Holding Out for a Hero

Part 5

"Alright..." Marinette whispered to herself. She hefted the heavy pipe in her hand, curling her fingers around it tightly. Marinette twisted around and pulled the pipe back behind her. "Three... two... one."

She drew a breath then swung. The metal pipe connected on the door right below the door handle. A reverberating ringing sound filled the room. Marinette cringed as she paused to listen. The sound died away and the only thing that she heard was the faint sound of water flowing somewhere close by mixed with her own breathing, chattering teeth, and rapid heart beat. Wavemaster had left her alone in whatever building he'd brought her to. Marinette could technically be as loud as she wanted to but there was a whisper at the darkest corner in the back of her mind not to draw too much notice to herself. Who knew just how close Wavemaster actually was. She didn't want him to come back early. No thank you!

Marinette exhaled deeply and did her best to ignore how bad she was shivering. Her clothes hadn't really dried and with the evening chill setting in she found herself feeling less than spectacular. However, she still raised the pipe for another strike at the, supposedly, weakest part of the door. Marinette grunted the second time the pipe hit the door. The resulting sound was just as loud as the first. This time there was another sound that rose above metallic clang. A dull crunch as some internal mechanism started to break. Marinette couldn't keep the grin off her face. "Yes! Yes! One more time. Just one more time!" she whispered to herself.

The third hit made the loudest sound. Marinette held her breath for one very long moment. Tentatively, she reached out and touched the door with a flat hand. It groaned in slight protest as it swung open. Marinette felt a tightness claw at her throat. She was so close. So close! She pulled the pipe close to her body and stepped into the next room.

The only light that came in was from the windows above her head where the moon was shining through the glass. It just barely lit up the room she was in. Marinette was in some kind of warehouse. What kind she didn't know but there were crates and metal shelves stacked high all around her. Thick metal piping and ventilation ducts ran all over the room. It almost felt like a maze in the dark. Outside the window, the sound of flowing water was louder. If she was tall enough, she was pretty certain that she'd be able to see the Seine River pretty close by.

She chewed her lip and tried to shove away the pervasive thoughts that filled her mind. It had been midmorning when she'd left her house for the swim meet. Now it was late enough to see the moon. Everyone was probably worried about her. Her poor parents. Poor Tikki and Alya. That wasn't even taking into consideration Chat Noir. With the commotion Wavemaster had made there wasn't any way that he hadn't heard about it. She had a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that he'd noticed Ladybug's absence. She prayed that he wasn't going to try and stop Wavemaster on his own. Marinette hoped that just as much as she hoped that Adrien was alright. Another horrible pervasive thought surged through her mind. All she could see was Adrien being pinned in the water, a drowning threat looming over his head, and being thrown into the bleachers. It didn't help that Marinette's brain superimposed Chat Noir's figure over Adrien's in the same exact situation.

Marinette's fingers were so tight around her pole that her knuckles were white as she crept around the shelves and crates. Her footsteps echoed lightly on the concrete as she went. It was a straight shot down between the shelving but the room was so dark and big that Marinette couldn't really tell where a door might be. The exit had to be somewhere though! She had to be close. She had to be.

There was a ear-grinding creak from somewhere in front of her as a door opened. Marinette gasped and froze. "He came back." she whispered, horrified, under her breath.