Adrien was confused. All of his anger diminished as he saw the girl he loved in pain. What had happened? His throbbing hand was still in the air, his cataclysm still contained in his gloved palm. "M-Mari?" he whispered. She was whimpering as she slid down the wall. "Mare." Adrien was pushed back by Alya and Chloe rushing forward. They fussed over her and checked everything on her front side before she could even say anything.

"Mari, what's wrong?" Marinette winced and tried to sit up.

"M-my back." She tried reaching for it, but they pulled her arm away. Alya quietly shh'd her as they turned her over. She almost cried as she bit her lip to shield her from the pain. She didn't want Adrien to see her like this. No matter how angry she had been at Adrien a moment prior, all she wanted now was his warm embrace. It had been so long since she had felt someone else's warmth. Alya and Chloe gasped as they looked at her exposed back. The acid from her lucky charm was on the wall she had leaned against. Her back had been eaten away at. Her costume had dissolved when it came into contact with the wall, and there was some blood slowly trickling down her maimed back-side. "Gah."

"Come on girl." Alya helped Marinette into a more comfortable sitting position. Chloe looked at the spray bottle that had been abandoned on the ground. It shimmered as if it were made of pixie dust. Without even thinking, she picked it up and threw it into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug." It wasn't too loud, but it was enough to activate the magic. Adrien watched in awe as Chloe played the role of Ladybug, fixing everything with a single sentence. Ladybug's flew about the room and settled on Marinette's back. They nibbled her wounds, and disappeared, leaving her back completely normal. The group looked around at each other in awe at what had just happened. It didn't last long, as an authoritative voice echoed throughout the cavernous catacombs.

"Is there anyone down there?" The group stopped and stared at each other in fear. "It is illegal to trespass. No one but registered officials are permitted within the cathedral's walls after hours." No one dared move. "I can hear you breathing. Either you come here, or I come and get you. There's no escape." Marinette's miraculous beeped. "If that is any sort of weapon, and you attempt to disarm me with said weapon, I will see to it that you end up in prison for a long time." Adrien looked each of his friends in the eyes as more voices were heard. They weren't authoritative voices though. They were broken and weak. The other victims of the kidnappings. Adrien signaled towards where the voices were coming from and began to walk in the direction.

"Hey tom cat!" Alya whisperer-yelled. She took careful movements towards him, leaving Marinette with Chloe. "I'm coming with you."

"No. All of us are going. No one left behind." He looked at everyone and gave them a reassuring smile. Marinette's eyes widened and she looked away as they made eye contact. Adrien sighed and started down the corridor. "Come on." He said not so quietly.

"That's it. I'm coming down!" the officer said from the top of the winding staircase. Footsteps echoed as the group ran. Adrien on instinct ran his hand on the low ceiling as they ran. The ceiling crumbled from his cataclysm and chunks fell, hitting the ground with loud crashes.

"Great going Adrien! How are we supposed to get out of here now? There's no other exit!" Chloe said, staring at the way they had come. The rubble from Adrien's cataclysm created a whole wall, going from the floor to where the ceiling had been less than a minute prior.

"I refuse to believe that." The distressed voices came again, this time to their left. Rena Rouge's ears perked up and moved around at the same time as Chat's. They moved once, twice, four times until picking up a certain frequency. They caught each other's eyes and exclaimed together, "Nino!" They ran wherever their ears took them, with Queen Bee and Ladybug trailing behind only a little bit slower.

"Nino!" Alya ran ahead of Chat Noir, her ears picking up a sound of movement to the right. She swerved to follow the sound, but Adrien put his hand on her shoulder.

"Where are you going?"

"I heard something. I need to check it out."

"We stay together."

"Agreste, hands off."

"There's no reason for you to go off wit-"

"I love him okay?" He looked at her strange, and Queen Bee and Ladybug finally caught up, witnessing it all. "I lied to you! I love Nino, and Luka was a distraction. I need to find him, and if that means splitting up, then that's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Fox-Face, come on."

"Go. If I'm in trouble, I'll call." She held up her flute. "Find Pace. Tell him I'm sorry that I won't be at his rescue party."

"Als." Ladybug said from behind her partner. Alya noticed the way his arm was now around her shoulders. Man, these guys needed to make up their minds about how they feel about each other, because damn.

"Go." Alya turned and ran after the noise she had heard. As she ran, she could hear her friends run the other direction. Good. She didn't want an audience when she kissed Nino. "Nino?" She had reached a wide, empty cavern-esk room after many twists and turns. It was almost completely dark in the room. She could sense someone was there. A brisk wind blew through the room, and a light-grey feather made its way toward her. It twisted in the air in a graceful arc and landed on her flute. It was too late before she realized what was happening. Alya became dizzy, and the dimly lit room spun. Then a voice penetrated her mind, and a blue outline appeared over her eyes.

"Hello, Rena Rouge."

∞∞∞∞∞

They had gone their separate ways thirty minutes before, and Adrien, Chloe, and Marinette were still following the voices. The corridor had twists and turns, many times leading into a different one altogether. Chloe noted that the sounds bounced off the walls like a bouncy ball, so they could be miles away from the source. The group of heroes had been silent since Alya left, not uttering a word as to let Adrien's enhanced senses pick up the kidnapped. Like lightning, coming out of nowhere, a cough was heard. It was louder than anything Adrien had been hearing. He looked at Marinette and Chloe, each of them pulling out their weapons. The whir of Ladybug's yo-yo, though normally very quiet, could be heard everywhere. "L-Ladybug?" It was a very hoarse voice, one of a young adult. They were male, and Adrien could tell he was sleep deprived. He was enough himself to hear it in someone's voice. It was quiet again as Marinette slowly stopped swinging her yo-yo. They stood, anxious, awaiting something terrible. The next thing heard was a ringing. Ringing?

"Is Rena in trouble?" Chloe asked. Marinette still did not slide the panel of her yo-yo to answer the call. It was the shock from the voice and the call, back-to-back.

"I, um... I hope not." She awkwardly accepted the call and held the device to her right ear. "Hello? Rena?"

"No."

"W-who is this then? How did you get this number?"

"Message. Too dangerous." The line clicked, and Ladybug stood there with her jaw slack.

"Mari. Who was it?" Adrien prodded.

"I-I don't know. They wouldn't say." The group stood there for a minute to gather their thoughts, when a ping came from Ladybug's yo-yo.

"Who's it from?"

"I don't know. I deleted all my contacts in my yo-yo after a mission one night, remember?"

"Lady, that was over a year ago." Marinette sighed and rolled her eyes at his ignorance.

"It was the day I returned your umbrella." Adrien's face was still blank. "The akuma Firecracker?" His face lit up in recognition.

"Oh!"

"Shh."

"Wait, why did you erase your contacts again?"

"Silly cat. Why can't you remember?" He smiled and hit his head, giving her his "model beauty". "They wanted to burn people's connections. That was the akuma's whole thing. They were abandoned by the people they thought were their friends at the fireworks display, and wanted revenge. If they had found my contacts, Hawkmoth could have secured our miraculous that night."

"And you never replaced them?"

"It was the akuma the day before I was taken. I think I had more important things to worry about." Marinette still had yet to check the message. Only after four more pings and the convincing of Chloe did Marinette open them. Her eyes searched the screen and her fingers tapped in response.

Unknown- Do these messages even still work?

Unknown- Nvm I hear the notifications

Unknown- Don't turn the corner

Unknown- There's an akuma on guard

Ladybug- Who is this?

Ladybug- No one should have this number

Ladybug- Why are you helping us?

Unknown- Lady you should know better

Unknown- Does Ninja Turtle ring a certain chat's bell?

Ladybug's gasp filled the area, and her eyes welled with tears. She looked back down at her yo-yo and feverishly typed, her friends looking around in confusion. "Um, Mare?" She still did not respond and continued to read and type. "Mari?" Still nothing. "Ladybug." She looked up, just as confused as they were. 

"What?"

"Who is it?!" Both Chloe and Adrien almost screamed.

"I-It's Carapace."