When a liar gets you left behind

Chapter Sixteen: Feeling Detached and Gaining Attention

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Marinette got into a weak stance, purposely doing some things incorrectly. She knew that one of her main advantages could be surprise. People normally underestimated her, so she wasn't going to be surprised if this would work.

She was slightly worried about what would happen, as she could tell by the determination in Damian's eyes that he was a good fighter, as well as the way he held himself as he got into his stance. She didn't plan on giving her all, she just wanted to put up a good fight. But maybe she could learn something from this, that would be good for her.

She did not have a mentor anymore, someone she could depend on to teach her new things, to help her if something went wrong.

Now she needed to do those things herself—now, she was the mentor. She was the person Cat Noir and Lady Honey looked to. She had to know what to do in any situation that they experienced together.

Damian watched her intently with piercing eyes, when the timer sounded, he didn't hesitate to move.

Marinette circled him, staying as close as possible to the edge of the mat, she knew they would probably move outside the circle eventually. And since this wasn't wrestling, that didn't really matter too much.

While she circled him, she took the time to watch his movements, to see what other advantages she could gain from him.

Damian just stood there, his eyes never moving from hers. He was calculating, she could tell. He wanted her to make the first move.

He wasn't favoring any side, and he didn't show any specifically tender, or bruised spots, though, it was a little too early to spot any of that.

All of a sudden, he was moving. Had she not fought speedy Akumas in the past, she wouldn't have been able to dodge his fast kick to her knees.

She did her best to move sloppily, but fast to the side.

"Your holding back," Damian said fiercely.

He was good at noticing things like that. That wasn't good for Marinette. She reminded herself to be more careful at school in the future.

She fixed her posture a bit, still holding back.

"So what if I am?" She said with a grunt as she blocked a punch from him.

Then, she didn't hold back any more, she quickly deflected a punch then sent one to his stomach.

She could not hear any intake of breath, but she knew that she must have landed a good hit in. Before she could process it, he quickly moved forward, even faster, if possible.

"How?" Damian asked as he landed a punch to her upper arm.

She winced a bit but ignored the pain.

"How what?" She asked mockingly.

"How?" He repeated.

Marinette noticed he was protecting his right side from her. He did well hiding it, but she still noticed it.

Bingo, Marinette thought.

But that was the easy part, the hard part would be actually getting to it.

\She punched his left side, then kicked his right.

And just as quickly, she was over his shoulder and hitting the floor with a loud thud.

To say she had a tiny little boo-boo would be an understatement.

The adrenaline rush in her system made the pain fade away into the background, the occasional throb like a lullaby in the background of her mind. She got up quickly, dodging him quickly as he tried to keep her down.

She looked up at him and held his dark gaze, anger swirling red into her visual of him.

He looked furious.

If she had to guess, it would be she definitely hit the right spot, but he had as well.

"My Maman taught me some things," She said finally, taking in a shuddering breath of air.

"It is improbable that is the whole truth," He said in a curt tone, his eyes flashing as he stepped forward once more.

"My Maman is great, she has always tried her best to give me what I want. Same for my dad," she started circling again, trying to come up with a plan.

"So you are a spoiled brat?" He asked as he punched her repeatedly in the stomach.

She gasped and took several deep breaths. There was a sharp pain there. It was going to bruise, for sure.

"I would would like to think I'm not."

"Thinking and knowing is two different things," He hissed, scoffing in response to her statement.

She evaluated the situation. Realistically, he was stronger, more skilled, and just as smart as she was. There was no way for her to win. So without a magic red and black suit on, she could not defeat him.

But then she remembered the timer. She only had to wait him out, hold him off for a certain amount of time.

She was used to timed out battles, it was a thing she constantly had to work around—maybe now, it could be her advantage.

If she was careful, she could do that.

"Look, I won't ever lie, and if there's something you should know about me—," She kicked him in the shin. "It's about the things I can't stand. I can't stand people who lie, or people who did the exact thing they tell you not to do."

She then kicked him in his right side multiple times. She was about to pin him down when—

He moved out of the way, he moved his hands down to her wrist he was about to knock her down—

The alarm sounded again, indicating that if someone had not won yet, it was a draw.

That was when she noticed the crowd they had gained during the fight. They were all looking at her in wonder and amazement.

Marinette's eyes widened before quickly casting down and away from the crowd. She had definitely brought attention to herself, something she had not wanted to do.

"Get back to training!" The man from earlier said with a clap of his hands, his eyes never leaving hers.

He was watching her intently, curiosity swirling in his eyes.

The crowd scrambled away. But not before getting out their phones, typing away.

The man that she had asked to train her was looking at her with a weird look on his face.

She jumped up and brushed her hands on her pants, trying to ignore all the people staring at her, including Damian, whose gaze was calculating. He also looked slightly confused.

"Good job out there," she said nicely.

It honestly was a good fight, he was very talented. Normally Cat Noir couldn't even keep up with her. Which made her more than a little suspicious. Though if she guessed, the feeling was very much so mutual. She would be suspicious of herself if she was in his point of view.

Then, before anyone could process anything, she ran to her Uncle's limo. Trying to run fast enough so no one could catch up to her. She didn't want this attention.

She didn't want to gain attention to herself, and, of course, the very opposite had happened.

She was supposed to have good luck, so why was it that she always had bad luck?

Lately, she felt like she had not felt as good of a holder for Tikki as she used to be.

She knew she would eventually have to tell Tikki about it. She would probably know what to do anyway.

Why couldn't I have just lost, she asked herself silently.

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