A Miraculous Story Book 3: Rivals Part 1: Queen Wasp 2

• Resurrection of the Queen •

Adrien Agreste's bedroom. The one and only.
Four of them sat in a circle on the ground, next to the piano and behind the couch.
Adrien, Luka, Marinette, and a cat. A black cat, to be exact.

"Eenie, meenie, miney, moe," Marinette droned, pointing at each of the other characters present with her, and changing with each syllable. This elimination game was simple. Whoever she was pointing at at the end of the rhyme was out of the game, chosen by her to not be the victor.
"Catch a tiger by its toe..." she continued, pointing at the black cat.
"...if it hollers let it go..." she pointed at Luka Couffaine,
"...my mom says to pick the very best one..." Adrien Agreste...
"...and you are NOT it!" She ended the little rhyme pointing at the cat.

In turn, the feline was taken aback, offended, and with a disappointed flick of his tail, sauntered out of the room.
Adrien and Luka moved to take the empty spot he left behind, and the game started over again, with Marinette choosing the next boy to be out.

"... and you are not..." she paused before finishing the rhyme, her finger hovering in the air. Who should she choose? Adrien or Luka? The two of them stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to make a choice.
Choose. Choose now. Make a choice, a voice said to her.
"...it." Marinette finished. She made her choice, pointing at Luka. He was not it, out, eliminated from the game. Not the winner.
However, instead of the blue-haired boy being at the other end of her finger, it was Kagami Tsurugi.
"I never hesitate," she whispered.
Suddenly she disappeared in a blink of an eye, and Marinette turned and saw her at the door of the room, preparing to leave. Adrien was holding her hand, and the black cat was comfortably asleep in her other arm.
Kagami promptly turned around with the boy and the creature and left the room.

Immediately Marinette stood up, reaching out to the three of them as they left. This can't be how it ends! She chose Adrien to win the game! She opened her mouth to cry out, but instead of her own voice leaving her lips, it was the voice of Chloé Bourgeois.
"Adrien, Adrien!" she called, beginning to run after them, but a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders, holding her back.
"Adrien! Come back to me!"

Then her voice began to sound very distant. As if the voice from her lips was coming from somewhere else.

Suddenly Marinette sat upright, immediately wide awake. Looking around, she realized she was back in her room on the floor. She wiped the drool off her cheek with the back of her wrist and checked the time. It was 5:29, only about half an hour since Alya left.
That was a strange dream...
There was a notification on her phone screen, reminding her that she was going to watch a rehearsal for Kitty Section at 6:30 pm. She needed the reminders, as she often forgot and always ended up late.

"Adrien! Come back!" Chloé's voice could be heard again, still very distant, causing Marinette to look up from her phone in confusion.

Huh? Am I still dreaming?

Marinette stood slowly, regaining her sense of equilibrium. "Tikki?" she said aloud.

"Marinette?" The kwami groaned from under her pillow on the bed. She'd hidden there as soon as Marinette got home due to the fact Alya would be there and fell asleep.

"Am I still dreaming?" Marinette went to the circular window and peered through to the outside world where Chloé's voice seemed to be coming from.

She saw none other than Queen Wasp, flying through town on a platform formed by her signature yellow, glowing wasps. The venomous villain was shouting out the name of her childhood best friend and love of her life as she moved.
Marinette's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. Chloé had, yet again, been akumatized, and this time it looked like it was because she missed Adrien. That's when she realized something else. Chloé was heading straight for his house.