Miraculous - Revive

Chapter 14

"Where do we even start? She could be anywhere..."

"I never thought it'd ever come to this."

Marinette looked around as she pulled the hood of her hoodie further over her face, "don't worry... Do you think it's just a phase?"

"I hope so." Adrien adjusted his hood and looked at her, "you're sure about Clair? I mean, from that story... He cared."

"Yeah. He cared for himself." Marinette muttered as she gripped his arm, "he didn't think about how much pain he'd put us through in agreeing to help Mel."

"Yeah..."

"Is that Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng?!"

"Where?!"

Oh, shoot... Marinette and Adrien immediately took off running and turned into an alleyway.

"Now I know how it feels to be you, Adrien..."

"I'm surprised you're just now realizing this."

Marinette leaned against the brick wall and slumped into an exhausted heap on the ground, "did you notice?"

"Notice what?"

"The clones..." Marinette looked around, "they're gone. They've been gone. And our reputations as Cat Noir and Ladybug have gotten better."

"Huh... Now that you mention it, things have gotten better for us... Do you think...?"

"No. It can't be Clair. If anything, it's all just coincidence, I'm sure."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't be too certain just yet. Try to be more open-minded." Adrien set his hand on her head and smiled, "I know it's hard, it's been hard for me and Mel, but it's the truth. You have to look past all those hard feelings and pay attention to the truth. I feel the same way about Clair, but we just have to pay closer attention to the unimaginable."

"Heh..." Marinette chuckled, "those were some pretty wise words..."

"I try. Come on." He shrugged and pulled her up to stand, "we have some research to do."

__________________

"Clair Raven is actually pretty popular." Adrien scrolled through the search results and chuckled, "nothing about him being Star Raven, though. Nothing about Star Raven, either."

"Well, he was given powers to become more popular. But like Clair had said, no one noticed. I guess Star Raven never made the news, huh?"

"Poor guy. Such a waste." Adrien hesitantly typed in his sister's name and quickly skimmed the results, "nothing strange or out of the ordinary. Just a bunch of celebrity news and scams..."

"Scams, huh?" Marinette scanned the screen, "wait, hang on... Click on that."

"Okay." Adrien clicked the site and read the title, "I shouldn't trust this if I were you... They just sprout lies to grab attention. It's not worth your time."

"True, but... Something just caught my eye."

"Hm?"

"That picture."

Adrien took a closer look at the image and sighed, "yep. That's her and Clair Raven. Without a doubt..."

"They're working together after all..." Marinette looked at him, "I don't know what to expect from him anymore..."

"I want to trust him, but..." Adrien stood up, "we still have to be careful around him."

"So... What now?"

Adrien thought for a few seconds, "we just lure them out, somehow. Find a way to get Mel and Clair separated and vulnerable so we can get the truth out, see who's really behind this, and figure out what to do to keep this from happening again."

"But if you think about it..." Marinette tapped her chin thoughtfully, "what does it mean if all the clones are gone and our name's been cleared? Does it mean it's all over?"

"It really seems that way, but there's no harm in being cautious. If anything, I'm sure those clones aren't the worst to come."

"Yeah..." Marinette logged off of the computer and stood up, "let's go."

"Huh? What's the sudden rush?"

"The sooner we get out, the better." Marinette looked around, "people could be following us."

"Okay, just cuz they do that in the movies doesn't make it possible." Adrien chuckled, "listen, why don't we think it over at the hotel or something?"

"I suppose..."

The two stepped out of the library and continued down the sidewalk until Adrien grabbed Marinette's wrist.

"Adrien?"

"You feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"That chill just now."

"I didn't feel... Anything..."

Their muscles tensed as a man came up behind them and set his hand on Marinette's shoulder.

"Oh, excuse me. My mistake." Just as he bumped into her, a needle pierced her side and the syringe was emptied into her system.

"Marinette?!" Adrien grabbed Marinette before she fell to the ground. He looked up at where her mystery attacker disappeared to, "dangit!! Hang in there!"

Adrien carefully removed the needle and studied her face.

Do I call someone? The cops? No, I don't want any bad rumors to spread...

"A-Adrien..." Marinette coughed as her hand grabbed the front of his shirt, "I don't feel..."

"Hang in there, Marinette. I'm going to find you some help..." Adrien held her close as he looked around frantically for help. There's no one around... Where the heck did that guy go?! He looked down frantically at a quickly paling Marinette and clutched her tighter to him, "stay with me, Marinette... Hold on..." He pressed his fingers to her neck, "no, no, no..." He clenched his teeth, held her bridal style, and ran quickly out of the alley, avoiding people and anything that could potentially lead to news-stories going viral. Where am I even going to get with this?! I don't where I can take her! What can I even do to help her...

Suddenly, a white cloth covered Adrien's face. Soon enough, his eyes rolled back and Adrien fell over unconscious next to an unmoving Marinette.