Hunted

Chapter 9 - Ambush

Adrien opened his eyes to find himself in his bed back home. His shoulder hurt like crazy and he remembered what happened. Gabriel was sitting next to him on a chair. 

"Father." Adrien said. 

"Yes son." He said, 

"Am I gonna be okay?" He asked. 

"Yes, with enough rest and treatment you will be just fine." Adrien breathed a sigh rested. "Son what were you doing with Marinette? I thought we agreed to help bring her back here." 

"The akuma base leader had her. He was using her energy to create some sort of serum to strengthen his soldiers." 

"If only I could have thought of that earlier." Gabriel said. "My troops did enter that building to secure a certain technician for the job though." Adrien scowled and crossed his arms. 

"She was in pain when I found her, and I won't let you put her through the same pain." 

"Until your shoulder heals you are going nowhere." Gabriel said. He got a call and left the room. 

"The technician is gone we had to retreat." Admiral Kubdel said. 

"Ugh well at least we have a lead on finding Marinette. I want the troops searching the forest till she is found." Admiral Kubdel nodded and hung up. 

"Continue the search!" he called to the troops who headed into the forest.

Marinette, Alya, and Max headed through the forest towards Alya's house and after a couple hours they arrived. They all entered and found Nino sitting on a chair playing video games. He was still resting from his injuries. 

"Marinette! It's good to see you dudette." He said. She smiled and Alya led them all into the sitting room. 

"Nino this is Max, Marinette's new friend, he is in on the secret too." Max was immediately friends with Nino when they began geeking out about video games. Alya put her arm around Marinette who looked sad. 

"Are you doing okay girl? I mean your friend was bleeding to death last time you saw him." 

"No, I'm not okay." Marinette said storming away to the back of the house. Alya was surprised at her attitude and looked after her with concern. Marinette ran into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her lip looked swollen and her eyes were puffy with tears. 

"Adrien I..." She began. "I love you." She said to herself. She couldn't believe she felt this way, but she realized that she had never felt the same way about someone before. She closed her eyes and focused on him and then she saw him. He was laying on his bed with a bandage on his shoulder and arm. She breathed a sigh of relief seeing that he was safe. She snapped out of her trance and washed her face and hands. She took a deep breath and came out of the bathroom to find a concerned Alya waiting for her. She held out her arms and Marinette accepted her embrace. 

"I'm sorry Alya. I'm just so stressed and I can barely handle it anymore." 

"It's okay to be stressed girl. I don't know what I'd do if I were in your shoes." They settled down for the night and all got comfortable on their different beds.

Marinette awoke to loud banging on the door. She crept out of bed and peeked out the window and was horrified to see Admiral Kubdel along with dozens of other troops surrounding the house and pounding on the door. 

"This is bad." Marinette whispered to herself and she ran into Alya and Nino's bedroom. She jumped on top of Alya shaking her. 

"Alya wake up!" She whisper shouted. "They are here! They've come for me." Alya jumped out of bed and pulled Nino along with her. "We need to get Max now." Marinette said and Alya ran to where he was sleeping on a sleeping bag. 

"Max get up we've got trouble." He rubbed his eyes and stood up to find the rest of his friends looking concerned and loud pounding on the door. 

"What do we do?" Marinette said with panic. Alya motioned for them to squeeze in her closet and they hid behind clothes. Alya then bravely walked towards the door and opened it up. An angry Admiral Kubdel was standing at the door noticeably towering over Alya. 

"What do you want so late in the night? Do you know what time it is?" Alya said yawning but really her heart was pounding in her chest. Troops poured into the house before she could stop them. "Hey! This is my house! You can't just barge in!" Alya said watching as they ransacked her perfect home. 

"Find her!" Admiral Kubdel said in a stern voice. "I know she is here, and you can't hide her from me." He said. 

"I don't know what you are talking about. Only my husband and I live here." Alya said. Admiral Kubdel pushed her to a chair. 

"You are an excellent liar, but not that good." He said. Some men guarded Alya while Kubdel searched the house. Marinette and Max held their breath in the back of the closet and tried not to move. Sweat dripped down their heads as they heard the room being ransacked. They could hear Nino being moved from the room and then the closet door opened. This was it, if they moved an inch they were done for. They breathed a sigh of relief with what they heard next. 

"There's nothing here sir." Admiral Kubdel scowled, 

"Well if we don't find them, I'll just have to take you instead." He said to Alya. She was willing to sacrifice everything for her friend even if it meant losing her life. She slowly stood up to go and change. 

"Get ready, you are coming with us." They said as she left. Alya changed out of her pjs into comfortable travel clothes and walked out. Admiral Kubdel cuffed her hands and Marinette couldn't bare it any longer. She stepped out of the closet. 

"What do you think you're doing?" Max asked. 

"Saving Alya." She said. Max tried to convince her not to go but she made up her mind and left. She ran into the room. "Please stop! Don't take her away." Alya looked at Marinette with worry. She didn't want her friend getting hurt. Admiral Kubdel smiled. 

"Willing to give up everything for your friends? how noble." He said, "Go change and come back to me." He said. Marinette went and slipped into and outfit and came straight up to Kubdel and Alya. Kubdel didn't let Alya go though. Marinette was confused. 

"Tie her!" Kubdel yelled and Marinette's hands were tied behind her back. Kubdel grabbed her chin to face him. "You will be punished severely when we get back to the base." He said. Marinette should've been terrified but she wasn't. She just stared back at him with a smirk. At this he slapped her in the face and Alya gasped. "Back to the truck!" He yelled and pulled Marinette and Alya with him. 

"Let Alya go!" Marinette yelled and she was met with another smack on her back which caused her to nearly topple over. They kept moving and were thrown in the back of the truck and locked inside. 

Nino and Max were horrified that the girls had just been taken away. Max came out after they left to comfort Nino. Once they were alone, Marinette spoke to Alya. 

"Are you okay Alya?" 

"Girl I'm fine, but I'm more worried about you. I couldn't bear to watch them hit you." 

"They've done much worse and I'm sure they will when I get back to their base, so I want to promise you this. I will convince them to let you go even if it means sacrificing my freedom or my life." She said. Alya had tears in her eyes. 

"I don't deserve to have you as a friend Marinette." She said. Marinette wrapped her hands around Alya's and they both waited for their fates.