Keeper of the Lost Cities: The Second Moonlark (a KOTLC/MLB crossover)

Chapter Thirty-Two: Marinette

 "Okay, keep moving," Keefe said. "And make sure those two don't trigger anything."

"But we still have to move fast," Dex said. "Sophie and I know firsthand what happens during a Neverseen interrogation."

Okay, so... out of habit... Marinette and Adrien may have transformed into their superhero alter-egos. And since they were running out of time, they didn't really have a chance to transform back. Besides, having a lucky charm and cataclysm power could come in handy.

However, Marinette felt the most worried. As far as she knew, her best friend had been gagged, knocked out, and was probably who knows where. And Dex and Sophie kept saying that they had gone through the experience, and they never liked talking about it, so it was clearly bad.

"Best bet is that they took her to the hideout underneath here," Biana guessed. "Tam, check the shadow footprint."

Marinette was confused, but she stood and watched as Tam swirled shadows around the area.

"It's there," he said, pointing to the square in front of the Eiffel Tower. "The hideout is just under there."

"But isn't the hideout destroyed?" Fitz pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's called reusing," Sophie replied bitterly. Marinette had noticed that Sophie tended to be a lot more annoyed with Fitz, despite Biana saying that Sophie used to crush on him.

What exactly did she miss?

She was just lucky that no one was awake.

"Hurry," Sophie said. "They may have burned her or have already started making the poison that they were planning for Dex and I."

Marinette ran even faster.

They wouldn't kill Alya...

Would they?

"It's the Neverseen," Sophie said, her voice hollow as the teens arrived at the area. "They'll do anything to get what they want."

Marinette felt her body begin to shut down already. She may not have been able to be physically around Alya anymore, but she couldn't fathom her best friend...

She couldn't even think it.

"Alright," Marella said, kneeling down. "This isn't gonna open itself."

"But how?" Adrien asked, kicking a stone. "It's all stuck together."

Marella responded by sending a blast of fire at the bricks, causing the cement to melt, bricks falling down and revealing a small chute.

"This will lead us down to the hideout, I presume," she said, sliding inside.

Marinette didn't move as all but her and Keefe had slid down the chute.

"Hey, your friend's gonna be okay," Keefe said, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "So let's go rescue her."

Marinette took in a last breath of courage before she slid down the metal tube, the rush of air stealing away her screams as she tumbled into a dark and dusty space, Marella holding out a small ball of fire in her hand to try and light up the area.

"Strange," she said. "Why wouldn't they have any balestones?"

"What are those?" Marinette asked as Keefe crashed into the area.

"Special crystals that have small blue flames in them," Sophie said. "They're uncontrollable if they're released from the crystals."

"Is everything around here dangerous?" Marinette groaned before Linh covered her mouth.