Pawns In His Game • Marichat

Chapter Eleven

"Just let me know I'll be at the door, at the door. Hoping you'll come around. Just let me know I'll be on the floor, on the floor. Maybe we'll work it out," Meet Me in the Hallway ~ Harry Styles.

Helpful hint; don't let your guard down

"Marinette!" Chat reached an arm out for her, fear clearly written on his face as he searched for her.

"I'm fine, Chat." Marinette answered, groaning as she sat up. She was going to be pissed if her back was bruised- the bruises from the last akuma had just healed! Her wrist was throbbing though, having landed on it. She grimaced in pain as she spoke again. "It was a short fall, not too much damage... I think."

Hearing her voice, Chat dropped down next to her, finally able to see her now that he was with a few inches from her. His night vision allowed him to see the green version of Marinette, which also allowed him to get a good look at her wrist. He was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to look like that, and with their luck it might be broken.

Gingerly, he inspected her injury, wincing with her. Yeah, it was definitely broken.

"I'm fine, Chat," Marinette repeated, pulling her arm away from him. "It's sprained I think, but it only hurts a little," A lie, but the pain was bearable enough for her to continue. She was already a burden to him without her suit, she didn't want him to have to deal with her wrist as well.

Chat was about to respond but was interrupted by the sound of a groan.

"Please tell me that was you,"

"I was hoping you'd say that it was you," Chat said before a sudden thought popped in his head. He let out a gasp, shocking Marinette.

"What? What is it?"

"What if it's a zombie?!"

The room was deafly silent, even the so called 'zombie' quit groaning at Chat's answer. Marinette narrowed her eyes at him, even though she couldn't quite see him. Chat saw this, but chose to ignore her look, opting to look in the direction of his zombie.

"... A zombie?" Marinette asked, making sure she wasn't just hearing things.

"Yeah! We don't know what this guy can do!" Chat defended himself. He could feel the heat crawling up the back of his neck and the tips of his ear were blazing in embarrassment. Even though he had mindlessly blurted that out, he now realized that in order to become a zombie he would have had to find a dead person. And although the Puzzlemaker was a crazy guy, he didn't peg him as a murderer.

Though, he has done a fair amount of damage to both him and Marinette so he couldn't really say much on the guy's behalf.

He felt something, maybe a wall, push him and Marinette toward the noise. It stopped rather quickly, but Chat could tell that the room was suddenly a lot smaller than it had originally been. What was with this guy and small enclosed spaces?

Suddenly lights turned on, burning his eyes as his night vision turned off seconds later after blinding him.

"Ow!" Chat covered his eyes with his hands as he rolled around the best he could, eyes screwed shut as he dealt with the burning sensation.

"You jerk!" Chat yelled at the Puzzlemaker as he continued rolling around like a log. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"

"... Maybe. But you had it coming! I mean, a zombie? Really?"

Great. Now even the psycho is making fun of me.

Chat twisted his lips to a pout as he sat up, his eyes starting to feel better. He wouldn't be surprised if Plagg had kept the night vision on longer than necessary after the lights turned on. It just seemed like a Plagg thing to do.

He blinked, ridding his vision of blurriness as he focused on an outline in front of him and Marinette.

"Is that..." Marinette never finished as Chat launched himself forward, his body moving him before his mind could catch up. That was him, he knew it. He could feel it was him, so why did his stomach hurt so much? He ran across the thin bridge separating them, paying no attention to deep pits on either side.

"F- Mr. Agreste!" He caught his slip up as he continued running towards his dad in excitement and relief before he was suddenly shoved to the ground by none other than Marinette. The blunette used all of her weight to keep the hero down. Her gut told her something was wrong, and she would never betray that feeling. As Ladybug she relied on her instincts, and this instinct was telling her not to get any closer.

"What are you doing Marinette?" Chat hissed at her, trying to buck her off of him as he glared at her with piercing green eyes that sent shivers down her spine. Still, she held on her grip never loosening.

"Something's wrong Chat! I don't think that's the real Gabriel Agreste, or if it is, something is wrong with him!" Chat Noir didn't listen to her reasoning as he used all his power, pushing himself up. In the process, Marinette fell off of him in surprise, her broken wrist slamming against the ground as she yelped.

Tears littered the corners of her eyes as pure pain and agony ran up her arm and she bit her lip in a desperate attempt to keep the tears at bay. Chat's glare softened as he looked at her in concern before he stood up.

"He needs help, Marinette. That's him!" He knew it was him! Why was she telling him otherwise?

"Chat, duck!" His body moved on reflex as he moved into a crouch position. A sudden gust blew his messy hair and his eyes widened in realization. Before he could move however, a hand grabbed the back of his neck and lifted him into the air and over the edge of the bridge. Chat looked into his father's eyes, but instead of the familiar ice blue a dark violet stared back at him. The veins were a deep purple as well, and his pupils were so small he could barely see them.

"F-" Marinette never got to hear what Chat was going to say as she pulled him to her with her good arm as she kicked Gabriel Agreste out of the way.

"What did I tell you?" She asked as Gabriel let go of Chat to stumble back a few steps. Chat grasped onto her as she pulled him to her chest and away from the danger.

"His eyes- Marinette they were purple!"

"Chat Noir... The Puzzlemaker told us we would get Gabriel Agreste and Tikki back once we escaped his maze. We haven't escaped yet." Marinette explained softly as Gabriel began to advance towards them once more.

Chat's whole demeanor fell as he realized she was right. He wasn't getting his dad back yet. It was dumb of him to even think that. And he didn't even think about Marinette's friend Tikki either, too blinded with the idea of saving his father.

"You're right, Marinette. I'm sorry." She nodded, as a way of accepting his apology. Gabe took another swing at them, growls escaping from him as the leaned back far enough to dodge it.

"Congratulations! Our dear little Mari was smart enough to figure it out!" The Puzzlemaker's voice rang out through the area, pausing the two teens for a moment. The second long distraction was enough for Gabriel to get a good grasp on Marinette before throwing himself at the edge of the bridge, taking her with him.

"Marinette!" The Puzzlemaker's laugh resounded as Chat barely snatched her hand in his, his front pressed firmly on the ground as he landed with a thud. Seconds later, Marinette cried out in pain. Looking over the edge Chat Noir saw her holding Gabriel with the hand that was attached to her broken wrist. Gabriel wasn't making it any easier on her as he wildly quaked in her grip, teeth gnawing on her injury.

Tears ran down her face and Chat tried pulling them up with the little grip he had on the bridge while simultaneously keeping himself from sliding in with them.

"Woah~ You guys look like you're in trouble! I wonder how this will turn out!"

Finally updated! I rewrote most of the chapters I lost, so I should be back on track!

Until next time, peace!