Escape From Paris (OLD VERSION)

Chapter 2

With a gasp Ladybug collapsed onto a hard surface. Her eyes still closed, the heroine weakly tossed up her yo yo and said "Lucky Charm. Spots off."

She hoped the damage done by Chat had been fixed. As the ladybugs flew into the distance Mari cradled her hand which was beginning to throb. Through heavy lidded eyes she surveyed her surroundings. It looked like Marinette was in an alleyway. She knew the miraculous worked in mysterious ways, but this was a little shady.

As Mari looked closer she could faintly see graffiti on the walls, illuminated by the pale moonlight. The teen shifted and her hand brushed something. A scream almost escaped her, but Marinette stifled it because, who knew what type of people she would attract?

Realizing it was her purse Mari took out a few cookies for Tikki as fast as she could with her injuries. The kwamii stirred but didn't open her eyes, and the girl began to panic. Until her ringer went off. It echoed ominously and Marinette quickly answered it but winced as her hand smarted.

Immediately Chloe's voice filtered through.

"Hey, are you alright Mari?"

The simple question made her tear up.

"I-" her voice broke, "I'm not in Paris anymore. Probably not even in France. A-and Chloe, Tikki won't wake up."

Chloe, always straight to the point, said back softly, "There's not much we can do about your location, but to wake up Tikki, did you remember the vial Master Fu gave you before?"

Marinette groaned and almost sounded like normal, "Of course I forgot about that."

She shuffled through her handbag and grasped it. Carefully opening Tikki's mouth Marinette let a few drops dribble in. It took a few moments until the kwamii woke. Mari basically shoved the cookies at her, sniffling.

Chloe talked soothingly, maybe too soothingly, and Marinette drifted off.

When Mari felt herself being picked up, she immediately went into self defence mode. Quickly she kicked her leg up, catching her captor in the face. The man who had been carrying her groaned and she dropped to the ground. The sunlight blinded her eyes though, and gave the guy time to attempt to reach her. Marinette then jumped behind the imposing dude and landed another hard kick, this time to the back of his knees. He fell and Mari knocked him out as she breathed heavily.

She was slightly trembling as the adrenaline faded, so the girl snatched up her bag and rushed out of the alley. After walking for roughly 15 minutes Marinette found a bench to sit on, in an open park. Again she pulled out her phone, and soon saw a text.

It read, "y werent u at school mari-slut did i finally beat u"

Seriously? Marinette thought. Just after I changed my number? She sighed and texted the miraculous team group chat, ignoring the text from one of her classmates.

"Hey guys, I just figured out I'm in Gotham." Well, she had been looking at the school here and had applied.

As soon as she sent the text the girl realized they would probably be sleeping, so she decided to walk to a coffee shop just a block away. Her eyelids drooping a bit, Marinette slowly walked to the counter. The person ahead of her looked about as tired as she felt.

Marinette muttered a few things about being tired and needing to get a job. She was really talking to Tikki, but the guy behind her answered, "Well, I actually have a job opening in my crafting store."

Although Marinette hadn't got off to a good start in the city but for some reason she was drawn to it. There was a darkness hovering, even though it really was a beautiful day. The man repeated himself and Marinette pulled herself out of her thoughts.

"You speak French?"

"Yeah," he answered in French, "And like I said, I have been wanting to hire someone for a while."

"I don't even need to be interviewed?" Marinette exclaimed.

"I can tell you have a creative soul that would work well with the atmosphere in my shop."

"I'd love to try it out," She said while trying not to squeal with excitement.

"Here's my business card, you can come by at 10:30am." the man handed her a card and got his drink.

Holding her scalding hot coffee Marinette hurried to a private corner of the park.

"Tikki! I can't believe he-- Devon Parier -- just offered me a job! It seems too easy. What if he was joking? Or decides I'm not good enough? Then I'll have to back to Paris and--"

"Mari! I'm sure he was not joking. Try not to overthink this, okay?"
Tikki interrupted her chosen before Marinette could start worrying. "Look, it's almost 10:00. You should start walking, it seems close by."

Seeing the address Marinette nodded and stood up resolutely. The store was only a ten minute walk. The door swung open; Mari saw Devon and did a little awkward wave.

Getting straight to the point the man beckoned her over. Rushing over to the counter Marinette excitedly got behind the desk. After a quick explanation Devon disappeared into the back.

The door opened and a young man with the most gorgeous deep green eyes stepped in. He briskly headed to the paint supply section and picked out a few colours before coming to the desk. Marinette was a little disappointed because she would've liked to stare at him a little longer. He was pretty hot. Mari blushed at her own thoughts.

Scowling the man set his paints on the counter top and impatiently waited for the girl to ring up his purchases. He couldn't help but notice how well dressed she was, and how pretty her bright blue eyes were. She caught his eye and blushed, and Damian's permanent scowl softened a few degrees which was saying a lot for him. His heart got a warm feeling, until he shut it down immediately. Damian grabbed his supplies and left, trying to ignore the feeling he had felt in that girls' presence.