Chapter Forty-Two:

Ladybug groaned and rubbed her head. What was going on? Why did her head hurt so much? She sat up, rubbing her temples and trying to get her bearings. Glancing around the room, she saw her friends and fellow Charms all moaning and getting up off of the floor. Wincing, Marinette gritted her teeth and grabbed her arm. Why did it feel like she had been stabbed?

As she looked down, she saw a pair of black and green ears to her left. She sucked in a breath and flicked her gaze toward them. No more than five feet away, Adrien lay motionless.

"Adrien!" she exclaimed.

She scrambled over to him, tripping over her dress, but she didn't care. She scooped him up into her arms and brushed his bangs out of his face.

"Adrien? Adrien, can you hear me?"

He didn't respond with words, but with a long, painful moan. His eyes opened slightly, his green eyes dull in color. With much effort, he was able to lift the corner of his mouth into a smirk.

"What a beauty to wake up to..." he muttered, voice raspy and exhausted.

Marinette's eyes started to tear up. She pulled him closer as she said, "Oh, Adrien... I'm so glad you're alive."

He winced, but wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "I never would have left you, My Lady..."

Marinette buried her head into his shoulder, desperately wishing that she never had to let go. They were okay. They were alive, safe, and - best of all - they won.

"Marinette!" someone shouted.

As reluctant as she was to let go, the urgency of the call was enough to make her pull away from their close embrace. Both she and Adrien looked over to see who had called her. Across the room, Alya and Nino were hunched over someone that was still sprawled on the floor. Marinette scanned the room, trying to count the Charms. She got up to twenty-two and realized that it was a Charm on the floor. But who?

Shakily getting to her feet, glanced down at Adrien. He waved for her to go. Hesitantly, Marinette made her way over to her best friend. She was so used to seeing Alya happy that the desperation in her face alarmed her. As she got closer, she realized why.

"Nathanael!" Marinette exclaimed. She dropped to her knees and scooped him up into her arms. Unlike Adrien, he didn't moan or make any noise whatsoever. His form was weak and lifeless. She wrapped her hand around his cheek.

"Nathan? Fox? Can you hear me?"

He didn't respond. She checked his pulse, her mind running a thousand miles an hour. He had to be okay. He had to live. They had been through so much together. He couldn't just be gone. She had so many things she had to make up to him. She had played him, the guilt of that weighing her down, and she wanted to repay him, to apologize, something! He had so many things to do, to accomplish, and to achieve. He had to return home and talk to his parents about their crazy adventure. He had to submit an art piece depicting his Miraculous Games experience. He couldn't just be...

She felt nothing.

Desperately, she pressed her ear to his chest. No heartbeat. No breath.

He was gone.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she bit her lip. The loss hurt so much more than any electric dart someone could throw at her. She couldn't hear anyone else around her, it was as if they weren't even there. It was only her and Nathanael...

As much as she didn't want to, tears slipped out of the corners of her eyes and she began to sob. He had been here for her every step of the way and protected her from some of the worst enemies. And yet... she had thrown it away as if it was nothing. As much as she loved Adrien, the loss of one of her best friends was enough to tear her apart. She began to wail, clutching Nathanael's body as tightly as she could. She could feel hands on her shoulders trying to pull her away, but she fought back, screaming at them to leave her alone.

There had to be some way to fix this. Something had to bring him back to life. He couldn't just be gone. He had sacrificed almost everything for her, there had to be something she could do.

Then, something clicked in her mind. Tith a deep scowl, she set his body down and got to her feet. It wasn't until that moment did she realize that there were several people standing around her. Alya was there, so was Nino, but so were all of the other charms. They all had tears in their eyes and their heads were bowed. The feuds that had been there before were stripped away. Lila openly cried in Ivan's arms. Felix was trying to comfort Kim. Max was holding Sabrina. Even Chloe was crying. Her bee mask was clenched in her right hand and blue tears rolled down her cheeks.

Marinette saw all of this in the blink of an eye. She didn't react to it; she merely turned over her shoulder and marched toward one person in particular. She passed Adrien, who was shakily getting to his feet.

"M-Marinette?" he asked, but she ignored him. He wasn't who she was after.

She stopped in front of Gabriel Agreste, who was holding a woman in a blue and green peacock costume, and put her hands on her hips. Though Gabriel didn't acknowledge her at first, he eventually got the strength to tilt his head toward her.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Bring him back," Marinette demanded.

Gabriel shook his head. "I can't. It's too late."

"I won't accept that answer."

He sighed and glanced down at the woman. "Sometimes we need to let things go, Ladybug."

"But he's my friend and I'm not going to just leave him! Bring him back, NOW!"

The woman in his arms winced. Her eyes cracked open just enough to see the beautiful green shaded orbs through her lashes. Her blonde hair was all in her face, and she lifted a hand to move it, but Gabriel brushed it aside for her.

"W-what's going...?"

"Don't worry, Renee. Everything's okay," Gabriel assured.

"No, it's not!" Marinette shouted. "Nathanael is dead because of you, and I want him back!"

"Marinette, calm down." Marinette looked over to see Adrien standing next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and used her as a support. "Everything is going to be okay."

Marinette shook her head and turned it away. "No, it won't. Nathan is gone and all you guys are telling me is that it will be okay. One of whom who started the problems in the first place!"

Just then, Adrien froze. It was like had just noticed the woman in his father's lap. He looked between her and his father.

"Mom...?" His expression turned into a glare and he stared Gabriel down. "Did you hurt her?!"

Gabriel shook his head, not lifting his head. "No, she got hurt in the fight to win you guys back."

Adrien's face didn't change in the slightest. He took an angry step forward. "If you hurt my mother-"

"Adrien," his mom said, pulling herself up into a sitting position, as much as Gabriel tried to baby her. "Your father is telling the truth. We fought the rogue Charms together, so please... don't yell at each other."

Her words calmed him a little bit, but Adrien still glared daggers at his dad as he stepped away.

"Fine. Even if that's true, I think you owe Marinette an apology."

Gabriel sighed. "I've already done so, Adrien."

Marinette dropped down onto one knee and grabbed President Agreste by the color of his dark purple shirt. "I don't care how many apologies you give me, I want Nathanael brought back. You're the one who shot the dart into him. How to we bring him back?"

He held up his hands, leaning back as far as his shirt would let him. "I don't know, Ladybug. Please, why don't you let go of me and we can talk like civilized people?"

Marinette only scowled and tightened her grip. "You're lying to me! Tell me how to fix him, Game Master!"

"I honestly don't know!"

Adrien pulled the two apart. "Knock it off, fighting like this won't help us." He turned on Marinette and gripped both of her shoulders. "Marinette, please, take a deep breath."

She pulled away from him, taking big steps backward. She just stared at him, shaking her head.

"You don't understand, do you?"

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. "Understand what?"

Her eyes started to water again, though she didn't try to stop the tears from flowing. "How much Fox meant to me. He was my only connection to home when I was in a life-or-death situation. He was there when you weren't, Chat! I let him down and now he's dead!"

With a defeated sob, she turned over her shoulder and broke into a sprint.

"Marinette, wait!" Adrien shouted, but she didn't listen.

The whole world bent around her. She ran past the grieving Charms, not even risking a glance toward them. She knew she would break down even more if she saw his body again. She ran for the immediate exit, needing to get away as fast as she possibly could. She couldn't stay there any longer.

Marinette threw open the doors. Outside, reporters and policemen were questioning the party guests. When she burst onto the scene, everyone turned to look at her. Then, cameras began to flash. She froze for a split second, taken aback by the flashes, before she took off like a bullet. She didn't want anyone to see how broken she was.

She bolted down the front steps. Wind whipped through her hair. The breeze dried her tears, but more only replaced them.

Nathanael, I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to-

She was cut off when, halfway down the giant steps, her foot caught in a layer of her huge, peacock dress.

SLAM!

She hit the stairs, her chin smacking hard on one of the steps. She let out a cry of pain, which only spiraled her into a fit of uncontrollable sobs. Her body ached all over as it was - now her chin more than most - and with the intense grief holding her down, she couldn't get up. She could only lay there sobbing while party guests, reporters, and the police force alike surrounded her. She could hear them asking questions - "Are you alright?", "Do you need any help?", "What happened?" - but she couldn't focus on any single one of them. Her mind was already a jumbled mess.

Ladybug curled up into a ball, buried her head in her hands, and openly wept.

Please, she mentally pleaded to nobody in particular, bring him back. 

---

Well... I, uh... I don't think there's much for me to say about the chapter, so I'm just going to leave it here. Before I do, though, I want to apologize. The quality isn't very good, and I've been trying to make this scene as perfect as it could be, but I feel like I failed. 

And please forgive me for not updating sooner. My life has gotten out of control and it's been a struggle trying to stay positive recently. 

However, I do have some good news. I queried off my original story, Soul Mate, to another publishing company and they requested the full manuscript. So, hopefully, they want to work with me and are going to help me get it published!

I don't really have anything else to say other than Miraculous Games is almost over! I only have a couple chapters left as I wrap things up. I want to thank everyone who has stuck with me through this entire journey and have helped me keep going when I wanted to stop. This book is one of my favorite pieces of fanfiction I have EVER written, and it was all thanks to you guys. 

Because of you, my readers, Miraculous Games has gotten over 26K reads,  1.64K votes, and 1.45K comments. That's amazing, and I can't thank you all enough for the publicity and support! You're all amazing!

Also, there is a poll just beneath the chapter-inspired gif, so if you could comment your answer below, that would be great!

Speaking of comments, it's time to go to my favorite comment!

Favorite Comment: 

By: HoOforever

#Adriffle ADRIEN AND WAFFLES FOR LIFE.

Best ship in the book if you ask me, haha. I might do fanart of that later just for fun. *wink*

And, as always, have a Miraculous Day!

What fanfic should I write when I'm done with this one?

A) A Starco AU 

B) Another MLB AU (most likely a story crossover)

C) ______________ (write in your own)

D) Nothing. Stop writing fanfics