Who's Got The Akuma
Chapter 11: "The Bill Comes Due"
A Miraculous Ladybug fanfic

by Bill K.


Ladybug swung up to a rooftop, away from the prying eyes of Alya and the citizens who had gathered and watched her battle from a distance. Once she landed, she felt the second dot on her earring flash. Not wanting to tax her Kwami any further, Ladybug allowed the transformation to fade. Marinette cupped her hand and cradled Tikki.

"How are you doing, Tikki?" she asked anxiously.

"That was," Tikki exhaled with exhaustion, "some fight."

"Yeah. Thanks for all of your help." Marinette smiled timidly as she reached into her purse. A dainty hand brought out a packet of gummy bears. "Here. Have the whole pack if you want them."

"I may need them," Tikki sighed. Marinette brought one of the candies to Tikki and the Kwami took a small, exhausted bite. "Tastes good. But what about Manon? And it's getting late. Your parents are going to start to wonder where you are."

"We'll worry about that after you're back to normal," Marinette assured her. Tikki took another bite of the gummy bear.


Cat Noir stood directly in Volpina's path, smiling arrogantly. He expected her to surrender.

Instead, what she did was lash out with a leaping kick to his face. Cat Noir barely dodged the kick. Volpina's leap carried her past him and she hit the ground running. Immediately Cat Noir gave chase, but she had several steps on him.

Throwing his baton, Cat Noir banked it off of the side of the building they were running beside. It caromed off of the wall, bounced off of the alley's pavement and struck Volpina's ankle. She stumbled and fell forward, impacting on the pavement just as she'd exited the alley onto a side street. Cat Noir was on top of her in a second.

"Now let's talk about where you've . . .!" Cat Noir began to say as he bent down to pin Volpina face first on the ground.

Quickly Volpina rolled onto her back, pulling her legs to her chest. Her feet pressed against Cat Noir's abdomen and she thrust up and out, hurling him away from her. Cat Noir hit the ground and quickly rolled to his feet. But Volpina was already up and her flute was pressed to her mouth.

She got half a phrase out. Cat Noir threw his baton and knocked the flute out of her hand. But the damage had been done. Before his eyes, Volpina faded from sight. At the same instant, three Volpina's materialized, one left, one right and one behind him.

"Catch me if you can!" each Volpina sang out, then laughed as they all turned and ran in different directions.

But Cat Noir wasn't listening to them. His eyes were closed and he was listening to his surroundings. Suddenly he lurched forward and drove his shoulder into something warm and athletic and feminine. As he and his unglimpsed prize hit the ground, a loud grunt split the air. Opening his eyes, Cat Noir found himself on top of Volpina. His arms were wrapped around her and she glared angrily up at him.

"You can't fool all of my senses, Volpina," he smirked.

"Get off me!" she roared. "Pervert!"

"Pervert?" Cat Noir gasped in mock indignation. He wrestled her to her feet, bending one arm behind her as he did so. "I'll have you know that I am in love with Ladybug and I remain true to her."

"Really?" Volpina asked, looking coyly at him over her shoulder. "You don't think I'm as attractive as Ladybug?"

Cat Noir didn't answer. Volpina eased around to face him, though he still had control of her wrist.

"You didn't say 'no'. Maybe we can make a deal?" Volpina said. She leaned in. "I can make it worth your while."

And then she head-butted him.

Cat Noir staggered back three steps. Volpina immediately launched her foot into his middle, knocking the black-clad hero to the ground. She didn't waste time looking him over. Volpina turned tail and ran, while Cat Noir tried to regain his breath. As he struggled to his feet, Alya ran up to him.

"Cat Noir, are you all right?" she gasped, taking his arm and helping him to his feet.

"Just a little out of breath," he wheezed out. Alya could hear that the blow had done more damage than he was admitting to. "Did you see where Volpina went?"

"No," Alya groaned. "I was too worried about you."

"Not to worry," Cat Noir smirked confidently. He held up his baton and flipped a cover on the side of the metal rod with his thumb. A green screen was revealed, with a light green dot flashing on a dark green background.

"You put a tracker on her?" Alya gasped with delight.

"While I was, um, wrestling with her," he winked. "I wasn't totally preoccupied with how good it felt."

Alya looked at him disapprovingly.

"You, uh, don't have to mention that in your blog," Cat Noir grimaced. "Certain people might take that the wrong way."

"OK," Alya replied skeptically. "But only because I wouldn't want there to be any friction between you and 'certain people'."

"Actually, I wouldn't mind a little friction between . . ." Cat Noir mumbled, a look of pleasant fantasy on his face.

"Get on out of here and track down Volpina!" Alya barked, shoving the hero.

Shaken out of his reverie, he threw her a playful salute and then headed off in search of his quarry. Alya watched him with a mixture of disdain and humor. Then suddenly she remembered that more video of Cat Noir fighting Volpina would be great for the blog. So what if she hadn't finished her project for school yet. This was important. The girl raced after Cat Noir, changing the memory card in her phone as she ran.

Confident that she had lost Cat Noir, Volpina slid surreptitiously into the gym of College Francois DuPont. There she had woven one of her most intricate illusions. To the outside world, the gym seemed empty. Since the school was still closed in the wake of the morning's attack, there was nobody there to look, anyway. To the little girl sitting in the center of the room, playing with a doll, the room looked like the small room she had been in, her only link to the outside world being several television monitors.

As she entered, Volpina wondered what The Puppeteer's mood would be. Certainly she had already sensed that Stormy Weather and Animan had been overcome. But Volpina was certain she could entice the child into trying again. Ladybug would still know defeat. Perhaps she should try Pixilator this time, teamed with The Pharaoh and Timebreaker. Volpina eased up to the child.

"Why did you lie to me?" The Puppeteer demanded.


Tom Dupain-Cheng presented the box of pastries to the customer with a grateful smile. He could tell the woman was already anticipating eating them, even though she managed to return his nod and smile. Her preoccupation didn't bother him. If anything, it was a compliment to his product. As the woman exited the shop, two more women entered. They were locals and regulars at the bakery.

"It's just terrible," one of the women proclaimed to her companion. "It's getting so a person can't walk the streets of Paris anymore."

"Something should be done," the companion, a middle-aged woman like the first, declared. "But all Mayor Bourgeois does is search for cameras and tell us everything will be fine. In a pig's eye it will!"

"What can I get for you handsome ladies today?" Tom smiled. In the background, Sabine grinned. Tom knew when to butter up a customer.

"Oh, you!" twittered the first woman, responding as predicted. "I just stopped in for a couple of loaves of your marvelous bread. Seems I can't get through the day without a bite of it. Probably just as you planned."

"Guilty," he grinned. Sabine handed him two baguettes rolled in paper. "I couldn't help overhearing you as you came in. Has something happened?"

"Didn't you hear?" the second woman gasped, sensing a chance to demonstrate her knowledge. "There's been another one of those 'monster attacks'. The ones Ladybug and Kitty Noir are always fighting."

"Really? Do you know where?" Tom asked.

"I think the news report said it was near Armand DuPree's Cheese Shop," the first woman recalled.

"They have such fine cheese there," her friend volunteered. "A little of their Gouda spread on a slice of your baguette - - well, I'll confess to enjoying a midday snack more than once. I shouldn't indulge . . ."

"Armand's shop is about three-tenths of a kilometer from the library, isn't it?" Tom said, glancing with concern at Sabine. Instantly Sabine had a cell phone out and was punching in a number.

"Yes, it is. Why?" asked the first woman.

"Um, Marinette is over there. She has research," Tom replied distantly, "for school."

"She's so industrious," the second woman chimed in. "Not like some of the youth of today with their Hippety-Hop music." Finally she realized why Tom was concerned. "I'm certain she's all right."

Awkwardly they paid for their purchase and left. The moment they were gone, Tom turned to Sabine. She nodded and turned the phone so they could both hear.

"Uh, yeah, I heard what was going on at the library," they heard Marinette say. "The trouble is all over now. Ladybug and Cat Noir came to the rescue again."

"You went there?" gasped Sabine.

"Um, Alya was there and I sort of wandered over to her," Marinette offered. "We weren't in any danger. Everybody knows that when Ladybug is fighting an akuma villain, you give them plenty of space."

"Well maybe you'd better come home, Marinette," Tom advised her. "It's getting late and I don't think you'll be able to get much more work done on your project now anyway."

"Uh, yeah, you're probably right," Marinette replied half-heartedly. "Um, I may be a while. It's still pretty chaotic in the streets. And . . . I . . . want to make sure Alya gets home OK, you know? Because if anything happened to her, I would just . . .you know."

Sabine smothered a smile. "All right," she said patiently. "But don't be too long. And be careful. Because if anything happened to you, your father and I would just . . . you know."

They heard Marinette chuckle. "Right, Mom. I'll try to get home by dinner. Love you."

"We love you, Marinette," they said and disconnected. Both of them looked at each other and heaved a sigh in unison.

"Well," Sabine began, "this wouldn't be a problem in China."

"Perhaps," Tom looked away. "But would she be happy in China? Her life is here. Her friends are here." He frowned. "That boy she's infatuated with is here. I want to protect her, but I don't want her to become a melancholy canary in a gilded cage."


"Lied?" Volpina replied, acting askance. "Whatever could you mean, Puppeteer? I was just . . ."

"Mr. Hawk Moth told me everything," The Puppeteer scowled. "He told me how you made him think I was still at the other place. And how you made me think I was at the other place when I was really here! You lied to me! That's not nice!"

"All right," Volpina replied, looking down chastened. Then she locked eyes with the young villain. "But I did it to protect you! To protect us both! Hawk Moth is just using us! We're tools in his hands to beat Ladybug and Cat Noir and get their Miraculous! And when we've gotten them, he's just going to cast us . . .!"

Suddenly Volpina's voice disappeared. Her throat began to constrict uncomfortably. Putting her hands to her throat, she found nothing around it. Her eyes darted fearfully to The Puppeteer. Breathing was becoming harder and harder.

And in the young villainess's hand was a Volpina doll. And her thumb and forefinger were pressed to the doll's neck.

"I don't believe you," snapped Puppeteer petulantly. "You lied to me, so I don't believe anything you tell me."

Puppeteer released the pressure on the doll. Volpina sank to her knees, gasping for air. She looked up at the young girl while still on her hands and knees. There was intimidation in her eyes, but also the look of someone whose mind was racing trying to build a countering strategy.

"This is what you're going to do," Puppeteer told her, the doll tight in her grip. "You're going to go out and beat that Ladybug. And then you're going to bring her to me! And then I'll show her that I'm the one who won this time! And that I get to have any doll I want! Any time I want!" She glared at Volpina. "Get up."

Volpina got to her feet. If only there was a way to get that doll out of her grasp. But, quick as she was, she had to wait for a time when Puppeteer was distracted. Then Puppeteer looked away. It seemed like she was communicating mentally with Hawk Moth. Volpina tensed to strike.

Then Puppeteer looked back at her and the chance was gone.

"Mr. Hawk Moth says Cat Noir followed you here," Puppeteer told Volpina. The fox villain seemed genuinely surprised. "He's entering the school now. Beat him. Then bring him to me."

Cat Noir entered the school cautiously. He was genuinely surprised when Volpina's trail led here. It was one of the last places he'd expect her to be. But unless she'd found the tracker and ditched it, this was where she was. A door to the gym opened and he turned toward it.

"Ladybug?" Cat Noir murmured in surprise. Ladybug cautiously slid through the door and then approached him. "Did you see Volpina?"

Ladybug gestured for quiet. "She's here," the heroine said in a low, conspiratorial voice. "Puppeteer's here, too. But we have to be quiet so we don't alert them that we're here."

"Right," Cat Noir nodded quietly. He joined up with her and the pair cautiously made their way along a hall away from the gym. "I'm surprised to see you up and around so soon. That fight with Volpina must have taken a lot out of you."

"It did," Ladybug whispered. "She's tough. But I've got my own tricks."

"Aside from bewitching helpless males, M'Lady?" Cat Noir grinned. She glanced over at him.

"Well aren't you sweet," Ladybug smiled flirtatiously.

Instantly warning bells went off in Cat Noir's brain. That wasn't the response he was expecting. And while Ladybug smiling flirtatiously at him was the stuff of dreams, reality told him this wasn't Ladybug. So it had to be Volpina.

And out of the corner of his eye, he saw "Ladybug" had her hand poised to snatch the ring off of his finger. Like lightning, Cat Noir seized her wrist and spun her around so that her arm was twisted behind her and she was chest to chest with him. Then he dipped.

"You can drop the act, Volpina," Cat Noir said as "Ladybug" struggled in his grip. "You can look like Ladybug, but you can't match her class."

"You . . .!" snarled "Ladybug". She attempted to head butt him again, but Cat Noir avoided it. "Ladybug! Always Ladybug! I hate Ladybug! And I hate you!" Her illusion faded, revealing Volpina. But try as she might, off-balance as she was and held in Cat Noir's grip, she couldn't escape.

"OK, where's Puppeteer?" Cat Noir demanded.

At the mention of the name, Volpina stopped struggling. "She's," Volpina began, her eyes darting fearfully to the side, "in the gym."

"And of course you wouldn't lie to me, would you?" Cat Noir asked cynically.

"In a heartbeat if it would get me what I wanted!" Volpina spat. Then she grew quiet. "But not this time. Get her. Beat her. I think I'd rather go back to being Lila than be under her thumb. And Hawk Moth's."

Cat Noir stared at her, trying to read the vixen's intent. Finally he pulled her up out of the dip and spun her around so that he was behind her, but her arm was still bent between her shoulder blades. He forced Volpina to walk ahead of him toward the gym. But as they neared the gym door, Volpina began to resist.

"Look, I told you where she was!" the villain gasped. "Don't make me get near her again!"

"This is just in case you're lying," Cat Noir forced her forward. "You do have a habit of that."

Cat Noir reached for the door. At that moment, Volpina twisted and tore out of his grasp. He turned to intercept her attack, but Volpina instead ran for the front door like Hell itself was chasing her. Cat Noir looked back at the door handle with some trepidation.

"Maybe I need to make an entrance," he thought.

Hunching his shoulders, Cat Noir whipped the door open suddenly. He dived through the opening, rolled forward and sprang to his feet, a baton in each hand ready to use to either attack or defend himself. Sitting in a chair in the center of the room was The Puppeteer.

In her hand were dolls of Ladybug and Cat Noir. The girl looked over her shoulder at him and smiled.

Concluded in Chapter 12