Dead

Chaos Strikes Pt 1

"M-... Marinette?" I pushed myself up and stood slowly, having a hard time believing my eyes right now. It was Marinette, but there was something wrong with her. Her eyes... they were blue, but not her usual blue. They were lighter, almost as if they were...

"Chloe?" Kim demanded, facing the person, now on his feet with Alya, Nino, and Max by his side. I turned back to the person, who was now looking down at their hands, as if they weren't sure they were the receiver of the attention.

"Chloe?" The figures eyes changed slightly to a pretty lavender purple before facing us again. "A message from the Queen. All Miraculous holders are to turn over their jewels or the Queen will be forced to take them herself. She assures you that is the last thing she wants. Find the true bearer of this image and give them to her. Such is the message of the Queen."

Marinette, or Chloe, closed her eyes and went still. We waited, for what, I didn't know, until she moved again. A gasp escaped her lips and the vision faded, returning Chloe to her natural projection. She patted herself, as if making sure she was real before sighing in relief. When she looked up at us, her eyes were back to blue.

"Let's hurry." She said, before turning to the stairs and stepping down them quickly. I glanced in surprise to the others before calling after her.

"Chloe, wait!" She stopped and turned to face us again, but she didn't come back. Since I didn't feel like shouting, I hurried down the steps to where she was, the others close behind me. When we reached her, Chloe turned to start down the steps once more, but I grabbed her arm to stop her.

"What are you doing? Come on! We have to hurry!" Chloe urged us, trying to take back her arm but I held on, knowing she'd just leave us behind if given the chance again.

"Just, hold on a second. What do you mean, 'we have to hurry'? Where are you going?"

"To the Queen. She needs our Miraculous." Chloe explained as if we were children who hadn't been paying attention to the lesson on the board. I frowned, disbelieving.

"What are you talking about? Chloe, we can't give our Miraculous to anyone." She looked at me as if I had sprouted another head.

"Maybe that's true for you. The rest of us have to return our Miraculous to the Guardian. She has a use for them. Now hurry up. She needs them now."

"Hold on!" I cried again, pulling her back when she tried to leave again. She sighed exasperatedly, glaring back at me as if I were wasting her time. Which, I suppose to her, I was. But I couldn't just let her go just like that.

"Adrien, what are you waiting for?" I turned, shocked to find Alya urging me on. "We need to return our Miraculous to the Guardian. She needs them now." I shook my head, trying to wake up from this nightmare. What was going on?

"What do you mean, Alya? The Guardian? Do you mean the Queen, the one Chloe mentioned?" Alya nodded.

"The Queen and the Guardian are one and the same. We have to get to her. She needs our Miraculous. Are you coming or not? She has no need for yours, after all."

"She doesn't?" I ask, puzzled. Alya shakes her head, frowning slightly, looking puzzled.

"Of course not. Didn't you hear Chloe's announcement? The Queen requires all the Miraculous belonging to the Miracle Box back. The Black Cat is to stand by, awaiting orders. She doesn't wish you to be caught in the fighting. She also said you're the only one she could count on. You didn't hear any of that?"

I shake my head. She mulls it over for a second before a sound comes from above and we all look up to find a terrible sight. Hundreds of thousands of pigeons were flying over the school, all heading towards the same place. I only had a moment to worry over what this might mean when light surrounded me, and I had to shield my eyes.

When I was finally able to safely open my eyes without getting blinded, I found Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee standing around me. Aided by her superhero strength, Queen Bee was able to easily remove my hand from her arm and jumped over the rail. Maneuvering in the air, she whipped her yoyo back and caught Kim around the middle, pulling him to her.

Together they swung off in the direction the pigeons had flown. I turned when I heard movement behind me and found Carapace lifting Max off his feet. Getting his bearings on the railing, Carapace, who had been Nino just a second before, leapt high into the air, hopping around until he managed to get onto the roof, where he could move around more easily.

The only one who stayed behind was Rena Rouge, who turned to face me after her boyfriend disappeared.

"Aren't you gonna follow them?" I ask, motioning towards where our friends had gone. Rena studies me and shakes her head.

"You didn't hear the entire message, did you?" She asks. From the way she spoke, I got the feeling I didn't. Since she already knew, I wasn't about to lie and say I did, but I didn't like not knowing what was making everyone act like this.

"Are you going to tell me what the message was?" I demand, clenching my fists. I might not have heard the entire message, but I didn't need to be a genius to figure out Marinette was the Queen they were all referring to. The Queen and Guardian were 'one and the same'? 

The Guardian of the Miracle Box was Ladybug.

Ladybug was Marinette.

Not super hard, but I had a feeling there was more to it than that so I waited as patiently as I could for Rena Rouge to tell me the rest of it. She shook her head, and I got a different message than the one I wanted.

She wouldn't tell me anything.

"There's a reason you didn't hear it, though I don't know why. Just wait here until someone comes to get you, or maybe she'll send you a separate message. Just stay put and don't try anything. See you later, Adrien."

I wanted to reach out and keep her there, but something prevented me from doing what I wanted. I ran to the bottom of the stairs, wanting to chase after her but I felt something tighten around me as I watched her disappear until she wouldn't have heard me. Even if I could cry out for help, which was exactly what I was trying to do at that moment, it was an impossible thing.

For the feeling wasn't imaginary, but genuine. Arms held me tightly, and no matter how much I fought, I couldn't escape. I tried kicking backwards and connected with something hard, rewarding me with a deep grunt. I turned slightly and caught sight of a large figure in a dark blue suit.

That could only mean one thing.

I tried turning all the way around to face my bodyguard, however he held me firmly, not allowing me to move an inch. Instead, he picked me up and carried me across the courtyard quickly. He kicked open the door to a classroom and set me down gently. Turning as swiftly as a man of his bulk could he began barricading the door with all the heavy objects in the room until the room was bare, aside from the pile of miscellaneous objects.

"What's going on? Why did you block us in-" My bodyguard turned towards me quickly and shook his head before bringing a finger to his lips.

Stay quiet.

That's when I heard it. The chaos arousing in the courtyard outside. I heard familiar cackles and strange noises I thought I had heard the last of. A ruckus had been created, and it was no ordinary school ruckus.

These were akumas.