Apprentice

Part 12: Beehive

As Mari watched Luka fly off, she sighed and looked nervously at her hands on the balcony. A gust of wind blew and her pigtails waved back in the breeze. Marinette put her hair down and closed her eyes letting the evening air soak over her. 

There was so much on her mind. 
She was in danger, her friends were in danger, Alya was Rena Rouge, Luka's an Apprentice, Hawkmoth has taken over and...

Mari stopped thinking and saw a heroine in yellow standing on a chimney looking up at the fortress in the sky. Queen Bee turned her head and waved in Mari's direction. 

Over the past half-year, Chloe had become a great person. She became close with Alya and Mari, and her friendship with Adrien became more real than ever. 

Queen Bee leaped across the rooftops and landed on Marinette's balcony. 

"Hey!" 
"Oh, hello Queen Bee." 

Queen Bee stood hands on hips beside Mari. She smiled happily, then saw Marinette's face. Her mood dropped dramatically. 

"Did you see Luka too?" Queen Bee asked. Marinette looked surprised. 

"You...you know Luka too?" 

"Heh. Yeah." Queen Bee blushed. Marinette smiled. Ever since what Alya called 'Lukanette' didn't work out, Queen Bee has seemed to start liking Viperon. Everyone knew Luka was Viperon. Who else would it be? Mari suddenly felt down. With Luka as an Apprentice now his mind was messed up. He was loving Mari again, and she thought he was over her...right?

"Are you okay? I know Apprentices are scary, and I'm sorry you had to deal with one. What did he say to you?" Queen Bee asked looking concerned. 

"Um...yeah he just told me his...his plan," Marinette said looking down. "He thinks he can defeat Hawkmoth." 
"What?" Queen Bee said shocked. "Like, from the inside? How?" 
"He thinks he can wait until Ladybug is captured. Then when everyone is off guard he'll attack and take Hawkmoth's miraculous. That's what he told me." Mari nervously crossed her arms in the night air that was getting colder. 

Queen Bee thought. Then she turned to Mari. 

"That isn't going to work. Hawkmoth can control him." Queen Bee said looking up at the fortress. Just as Marinette was about to answer a laugh came out of the sky. They looked up and saw a swarm of Apprentices swooping by. Queen Bee turned to Mari. 

"Let's go. I know a safe place." Queen Bee pointed into the distance. 
"Where are we going?" Mari asked. 
"Wherever you're going, I'm coming too." Rena Rouge said suddenly there behind them. Queen Bee jumped. 

"RENA! Don't sneak up on me!" Queen Bee playfully shoved Rena Rouge. "Besides, are you even friends with Marinette?" She asked. 

Marinette and Rena Rouge cracked up laughing. 
"Yeah, we're friends."
"Best friends."

They agreed they'd go. Mari left a note for the boys outside her door, and she hopped on Rena's back. 

"So...where are we going?" Mari asked. 

"Yeah. I want to protect Marinette too but where are you taking us, Queen?" Rena said holding onto her best friend who was piggy-back riding her. Queen Bee turned to the skyline then looked over her shoulder. 

"We're going to my beehive!" she said pulling out her spinning top and smiling over her shoulder.

They leaped of Marinette's balcony and jumped across roofs. Queen Bee ran ahead as Rena Rouge followed with Marinette on her back. A chilly wind blew over them and Mari shivered. On their way, an Apprentice saw them and swooped down to attack!

"VENOM!" 

Queen Bee paralyzed him midair, and he landed in a tree beside the river.

They continued on through the night until the three made it the Bourgeois Hotel. Queen Bee landed on the pavement behind the hotel building. Rena Rouge put down Marinette and they asked Queen Bee what they were doing here. 

Queen Bee walked up to a wall and tapped one of the bricks. She leaned towards it and whispered

"Open, open, open! Beehive entry open." 

A tiny screen appeared on the brick she tapped. She typed in the password: 'queenBFF7394'.

Then a secret passage opened! A huge door revealed itself right in front of them! Rena Rouge and Mari stared. Queen Bee opened the door. She turned and saw their surprised faces. 

"Come on. This is my secret lair. No one will find Mari in here." 

Queen Bee disappeared into the dark corridor. Marinette and Rena looked at each other and shrugged. They linked arms and started down the staircase underground going deeper into what Queen Bee called her 'Beehive.' 

The door closed behind them as they too vanished into the tunnel into the only heroes' lair...

Hey, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it, and part 13 should be out really soon. I'm so happy that we're up to 300 views! It means a lot that you've stuck around to read my dumb thing. Please vote if you enjoyed. Thanks!