Thunderstorms Series: Part 3 (Drenched)

Chapter 26

"Over here!" Carapace shouted, seeing two people run off. Ryuko and Viperion look at one another and nod with determined faces.

"We're going after them." Ryuko said.

"Meet here in 10 minutes. I'll alert Ladybug." Rena said.

Ryuko and Viperion ran after the two silhouettes running off in the distance while Queen Bee, Carapace, and Rena Rouge went to go check out the house they came from.

"Anything?" Carapace asked.

Rena rouge shook her head as they all landed outside of the house. They waited around for Ladybug until they heard a voice from inside the home. They all three rushed inside to find Adrien strapped to the chair, though it looked like a few of the rope pieces were snapped.

"Wow, you must be pretty strong to snap these ropes." Queen Bee smiled, walking over to him.

Adrien turned his head around to see Queen Bee, Rena Rouge, Ryuko, and Carapace.

"Guys! It's Lila and Felix. They took both of our miraculous. You need to hurry and go after them!" Adrien cried out as two more people landed in the doorway.

"A-Adrien? What did they do to you?!" Ryuko said, pushing past everyone to hurry and unsnap him from the chair.

Viperion made his way into the room and saw Ryuko trying her best to free Adrien from the ropes without hurting him. Though his attention refocused on someone kneeled down in the corner, almost in a fetal position. Queen Bee looked at Viperion and noticed something in the corner as well.

"Someone is still here!" Queen Bee said, getting into a battle stance.

"Wait!" Viperion said, walking closer to get a better look.

"Don't touch her!" Adrien called out.

"Calm down, Adrien!"

"Marinette...? What are you doing here?" Viperion said, kneeling down to Marinette.

He could see she had been crying. Her tear soaked cheeks and eyes were pink. Viperion picked her up in his arms, bridal style as she began to cry harder into him. It caused Adrien to look down with a guilty look. Ryuko looked at Adrien with a confused look.

"Ugh... Where is Ladybug? Rena keep calling her." Queen Bee crossed her arms with a huff.

Rena looked at Adrien and sighed.

"This... this is all my fault." Adrien said, fighting back tears as he felt the last rope snap, releasing his hands.

"No... it isn't Adrien. Ladybug should have been here to help us." Ryuko said, reassuring him.

Adrien began untying his feet and bit back what he wanted to say. It was up to Marinette if she wanted them to know. Alya and Nino understood that as well. Ryuko stood up, letting Adrien untie his own feet and they all were surrounded by Marinette's crying. Queen Bee huffed and walked over to Viperion who was holding Marinette in his arms.

"Marinette. You need to stop crying. This is a superhero's job, you shouldn't even be here. Crying won't solve anything, so why don't you just dry it up already?" Queen Bee rolled her eyes.

Rena looked to Carapace who nodded to her and she walked over to Queen Bee. She put her hand on Queen Bee's shoulder and shook her head.

"What is it, fox?" She glared.

"You don't understand." Rena said with a saddened expression.

"How? Ladybug will be here soon to fix everything. Marinette needs to stop being such a baby. Look, Adrien is fine. He isn't crying, he is strong unlike Dupain-cheng." Queen Bee said, pointing to Adrien who was now free from the chair.

Adrien walked closer to the group and nodded for Viperion to let Marinette down. Viperion nodded in return, gently letting Marinette to her feet. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she turned and rushed to Adrien's arms. He wrapped them around her and tried his best to comfort her the best he could.

He felt her back shaking. He knew it was his fault but he had to stay strong. Everyone was looking at him. He leaned down to Marinette's ear with a sigh.

"You need to tell them. They are unsure of what to do, Milady." He said with a frown.

Marinette's eyes filled with tears once more, hearing the nickname he had given her as she clenched his shirt in her fingers. She wiped her tears and turned her head toward them. She saw them all looking at her. Their confused faces looked to her for answers as to why she was crying.

"There's.... There's no more Ladybug." She barely managed to say.

"What?! You're lying! Of course there is! We saw her earlier. She'll be here. She's just late. She's always come through. Stop lying!" Queen bee spat.

Rena rouge once again put her hand on Chloe's shoulder to stop her from speaking.

"There's no more Ladybug because Felix and Lila took mine and Adrien's miraculous." Marinette explained.

Viperion, Ryuko, and Queen Bee's eyes shot open in surprise at the sudden information. Marinette watched as each friend tried to process what she had just said.

"You can't be! You can't be Ladybug! My hero can't be... Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" Queen Bee tried to deny.

"It's true. We saw her and Adrien both transform." Carapace insisted.

"It's true, Chloe. Marinette is Ladybug. I wouldn't lie to you." Adrien said, seeing Chloe's face start to turn sad.

"It's my fault they have both miraculous. I was tricked into believing my mother had woken up from her coma. If I wasn't so gullible. If I wasn't so stupid!" Adrien said, turning away from embarrassment.

"You're not stupid, Adrien." Marinette said, trying to comfort him.

"Yes, Adrien. The way they tricked you was heartless. It was not your fault." Ryuko spoke up.

Queen bee looked around at everyone's depressed, given up, and disappointed expressions. She clenched her fits in frustration. She didn't want to believe that the girl she hated for so long was the hero she looked up to, but she couldn't deny it any longer. Her hero needed her now. She needed to step up.

"Errg... So what?!" She started, seeing everyone turn to her.

"So what if they have the miraculous? So what if Felix turned against us? We can get them back! We outnumber them! Let's go get them back!" Queen Bee said, giving them her best determined face she could muster.

Everyone's eyes widened at how Queen Bee stepped up. They all looked at one another and then back to Queen Bee.

"How do we get started?" Rena said.