The Algorithm

Chapter nine - Killzone

Adrien's head snapped towards the door, the large wheel in the middle of it was slowly cranking open. The shrill cries of the metal turning sent an itch down his spine. He glanced over at Marinette who was a mess, he had never seen her so terrified. Her lip was quivering with fear, and her eyes were wide and terror stuck. He could hear her whisper the words "no please no" under her breath over and over in a pitiful chant. Marinette's reaction to the creaking door sent Adrien into a panic. This was the girl that wasn't fazed by jumping off a fifteen story building, and yet she was trembling. As the door finally swung open he heard a small whimper escape Marinette. Fifteen or so soldiers walked into the room, holding some sort of long baton.

Adrien could see the fear in her eyes grow with every step the men took towards him, their heavy black boots pounding against the vinyl floor. He felt paralyzed towards the terror growing in size within him, he felt numb towards his own dread. Adrien could only see her and her frightened state. He didn't say it out loud, but hated seeing her in such a vulnerable form, he wanted to scoop her up like a stray puppy, take her home and care for her, tell her she was safe. But he couldn't. For a second he saw her swaying and holding her head, it worried him more than he expected, but she seemed to find her balance and his eyes went back to the soldiers who were coming evermore closer to him.

At that moment, Marinette's instincts took over. Despite her enormous dread. The need to complete her mission smothered the fear until it was only a faint cry. She bolted out of the short cot and stood in front of the small army of masked men. "Stay away from him." She warned, but the small part of her that was still very afraid made her command sound hollow and weak. One of the men cocked his arm back and swung the baton, making a vicious crack as it smacked against her skull. Luckily, Marinette was able to move her arm up in time to shield most of her head from the blow. She toppled to her ground and held her now injured arm close to her chest.

Adrien had just now noticed the V shaped cut on her temple was gone, completely healed over, not even a scar lingered on her skin. He licked the inside of his check with his tongue, the once tender, bleeding flesh was back to normal. Adrien focused on his breath to realize the soreness of his lungs was gone. Had Akuma given them medical aid? No. They wouldn't.

Adrien shook himself from his trance as he saw the man bring his arm up once again to smack her with the metal rod. Adrien jumped, well, more like tripped out of his cot, and threw himself over her, wrapping an arm around her waist while the other was met with the painful smack of the baton against his forearm as he shielded their heads. The hit hurt much more than he had anticipated, the red hot pain tore through his skin and muscle until it made his bone ache. Adrien cried out in pain but kept his body over Marinette, stopping any further attacks, though none came.

Adrien felt one of the other mysterious black armored men grab him by the collar and yank him to his feet. "Get up." It was the same man from the van, the one with the awful sounding voice that was needlessly raspy. The guard with the strained vocal cords grabbed Marinette by her midnight blue locks of hair and pulled her to her feet. Adrien had expected her to fight back or at least pull away from him but she didn't bother defending herself. She just stood there with her head hung low, utterly defeated. She glanced up at him and shook her head slightly, as if warning him that any act of rebellion from this point forward would not be tolerated, and it was best to just follow orders.

Despite the vanquished look on Marinette's face she still found the courage to threaten the soldier with the unnaturally gravelly tone one last time. "You are not allowed to hurt us in the refuge," She said, using the little boldness she had left and projecting it into her voice. "You will be punished for your actions." The soldier coughed up an unpleasant laugh, the other soldiers joining in on his cackling. Adrien imagined him spitting everywhere if it wasn't for his dark helmet catching his saliva.