Owner	Pose
Marinette DuPain	*****************************Countdown: 0:5:37:21***************************** There had been a ... Discussion about the idea of bringing a picnic basket along for this particular venture but in the end, Ladybug had caved. Given the little red back that sat opposite her yoyo for Plagg to ride in, and yes there's like a tiny pillow and a piece of his cheese in there with him, she didn't have much room to talk. A little, but not much. None of it mattered in the ground scheme of things anyhow. They had ben hunting for hours at this point and always seemed to be just a bit behind him. Of course, moving from rooftop to rooftop allowed Ladybug to see what had happened... Someone had, at some point, freed the alums but was unable to purify it because there's dozens of mini-Flatline's roaming the streets. "Ignore them. We purify the main alums, it'll undo this." *****************************Countdown: 0:5:42:54***************************** Where he was headed was starting to become clear. Flatline's path was leading them straight back to the hospital. The moment it sunk in, Ladybug's eyes widened. "Oh no..." Se knows, almost certainly, what will happen if he shows up and she can't be found. "Hurry!" *****************************Countdown: 0:6:03:37***************************** Ladybug drops from the rooftop of the hospital to the ground outside of the main doors. "We best hope we're not too late. Care to express way us up to the right floor?"
Ryand'r	rpal Noir nods to Marinette. He has a little fanny pack with him to store Plagg's cheese, because... cat solidarity is a thing. It's just not an out-loud kind of thing. "But of course, m'lady," Vorpal Noir says. He looks rather -good- in Chat's outfit, to be honest. Even if it does have a Wonderland flair. His suit is actually sleeveless, but his arms are covered by arm warmers in black and white, in that very Wonderland-ish aesthetic that American McGuee did with that game. He works it, though. "It's best not to pawse while we're trying to pounce our purrrray." Hey. He had to get in character for this, otherwise it wouldn't be believable. A Rabbit Hole opens for the correct floor, and VorpNoir bows, extending a hand towards the hole.
Adrien Agreste	************************Countdown: 06:06:17 ************************ The elevator doors open and Flatline steps out. The hospital is a mess. With the number of mini-akumas running around, fueling his timer, Flatline has been able to focus on his singular task: Wake Marinette. He steps out onto the floor with the ICU rooms, stepping over prone bodies here and there without caring. He is heading to Marinette's room. ************************Countdown: 06:11:29 ************************ A glance at his timer app. Plenty of time. Thank you, little akumas. As soon as Marinette's wake, this will be done... Flatline pauses just outside the door, cringing as the butterfly outline flares to life. Wake Marinette first! Miraculous... Miraculous... -eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee- Flatline opens his mouth as he shoves Hawkmoth away one last time. It was so much harder to do. He could sense himself running out of time, even as he has finally collected enough to wake up Marinette. Wake up, Marinette. This will be done when he... Wake up, Marinette.
Marinette DuPain	The outfit... The puns... It all grated on Ladybug. Made her jaw clench and caused her to twitch in a way that forced her to take a breath before she snapped at him. "Please don't call me that." ... "And he's not prey." Okay. So maybe Ladybug is just a little prickly about all of this. She hates having someone else, even a dear friend, dressed as Chat. It makes it look like she's replaced him. Without another word, she steps into the Rabbit Hole so she's in the right area, at the very least, to find Flatline. Unfortunately, the right floor is as close as they got. Even at a dead run, with all the bodies and mini-Flatline's thy have to dodge, it's going to take them a couple minutes, at least, to get to where Marinette had been kept. *****************************Countdown: 0:6:15:29***************************** Ladybug skids around the corner and into the ICU, barely managing to stay upright. "Don't touch him!" Whoever is near Flatline has to back off. "Just stay away. I can fix this!" If she can just get people to clear out of the way and quit running so she can get to her old room. Just a few more yards... "Adrien!"
Ryand'r	And the Vorpal Noir follows. Or, rather, an ILLUSION of Vorpal follows Marinette close. The real Vorpal Noir follows her several feet behind. He knows Flatline will attempt to attack him if it looks like he has the Cat Miraculous. This is what we call.. a decoy! Vorpal trusts Mari. That's why he's not up close to her... but he doesn't trust Adrien while he's being akumatized.
Adrien Agreste	Flatline pressed open the door to Marinette's room, feeling victory at his finger tips only to find an empty bed. An empty bed. Empty bed. Empty. The shrill sound of a flatline echoes out of the room as Adrien screams in frustration, anger, fear. They moved her! They wouldn't unless she's dead. She's dead. He wasn't fast enough. All of those 'heros', trying to stop him. Freeing the akuma, taking away his one chance, his only chance. And Ladybug hasn't shown up. For the first time, Flatline has an expression as he turns back for the hallway. His face is contorted in anger. 'Adrien!' Flatline turns to look. Because that's a voice he'll always hear, no matter then racket in his brain. Ladybug. .... and Cat Noir. The sneer drops to shock. - What are you waiting for, Flatline! Bring me the Miraculous Artifacts, and I will bring back your Marinette! - rings the voice in Adrien's mind as the outline on both phone and face flare to life, causing the akuma to recoil in pain. The request almost doesn't make sense and yet.. and yet... His mind latches on to one thought: Bring back Marinette. Flatline screams and launches himself forward toward the pair, his eyes on the cat first. That Miraculous is MINE.
Marinette DuPain	"Get us out of here, Vorpal! All of us! Somewhere private. Now!" And Lucky Charm is activated. She blinks down at the ribbon in her hand and shakes her head. She'll figure it out after they get out of the hospital. There's too many people here and she can't do what needs done. And it's irritating her! At least if she can get them somewhere away from prying eyes and ears, she can do what she has to without worrying about the backlash. In truth, she's about done worrying about it at this point anyhow. "Adrien, stop!"
Ryand'r	"As you command, Milady!" Vorpal says, imitatinng to a tee Chat Noir's mannerisms in order to further irritate him. It just so happens that the Vorpal Noir at which he lunges vanishes in thin air. The real Vorpal Noir is to Adrien's right, and it is the young man's right arm that he seizes a hold of and *pulls*, using Fatline's momentum to slingshot him towards the wall. But the wall isn't there anymore. A Rabbit Hole appears just in time. A forested area is seen right through it and that is where Fatline is sent. "You're so grabby grabby, you're freaking me-owt!" He jumps through the Rabbit Hole and waits for Ladybug to follow before closing it. It is, indeed, a forest, far from everywhere. Technically speaking, it isn't too far away from where the Thundercats have made their Lair, but it's far enough that they won't notice the fight. "I know you can hear me, Hawkmoth. I am going to punch you in the butterflies for what you've done."
Marinette DuPain	"I said don't call me that!" Ladybug snaps as she dives through the rabbit hole. "Do not hurt him, Vorpal." Being in the forest causes her to smirk. "Gotcha...." The ladybug printed ribbon in her hand whipped out, catching Flatline around his right wrist. Leaping from the ground, Mari lands on a tree brach about ten feet off the ground, wraps the ribbon around it and then hops off while giving the ribbon a firm tug. It should lift that right had well into the air and stop him from touching anyone. "Now... Where is it...?" Bluebell blue eyes scan over him. "Adrien... Where's the akuma?" And then her eyes land on the phone and she holds her left hand, yes on purpose, out for it. "Let me have it...."
Adrien Agreste	"I see you've gotta a new kitten, Ladybug," Hawkmoth hisses at them through Flatline's wail. It's almost painful to hear that tone modulate into words, but somehow it's managed. Flatline is righting himself from the stumbling steps he took when what was wall he was going to use to rebound and attack Vorpal Noir turned into open forest... cluttered forest.. There wasn't a wall there anymore, and it was annoying! Just as he's about to turn to attack, a ribbon wraps about his wrist and his right arm is yanked upwards and secured tehre. Flatline struggles, reaching up with his left hand to try to untie himself... Only he's not doing a good job because there's a phone in his hand. The timer is counting down, and Flatline's eyes flick to it as Ladybug asks for it. ************************Countdown: 06:14:53 ************************ There's momentary pause. Flatline looks at Ladybug's outstretched hand. Her left hand. Thre's a silver ring. A familiar- 'GET ME THAT MIRACULOUS!' Flatline flinches again at the outline. It comes to live on the back of the phone. It clears and Flatline tries to kick-grab Ladybug. His hand is caught. Maybe, he can pull her close enough... He can rip the earrings of with his teeth?
Marinette DuPain	Ladybug's eyes never once leave Flatline's. It's almost as if she's expecting an attack of some sort. And when it comes, she chuckles. Pulled in, she leans forward, grips Adrien's cheeks and, yep, you guessed it... Kisses him. Now get the phone, please!
Ryand'r	"C'mon, Lady B, it was just part of psychological warfare. He's just jealous 'cause I don't have to wear butt padding to look good in his suit." He says as Mari snaps at him. But he doesn't say it again once she takes charge. It should be an easy thi- Crap. Hawkmoth is too strong. When Adrien starts attacking Ladybug, the cheshire cat wastes no time and slams a hand on a rock, accompanied by a burst of chaos magic. "Break that phone!" And there is a moment where the multiverse has to process just what exactly it needs to juggle to give life to a rock. Chaos magic's appearance isn't subtle, but its temporary rewriting of the universe is. The rock comes to life and, with a gravelly howl, it flings itself into the air: "ROCK AND ROOOOOOOLLLL!" Because, of course it had to. That rock is heading straight to the phone. And Vorpal Noir makes sure that his voice can be heard loud and clear before it makes contact with the phone: "Hey, Hawkmoth?" "Fuck you." *CRACK* And as the phone breaks, Vorpal CANNOT resist the opportunity and Rabbit Holes right next to Adrien and Ladybug as she kisses him. His powers of illusion transform him so that he is wearing a long, flowing red wig, a dress with puffy sleeves, and a tiara. And sings. ~I've beeen dreaming of a truee love's kiiiiiiiisss...~ She's going to punch him. But... how could he not?
Adrien Agreste	You know. This is twice now that Ladybug has kissed him while he was under the control of an akuma. Are you SURE she doesn't have a thing for villians? Kissed, Flatline starts, all fight leaving him for the mere seconds it takes Vorpal to animate a rock and fling it at the phone. ************************Countdown: 06:14:41 ************************ The phone shatters. Somewhere else, Hawkmoth screams in frustration because not only did he not get hte Miraculous again, he lost a hold of what could have been the most powerful Akuma he ever had, and... Adrien's mind returns to him. The first thing that registers is being kissed. The second is that the flatline sound has been replaced with... Is that Enchanted? Adrien groans faintly, torn between wanting to ignore the TV (why were we watching Enchanted again!?) in favor of continuing to kiss Marinette and trying to figure out why his right shoulder is hurting and his fingertips are throbbing.
Adrien Agreste	A small delicate black and purple butterfly flutters up from the broken phone in Adrien's hand.
Marinette DuPain	The music causes Marinette's nose to wrinkle and her to pull back from the kiss and cut a look to Vorpal. "You're an odd cat..." It's said with a smirk as she pulls loose the ribbon while using her other hand to toss out the yoyo and snatch the little akuma out of the air. Once it's purified and released, she turns her attention back to the pair, grins and tosses the ribbon into the air, calling on her Miraculous. The ribbon explodes into energy which fades into a swarm of tiny ladybugs that sweeps through the city, cleaning up the mess that was made. With it all done, Ladybug smiles and reaches up to take the mask off. "Tikki..." As she depowers, Plagg is released. "Time to go home, guys."
Ryand'r	"Not yet." Vorpal is still in his Vorpal Noir outfit. He wants Adrien to take a good look at it just so he can see his stupefied expression, before dismissing the illusion and then- as promised- giving Adrien a gentle *thwap* upside the head. And then he pulls Marinette and Adrien into a hug. "GROUP HUG!" "NOW we can go home."
Adrien Agreste	Released from the ribbon, that familiar wash of ladybugs cleaning everything, Adrien inhales and then exhales with a soft smile. His right hand falls to wrap about Marinette, his left tucks his phone into his back pocket. It's battery is beyond dead right now. As his mind clears the rest of the way, Adrien open his eyes to Ladybug in his arms, oh right... she's marinette. And... "Whta are you wear...? I thought I gave Marinette..." Adrien has just enough time to think he's made a big mistake when Vorpal Gibbsmacks him, Plagg tackles into his hair, and then they are in a group hug. "....I missed something, didn't I?"
Marinette DuPain	Mari leans into Adrien as his arm goes around her. Tikki flits over to settle herself on top of his head. "I have it. Don't worry." She flashes the ring on her left hand just before it's a group hug that has Marinette laughing. "Vorp? Would you mind taking us back to the apartment?" And then she smirks at Adrien. "Maybe just a little."
Vorpal	"Only the boat, my dear friend," Vorpal teases Adrien. The Rabbit Hole opens to show the apartment. "... do you guys mind if I fall asleep on the couch while you go off and be disgustingly corny at each other? I'm kind of pooped from it all and I need rest. Mari can fill you in on everything." He lets go of the hug and starts his way towards the hole. "Oh, and I bought so much cheese for Plagg in the past few days, I'm going to be eating Ramen for a week until my next paycheck comes in. I just want you to know that," Vorpal says to Adrien with a grin.
Marinette DuPain	And then they're home. Vorpal is given a pillow and a blanket for the couch to rest on and Marinette takes Adrien out to the garden where they can talk. Chances are the swami are going to go curl up somewhere too. Especially Tikki.
Adrien Agreste	Adrien is all the confused, especially as Vorpal talks about Plagg. No, his eyes widen. "Wait. You know about... you bought him... There's pounds of it in-" "in?" "Im mot tellong you." "You hate me. Im leaving you for Tikki. Tikki loves me."