A/N: Soooo...I started writing this even before the Origin story and really before I knew much about Volpina at all. I say this because the actual details are all wrong now, but I figured I was going to keep with it anyway and post it all the same. If it bothers you that things aren't spot on, just consider it a closely-associated AU.
The street was slick with the fresh rain, but Volpina barely noticed as her feet glided over the top as fast as she could. Above her, Blu Pavone disappeared and then reappeared over and over as he teleported in the same direction as her. She smiled to herself; she knew he could just teleport straight there, but he always waited for her and kept her pace. It was one of the small things he did that she loved him for.
As she rounded the corner, the large shadow monster loomed in the middle of the city park. Its large, dark, transparent tendrils spiralled out and wrapped themselves around all nearby sources of light. Volpina was thankful she could at least still sort of see in the dark, but Pavone would be at a disadvantage. He never did like the dark much.
"A shadow monster?" he grumbled as he landed next to Volpina across the street from the park entrance.
Volpina nodded.
"It's big," Pavone added.
Again, Volpina nodded.
"Like, really big."
"I get it," Volpina said.
Pavone shrugged, the blue and turquoise feathers on his shoulders fluttered in the wind. "I'm just saying."
Volpina looked around the area. With her agility, she could easily distract the monster while Pavone went for its weak spot, but that plan left her with two small problems. Pavone wouldn't be able to see well enough to make an accurate attack, and she didn't know what its weak point was. The tendrils were growing larger with each passing moment and the light continued to fade. Pretty soon, even Volpina wouldn't be able to see well enough to pull off an attack.
"You'll have to distract it," she said with slight hesitation.
Pavone shuddered. "I don't much care for the dark, you know. Peacocks may be able to see ultraviolet, but this thing is just…darkness. I can't even make out where it ends. Seriously, Pina, I don't like the dark."
Volpina looked at him with a smile. "Really? I had no idea."
He rolled his eyes at her and then took off running around the fence of the park. She wondered why he ran instead of teleporting, but figured it was probably so he didn't lose his bearings in the darkness. While she couldn't teleport herself, he'd managed to take her on a couple of small trips before. It wasn't a pleasant experience. She didn't like the way it messed with her brain to blink and be in a completely different place. He said she would get used to it, but she would just rather not. He had his transportation style and she had hers.
Besides, she was as nimble and quick as a fox. That was enough.
Volpina watched him until he turned the corner. She pushed forward into the park just as the giant monster shifted its attention towards Pavone.
"Hello Mister Big Bad Shadow!" Pavone shouted as he waved his hands in the air. "Yoo-hoo! Over here!"
Volpina grumbled internally to herself. He sounded ridiculous, even if his silly calls distracted the monster. She pulled her thoughts away from how his peacocking was going to get him killed one day and focused on the monster.
The problem with the monsters in Italy was they never seemed to have a simple way to destroy them. Her kwami often told her about how in Paris, the monsters weren't monsters at all, and instead were just transformed people that could be changed back by destroying an item. That sounded easy compared to what her and Pavone faced. No, the monsters in Italy weren't akumatized victims. They were the embodiment of pure evil. Italy held lots of ancient secrets, and every once in a while, those secrets manifested as an entity that seemed entirely focused on destroying the city.
Volpina scanned the shadow monster as it started to lash out its tentacles towards Pavone. From the corner of her eye, she could see Pavone teleporting out of the way as the shadow tendrils attacked him.
"Anytime, foxy lady!" he shouted as he teleported a few feet away, another shadow attack slamming down.
Volpina noticed two small holes in the shadow creature. 'Holes' wasn't really the right term. It was more like they were slightly less shaded than the rest of its body. It was more than likely that was the shadow monsters eyes.
She pulled out her flute and played a small melody. Music notes swirled around her and then a small silver sphere dropped out from amid the notes. She grabbed it and started to run towards the creature.
"Close your eyes!" Volpina shouted as she leapt off the ground. As she soared through the air, she pulled the silver sphere out and shoved it straight into the shadow monsters eye hole. Volpina dropped down to the ground and covered her own eyes.
Even with her eyes shut and her arms covering her head, she could still see the explosion of light. The blinding whiteness grew brighter and brighter until Volpina thought it might somehow blind her, and then it faded away in a quick whoosh.
Volpina opened her eyes and blinked several times. It was hard to see and there were spots in her vision, but the shadow monster was gone. She grinned to herself as she twirled her flute in her hand. "That could have been worse."
She turned to look over at Pavone and all the strength in her legs washed away. Volpina fell to her knees.
Pavone was pressed up against a brick wall along the park side. His head hung limply over his shoulder and there was a large gash across his face. Though the shadow tendril wasn't there any longer, a hole remained in Pavone's chest where it had been.