The Lone Vixen - EDITING

Chapter Thirty-One: Friends in Low (and High) Places

Thirty-two minutes after Alya had left, they "talked" to Carapace.

Thirty-three minutes after Alya had left, Adrien flipped out and attracted the attention of the akuma guard.

Thirty-four minutes after Alya had left, a battle commenced.

Fifty-nine minutes after Alya had left, the akuma was purified.

An hour after Alya had left, they had found the room containing the kidnapped men.

As the group of three turned the corner after their draining fight, they saw the terrible scene laid out in front of them. Four men, though they looked more like boys at this point, were leaning against the stone walls of their chamber, drained of energy and patience. "W-what happened?" Adrien sputtered out. There were coughs from a tall, thin, darker skinned man. He had a torn brown blanket wrapped around his body, but you could see he wore green underneath it. A green hood covered all but his eyes, which glowed yellow in the low light. He beckoned them near, his foot tapping on the stone wall. With every step, the heroes knew more and more that this was Carapace, their friend and companion. Adrien ran. He didn't bother with walking. This was his close friend, and he had abandoned and hurt him. They embraced, and a smile played on Pace's face, one that hadn't been there in a long time. Adrien let go of Carapace, his own smile falling. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not. I hurt you, and ran from it. I did something bad, and I somehow found my way out of here. You continue to do good, and the path is invisible to you."

"No. It's not." Adrien cocked his head. "I've known for a while how to get out of here, but I had to bide my time. It was too dangerous to get these men out, free the women, and then lead them all to safety. But now, Hawkmoth and Mayura have fled to build their plan back from the pieces of their old one. Now we c-" Carapace noticed Ladybug, noticed her tears, and noticed her coming towards him. She threw her arms around him and cried into his shoulder.

"Pace!"

"Shh, Lady. It's okay. I'm here. We're all going to be okay." Adrien was a little jealous that Marinette hadn't treated him like that when they reunited, but then he realized that Pace and Lady were like brother and sister. They had a different dynamic than love-interests. She continued to cry into his shoulder. Pace bent over to whisper in her ear, "Mare, it's okay."

"What a minute. Hold the phone." Chloe laughed.

"No one says that anymore." She muttered.

"You knew who she was from the beginning?!" Both Ladybug and Carapace blushed.

"I-I... he found out by accident."

"And do you know who he is?" her eyes widened and she looked Carapace in his golden eyes. He nodded as he looked at her.

"You probably will too soon."

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked in confusion.

"The only reason I've been able to stay transformed this long is because I didn't use shellter."

"When did you use shellter?"

"A little bit later into you guys fighting the guard. Don't you see it?" the group looked around and saw the boundaries of green glowing around the men in the room. "I didn't want them to get hurt, and I knew they'd be safe soon, so there was no real need to keep Wayzz in the miraculous forever." His miraculous beeped to prove this, indicating he had about a minute left. His attention was brought to Queen Bee who was standing behind Chat Noir. She was holding one of her arms, and her foot was moving back and forth on the ground behind her. "So, who's this young recruit?" Queenie blushed and moved forward to see Carapace. He was quite handsome, but not her type.