Chapter Twenty-Five:

Chat cut his way through the underbrush, whacking each of the branches with his staff. Marinette followed behind him. She was a little shaky on her feet, but she had refused the help both Fox and Chat had offered her. It bothered Chat, knowing that Ladybug could pass out at any moment. Speaking of Nathanael, he was right behind her, making sure the group stayed together. It unnerved Chat a little bit, knowing that he was the last in the group, but even with that said, he trusted Fox to keep Marinette on her feet.

The sun had climbed high into the sky, and Chat had a feeling it was trying to deceive them, but the worry about Marinette kept him going. He had a feeling that her tired limbs and pounding head were enough to tell her that it was early in the morning outside of the arena. Every once and awhile, he would check his silver staff and check the time. This time he checked, it read 3:37am.

"Do you need to take some time to rest?" he asked, turning over his shoulder and speaking to Marinette. She shook her head, the sun revealing how much sweat was on her forehead.

"No, we need to keep going."

Biting his lip, Chat accepted her answer, no matter how unhappy he was about it. He faced forward once more then pushed the branches aside for his friends. Ladybug walked in front of him, but stumbled over a root. She let out a cry of surprise. On instinct, Chat quickly extended his arms out and caught her before she hit the ground. The branch he had moved aside flew over his head, just barely clipping his ears, before smacking Fox right in the face.

"OW!" Nathanael cried out, covering his whacked face by his hands.

"Sorry," Chat apologized as she pulled Marinette to her feet. "I had to catch her before-"

"Just shut up. Leave me alone." Fox snapped, shoving the branch that smacked him aside and pushing past Chat and Ladybug.

"Nathan," Marinette croaked, "please don't be harsh..."

"No no, it's fine, My Lady," Chat replied. His expression had morphed from worried to irritated. "The poor dog probably just needs to blow off some steam. I'm not going to stop him."

Fox stopped and turned. "What did you just call me?"

"A dog," Chat answered without hesitation. "A fox is a type of dog, am I right?"

Nathanael clenched his fists. "What's your point?"

Chat got to his feet and brushed off his hands. "Well, I figured that since your bark is worse than your bite, I have a feeling you have something building up inside of you."

Fox crossed his arms. "And that bothers you?"

"Nah, I could care less about it. I just think that it's bothering you instead."

Marinette tried to step between the two boys, but Chat put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't, My Lady." She stopped, then stepped back. Chat looked back at Fox, whose ears were slowly turning deep red. "Is there something you want to say to me, Fox? Because I'm willing to listen right now. You seem to have been giving me the cold shoulder lately."

Nathanael glared at him, but he said nothing. His fists clenched and unclenched, and Chat could tell that his mind was racing. Was he finally going to tell him what was on his mind, even though he already had a pretty good idea of what it was? I mean, Chat wasn't clueless. He could tell something was bothering Nathan, but he was tired of beating around the bush. It was time to face the problem head on. If they didn't, it would only cause problems later on, and Chat needed Nathanael's full trust. There would be no way they could take down the Games if Fox was still holding grudges.

"Why do you care?" Fox finally said, turning half of his body away from the cat.

"Because I want to make sure we work things out between the two of us," Chat answered honestly. "We're about to head into a war zone, and I want to know that my teammates aren't against me in any way, shape, or form. Call it my cat-like instincts."

Nathanael bit his lip, then let out a long sigh. "Fine, you want to know what's on my mind and what I've been concerned about?" He turned and jabbed a finger at Chat. "You keep crossing into my territory."

"Your territory?"

"Yes." He paused, then finally spouted the words he had been longing to say since the beginning of the games, "I love Marinette."

Behind Chat, he could hear Marinette suck in a breath of surprise. No, not surprise. Something else... Was it an act?

"You do, do you?"

He nodded. "Yes. I've liked her even before we were in the games together, but now that we've had to stick together and work with each other, I've learned how much I truly do love her." He looked over Chat's shoulder at Ladybug. "Marinette, I feel ashamed to admit this, but I never was acting. When we agreed to play the star-crossed lovers, I... I couldn't just let my feelings slip away. You were my entire world, and I was going to protect you from whatever or whoever wanted to hurt you." His gaze shifted back to Chat and his gaze hardened. "Then you showed up. You took my place as her protector and stole her from me." Fox took a step forward and jabbed a finger on Chat's chest. "You got in the way, and I felt like I had been pushed into the background. Over time, our plan fell through. As much as I hated the idea, I thought things would work itself out when Ladybug and I won the games. But no." He shoved Chat back, causing him to stumble. "I saw you, I saw you and Marinette kiss that one night! Do you realize how much that broke me?"

Chat's ears drooped and he glanced back at Marinette. She had tears in her eyes, and though she was getting better, she appeared to be at her weakest and lowest point. He could see her heart tearing in two right in front of his eyes. He looked back at Fox.

"Nathanael, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take any of that way from you."

Fox scoffed. "You say that, but it's not like you mean any of it. You would gladly take Marinette without a second thought. You have, many times. It's always her. And though I'm grateful for you helping me out as well, I'm tired of being treated like a sack of potatoes that you have to lug around. I am not dead weight. I love Marinette just as much, and maybe more, as you do." He stepped closer to Chat, his expression one of ferocity and murder. "So there. I told you everything. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

The protector charm was somewhat speechless. He had thought that Nathanael had feelings for Ladybug, but this was more intense than even he had imagined.

"Yes," he replied. "Thank you."

Fox turned away, but even with his back turned, he asked, "How far is the escape from this hellhole?"

Chat pulled his composure back together. "Not far. Maybe a fifteen-minute walk from here."

"Fine. Let's move, then."

Fox stormed ahead, not even looking back once. Chat turned to help Marinette, and as he did so, he saw the tears that were running down her cheeks. She was leaning against a tree for support, trying to use her shaky hands to wipe them off of her face. He took a step closer.

"Ladybug...?" he inquired softly.

She sniffled and took a deep breath as if attempting to calm herself down. "I hurt him, didn't I?"

He paused, chewing on the bottom of his lip, then nodded. "Yes..."

Marinette swallowed, more tears threatening to fall. "I never should have done this..."

"W-what?"

She turned to face him. Her bluebell eyes looked like shattered glass, the broken pieces of her torn heart screaming out for help. "I never should have volunteered for these Games..."

Chat shook his head, then stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. "No, Mari, no. Don't say that."

"It's true, though," she insisted, sobs getting caught at the back of her throat. Chat could hear them when she spoke. "I... I've hurt so many people. I didn't want to, I was only trying to survive, and in the process..." A sob slipped through and she squeezed her eyes shut. "I-I hurt one of my closest friends..."

Chat hugged her tightly, running a hand up and down her back in an attempt to comfort her. "It's going to be okay, though," he said as he tried to be optimistic. "Once we get out of here, we'll be able to work things out, okay? Just stay try to stay positive."

She didn't respond for a few long seconds, but eventually, she gave him a weak nod. Chat pulled away and gave her a small smile.

"We can do this." He looked behind him, then sighed. "We better catch up with Nathanael before he gets himself into trouble."

Marinette nodded. She took Chat's gloved hand firmly in hers, and with a small, mischievous smile tickling the corner of his lips, Chat forged ahead. It took them a couple minutes to catch up with Fox, but he appeared to have been waiting for them. He had stopped at the edge of a clearing, leaning against a rock.

"Is that where your entrance is?" he questioned, pointing to the huge structure in the center.

"Yes," Chat responded.

Marinette shook her head and took a few steps back. "We shouldn't be here. This place is a death trap."

"It'll be okay," Chat assured her. "Besides, I've come in and out of the Cataclysmacopia multiple times."

The gray structure reflected the bright sun, making long beams of light on the ground. Its Sphinx-like posture appeared haunting, no matter how brightly lit it was. The teeth, which were all at least three feet long, weren't helping either.

"So... where is the opening?" Marinette asked, scanning the structure for anything out of place. Nothing seemed to stick out to her.

"It's under the left ear," Chat answered, pointing at the ear he was talking about. "It's a trapdoor that leads into a long hallway. Once your pins go through the doorway, however," he glanced at Marinette's ladybug pin that was attached to her jacket, "it will set off an alarm. Since I know the ins-and-outs of the place, we'll probably be able to get all the way through before we're discovered."

"Then, let's leave," Fox snapped. "The longer we stand in here, the more likely we are to get attacked." He gestured around him dramatically. "This is the very center of the entire arena; everyone knows that, and now that the Game Master is making the playing board smaller-"

"Let's go," Marinette interrupted. Both Chat and Nathanael looked at her, surprised she had been the one to say it.

Nathan took a deep breath. "Alright, I'm going up there. Chat, you help Ladybug. We're getting out of here."

Chat nodded, but Fox didn't see the gesture. He took off running. Marinette wrapped an arm around Chat's neck and he helped her hobble along quickly through the open field. What was so frustrating to Chat was the fact that the Cataclysmacopia was in the very center. No matter where you were in the clearing, almost anyone could spot you. At night and along, it hadn't bothered him in the slightest. Now that he had two Charms with him and it was the middle of the day...

Something moved out of the corner of his eye. He flicked his gaze toward it just in time to see a black shape disappear into the shadows. He quickly shouted to Fox, who was almost to the top of the structure, "Time to go!"

"I know!" Nathanael shouted, pulling himself up onto the roof of the cat. "Which side is it again?"

"The left! The hatch should be on the right side of the ear. Hurry!" In order to go faster, Chat unwrapped Marinette's arm from around his neck and grabbed her hand. "You have to run as fast as you can," he hissed to her. "We've been spotted."

She nodded and tightened her grip. Chat took that as his cue and took off in a sprint, pulling her along behind him. She stumbled at first but was soon able to get her feet under her to keep going.

"Fox!" Chat called, "What's taking you so long?!"

"The latch is stuck!" Nathanael reported. "Did you lock it, you sneaky pest?!"

"No! I always leave it partly open!"

Just then, there was a scream. The hand that gripped his slackened. Chat turned his head just in time to see Marinette collapse to the ground, a knife embedded in her back. 

---

Sorry for the horrible drama stuff in the beginning of the chapter. It needed to happen before the action started. :/

I hoped you guys liked it! It's been such a blast writing this story and now that it's finally over-

Jk jk, there is still a lot more to be done. 

If you liked the chapter, be sure to click the little star in the right-hand corner if you're on desktop and the bottom left corner if you're on moble. It's great to know that my writing is loved. :) 

Be sure to also leave a comment to see if you're the special person with my favorite comment in the next chapter! 

Favorite comment(s): 

By: MissMarinette213 (Chapter Twenty-Four)

I like Fox like I like the news. I don't like Fox

-And as a contrast-

By: xoxSophiaSkyxxox (Chapter Nineteen)

SAVE DA TOMATO CHILD! I PICK HIM OVER ADRIEN/CHAT NOIR ANYDAY! TOMATO CHILD IS MY LIFE

I had to do both of them. I'm sorry, it was so funny to read both of them because they happened almost one right after the other. 

Before I go, I want to thank you guys so much for helping Miraculous Games hit 6.1K and 314 votes! That's crazy talk, guys. Thank you for the support. It really means a lot to me. 

And, as always, have a Miraculous day!