Runaway: An Adrienette Story

Chapter 25 - Uncovered

Somewhere...

Where am I? Plagg? Are you there? Marinette? Anyone? There's nothing here. All black, just like that figure outside my bedroom door. WAIT...MY BEDROOM DOOR!

Just then, Adrien woke up with a startle but not where he expected to be at that moment. He wasn't in his bedroom. Where am I?...Wait, I remember that window! 

"Welcome to my lair. Seems you finally woke up." 

Hawkmoth. But who is that person next to him, they seem so familiar... Behind the two figures, he sees an all too familiar face on the floor, tied up and unresponsive. 

"Marinette! Marinette! Are you okay? Answer me!" he yells to her as he gets up, running to her side when someone pushes him back.

"Nuh uh, you're not getting any farther than this." To Adrien's surprise, he figures out who Hawkmoth's partner is. 

"Lila?!" 

"Yes, I have re-akumatized her into Chameleon, a supervillain that can transform into anyone she pleases! Chameleon, take care of him!" 

"As you wish, Hawkmoth! Transform me into Ladybug!" In only a split second, Lila transformed into an identical copy of Ladybug herself and was now fighting Adrien. Her goal was to keep Adrien away from Hawkmoth so that their plan could move forward. 

"Get out of my way Lila!" 

"I'm not Lila anymore! I'm Chameleon!"

Meanwhile, Hawkmoth takes his staff and uses it to poke at Marinette. "Ow! What...is going on? Hawkmoth?!" 

"Hello Marinette, don't look at me. Look at your friend over there. Seems he's gotten into a fight," he replies with a smirk upon his face. 

"No...Adrien!!" 

"Marinette?! Marinette! You're okay! I-" 

"Stop talking! Don't worry about me! Keep fighting! Don't let her defeat you!"

With Marinette

"Alright, Hawkmoth. What do you want?" 

"Well you see my dear, I want his miraculous! I know that he is Cat Noir, so I used you to get his attention and get him here! Hahaha!" 

"I know that you're Cat Noir, Adrien!" Hawkmoth yells. "

"And how exactly did you come to that conclusion?!"

"It was simple, I had the lovely chameleon keep lookout over Paris these past few days and she reported to have seen Cat Noir transform and take you from Adrien's room."

"Well, you won't get his miraculous! I won't let that happen!" Marinette states. 

"Oh really...we'll see how that works out for you," he adds as he begins to kick her furiously.

Marinette tries her best to dodge but her restraints aren't helping her in this situation. All she can do is helplessly take the kicks and hope she makes it out.

With Adrien

Looks like Hawkmoth knows my secret so I don't need to hide anything anymore. Guess it's time to transform. "Plagg! Claws Out!" I wonder if Hawkmoth has figured out Ladybug's identity as well? I better keep my mouth shut just in case, for her safety, mine, and the rest of Paris. 

"Come on Cat Noir! Is that the best you've got?" 

"You haven't seen anything yet, Chameleon."

As the fight continues on, Cat Noir finds himself getting weaker and weaker. Ah, why do I feel so exhausted? It's got to be from the smoke. I have to find a way to get to her Akuma. I bet it's the earrings. 

Cat Noir makes an effort to grab at Chameleon's earrings when all of a sudden he detransforms. This has got to be another effect from the smoke.

"Ha! Guess you're all worn out! Take this!" 

"Kid! Lookout!" Plagg yells. Adrien manages to dodge the attack from Chameleon and continues to do so for a good couple minutes while Plagg quickly scarfs down a small cube of camembert to refuel so Adrien can transform once again.

Still without powers, Adrien manages to grab a hold of the earrings. He tosses them to the ground and smashes them with his shoe. With Chameleon caught off guard, he lunges for her yo-yo and successfully takes a hold of it. He uses it to capture the Akuma and de-evilize it.

"Bye Bye Little Butterfly, as m'lady would say." 

As the Akuma flies away, Lila reverts back to her civilian form and falls to the ground. But when she does, he witnesses another horrifying sight taking place right before his eyes.

"Marinette! No!!"