, what do you want with me and my friends?"
She laughed. "You mean weak Fox and the protective Charm? Fox will be easy to dispose of, he has no worth to me. Your protective charm on the other hand... Yes, he will make a great bodyguard for me."
"He's not going to agree to that! Chat would never work for someone else!"
Polar raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why wouldn't he? With his first charm gone, he's going to have to choose another, and I'll make sure it's me!" Thrusting her hands, she sent another wave of ice toward Ladybug. Marinette barely missed getting a mouthful of it.
Come on, Chat. What would you do? Who would you save?
She already knew the answer to that. Even if he hated Nathanael out of jealousy, he would always put Fox first. There was no question in it. But Marinette couldn't just leave Chat. She cared about him, and she wasn't going to let her kitty be taken from her.
Ladybug scanned her surroundings. There wasn't a lot to go off of, but the more she looked, the more of her plan began to come together. As she was analyzing the tree that Chat's block of ice hung in, something flashed in her vision. An animal?
Marinette dove behind a tree to save herself from being hit with ice. Her gaze flicked back to the tree branches, searching for what she saw before. There. A branch above Chat. It was another girl with brown hair. Ladybug moaned. Please don't be working with Polar Bear...
The girl in the tree caught Marinette's attention. She waved, then pointed below her to Chat. Ladybug blinked. What was she doing?
"Come on, Ladybug!" Polar taunted. "Don't make me come find you!"
She glanced around the base of the tree. Polar saw her, then thrust another sheet of ice toward her. She yelped, pressing her back against the tree as she missed the ice. What was she going to do? She couldn't move unless she wanted to be blasted by the snow queen, which she didn't.
CRASH!
Ladybug jumped at the sound of something smashing and heard Polar Bear scream. She quickly looked around the tree. She couldn't believe what she saw. Chat was out of his ice prison, shaking off the snow that was caked on his leather jacket and getting to his feet. He brandished his staff, elongating it so it hovered a couple inches away from Polar's face. She had fallen on her bum, looking up at Chat with anger.
"Well, well, looks like I finally get to see my attacker," he joked.
Polar sneered. "How did you get down from there?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. What matters right now is kicking you out of the games."
"No! I'm not leaving!"
Ladybug came out from behind the frozen tree, and said, "Suit yourself." She looked at Chat. "Hold her down, will you? We'll get Nathanael out as soon as we kick this girl out of here."
He smiled. "It would be my pleasure, my lady."
Before he could even lay a hand on her, Polar crawled to her feet. "I'm not going down without a fight! I'll make you all pay!" Cupping her hands together, ice and snow began to swirl around her fingertips. She focused hard, the ball of magic growing bigger and wilder. Both Ladybug and Chat stepped back, preparing for the worst.
"You will not take me down!" She shouted. "I am the great Polar Bear! The best of the Charms! I have been given--"
CRASH!
Nathanael's cage slammed into her, smashing into a million pieces on impact. Polar screamed, collapsing to the ground under her own ice. Ladybug and Chat stared in shock. Fox, completely unscathed, moaned and got to his feet, rubbing the ice out of his hair.
"W-what..? What's going on?"
Snapping out of her shock, Marinette rushed forward and knelt down next to Aurora. She pulled the polar bear charm off of her neck. As she began to fade, Ladybug glared at her.
"Nobody hurts my friends. Ever."
In a flash of purple, Polar Bear was gone. Ladybug took a deep breath and got to her feet. The necklace in her hand was freezing cold, but she pinned it onto her jacket anyway. Chat extended a hand to Nathan and pulled him up to his feet.
"Thanks," Fox said, shivering slightly.
"No problem."
Just then, something hit the ground next to them. The trio spun around. The brown haired girl who had saved Chat and Fox stood there with a hand popped on her hip. Her green eyes shone with knowledge and something Marinette couldn't place.
"Glad to see you all made it out alive," the girl said. She held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Lila the Raven."
Chat immediately shook her hand. "Same for you. Thank you for getting us out of there."
She shrugged. "Eh, it was no problem. Besides, I wanted to be able to help my fellow charms. Especially you, Ladybug."
Ladybug folded her arms, scanning her skeptically. "Uh-huh? How long are you planning on doing this 'helping' deal?"
"As long as I can," she admitted. "Besides, President Agreste told me that I had to save as many people as possible so his son can choose correctly."
Chat furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait, you know President Agreste?"
"Don't we all," Fox muttered under his breath, dusting his arms off.
Lila nodded. "I do. I was specifically chosen by him, after all." She gave Chat and Ladybug a dazzling smile. "Let's just say we've had many a-chat about my life after these games."
Marinette narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah? And what is it going to be? Lounging in a palace made of gold?"
Raven laughed. "No, silly bug! If I win, I get his son Adrien. Simple. His father has already approved of me."
Ladybug clenched her fists. She wanted to deck this girl in the face, but she took a deep breath. "Well, thank you for helping us. Now, if you'll please excuse us, morning is going to be coming in a couple hours and we need to go find food." She turned to leave, pulling Nathanael with her, but Chat put a hand on her shoulder.
"My lady, don't you think you're being a little rude? She did just save our lives."
Glancing at Lila out of the corner of her eye, Marinette couldn't help but think he was right. She was being kinda mean. But she was after Adrien just because President Agreste gave her permission to win.
She couldn't help but feel like her role as a raven didn't fit her quite right. Then again, they did only have a few hours to come up with animals. Maybe her style team ran out of time.
Ladybug looked back at Lila. She was standing in the middle of the clearing, watching Marinette with anticipation. Then, she sighed.
"Fine. What do you want me to do?"
Chat shrugged. "I don't mind if she comes with us. Besides, she said she wanted to help. She's probably as hungry as we are."
Nathanael pulled his arm out of Marinette's grasp. "I think Chat's right. As much as I don't like her, we might as well take her to find some food."
"And I know the perfect spot," Chat added. "There isn't a lot of food in this area of the arena. Just let her tag along with us for a day. We won't get to the place in one night, I know that much. We can help her for that amount of time. Just a day."
Marinette looked between Fox and Chat. If the two were agreeing on something, it had to be worth it, right? She let out a long sigh then turned back to face Lila.
"Do you want to come with us to find food?" she offered.
Her face lit up with a bright smile, her green eyes sparkling. "I would love to."
---
Wow, can you believe it? I actually updated Miraculous Games! How awesome is that?
I hope you guys are liking the story so far. If you are, don't forget to drop a vote! It helps get the story out there more and lets me know that you want more. Comments are always great, too! I love hearing back from you guys! It's always so much fun hearing all of the amazing ideas and commentaries you have.
I'll try my hardest to write another really good chapter, k? It's been hard recently, especially with school starting and trying to get Soul Mate edited ASAP. If you stay patient with me, I'll try to keep pumping out as much amazing MLB stuff as possible.
Speaking of MLB, congrats on 1 year of Miraculous Ladybug everyone! The first time it ever aired was one year ago! How crazy is that??? I can't believe my life has been flipped upside down by this show, and it's only been a year!
Can't wait for Season 2!
And, as always, have an amazing day, guys! You all deserve it!
HAPPY DAY, HAPPY DAY!