Miraculous Games

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen:

"-and then he said that he was going to take drastic measures. Dude, he's up to something, and I don't like it."

Adrien leaned back on his couch, biting his lip and drumming his fingers against his folded arms. His mind was going a thousand miles an hour and he had barely registered anything Nino had said. Was his father trying to kill off Marinette? Why would he do that? And even so, was he just disapproving of her or actually planning on sending deadly things after her.

"This isn't good..." he muttered.

Nino scoffed. "That's what I've been trying to tell you, man."

"So that whole charms face off last night was all planned out?"

"By the sounds of things, dude, yeah."

Adrien rubbed his face with both hands, trying to make sense of everything. What could his father possibly do? Well, for one, he could tell the Game Master to make more traps. And secondly, he could make the media hate her. That would pull her down in the ranks and receive help from the outside world.

Unexpectedly, he yawned. He was still exhausted from the night before, having stayed up all night to be on watch for Marinette and Nathanael. His eyelids were so heavy, it was hard to not nod off, but now with this new information, there was no way he could just go to sleep.

"What are we going to do? I want the Miraculous Games to be fair for everyone. Bias shouldn't decide someone's fate," he muttered.

Nino shrugged and leaned against the arm of the couch. "Though I have to agree with you on that one, the games are a sick and twisted place. It's a trap for everyone who steps foot inside."

"A trap..."

Adrien began to theorize. He knew where every trap was in the entire arena. If he could just look at the plans, he could warn Marinette.

But how?

He had a feeling that his father would attack before night came around again, but he wasn't sure how he was to go about it. He couldn't just upright and leave as Chat and jump into the arena. He would be caught and the games would have been for nothing. And he didn't know if Ladybug would get pulled into the situation. News of a protector charm was already spreading like wildfire through the media.

No, being caught couldn't be an option.

Nino waved his hand in front of his friend's face. "Dude, are you psyching out or something?"

Adrien blinked, coming back to reality. He looked up at his friend and gave him a guilty smile. "Sorry, Nino. I guess I'm just really tired."

Nino gave him a scan through. "Yeah, you don't look too hot, dude. It looks like you got attacked by a wild bird."

"More like three of them..."

"Huh?"

Adrien forced a smile. "Nothing!"

His friend gave him a raised eyebrow but didn't bring up his comment.

"So... what are you going to do, man? Your father is picking sides."

"Nino," Adrien stated, "I have been too."

"Well, you're allowed to! This whole thing is for you, bro."

Adrien bit the inside of his cheek in order to stop him from spilling his secret. You don't know the half of it, buddy...

"In all honesty, Nino, I have no idea what I'm going to do. There really isn't anything I can do."