Superhero Prep

Chapter 11 - Villains Day

"Don't be bemused, it's just the news!"

Nadia Chamack was live. There were pictures behind her of balloons modeled after different heroes.

"Welcome back to Heroes day!" Nadia says, "This year, we will be both doing good deeds... and celebrating our heroes!"

Alya bites her pen.

"Alya, you're gonna destroy that pen as well," her boyfriend Nino says from behind her.

Alya sighs, "Sorry, it's just... it's been over a month since Ladybug disappeared. We've been able to sum it up to the news as just, she's really busy working on something big, but... we're all supposed to make an appearance today. If Ladybug doesn't show, they're gonna figure out something's wrong,"

Nino joins her on the couch, and she hugs him.

"Don't worry," he says, "We'll find her,"

---

Ladybug had given up on escape weeks ago.

She had been left in the basement with Mrs. Agreste. She was fed very little, and hardly slept. She was worried that if she slept, Hawkmoth would steal her miraculous.

While he was gone, she would pull out her sketchbook. She found inspiration for different butterfly themed outfits, but still couldn't figure out what to do with that first sketch of a butterfly. It felt important, but she can't figure out why.

Ladybug had called her lucky charm once, but all it really did was give her a limit until she had to transform back.

The lucky charm had been in the shape of the peacock miraculous. It was obvious the only way to get out of here on her own was to use the peacock miraculous, but she couldn't. It was too dangerous.

Ladybug put away her sketchbook again when she heard the whirring of the elevator. She looked up to see who was coming down.

Every other day, Nathalie would come down with a small plate of whatever had been for dinner. Water was always delivered with this meal, in a plastic water bottle. The water bottle and plate was to be returned with each new meal. Ladybug had learned after the first day to preserve the water as long as possible. The amount of food was small, and Ladybug felt herself weaken. She had lost track of the time, and the only thing keeping her sanity was her sketchbook, which was beginning to run out of pages. She had one page to keep track of the day. Every meal delivered was two tally marks.

Hawkmoth, or Mr. Agreste, rarely showed up. From what Ladybug could see, he only showed up once a week, to tell her of the akumatazations he had done that week, and how if she had been there, they would have been finished much faster.

Despite being weak, Ladybug always glared at him.

Nathalie was the one to come down. She was carrying a small bowl of soup, and a water bottle.

"Your food," Nathalie says, putting it down on the ground gently. As she crouches down, she whispers into Ladybug's ear.

"Get ready, because Villains day is just around the corner,"

She walks away, and goes back up the elevator.

Ladybug looks at the food, then glances at the elevator, confirming that it was gone.

"Spots off..." she mutters.

She catches Tikki, who was suffering almost as much as Marinette.

"Cheers," Marinette says.

Tikki has some of the soup.

"She didn't even give it to you warm," Tikki says.

"This can't be saved for tomorrow," Marinette says weakly. She had been dividing her food in half for weeks, so she got food everyday. But some foods wouldn't last without being refrigerated, and she had to eat it all at once.