Chapter Thirty-Five:

"Master Fu!" Adrien shouted, bursting into the Charm's training room. All the Charms froze where they were. The only sound was Max the Owl falling off the climbing wall and yelping as he hit the ground. Standing on the wrestling mat, Master Fu turned to face him. The look he gave Adrien made Marinette glad he wasn't in his place.

"Yes, Adrien?" he asked.

Marinette saw Adrien swallow out of the corner of her eye, then he spat out his message. "Sir, the packages arrived in the janitorial closet. Everything is accounted for from what I can see. I haven't opened them because I wanted to get you first."

Master Fu's eyebrows shot up. "She followed through on her promise?"

He nodded. Marinette pulled her wrist out of Adrien's grip and took a few steps away from the conversation. "What are you two talking about? Who sent those packages?"

"My thoughts exactly," Lila commented from across the room. The raven Charm was leaning on a tall spear, giving Ladybug a skeptical glare. Marinette scowled and turned her attention to Master Fu. The old man was rubbing his cane like he was uncertain if he wanted to spill the answers. After a couple long seconds, he locked eyes with Adrien.

"I believe Adrien should be the one to explain since it is a very personal matter to him."

Marinette spun her look to Adrien. No one else would have seen the uncertainty behind his solid expression, but Marinette could. She could see his Adam's apple jump, his fists clench tighter, and his breathing waver for just a second. She opened her mouth to say something, but Adrien beat her to it. He flicked his gaze toward her.

"I don't think it matters how we got them. What's more important is what's in them." He turned toward Master Fu. "What's in the packages, sir?"

The Chinese man smirked. "Why don't you bring them here and we'll find out together."

Just like that, Adrien disappeared. Marinette stood alone, barely able to catch Adrien's body sprinting back upstairs. Without a second thought, she ran after him. Before she left the room, however, she turned.

"We're going to need some help! Dad, Kim, Felix, Nino, Alya, Natha-" she stopped and shook her head. He wasn't here. She continued like nothing had happened, "We need to get all the boxes down here!"

The operation itself didn't take long, especially with so many people helping. As they transferred the boxes, Marinette kept trying to get Adrien's attention, but he seemed to be off in some distant world. She would try and ask him questions. He would either respond with a simple "Mmhmm?", a nod of the head, or he wouldn't even do anything. It was like talking to a rock. Something was up, something he wasn't telling her.

She didn't want to get mad at him, but it was peeving to think that she had just spilled her heart to him and now he wasn't opening up to her. Weren't they on the same team? Could he not trust her? Or was she just looking to much into it? That was probably it. She most likely was taking it too far.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette focused on getting the boxes downstairs into the training center. Even after being in the healing pod for a while, she was still a little sore. Before Adrien had been called down to see her earlier, she had talked with Nathanael about how he was feeling. He had said that he was still facing some of the side effects of the arena, even though he had been through the healing pod. Marinette couldn't help but agree with him. It was like her body was still putting itself back together. Because of this, she couldn't lift as much as she wanted to. Instead of carrying two boxes, she could barely carry one. Not only was that a little frustrating, but it made her feel slightly useless.

Ahead of her, she noticed Adrien carrying two boxes of his own. She opened her mouth to call out to him, but she shut it quickly. No, he wouldn't want to talk to her. He was busy.

"You okay, my girl?"

Marinette jumped and turned to find her father walking next to her. He had three boxes in his big arms and he carried them like it was the easiest thing in the world. Then again, she had seen him carry cakes bigger than she was. She forced a smile.

"Yeah, I'm doing just fine, Papa."

He gave her a raised eyebrow. "You sure? You seem a little down if you ask me."

Shrugging, Marinette looked down at the box in her arms. "I guess I can't argue with that..."

They walked down the hallway in silence for a few moments, but Tom broke the ice fairly quickly. "Don't tell me that boy has you down."

She shrugged. No matter which boy her dad was referencing, it fit both ways. She decided to ask. "What do you mean?"

Tom smirked, looking at her from the corner of his eye. "Well, I just figured that the proper dad thing to do would be to tell you that if Adrien's causing you any trouble, I'll be sure to teach him a lesson he won't forget."

Marinette couldn't help but break into a smile. She looked back at Adrien, who was entering the elevator, and shook her head. "Don't worry, he's been amazing. I just worry about him sometimes."

"Sometimes, huh? I suppose that 'sometimes' also refers to how often you kiss him? Only 'sometimes'."

"Papa!" Marinette exclaimed, laughing as she nudged her dad.

He gave her a sly smile. "Don't deny it. I know how much you care for the boy."

She couldn't help but smile to herself. "Yeah... I think I love him, Dad."

Tom chuckled, shifted all of his boxes to one hand, then clapped his daughter's shoulder. "No matter who you choose to love, I'll always support you, sweetie."

Marinette grinned from ear to ear.

She and her father walked into the elevator, still talking light-heartedly. Marinette didn't know it at the time, but Adrien stood right behind her. She had been too into her conversation with her dad to notice Adrien's loving gaze.

After all of the boxes had been brought into the training room, everyone gathered around. Kim dropped the last box that he had been carrying and doubled over on his knees. He sucked in as much breath as he could between his words.

"Why... are these... so... heavy?"

Alix chuckled and folded her arms, leaning on him just to annoy him. "I dunno, Kim. Why don't you work out more?"

He scowled at her, but before he could respond, Master Fu pulled himself up onto one of the boxes.

"Gather around, everyone. It's time you all know what we've been planning."

Everyone exchanged looks of concern, interest, and curiosity as they circled around the stack of boxes. Master Fu looked over the crowd, meeting the gazes of Marinette's parents, the Charms, Alya, Nino, Adrien, and last, but certainly not the least, Marinette.

"As all of you know, it has been announced that Chloe Bourgeois is the winner of the Miraculous Games. Most of you here were personally in that arena and if you weren't, we all witnessed the acts that were pursued there. Though I may not have been inside the torture chamber myself, I know the effects it can leave on someone."

The Charms all glanced at one another. Marinette's stomach became heavy with guilt. She had fought almost every Charm in the room, and all for what? Because she wanted to win over Adrien's heart?

"For those of you who teamed up with the Bee charm during the Games, would you care to tell us about your experience with her?" Master Fu asked, turning his sharp attention to a select group of Charms. Funnily enough, they were all standing next to each other. Kim, Max, and Sabrina awkwardly shifted in their shoes.

"She was selfish," Max answered, not looking their trainer in the eye. "Though the odds were in her favor - eleven to two, exactly - we discovered early on that the odds did not rub off on us in any positive way."

"She's a jerk," Kim summarized. "We never should have trusted her."

Master Fu shifted his gaze to Sabrina. The red head pursed her lips and looked down at the floor. Marinette was almost positive that she wouldn't say anything, but she did.

"She was my friend..." Sabrina muttered, rubbing her hands together anxiously. "I trusted her for a long time... I did her homework, comforted her, and was a friend to her when no one else was... I... I thought she would have stuck up for me when the time came, but apparently not..." Her bottom lip trembled and she shook her head. "I don't want her to be the leader of the country. I don't trust her anymore."

Max reached over and patted her shoulder. She forced a smile and tried to swallow her emotions. Marinette looked at Master Fu, folding her arms as she waited for the reason why Chloe had been brought up.

"In the light of present events," he said, "I assembled a team, one that I knew could take it down. Though Chloe may be rising into power, that isn't the biggest problem on the table."

"Oh?" Felix questioned, using a knife to pick his fingernails. "If that isn't our biggest problem, what is?"

"The Game Master."

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Next to her, Marinette saw Adrien stiffen, his shoulders appearing as though they had turned into stone. If Adrien had that serious of a reaction, Marinette immediately knew it was something serious.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ivan asked, his arm wrapped across Mylene's shoulder.

Master Fu tucked his hands behind his back. "It means that we need to take him down." The old man sighed and bowed his head. "There is something I haven't told you all yet, and I believe that it will make the job much easier if we are all honest with one another. Myself included." There was a long pause, and it was so quiet, Marinette could have heard a pin drop.

"Charms," Master Fu finally said, "I was the previous Game Master. I have created the arenas for the past twenty years. This year, however, I was kicked out of my position. I decided to keep my mouth shut and to start finding out who it was from the inside. There was no report filed, no investigation started unless you count my obvious job of becoming the Charm's trainer."

"Woah, woah, hold it." Adrien pointed at the old man. "You created the arena?"

"Most of it, yes," he responded without a second thought.

Adrien stared at him in shock. Then, he said, "Alright, if you're coming clean about this, I might as well tell everyone else what all these boxes are for."

Marinette hadn't realized she had been holding her breath until that moment. She finally breathed just as Adrien ninja-like slipped his hand into hers. Funnily enough, she wasn't surprised. She had a feeling he needed someone to stand behind him.

He gestured to the boxes. "Inside these boxes are supplies for our fight against the Game Master and my father. My mother provided them, going by the name of 'Peacock'. And now that-"

"Hold up, time out," Alya said, cutting him off. She put her hands on her hips as she spoke. "Didn't your mother disappear, like, two years ago?"

Adrien's expression softened. "Yes, she did... This is the first time she has come in contact with me, and that was all thanks to Master Fu."

The Chinese man nodded. "I contacted her, along with some other benefactors, to help us get these." With a swift motion that made everyone jump, he swung his cane and lodged it under the lid of one of the crates. As if it wasn't difficult at all, he pried it off. It toppled to the ground and everyone took a giant step backward.

Well, except one.

Nino curiously took a few steps toward the box. With prying eyes, he cautiously looked into the box. Marinette saw his expression twist in confusion as he reached inside.

"What the heck?" he said, holding up a sky blue sequined dress. He held it up to his chest and Alya snorted. He shot her a look, but the conversation quickly shifted.

"What are a bunch of dresses going to do for us?" Alix accused, her face twisted in disgust.

"They are our disguises," Master Fu answered. He reached inside, pulling out a suit coat. "Each of you will infiltrate the Charm ball in these costumes. Once we are inside, we'll be able to shut down the building and stop the crowning of leadership from happening."

"Ooo! They're so pretty!" Rose squealed. She pulled out a bright pink dress and spun around. "It looks just like a poodle!"

"That's because it was," Master Fu said. Rose stopped spinning. The old man smiled. "It's the costume from a couple years ago when Poodle was one of the Charms."

"Wait, these are all costumes from previous Charms. This one was Salmon's," Alya said. She bent over the edge of the crate and pulled out a royal blue satin dress.

"We have to wear more costumes?" Felix grumbled.

Master Fu nodded. "Once everyone is assigned a costume, we will meet on the top floor." He turned to face Marinette's parents. "I wasn't planning on having you two on the mission, but we do have enough costumes."

Tom shook his head. "It's quite alright. Sabine and I will stay here. We'll be able to look after the place."

As Master Fu finished the conversation with Marinette's parents, Adrien squeezed Marinette's hand. She looked down at their hands, then at Adrien. He seemed far away, distracted by something in his mind before he spoke.

"Ladybug," he muttered quietly, "I... I need to talk to you."

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows in curiosity, but took the opportunity and nodded. The two left the training room and made their way to the elevator. They were completely quiet on the way up, the only thing breaking the silence being the elevator's chime.

What did Adrien want to talk to her about? Had she done something wrong? Was he okay? He seemed so wrapped up in his head. What was bothering him?

The pair walked to the end of the hallway and into the fancy apartment but before Marinette could get too far, Adrien took her wrist. She looked at him, then saw that he had made eye contact with Nathanael. The Fox charm was lounging on the couch, yet when they had walked in, Marinette couldn't help but notice the glares the boys gave one another.

Guilt settled in her stomach, but she tried to shove it away. That was a problem she would have to deal with later. Marinette tugged on Adrien.

"Here, let's go somewhere private."

Adrien followed her, turning away from Nathan. Marinette pulled the black cat up into her room. She walked in and as soon as Adrien came inside, she closed the door. She turned around and leaned against it, folding her arms.

"Alright, what's on your mind?"

He didn't say anything at first, but he soon was able to open up. "I've been debating how to say this, but I think I need to just tell you bluntly..." His hands rubbed together nervously. "I don't think you should come on this mission."

Marinette stared at him, her mouth agape. "W-what? Why not?"

"Because..." He sighed and started to pace back and forth. "It's not that I don't want you there, but... I just... I can't see you get hurt again, and we know with enough assurance that the Game Master wants to take you out for good."

"Adrien, I can fight. I'm fine. I'm healed, ready to go out and take a stand."

He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. "But what if I'm not there? What if you get trapped in a corner and I can't be there to protect you."

Marinette's eyes softened and she held out an arm. It stopped him from pacing and he looked at her. With a soft touch, she brushed fingers her along his cheek. "I may be scared, Chat, but that doesn't mean I can't take a stand. I hate to admit it, but people are going to get hurt, no matter what the cost... I was looking around at everyone here and I realized that everyone here is capable of taking care of themselves."

Adrien looked at her, and Marinette could tell the pain he was trying to hide from her. He closed his eyes and took a step back. "Marinette, I can't lose you again. You came so close to dying and I can't, I won't, let it happen again." He pulled away, letting Marinette's hands drop. "I need you to stay here." He turned his back to her and walked to the door.

"No, Adrien. I want to help, I want to fight!" Marinette argued.

He bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Marinette, but it's for your own good."

Before Marinette realized what was going on, Adrien shut the door tightly. Marinette gasped. Had he just...? She ran over to it and tugged on the handle. It was locked.

"Adrien!" Marinette shouted, pounding her fists on the door. "Open the door! Let me out! Adrien!"

He didn't respond. Marinette squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her forehead against the door.

"Chat, please... Let me out..."

* * *

Adrien held the door handle tightly in his hand, and even though he had locked the door, he couldn't let go. His soul fought against his better judgment. He could hear it screaming in his mind, pleading with him to let her out. He couldn't do this to her, didn't he love her?

"I'm doing this for you, Marinette," he muttered, resting his forehead against the door. "I can't lose you... I love you too much to see you get hurt..."

He squeezed his eyes shut. Tears began to well up in the corners and there was nothing he could do to stop them. It hurt, it hurt so much to leave her, but it needed to be done. She needed to stay safe. She was the face of the revolution and everyone was on the hunt for her.

A tear trailed down his cheek. Chat choked on his words, but he knew he couldn't leave without saying them. "I'm sorry, My Lady..." 

---

AHHH! CAT SON, I AM SO SORRY! Oh well. Too late to turn back now. 

Hey, guys! I hope you liked the chapter. It took a little while, and I'm really sorry about that. My life has been crazy and off the walls. I started a brand new semester, we're in the final crunch time for the school musical, and I having a serious singing problem (ie I can't sing. At all). 

Anyway, that's enough about me. 

Thanks so much for reading! Miraculous Games is just a few hundred reads way from hitting 15K! That in of itself makes me so shocked. I never knew a book like this could come this far. 

I think this book is officially longer than the first book in my SMT trilogy. Yikes. 

If you guys like this book, you'll definitely like my Soul Mate Trilogy series. It's in the process of getting published right now (it's been rejected 3-4 times but that's okay) and I would really appreciate it if you check it out. You can find it on my account and also on my side account Skye-Kingston. 

Favorite Comment: 

By: LiliaGaming

*has binge read this entire book until now and is planning to finish in the next hour or two* THE FLUFF!!! I have a problem. Since this one book I read a few months ago that was complete fluff, I go sorta nuts whenever stuff like this happens... send help... BUT OMFG FLUFF!!!!

(...I loved reading this comment, just because I found it so funny that she binge read the book haha.)

Well, I think that's all. Thanks for sticking around! I hope you're liking the story so far! We're almost to the action, I promise. 

And, as always, have a Miraculous day!