Heartbreaker 💔 (A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic)

4- Hostage

The building shakes as Marinette reaches the principal's office. She loses her balance and falls against the wall. "What was that, Tikki?"

Her kwami peeks out from her purse. "I have no idea, Marinette. Do you think someone's been akumatized?"

"I don't—Plagg?!" Her eyes widen as the black cat flies in her face. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you with Cat Noir?" She sees what he's holding. "And why do you have his ring?"

"It's a long story, Marinette, but right now it's safe with you." Plagg drops the ring in her hands.

"What do you mean? What's going on?"

Plagg raises his paws in defense. "I can't say anymore without revealing my owner's identity."

Marinette sighs. "Alright. I trust you. Here, you can rest in my bag with Tikki." She opens the pouch and the kwami flies in. She slips the ring on her finger. "Let's go back to class. Maybe someone saw what happened."

Plagg and Tikki share a worried look.

As Marinette reaches the classroom, she gasps when she sees the state of her classmates. Sad, miserable, and crying, their skin slowly turning to stone from Heartbreaker's power. "Oh no! What happened?" She runs over to her best friend. Her transformation isn't complete yet. "Alya, what happened? What's going on? Why does everyone look like statues?"

"I-I... I have no idea, Marinette," She chokes out, fighting against the pain. "One second we're in class and wham! New supervillain comes in and zaps us all. The way he was talking... what he was saying... I think it's Adrien."

Marinette's eyes widen. "Adrien's been akumatized?" 

"I think so." Alya winces as the side of her face turns hard and gray. "He's dangerous, Mari. Hide. Ladybug and Cat Noir will be here soon."

"I hope so, Alya." Marinette wonders how she'll defeat Adrien without Cat Noir, or if she'll even be able to bring herself to fight Adrien. If she doesn't, all her friends and everyone in Paris will soon be lifeless statues, and she couldn't let that happen. "Alya?"

The rest of Alya's face turns to stone. The color in her eyes fade. "Hide..." She whispers, the last of her breath.

"Alya? No!" Marinette's eyes glisten with tears and she hugs her best friend. "I'm going to fix everything. I promise."

Marinette turns and leaves, on her guard as she walks around the school. She didn't know if it was safe to transform yet. If Adrien was watching, so was Hawkmoth. The school's quiet, she notes, and wonders if Adrien got to everyone. Would he hurt her, too? She takes careful steps down the stairs.

There's a soft thud behind her as Heartbreaker jumps down. As she turns around, her foot slips on the step, and she falls back. Heartbreaker leaps forward and sneaks an arm around her waist, catching her before she hits the ground, and he gives her a smile. "Always here to catch you. Remember?"

Marinette takes in his transformation with wide eyes. She runs a hand across his cheek. "Adrien, what happened?"

"Adrien isn't here anymore." He jumps up and sets her down on the platform. "I'm Heartbreaker now."

Guilty, she whispers, "You've been akumatized."

"That doesn't matter now." Heartbreaker grabs her hand. "What matters is that I've found you."

"Adrien..."

His hand reaches out and tucks a stand of hair behind her ear.

"Are you going to hurt me?"

Heartbreaker laughs. "How can you ask that? Of course not. You're the only person who cares. The only one who wasn't cruel or devious."

Marinette believes Adrien wouldn't hurt her, but any sly tricks to get away would definitely change his mind. Which means she has to play along in order to come up with a plan to stop him. "Why did you turn the others to stone?"

"Why not?" He counters.

"Don't you think that's wrong?"

He raises and eyebrow and asks, "And what they did to me? Was that not wrong? They embarrassed me! They teased me, mocked me! They didn't care about my real feelings, so why should I about theirs?"

Marinette grabs his hand. "Because after everything, they are still human. They are still people, even with their cruel jokes, Adrien."

"I am not Adrien!" He shouts, angry. "I am Heartbreaker!"

Marinette steps back. "And I am leaving." She needed to transform to fight him, but standing here in front of him, she risks exposing her identity to two people.

"No you're not." Heartbreaker grabs her arm. "I promised I wouldn't hurt you, but that doesn't mean I won't use you as bait to lure Ladybug to me."

"What?"

"I want Ladybug's earrings."

Marinette crosses her arms. "You're actually working with Hawkmoth? Seriously?"

Heartbreaker shrugs. "Maybe, maybe not. I haven't decided yet, but Ladybug has two things I want and I'm going to claim them."

Marinette's eyes widen. How could Heartbreaker know Ladybug had Cat Noir's ring, too? Did Hawkmoth see Plagg flying around without his holder?

Heartbreaker extends his hand. "So, are you going to cooperate or is this going to be difficult?"

Marinette didn't see the point in fighting yet. Being turned to stone wouldn't help Paris. She nods and takes his hand. "I'll cooperate."

"Good choice."