When a liar gets you left behind

Chapter Thirty-Four: Waking Up and Panick

M A R I N E T T E

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Marinette could feel the claws of unconsciousness attacking her, trying to pull her back under it's grasp, the struggle making her start to slump once again.

A small, almost unnoticeable nudge from her side made her tense up, consciousness showing it's ugly head by making the slight throb on the top of her head noticeable, making her flutter her eyes open.

She took in her surroundings and froze, acknowledging the change of usual scenery. Her sight was still slightly blurred from sleep, and her head was throbbing slightly still, along with feeling a bit fuzzy-like. With all of that in mind, she could still remember what happened—mostly.

She could not remember how she got from point A to point B— how she had changed locations. She remembered The Riddler coming in, everyone—including her, sitting down, but then nothing. How had she gotten here? What had happened?

Marinette could feel the familiar sense of panick swirl down and make her stomach plummet, slight confusion and fear ebbing their way into her as well.

Marinette closed her eyes for a moment, rationality telling her to take in her surrounding, be smart with how she took in all her information.

She decided to start with how she was physically.

She opened her eyes and looked down at herself, taking in mind that she had a few minor scratches on her legs. She then thought about her head, and the throbbing that she currently felt, a small headache starting to bloom on her forehead.

Hit in the head? She questioned hesitantly, noting that it was a possibility.

She closed her eyes in slight pain, the headache growing annoyingly. She lifted her hands up to ebb away the pain slightly—only to be stopped by something.

She opened her eyes and looked down, noting that she was sitting against a hard, rough concrete wall, her hands bonded together behind her back.

The panick that had just begun to subside erupted within her, turning her stomach into a tangle of worms.

She pushed her emotions away, telling herself the following:

Akuma, this is a Akuma attack, you're in Paris.

She repeated this in her head till she felt more relaxed.

She looked around, taking in mind that her feet were bound as well, wrinkling her stretchy pants slightly, making Marinette's eyes narrow in annoyance.

She thought about her surrounding and the most probable cause of why her head hurt. Had she been kidnapped?

She shook her head at herself, even if she had not been, she did not know where she was, felt unsafe, was bound, and was in Gotham, she needed to get out.

She tugged at what her hands were bound in, feeling the material, thinking about what she felt and how to move each piece.

Just then, Tikki moved to her ear, her tiny voice lower than usual. "Wait a moment, I'll do it."

Marinette nodded her head in response, not knowing if it was safe to talk.

She felt Tikki tug at her bonds gently, making sure not to hurt her.

She waited patiently, feeling the bonds loosen more every so often.

Finally, she felt the binding loosen and pool around her hands, telling her that she was free.

She grabbed the material and moved her hands in front of her. She took in the red marks on her wrists. While they were slightly itchy, they were not that bad.

She looked at the material in her hands, it was rope.

Tikki tugging at her still-bound feet made her look away, her attention snapping on the rope that clung tightly onto her ankles.

She quickly joined Tikki, silently pulling the rope out of its confusing knots.

When she was free, she looked around. She could tell that she was in a dark corner, a light in the middle of the room not quite making it to where she was.

She turned her head and discovered that the concrete wall that she had been leaned against was actually concrete stairs.

She scanned the room more, trying to get as much information as possible, her eyes clearing a bit more, her thoughts more quick as the throbbing in her head was pulled into the background.

Marinette was surprised to see no one—at all. Maybe she was more confused than surprised, having already sort of known that someone would have stopped her from unbinding her hands and feet.

Despite no one being in the room but her, she could tell that someone had been there recently. At the door, the only one in the room, there was a series of unsettled dust in the air, a small spot of sunsun from outside making it visible.

Slowly, she drew closer to the door on the other side of the room, silently approaching it.

She stopped almost immediately at the sound of a voice.

"Perfect. Run along now," The familiar voice rang, making Marinette frown.

The Riddler.

"Good. See you soon," Another familiar voice replied, the voice not holding artificial sweetness, making Marinette do a double take.

It sounded like Lila.

Marinette froze, her thoughts storming around her dangerously.

Before she could act in response to this,

she heard frantic footsteps scampering away, making it impossible for her to do anything.

—a ear-burning noise rang through the doorway, making Marinette run to the side of the door that had the metal hinges attached to the wall, giving her a chance to surprise anyone if they made their way to her.

The noise was a gunshot, and if one had been heard, more soon would be coming—especially in Gotham.

The air filled with the loud chaos, an uncountable amount of gunshots blasting through the air to Marinette's ears.

She heard heavy footsteps start towards her. She waited carefully staring at the knob of the door, when it gave the faintest flicker of movement she still did not move. When the door itself moved she also waited. She waited until she could glimpse the human-being on the other side of the door before she slammed the door harshly, drawing a harsh breath from the person.

She looked for a second, making sure it was not someone coming to her rescue, before flinging them across the room, and without a second of resolve, ran out of the room, picking up the gun that they had dropped along the way, knowing they had been knocked unconscious.

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