Hunted

Chapter 33 - The Battle

The next morning Marinette opened her eyes to find herself on the floor then she remembered Adrien. She got up and rubbed her eyes and checked on Adrien. He looked like he was sleeping well and Marinette wrapped her arms around him then got ready for the day. Once everyone was up and ready, they all gathered in the living room for a family talk. 

"This is our house so I will need to go over some rules." Otis said. "First of all, absolutely no fighting in the house. Everyone will respect one another. Second, you will all help with chores around the house. Unless you aren't feeling up to it Adrien." He said. 

"I'm doing better sir I can help." He said. 

"Good, now lastly, I want all of you looking out for one another and making sure everyone is safe and together at all times." 

"Understood." Felix said and the rest of them nodded. 

"Alright lets eat!" Otis said. Marinette ran to the kitchen and Marlena squeezed her with a hug. Adrien was a bit jealous. Marinette began making breakfast with Alya and the boys all sat down. It was a bit awkward between Felix, Adrien, and Nino as not all of them had the best experiences with each other. Eventually though the boys got talking and things lightened up. Marinette had her usual shift in the restaurant though she was extra careful on who the customers were. 

Later that day Felix approached Marinette when everyone else was busy. 

"Hey can we talk in private?" He said in a serious voice. Marinette cleared her throat and nodded. They headed into a private room and Marinette didn't look him in the eye. 

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I did to you. I'm sure it hurt a lot and I see that now." Marinette rubbed her cheek where he had scratched her and sighed. 

"I see that you are trying to change Felix and that's good but why did you do it?" She asked with tears in her eyes. "Say those awful things to me and pretend to be Adrien. Then you left me there. Why?" She said covering her face. Felix sighed and lifted Marinette's chin to face him. 

"I do what I do for approval. Luka told me to say what I did to you to break you up with Adrien and I have to admit now that I'm trying to act better, it's hard for me to give you any other reason." 

"Did Luka say anything else?" She asked. 

"He said that he would make you his but that's all he wants." Felix said. "I'm sorry Marinette." and then he walked out of the room. Marinette sat down and pondered what he had said.

A few months went by, and Marinette turned seventeen. Everything was going great, then on her birthday everything began to change. 

A dark fog entered the streets, and no one could see where it was coming from then out of nowhere the attack began. An army of thousands of overpowered soldiers invaded the city breaking windows and terrorizing the people. There was nothing anyone could do not even the protection agency. 

In the chaos Marinette and the rest of the family hid in the apartment hoping no one would look there. 

"We should go out and fight. The people need us." Adrien said. 

"No, you can't they'll kill you!" Marinette said flinching at every explosion. Then Marinette glanced around she noticed everyone was in the room except for Felix. 

"Where is Felix?" She asked. Adrien glanced around but saw him nowhere. He ran to the window and saw him outside fighting some of the soldiers. 

"Oh no, he's out there." Adrien said. Marinette covered her mouth as she watched him. 

"He is no match for them we have to do something." She said. 

"You can't go out there Marinette. If they see you they will take you or worse." He said. 

"Felix has been working so hard to protect us and change his ways. If you were out there he would do the same thing." She said. She grabbed a metal pole and ran down the stairs. 

"Marinette!" Adrien called after her. Marinette sprinted into the restaurant and out onto the street. 

"Felix!" She called and he glanced over with shock seeing Marinette and Adrien. 

"Get out of here!" He yelled fighting the soldiers. 

"Look out Marinette!" Adrien said attacking a soldier that was rushing for her. Soon they were coming in all directions. Marinette and Adrien fought hard and managed to hold their own. Suddenly all the TVs in the town turned on showing a man's face. It was Hawkmoth. 

"Hello, my new citizens. You are now in my new town which will be now known as Akuma." He said laughing. Nathalie was next to him with a grin. "You will obey my rules and my soldiers will keep you in line." He said. "If anyone dares to defy me they will be taken to my dungeon and then punishment will be decided." He said. 

Everyone had paused their fighting to watch and Marinette breathed hard this was all her fault. She was dazed for a minute and didn't see the blow coming for her face. She was hit and went sprawling to the ground. 

"Marinette!" Adrien screamed as she struggled to get up. He ran to her side to protect her as he fought off the oncoming soldiers. Felix was tackled down by the soldiers and Adrien was on his own now. He sent out blasts protecting Marinette who was at his feet and they seemed to counteract the powers of the soldiers. 

Then a new person entered the battle. It was a young woman, she had short red hair and lots of piercings and tattoos. 

"Hey there, looks like you folks need some help." She said joining Adrien. 

"Thanks." He said as he struggled to hold his own. "Who are you?" He asked. 

"The names Alix. Code name Bunnix." She said with a wink. 

"Wait a minute, aren't you Alix Kubdel?" He asked in surprise. 

"Yeah, I was in town for a couple months to help out with some things but didn't expect this." She said. 

"Tell me about it." Adrien said punching another soldier away. It was like they were a sea of roaches that kept coming. "I don't think I can hold them off for long." Adrien said to Alix who was struggling. 

"You're right we need a plan." She said. Felix was already taken and they had no time to lose. Adrien knocked off a few soldiers and pulled Marinette up. 

"Come on!" He shouted grabbing Alix's hand and they sprinted down the street. 

"Where are we going?!" Alix said through her panting. 

"I don't know!" Adrien said back. They all ran and finally found an alley where they wouldn't be seen. 

"I think they may be using the power they took from me in some way." Marinette said. 

"What do we do then?" Alix asked. 

"I have my powers; I can try and stop them." Adrien interjected. 

"No, we need both our powers for it to work." She said. "But my powers haven't worked in months." They all looked at each other with forlorn faces. 

"Does that mean there's no way to stop them?" Alix asked. 

"Not unless Marinette can magically regain her powers overnight no. We need to get Alya's family to safety." Adrien said. 

"What about Felix?" Marinette asked. 

"He fought hard but he's probably in the dungeon by now. We will need more time and resources if we are gonna break him out." 

"What if it was me in there and not Felix. Would you wait?" Marinette said with determination. Adrien couldn't believe that Marinette could persuade him with a single question, but he knew the answer. 

"To be honest, no I wouldn't." He said. 

"Then we won't wait for Felix either." Marinette said. She ran out into the street. 

"Marinette wait!" Adrien called after her but she was already out on the street with her metal staff fighting all the soldiers she could. 

"I love that girl." Adrien said. Alix and him ran out and joined her.