The Algorithm

Chapter eleven - Sedatives and Kindling

With a fleet of enemy soldiers coming at them on ATVs, Marinette bolted into action. Her head was cloudy and her vision a bit blurred but her instincts were as sharp as an arrowhead. An idea formed as she surveyed the situation. Marinette started rummaging around in the rocks surrounding the mountain of boulders. She came across one that resembled flit and tossed it to Adrien. "Grab some of that dry grass and start a fire." She instructed.

Adrien looked confused at her order. "But won't those soldiers see it? He asked.

Marinette continued to look through the pebbles and stones and found one that looked like pyrite. "Yeah, they will, but so will the plane."

Understanding hit Adrien and he did as he was told. He uprooted a dried-out bush and placed it on a flat stone surface. Marinette tossed him a second rock, this one had a bit of a glitter effect to it and it shimmered in the faint mood light. Marinette didn't have to explain the rest to him, he slammed the rocks together continuously and sparks began to ignite that resembled small fireworks as they sprinkled down onto the bush.

Marinette held her hands up towards the tall tower of boulders and focused her attention on them falling. She knew that if she could make the giant stones fall, the soldiers would have to swerve around the wall of rocks. It would buy them a little time but Marinette was still having trouble with her powers, the familiar vibration of her nerves was gone. "Come on." She muttered to herself. It wasn't working and the ground started to sift under her feet. She leaned against the rocks for support and tried to clear her mind. She saw out of the corner of her eyes, a tongue of flame sparked to life on the bush.

The dried weed began burning quickly and Adrien picked it up by the stem. Marinette gave up on the idea of using her powers and just grabbed Adrien's arm and took off running. The Akuma soldiers were still a ways away, about two kilometers, but now that they could see the flame they would soon catch up. Adrien started waving the makeshift torch overhead to get the attention of the aircraft.

The pilot noticed the light flailing about in the darkness. "Sir, Ma'am, could you come to the flight deck please?" He asked through the intercom. A tall man and a redheaded woman appeared through the door.

"What is it?" The man asked with a scowl that sent a wave of intimidation over the young pilot.

"There seems to be a flare of some kind in the distance." He stammered, clearly daunted by the man even though Plagg's grim expression and tone were unintentional. The woman leaned forward and her eyes widened.

"That's Marinette, land the plane." She ordered.

"Tikki look." The green-eyed man said while pointed past the two running figures to a herd of ATVs stampeding over the desert floor.

"Oh no." The woman said under her breath.

Adrien and Marinette smiled bigger than ever when they saw the nose of the plane dip down towards the earth. Rescue finally seemed within reach. But as always, their celebration was cut short by the blood childing sound of gunshots. Marinette didn't have her powers to protect them from the fly sedative darts so their only hope was to somehow outrun them. The two of them were grateful for the rest they had taken after Marinette's dizzy spell, it gave them the strength to carry themselves as they sprinted across the dusty ground. The metal needles were falling short and missing them by at least ten meters but Akuma had horsepower while they were traveling by foot and the ATVs were catching up quickly.

The makeshift torch was burning fast and the flying sparks were scorching Adrien's sleeve. The once small tongue of flame was an inferno burning out of control. Unfortunately, the heat of the flame caused his stolen uniform to catch fire. Marinette took the torch from him and stopped it into the earth until there was nothing but smoke billowing from the burnt grass, but that didn't stop Marinette from kicking sand over it, just in case. Adrien beat at the flames engulfing his forearm with his free gloved hand. The black fabric was thick and didn't burn easily so Adrien walked away unscathed with only a stream of smoke flying from the material, but they lost time with the whole ordeal and the soldiers were almost on top of them. Volleys of darts were arching in the air as they plummeted towards the ground. The sharp needle ends stabbing into the dried, sun beat, earth.