Special credit goes to nerdasaurus1200 on Tumblr for inspiring the gang's scare levels for this! ;)

For the record (because I'm paranoid, lol): I do not mind people having their own beliefs when it comes to the paranormal stuffs. I don't really have a solid opinion myself! But for the sake of this story... well, we shall see... ;) Okie, onto the story!

(and I just made up some place for this based on a Youtube video I watched lol)

Marinette still had no idea how the hell she had been dragged along to this "fun" summer expedition.

But she really had no choice - stupid boys. Stupid, unnecessarily adorable boys and those stupid, adorable puppy eyes they had when they wanted her to come along with them. It didn't help that Adrien was the first one to do so as well. Kim and Luka had followed, and while those two were easier to resist, Adrien making the eyes was what caused her to ultimately cave. She loved the boys... she really did...

But why did they want to go to somewhere haunted? Of all places... why?

Well, Nathaniel and Max didn't want to go. Marc said that he was going to bring every single tool he had to try and combat spirits or potential demons. Adrien was just enthusiastic about getting out of the really didn't care; he just wanted to hang out with the boys. Kim and Luka were the ones who had come up with the idea, and since it was only about a mile out from the regular city, they could probably walk it and still make it back by eleven if they left at seven. Markov didn't seem to mind tagging along either.

(Secretly, Kim was terrified of the expedition, despite the fact that he had been the one to get in contact with the people who worked there for the expedition.)

And apparently, Max had a Go-Pro, and Kim had convinced him to bring it along.

When Marinette tried to explain to her parents that the boys were about to do something ridiculous, they stopped her when she said that the boys had invited her to go somewhere with them. Apparently the gang had already turned up to the bakery and gotten their permission to go explore the haunted tunnels... stupid, adorable, and slick boys!

It wasn't like she didn't want to go with the boys... she was just... not good with paranormal stuff.

And now, she was currently walking with the boy squad down the road to where this haunted location was.

"Tunnels of Fort Paris," Max said, looking at the place's information on his phone. "And it may very well be haunted, depending on what you believe."

"Ghosts aren't real," Nathaniel said, "but even still - why here? We could've just gone to the mall."

"C'mon guys! This is gonna be fun!" Luka laughed. "And besides, the place should just only have ghosts in it, nothing else."

"Nothing else?" Marc asked, already a bit shaken. "Nothing? Else?"

"Well, I mean, you don't hear about there being any demons," Luka shrugged. "Hey, speaking of that - what all did you bring?"

"I've got my cross necklace on under my shirt," Marc said. "And I've also brought a vial of Holy Water, my crucifix, and a pocket Bible. This stuff's easy to get to because I'm Catholic."

"Wow, you're decked out," Nino said. "We're totally safe now, bros!"

"I do believe that we are quite safe with your supplies, Marc!" Markov began to explain. "Pocket Bibles have proven to be one of the most useful..."

"This is gonna be great!" Adrien exclaimed, unusually excited to go explore these haunted tunnels. "You excited, Marinette?"

"Y-Yeah!" Marinette said. "J-Just a t-tad nervous! I really don't like haunted s-stuff."

"Oh, that's perfectly okay!" Adrien smiled. "You can stick close to me if it makes you feel better."

"A-Adrien... th-that's so s-sweet of you," Marinette smiled. "Thank you!"

"No problem!" he winked happily.

He was so glad that he and Marinette were growing so much closer lately; all of the boys knew very well that Marinette was officially a "bro", but they were also well aware of how Marinette felt towards Adrien (minus Adrien himself, obviously). No one wanted to stop it from happening, but they also wanted to see if they could get the two to be closer before the big confession - making Marinette an honorary member of the boy squad seemed to do just the trick!

"Yo, guys, we're here," Luka said.

The gang was now in an area just remotely out of the main city part of Paris, and they now stood in front of the tunnel which led down into the network of other tunnels that was, in theory, haunted.

"Why did I just get the chills?" Max asked.

"Cause we probably don't need to be here!" Kim laughed nervously. "C-C'mon guys, l-let's just-"

"No dude - we came here to see them ghosts," Nino smiled bravely. "Let's go on in. I'll go first."

"Ah, look at that, absolute lad," Nathaniel said.

And with that, Marinette and the boys entered into the dark cave.

-0-

"Right, everyone brought torches, right?" Luka asked.

The gang collectively nodded, holding up their flashlights to their unofficial expedition leader.

"Alright, awesome," he smiled. "Ivan? Did you bring the goods?"

"Yep," Ivan nodded, smirking and tightening the straps around his backpack.

"Then... let the expedition begin," he said, turning around to lead the gang deeper into the tunnel.

Adrien couldn't lie; he was quite nervous for what this journey would entail. And honestly, the fact that Luka and Ivan knew about a certain set of "goods" probably didn't mean the best news for the gang. However... one thing that made him kinda sad was how nervous Marinette seemed to be about this.

"Hey, its gonna be okay," he whispered to her. "Nothing can get to us if we stick together, right?"

"R-R-Right," Marinette stuttered.

Adrien decided to try something - he read that hand holding relieved built up stress. Whether or not that was true, he decided to try with Marinette. She squeaked and blushed heavily, but she did seem to be happier, and even squeezed tighter. Adrien smiled, knowing he could provide comfort to Marinette throughout this weird journey.

"AH!"

A sudden, brief yelp from Nino gave the entire gang a near-heart attack. Kim nearly jumped out of his skin, Adrien stood defensively in front of Marinette (who was almost shaking; poor girl!), and Adrien himself was scared out of his mind. Marc pulled out his crucifix defensively, Nathaniel jumped fairly high, and Luka and Ivan just laughed while trying to act like they hadn't just been scared out of their minds. Max and Markov, meanwhile, had seen it coming.

"Y-Y-You ass!" Marinette exclaimed.

"Sorry Mari," Nino said sheepishly. "Honestly, really. I won't do it again, okay?"

"Alright dude," Kim said. "Y-Yeah... p-probably n-not the be-best id-idea to d-do that again..."

"Dude, you okay?" Luka asked. "Like, genuinely, if you all are scared, I have no problem with turning around."

"Nah, we can make it," Nathaniel said. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Well, the aim is to make it to the second floor, but it takes a while to even get to a staircase," Max said. "Markov? You got an estimate?"

"...Around twelve minutes of walking," said Markov.

"Oh, this is just gonna be poo," Nino muttered.

"Well, we don't have to be on the second floor to use the goods," Ivan smiled.

"What the heck even are the goods?" Adrien asked.

"You'll see," he winked.

And with that, the boys and Marinette continued walking down the corridor that they were currently heading down, before coming to a turning point... and it led straight into darkness.

"...Nah, screw that," Marc muttered. "That's haunted space right there."

"Oh come on, we've got torches!" Nathaniel said, pulling his out and trying to flick it on... mysteriously, it wouldn't turn on.

"Did you replace the batteries beforehand?" Max asked.

"Yeah, I just put in a fresh set this morning," the young artist muttered.

While the gang tried to solve the mystery of Nathaniel's flashlight, Adrien took this chance to check up on Marinette - she hadn't said much lately.

"You still doing okay back there?" he asked gently, looking slightly behind him.

"J-Just fine!" Marinette said, giving a thumbs up with her free hand.

"Awesome," Adrien smiled. "Y'know, I think you're helping me more than I'm helping you! I've felt so much better since we've stuck together."

Marinette gave an absolutely radiant smile, and Adrien smiled right back.

Suddenly, a gasp and an odd silence redirected their attention - Nathaniel's torch had come back on without anyone pressing the button.

"Nah, nah, nah," Kim said, backing up. "Screw that guys. Screw. THAT."

"That is... whew, that is odd," Max nodded.

"I think its just taken a while to kick on, those batteries must've been a bit dodgy," Luka said. "C'mon. Let's get our other torches on and keep on going."

The gang activated their other torches, and continued down the tunnel - why, oh, why did they have to settle on a haunted location? This place was giving Marinette, Kim, and Marc the willies. Nathaniel, Adrien, and Max were equally spooked; Luka, Nino, and Ivan seemed to be the only three who were actually liking this.

And then, they rounded a corner, and came to a long pathway that had a stairway in one of the several hallways.

"Oh, bro, that's messed up," Nino laughed, pointing his torch up the stairs.

"Dude," Luka muttered, "that is wild. First one to go up it gets twenty bucks."

"Look, I'm not a wuss," Nathaniel said firmly. "But... you're gonna need to give me a lot more than twenty dollars to go up there."

"How much?" Luka asked, ready to see someone go up those stairs.

"Uh... guys?" Max said nervously. "My torch stopped working."

"That's weird-" Marc said, moving over to look and see what the problem could be.

A loud set of three thuds up the stairs suddenly interrupted him, and sent Marinette and all of the boys into panic mode.

"SCREW THAT! SCREW THAT!" several of them yelled (it was actually much more dirty than that), bolting in the opposite direction as fast as they could - Adrien wanted to quickly make sure Marinette was still holding his hand, but as a matter of fact, she was dragging him along! Kim was running faster than the whole gang, and the rest of them were going fairly quickly. Markov, meanwhile, just flew as fast as he could.

After about a minute of bolting, the gang all came to a stop at roughly the same point - and they were all out of breath.

"Dudes, what the hell was that?" Ivan asked, laughing out of pure confusion.

"I-I gen-I think I pissed myself," Nathaniel said, panting. "I'm not kidding..."

"Oh God, that was horrifying," Adrien panted. "Mari, please tell me you're good."

"I-I'm fine!" Marinette stuttered, wiping her damp eyes - paranormal stuff really got to her.

"Guys! I-I don't know why, but I just randomly started tearing up," Kim said, wiping his eyes. "This is insane..."

"Do you all think we should just... go back?" Nino asked. "Markov, how long have we been down here for?"

"You all have been in these tunnels for approximately forty-seven minutes and twenty-two seconds," said Markov.

"...I hate to say it, because some of us are really scared - including myself," Marc said, "but... I am morbidly curious to see what those thuds were."

"I've been dreading something like this all day," Marinette whimpered, "but... so am I."

"Alright - let's vote," said Luka. "Who wants to go up the stairs and see what the scary noise was?"

As badly as most of the teenagers were scared, they couldn't deny that their deepest interest was indeed exploring the next floor. All of them raised their hands. A small "dammit" from Luka could be heard, but everyone acted like they hadn't heard it.

"Right... so, who's gonna lead the charge?" asked Ivan.

"I'll do it," Marc volunteered. "I've got the stuff anyway."

"Alright... let's go, dudes," Nino sighed.

Marc led the way, pulling out his crucifix to try and make any evil-seeking spirits go back. Marinette was fearing that she would cause Adrien's blood circulation to his left hand cut off, but his firm squeeze of her own hand assured her that he was okay with her holding on as tightly as she liked. Luka, Ivan, and Nino, the three who hadn't been scared on the expedition so far, were now starting to feel a bit creeped out. Kim was just blatantly terrified, not even trying to hide it anymore. Max and Nathaniel seemed to be holding on well enough, and Markov was just fine.

Lucky bot.

"Right... Hey-o, spirits," Marc muttered, slowly ascending the very intimidating staircase. "Got a vial of Holy water here! Not afraid to use it, either..."

"They probably can't hear you," Nathaniel said.

"Bro, why does it smell like ass butter up here?" Kim asked out of nowhere.

The whole gang, for the first time that evening, burst out laughing. Luka and Nino genuinely had to lean against the stone wall to support themselves!

"O-Oh-Oh God," Nathaniel laughed, kneeling to the floor. "I-HA!-I'm gonna h-have an aneurysm!"

"Th-That was-HAHA!" Marinette laughed, leaning on Adrien's shoulder for support. Adrien, meanwhile, was laughing out of humor and out of joy. He was so happy to see Marinette happy again!

After a good minute of laughing, the gang continued to ascend the stairs, feeling much more lighthearted than before. And finally, they made it to the top...

It was literally an empty room. Point being - nothing falling could've made the sound, unless it came from whatever was behind that door in the corner.

"Oh, we made it," Marc sighed with relief. "Oh, thank you, Lord..."

"Alright, everyone gather round in a circle," Luka said. "Its time to bring out... the goods."

"Luka, if you were part of a cult, you could've just said so," said Nino.

"NO!" Luka said, exasperated that Nino had seemingly forgotten what was about to happen, despite being informed earlier. "Screw cults, dude! And this isn't even a cult thing!"

Ivan then pulled out the "goods" from his backpack - it included four candles, a flint, a night vision headlight... and a Ouija board.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Max muttered.

"These things are so fake," Ivan sighed. "I don't know why you had my bring one."

"Well, technically, you suggested we bring it, and since you had the backpack you seemed like the logical choice," Luka said. "I just happened to have it from when Juleka and I were younger. Of course, the thing was a dud."

"I do not see the logical point in using this board, Luka," Max said. "We will either get nothing, or maybe accidentally open a portal to hell in the process."

"Well, I have my toolkit," Marc said. "We should just get a spirit if we get anything. But, more than likely, nothing."

"Alrighty, let's get this set up," Nathaniel said.

As the gang began setting up the Ouija board and candles, Adrien took this as another opportunity to check on Marinette. You could call him paranoid if you wished, he just really cared for his friends. "Hey. You doing good back there?"

"Hmm? O-Oh, yeah!" Marinette smiled. "I've c-calmed down s-since the thud, y'know - actually being up here, and all."

"Great!" Adrien smiled back. "Remember - you can keep holding my hand for as long as you need, okay?"

"O-Okie!" Marinette blushed, happy to keep on holding Adrien's hand. She would be a TON more flustered if that said scenario was at school, or in public, and not in this horrifying tunnel network that was potentially haunted. No one would confess it, but that experience alone had converted a few skeptics among the group.

"Alright, we got the candles lit," Kim said, taking a deep breath. "So... does this mean we're shutting off our torches?"

"Hang on," said Luka, putting the night vision headlight on and flicking it on - red. Of course. Couldn't it have been, like, green, or a non-evil color in this current scenario? "Okay... on three. Everyone ready?"

The entire gang nodded, and Markov prepared to activate his own night vision mode.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

When the torches flicked off, Luka's night vision headlight gave off its ominous red glare, and Marinette, along with all of the boys, had their fear factor kicked up to eleven.

"Right... think I've pissed myself again," Nathaniel muttered.

"Alright, who's going on the board with me?" asked Luka. "Uhh... Marinette, Adrien, you two are already holding hands! Wanna join me over here?"

"Only if she's okay with it," Adrien said. "Mari?"

"Y-Yeah, why the h-heck not?" Marinette stuttered.

"We can get one of the other guys if you don't want to," Nino said - no malice whatsoever. Just pure concern.

"No... I'm good," nodded Marinette. "Let's do it."

Adrien and Marinette sat down on the floor, not letting go of one another. Luka moved his hand forward, and put two of his fingers on the planchette. Adrien and Marinette both repeated this action with their own free hand. The rest of the bros, plus Markov, were gathered around in anticipation and fear.

"Alright - dear spirits and demons, we are 'Mari and The Bros', and we are strong!" Luka boldly declared - this got a round of laughs out of everyone. "Are there any spirits present with us in this room?"

The planchette stayed still.

"See, sham," Kim stuttered. "Let's just pack up-"

"Wait, hold up," Adrien said, noticing something... off.

It was beginning to move.

He knew for a fact that Marinette was already horrified of paranormal stuff enough as it was, and didn't want to pull a prank on her friends - she would've done it already. Adrien knew damn well he wasn't doing it, and Luka seemed genuinely surprised by the sudden, slow movement.

"Dude, stop it," Luka muttered.

"I'm not doing anything!" Adrien said, lifting his fingers as proof - Marinette was shaking now. She knew she wasn't doing this, and Luka's eyes widened in horror.

"H-Holy shit," Ivan whispered.

"Yep, definitely pissed myself this time," Nathaniel nodded.

"Guys, this is legit freaking me out," Kim muttered, jumping up and down in place. "Can we just go?"

"Adrien, put your fingers back," Luka said. Adrien did so, and the planchette didn't stop until it moved to "YES".

"I am detecting an odd number of heat signatures," Markov suddenly piped up, scaring everyone. "It would seem as if a weak signature is being spotted near the board..."

"A-Are... A-Are you, well, w-were y-you a good person? I-In o-other words, a-are you g-good now?" Marinette stuttered.

The entire gang was sent into shock and a whole new level of fear when the planchette began to move towards the center of the board. "D-Don't worry," Luka stuttered. "I-It usually goes back to the center and moves back to yes, a-at least from what I've heard..."

"Dude, that's not moving back to yes," Marc shivered.

The planchette was, indeed, not moving back to "YES"... in fact, it moved to the exact opposite side of the board.

"NO".

A sudden, horrifying thump echoed from outside of the room... presumably in the adjacent room.

The one with the closed door, that no one had checked.

Luka, completely shaken, hurriedly pulled out his phone, and semi-forcefully pulled the planchette down to "GOODBYE", Adrien and Marinette's fingers just barely staying on. He sent a text to the boys' and Marinette's group chat, and gestured for them all to check their phones.

The text read: Gather everything up quietly and quickly. ACT NATURAL

The gang all nodded together, and began to quietly and quickly pack up their stuff. Ivan loaded the blown out candles and board back into his backpack, and the gang all grabbed their torches, flicking them on as soon as they got them.

And then...

A soft, faint series of footsteps were heard from the closed door room.

The only move anyone made was Marc, pulling out his crucifix, just for safety. Luka gestured for everyone to begin descending, and no one to talk. Markov, thankfully, seemed to get the memo, just following his friends with complete silence.

Everyone safely descended the stairs, thankfully. The boys and Marinette then slowly began to make their way towards the thirty-minute path that led to the exit, when all of a sudden...

Crrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaakkkkk!

The sound of an upstairs door creaking open slowly did it.

"NAH NAH NAH!" Kim yelled, suddenly bolting in the direction of the tunnel.

"WAIT UP!" Marc yelled, chasing after him, with the rest of the gang right behind him.

As the gang was running, however, Adrien was suddenly tripped up over seemingly nothing - a loud scream was all the gang needed to know that something was up, and they turned around, just in time to see a damp-eyed Marinette pulling Adrien back up from a near-terribly nasty fall.

"S-Something grabbed my leg!" Adrien yelled.

"MORE REASON TO BOOK IT!" Nino screamed.

About five minutes of straight bolting later, all of the gang were completely out of breath, and scared out of their minds. They all didn't walk back to the exit, that's for sure!

...Well, okay, they did. But one, it was brisk walking. Two, not without glancing over their shoulders every five seconds.

-0-

"Oh my God, SWEET SKYLIGHT!" Marc exclaimed, making the cross the very second he stepped out into the open air again.

"Never, ever, again!" Max panted, flipping the tunnel off.

The rest of the gang made thankful comments as soon as they stepped out of the fort's tunnel network, but Marinette and Adrien remained silent. The two, obviously, still clinged tightly to one another's hands, but they were both silent.

"I-I don't know how to thank you for saving me back there," Adrien chuckled, breaking the silence between them. "I honestly don't know how angry my father would be if I had suddenly gotten a scratch. You've spared me an extra hour in the makeup chair!"

"I-Its nothing!" Marinette smiled, wiping her eyes once again - Marc and Kim were doing the same thing. They didn't even feel like they were crying, they just had tears in their eyes. "I-I'm happy to help!"

"You've been the best help ever," Adrien smiled, raising their hands together. "I honestly don't think I could've made it through that without you."

"S-Same here," Marinette said happily, giving him a hug as best as she could - he laughed lightly out of happiness, and hugged back.

"Yo! Dudes!" Nino said. "Its only eight fifty! We can stop by the late-night fro-yo shop on our way home!"

"Ah, frozen yogurt sounds lovely," Ivan chuckled.

"Anything's better than going back in there," Nathaniel laughed.

"And even though that was a pant-crapping experience, I... I can't deny, it was awesome we all got to suffer together," Luka laughed.

"Dude, I think I set a new speed record for myself!" Kim declared happily, though he was kinda upset it had to be a haunted tunnel that caused this. But he was also kinda psyched!

"Yeah, I'll admit, that was... oddly fun," Adrien nodded.

"Please, let's just get out of here," Marinette pleaded.

The gang happily did so, all too ecstatic to leave the haunted tunnel behind...

What a certain two members of the gang didn't notice was how many pictures were taken when they were ordering their frozen yogurt... and still holding hands.

Oh my goodness, that was so much fun to write! Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go apologize to each and every single one of my children for torturing them throughout this. XD

A review would make my day, if you'd be so kind as to leave one! :D Thank you so much for reading guys! See you all soon! Love you all!