Chapter Ten: A Bright Light
*Warning: A few curse words. And epic-ness.
Florence's POV:
I watch the scene unfold as I'm trapped in my sleep.
Except I know it isn't just a nightmare. I'm reliving that moment.
Cat Noir and Ladybug face off against each other. Her eyes glisten with tears, while his are stormy, trying to break free of control.
"Please," she begs. "Don't let him control you, I know you're in there. You're strong enough, Chat."
The black clad leather hero screams in agitation, as the outline of a pink moth flickers. Then he's still. A cruel smirk displays on his face, and he laughs.
"It's too bad true love doesn't conquer all this time around, does it Ladybug?" he sneers. "I've taken special modifications for controlling him."
Shaking, Ladybug backs away. "Don't force him to do this. Don't force me to do this. Why?"
The possessed Cat Noir raises his paws, activating Cataclysm. I can't watch her die. I run into the situation, making the heroine gasp.
"No! Emma, get back!" she screams.
Ignoring her pleas, I turn to the akumatized super. It may be in vain, but I have to try.
"It's me, Emma! I know you really don't want to hurt me, do you Cat Noir?" I ask.
For a moment, doubt crosses his face. He forces a scowl. "Get away, g-girl," he growls. "Not even family can save him now."
He races past me, and chases after Ladybug, who uses her yo-yo to tangle him onto a lamp post. It doesn't work for too long. Without using his hands, Cat Noir breaks free, and hisses.
"We both know you've made your choice. You already used Lucky Charm on my last villain. Surrender, and I'll make your death less painful." They fight, going farther away in the distance.
I have to transform. But Chicca has no energy left. Gritting my teeth, I grab my flute from my satchel and run after the two.
It's a tight battle. Although distraught, Ladybug manages to dodge her partner's swipes. Cat Noir is less emotional. He doesn't use his paws in action, but he makes clever use of his legs and tail.
Thunder booms. Droplets of rain pour down on the streets of Paris, making this drearier. I'm tired, but I will myself to run further. I will reach them.
I have to reach them.
It's too late.
A lightning bolt jags across the dark sky, and I see Ladybug, battered and defeated. She takes one look at me, urging me to get away. She gazes at her lover one final time. Cat Noir's hands glow brighter in the dark.
"I love you."
He stabs his claws into her side with a vengeance.
I scream in horror.
Ladybug slides of the slanted roof of the building, and I catch her. She's slowly disintegrating. The young girl changes back to the person I know. I hug her body, and my tears drop onto her face.
"I'm sorry," I apologize. Her legs are ashes now, and blood seeps from her mouth.
"It's- it's not your fault, Ems," she whispers. Pain is in every syllable.
Her kwami is also in a similar state. Her chubby feet have disappeared, but determination still burns bright in her frail pupils.
"We can't give up."
She flies to my bracelet, lifting her weak hand onto the centre of the feather. Tikki mutters a few ancient words, and her essence shimmers away. I hear her giggle sadly as she fades.
Her miraculous holder grimly sighs. She squeezes my hand, and I do the same.
"What did she…" I begin.
"Tikki used her final strategy," she replies. She's quieter now, trying to mask her suffering. "Her, our power, is now in yours."
I shake my furiously, protesting this responsibility. "No, I'm not a hero, you can't just make me, I'm not able to…"
Half her chest is gone, but she slaps me. Hard.
"Florence Emma Agreste, get a grip or so help me I will haunt you forever as a ghost," she threatens. It's weak, but I get the point.
Her arms turn to dust, so I'm only left with a head. In normal circumstances, I would have run away in terror.
But this isn't normal. My best friend is dying.
"I'm so sorry Steph," I cry. I know it won't do anything, but I say it anyway. "Please, you can't die too."
Stephanie grimly smiles back, a peaceful expression now on her face.
"Forgive me, Ems. But it's all up to you now. You go get 'em, girl."
A smile is the last thing she does before it too turns to dust.
I scream.
That was the reminder that graced me that night. So when Cat Noir gave that hug, I warmly welcomed it. Even though it wasn't my whole family, it was comforting to be in their arms again.
I smiled when I saw Marinette and Chloe hug each other. It mirrored how Stephanie and I made up those years ago. I had bit my lip, forcing myself to not fall apart. There were so many things I had wanted to tell Stephanie.
That's why I can say I was off guard when The Recycler attacked.
Now, I stare wildly at the gigantic villain looming before the school.
For those who have never seen a mecha suit made up of recycled objects, you have never been truly awestruck and terrified.
Another trapdoor on his backside hinged open, and popped out the same man he had stuffed in previously.
He glanced around his surroundings. Robotically, he placed the bottle he had thrown into the trash into the correct bin.
"Must be clean." He grabbed a witness hiding behind the bin. "You must be recycled." The apprehended victim struggled, but the man held on, as The Recycler scooped her up and digested her too.
That process repeats for a while. More people are grabbed and digested, and then drop out as clean freaks. I struggle to move to a disclosed spot. Citizens are either running away or filming the whole thing. I see Alya taking out her cellphone.
"Meow." Cat Noir arrives at the scene. "I admit that this place had looked trashy," he muses. I groan. He's already making puns!
The Recycler withdraws the first female, and she is also in a hypnotized trance. Weird. For some reason, she took longer than the others. "Everyone must be taught, everyone must be made clean," she says. She and the man walk toward a crowd of people. They flee in panic.
Cat Noir dodges The Recycler's bombs of pop cans aimed at him. I have to transform, too. I duck in an alley.
"Chicca, take flight!" I yell. She transforms me into Mélodie, and I grab my flute. That's when I realize something is off.
"Cat! Where's Ladybug?" I ask my ally. His eyes widen as he finally notices his main partner is not there.
I find my answer.
Marinette struggles against the grip of The Recycler. Her purse has fallen to the ground, where I know her kwami is. Both Cat Noir's and my pair of eyes stare at her. She nervously gulps.
"Marinette!" screams Chloe. The blond shakes her head in terror. "You didn't have push me out of the way!" Scooping up Marinette's purse, she runs after the Recycler, who swallows Marinette.
I don't know who shrieks louder, Chloe, Me, or Alya, who drops her cellphone.
Chloe yells out a war cry, and pounces on the Recycler's left leg. "Let my friend go!" Using her own Gucci purse, she hits in an attempt to dislocate a cardboard kneecap. No effect, but now the villain sees her. I buzz around in circles, distracting him. Cat Noir grabs Chloe forcefully and retreats her to a safe spot. She had been pounding her fists the whole time. He comes back, but he doesn't have Marinette's purse on him. Not good.
I expect Marinette to come out of The Recycler, transformed into a cleaning freak. Instead, the mecha seems to be struggling. "Impossible," he speaks.
Cat Noir uses this opportunity, and activates Cataclysm. He touches the akumatized villain's cardboard hand. However, only his arm disintegrates, and the villain easily regenerates it with other piles of recyclables across the street. Cat Noir races after him, and I struggle to catch up while running. Remembering, I curse. I can make myself fly. Not letting my fear take over, I fly high and fly to the battlefield.
Giving up on transforming Marinette, The Recycler picks up Cat Noir and engulfs him using the trap door. I worry. His miraculous power is running out, and he might change back in there. Their identities would reveal too early! I got to hatch a plan, and fast.
I speedily play a tune, and my electrical beam sticks from my flute. It looks like a spear. I jam it into the villain's foot, electrocuting him. His head slowly turns to face me, a mixture of defeated beeps sounding. Collapsing, the arms and legs fall off, leaving only his chest and head.
I falter for my next strike.
This is reminding me too much of Stephanie. But I have to manage.
I raise my spear again, and jam it through his head.
It doesn't work.
I curse. It's layered with rubber!
Why is it even layered in rubber? Upon closer inspection, I see rubber gloves and tires packaged together. Just my luck.
Sliding off, I feel my power running out. The electrical beam shuts down. I can't play anymore tunes, but my adversary can't move either.
Using the wind generated by my flight, I move all the broken recycled limbs away a safe distance away from the chest.
He's defeated, but the akuma is still in him, and so are Marinette and Cat Noir. I gulp. They were never defeated, as far as I remembered.
What if going back in time altered some of the events too?
I'm down to my last feather. I panic. The Recycler struggles, but he slowly shifts his hulky body towards his other parts.
Beginning to panic, I jump into a recycling can, and revert back. Good thing nothing is inside. Chicca is flustered, and she immediately snacks on the extra granola bar I packed. We got to transform back, and fast. I know how to get rid of the akuma, but there's so many risks. Marinette would see me perform it, and how would I reach the item? I sensed it was somewhere deep inside the body.
That's when an invisible force pummels back The Recycler, surprised.
"Who dares to attack me?" booms the recycled bot. His voice must be projected by speakers. Could you recycle speakers? A can spits out of his mouth, and hits the attacker. The air shimmers.
The figure goes visible. She cockily grins as she caresses his head.
"My, my, you found me." She scans the area, and I duck inside. "I thought there were other heroes around here. Guess I'll have all the fun to myself."
As Chicca finishes off the bar, I observe our new ally. She's got two strands of hair tied at the ends, followed by one huge bushy one at the back. They are highlighted orange, with splashes of white at the ends. Her whole outfit is red-orange, with white fur in the centre. Fox ears rest atop her head.
"You're a pretty big fella," she continues. "I've never fought anything like you before. I'm only used to street thugs, but real villains? Nope. You're my first."
Chicca's done, so I transform.
I find to my annoyance that the orange hero is still blabbing. She's leaning, relaxed on top of The Recycler, and its eyes glare in anger. It shifts closer to the parts, and the items start moving to him.
"Hey!" I shout. The girl, startled, slides off his chest and scowls.
"Now you're here." An accusatory look appears on her face. "So is that the drill here? You heroes work solo? Don't I deserve a thank you? I already got everything under control. He's down."
The Recycler stands proud, regaining his legs and arms.
"Oh, shi-"
So much for having everything under control.
"Look out!" I ram into the girl, pushing us aside from the volley of glass containers. They shatter on the pavement.
Brushing myself off, I offer my hand to the girl. She sheepishly accepts it. "I guess I was full of myself again," she mumbles. "I'm Volpina." She says her name with an Italian accent.
Despite her actions, I smile back. "Nice to meet you, I'm Mélodie."
Energy seems to build up inside her, and a red rod appears in her hands. I realize it's a flute.
She plays a quick, passionate tune, and I see a red aura glowing around her. The flute disappears, and her hands burst into flames.
"Let's get this party started!" Volpina tosses a bunch of fire balls at The Recycler, and sets him on fire.
It spreads quickly, and The Recycler cannot move. My new ally obliviously does a victory dance. I scream. "Volpina! There are people inside! Plus, The Recycler is an actual person who been akumatized!"
Her hands stop glowing and her mouth widens in shock. "Are you serious? Why didn't you tell me before?" she yells back.
"How was I suppose to know you were some kind of pyromaniac?"
"Pyromaniac?! How I was supposed to know what akumatized is? What is that anyway?"
"You girls need to learn to cooperate. We don't want any more CATastrophes."
The trap door swings open, and Cat Noir, Marinette, and an unconscious man hop out. A dim trace of a butterfly flutters on his face. All three are covered in soot, and the suit is still ablaze.
Marinette gently lays the man in a safe place. "Where's my purse?" she asks.
"Chloe has it," I reply to her. Confusion is in Cat Noir's eyes. "Still no sign of Ladybug. I've got the item-" He held a Go Green! Pin. "-but how am I supposed to purify it?"
Volpina rushes back to my side and studies the two. "So you were stuck in there the entire time, huh?" she asks. Embarrassment glows on her face. "Sorry, first time on the job."
"No need to apologize, luciole," states Cat Noir. Marinette rolls her eyes, and I groan.
Volpina scowls. "Don't call me that. I am Volpina, not a firefly!"
"Whatever you say, luciole."
"Guys!" Marinette shouts, then covers her mouth, remembering she wasn't Ladybug at the moment. Cat Noir and Volpina jump at her outburst. "Um, don't we have to fix the butterfly or whatever?" She mumbles more timidly.
"That's what I said," agrees Cat Noir. A dark thought crossed his mind. "You don't think she's been turned to a recycling zombie, do you?"
I nod, hoping Cat Noir doesn't draw out anymore possibilities. Marinette's shoulders sag in relief.
"Sorry Cat Noir, I've been holding out on a little secret," I apologize. "Although I admit this is going to be my first time."
I take the pin from him, and snap it in half. The black insect flies out. Before it can leave, I activate the newest feature of my bracelet.
A yellow light shines, and sucks the akuma inside. After a few seconds, I release it, and the now-white butterfly flutters away.
All three heroes ogle at me in shock. "Mélodie y-you can use L-lucky Charm too?" stutters Marinette. I quickly nod, and toss my flute high into the air.
"Miraculous Healing!"
A swarm of yellow ladybugs fly across the city, repairing all the damage done in the city. All recyclables are back in their own containers. The cleaning zombies are back to normal, too.
It finally circles in on the man, and the pink outline disappears. He slowly opens his eyes. "Where am I?"
I'm worried. The three of them are just standing there, trying to comprehend the situation. Finally, Volpina grins widely, and runs to me. She gives me a hard pat on the shoulder.
"Gosh, I am totally psyched about this!" she gushes. "We are so going to make an epic team, and kick people's asses!"
My flute drops, and hits the side of her head. I forgot that it had been in the air. It had good timing.
"Ouch!" Before I can, she picks up the golden flute. Recognition flashes in her brown eyes.
"Funny. My flute looks just like yours, well except it's made of red gold, see?"
She rubs her hands, and out pops out her flute. She holds one in each arm, comparing them.
"Weird." She rolls over my flute, where an old dent is. "Yours got damaged the same spot mine did. Rolling hers over, I see an identical dent.
Images of my 5th birthday pop back.
"Happy Birthday Emma!"
I open my present from my parents.
It's a red flute.
My dad beams. "I want you to know that we could have gotten you a new flute, but this flute is really special. You create beautiful music, my petite étoile, so this is yours to keep. Be responsible."
My curious eyes look up at them.
"What makes it so special?" I ask.
My mom's smile doesn't seem to reach her eyes. Now, I know it's sadness.
"It's a magic flute, Emma." She closes her eyes, and smiles.
"It belonged to a friend. A friend, who had a fiery soul of song, just like you."
Well. Here's chapter ten! If you see any typos, please let this phantom fox know so she can fix them.
You guys are such angels, reading my stories. I hit a roadblock while working on my other fanfiction, so I decided to work on two chapters at once. Don't worry, Hunger for Justice will update shortly after this.
I think I'll go back and edit this chapter later, unless you think this chapter is as epic as it is XD.
So how do you like some of the secrets that were finally revealed?
Mwah ha ha. I'll try to update A.S.A.P. Unless I'm reading other fanfiction. I still need to work on my homework, too -.-'
That's it for now! Love ya!
~Kurama Kaitou