"What?" Nathalie looked at Adrien through the rearview, surprised by his sudden outburst.
"I said stop the car! Please!" Desperation was evident in his voice and after a confused look, Nathalie pulled over to the curb.
"Adrien if you aren't feeling well it's alright to go home. I kno-"
"Thanks." Adrien interrupted her and dashed out of the car, nearly tripping on the curb in his hurry.
Not her. Hawkmoth can't have her. The thought of Hawkmoth controlling Marinette sickened him and only made him run faster. She'd never forgive herself if she tried to hurt someone. He thought. He reached the front of the school doors, breathing heavy and looking around at everyone frantically. They all stared at him wide eyed, but he didn't care.
Where is she? Adrien made a quick decision and ran down the hallway that lead to his classroom, checking inside to see if Nino or Alya were there. He didn't see either of them and was about to run up the stairs inside when he heard a loud crash somewhere on the opposite side of the school.
There was screaming and without thinking, he ran towards the noise as fast as his legs could carry him. It would've been easier to do as Chat Noir, but he was too concerned with Marinette's whereabouts to even consider that.
His eyes scanned the hallway and landed on a large puddle in the middle of the floor. He tilted his head to the side and walked up to it. The water looked dirty and he could smell an odd, fruity disinfectant.
"Adrien!" A voice screamed from down the hallway, but before he could react, he was swept up by large, wet strings of fabric.
"What the-"
"I am the Cleanser, here to cleanse everyone of their dirty mouths!" A man screamed from below him. He had plungers stuck to his shoes so he could walk along the walls and ceilings, and his mop seemed to have a mind of its own, the fabric looping around Adrien like snakes. He wore the grey uniform of the custodians in the school and had a nametag clipped on the right side of his shirt.
"Adrien!" The voice screamed again as something whipped by his head. He watched as Ladybug's yo-yo looped around his arm and pulled him from the snake mop. He zipped through the hallway and towards a very concerned looking Ladybug.
"Are you alright?" She asked, releasing her yo-yo from his arm. He stumbled a bit before regaining his balance and looking at her.
I guess Marinette wasn't too upset then, Adrien thought to himself, looking around to see if he could find where she was, just in case.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks. Have you seen Marinette?" He looked down the hallway into a classroom where he saw a few students huddled together. Without giving Ladybug a chance to answer, he ran down to the classroom and threw open the door, leaving her wide-eyed, staring after him.
"Has anyone seen Marinette?" he asked, his eyes frantically scanning the faces of everyone in the room.
"She disappeared a while ago," Nino piped up, and Adrien turned his attention to his friend, seeing an annoyed looking Alya sitting next to him. He felt sort of angry with her for not even trying to find Marinette.
"We aren't sure where she is, but she looked really scared and said she was going to hide. I'm guessing she's fine," Nino added, glancing at Alya and shrugging.
The door to the classroom shut and Ladybug was standing there, a tired expression on her face.
"Is everyone okay?" she asked, looking around the room. Her eyes locked on Alya, who was sitting with her arms crossed, not looking at Ladybug at all. It was so strange seeing her friend acting so calm around 'Ladybug', but she knew she should have expected that.
"Yeah, seems that way," Nino said. "So how's it going out there, dude- uh, Ladybug? Is the akuma gone yet?"
"It's fine for now, but I can't find an opening to get to him. I'm almost positive the akuma is in his name-tag, but Chat Noir hasn't gotten here yet and I can't figure out a plan of attack. 'The Cleanser' is really fast in those plungers." She sighed, and Adrien looked at her with a torn expression. He was trying to decide between finding Marinette and being Chat Noir for his lady.
He closed his eyes in thought and then quickly turned to Alya and Nino. "I'm going to look for Marinette. You guys stay here with Ladybug and I'll be right back." He ran out the door, Ladybug not far behind him.
"Wait!" she yelled running after him into the hallway. She nervously glanced back to the akuma at the other end. She slowed her pace to a walk, seeing The Cleanser inch his way toward the classroom. "Please stop. It's dangerous." By then Adrien was already out of sight, headed left down the hall and towards the restrooms.
He knew he had to find his classmate, but the akuma was more important at the moment. He dashed inside and Plagg flew in behind him.
"I can't believe... you made me... follow you all the way... here," said the angry looking kwami, his arms hung limply by his sides and his tongue hung out of his mouth. "Do you know how tiring it is to fly that far?" He complained, catching his breath.
"Not now, Plagg. Ladybug needs us," Adrien said, tossing the smiling cat a piece of Camembert. "Transform me!" he yelled, and felt the slick fabric spread across his body, his gloves and claws appeared on his hands, and his boots followed soon after. His ears and mask formed next, along with his "tail".
He burst from the bathroom, only to see Ladybug was struggling to get out of a bind at the end of the hallway. Chat ran toward her, watching the snake-like strings wind up towards her ears, reaching for her miraculous.
Chat used his staff to push off the floor and vault towards her. He grabbed her hands as he flew by, and the force pulling her out of the mop's grasp.
"Chat," Ladybug said, giving him a quick smile. "Thanks,"
"I couldn't let him wring you out," Chat said, and Ladybug rolled her eyes and smiled, happy he had finally shown up. She turned her attention back to the akuma just as he started yelling again.
"Where is that blonde haired brat that called me 'the help'?" He roared, sweeping his mop through the air threateningly.
Ladybug internally groaned. Of course it was Chloe's fault. Again.
A light purple moth appeared in a mask shape around The Cleanser's eyes, and an enraged expression came over him.
"I don't care about their stupid Miraculous! Where is that brat?!" His expressions changed wildly and he looked confused. Ladybug took this as an opportunity and nodded at Chat. Chat smiled and sprinted towards the akuma, getting dangerously close to his mop, but never letting it touch him. Eventually, he jumped onto a high railing and The Cleanser shot his mop upward, exposing the right side of his chest.
Ladybug zipped in, her yo-yo attaching to the railing and yanking her straight through the line of fire. She snatched the name tag off of his shirt and landed triumphantly next to Chat.
"Let's wrap this up," she said, snapping the plastic name tag in half. The dark butterfly shot out of the item and started to fly away.
Ladybug zipped her yo-yo into the air and caught it, shouting her famous line and purifying the butterfly. The world around them shifted and soon enough, everything was back to normal.
They fist bumped and Ladybug turned to jump off the railing.
"Wait, M'lady," Chat called. "I need you to help me find-"
"Sorry Chat, I don't have time. I need to be somewhere right now," she said, quickly escaping out of the school.
Chat sighed and, after making sure no one was there, headed to the restrooms where he de-transformed.
He walked out of the bathroom and walked back to where the other students were hiding, hoping to find Marinette was there. Adrien walked down the hallway quickly and opened the door. He looked around in vain hope of finding Marinette, and his eyes widened as he noticed her sitting in the corner of the room. She tried to avoid looking too relieved that he was alright as they locked eyes.
"Marinette," he said, grateful to see her safe and unharmed. She still looked a little wary of him, but at least she was okay.
"She showed up about a minute ago. We were about to go look for you," Nino said, walking towards Adrien. "So what happened, dude? Is the Akuma gone?"
Adrien nodded. "Yeah, I just saw Chat Noir on his way out as I was walking back." All eyes turned to the door as Mme Bustier burst into the room.
"Is everyone safe?" she asked, looking throughout the room. There were a couple nods but no denials, and she visibly relaxed. "I'm so glad to hear that. I've come to inform you all that it's safe to go home now. Looks like the heroes took care of everything."
After a few happy looks among the students, they all grabbed their things and headed out the door.
"Alya..." Adrien heard Marinette say from behind him. He turned around just in time to get out of the way. Alya quickly exited the classroom, letting the door slam behind her. He looked back to Marinette, watching as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Marinette, are you o-"
"F-fine," she whispered, grabbing her things and making her way to the door, and all of a sudden Adrien was alone in the classroom. He pulled out his phone and called Nathalie.
"You can come get me now. I apologize for earlier," he said with little emotion.
"Alright."
He sat quietly in the car the entire way home. Nathalie gave him a few worried looks in the rear-view mirror but decided he'd probably rather not talk about it.
The whole way back he was thinking of Marinette's tears, the sadness of her words filling his mind.
A/N Thanks for reading! I published this unedited sooo... sorry but I wanted to put this up because it's finished. xD Thanks for sticking with the story thus far! ^^
**Small fixes once again, just re-reading ^^