Chapter 26 - Flames

Stretching out once more, Annamarie smiled to her ballet friend as they stood in the empty room. "So, you got any plans for later today?"

"Not really." Emilie said, copying her moves perfectly. "You?"

"Nothing much really. Wanna go get a drink?"

"Sure. I hear there is a new coffee place down on…"

They were interrupted from their conversation and practice by the door to the studio closing loudly and four unknown people walking inside, all of them about their age and female, dressed in thick warm coats. Emilie glared at them and stepped away from the mirrors. "Excuse me, this is a private studio."

One of the group which boyish short blonde hair and bright red lipstick gave them a smirk. "Sorry." She said, clearly not meaning it. "But I am looking for Annamarie Tolrana?"

The two dancers looked at each other trying to work out what was going on. This teen clearly wasn't English or French but her accent was strong. Finally, Annamarie nodded. "What do you want with me?"

Her eyes lit up as she walked over to them and held out her hand. "Svetlana Monique."

Still cautious, the dancer shook her hand. "Umm. Hi?"

"I've travelled all the way from Russia to meet you." She explained. "The youngest prima in Europe meeting the youngest prima in Russia. It must be such an honour for you." She said, voice full of pride before looking her up and down. "I must admit, I expected you to be more… showy."

Blinking at the statement, unsure if she had been insulted or complimented, the brunette cleared her throat. "Well, I'm not Prima anymore, Emilie is. I'm just her understudy."

Svetlana looked at the other girl and frowned. "But… she's so old."

"Hey, I'm only a year older than her!" Emilie snapped. "Look, what are you doing here? What do you want?"

"I want to dance against the best dancers in all the world. And that means you Madam Tolrana."

"Sorry, not interested." Annamarie stated as she went to collect her belongings and headed for the door.

Svetlana frowned but then smirked, looking at her friends who had followed her into the room. "I guess she's not as good as they say then." Her gaze went back to Annamarie's head. "Typical of the French, always exaggerating."

Emilie turned on the spot to the Russian. "Hey, Annamarie could dance rings around you!"

"Then why is she playing second to a looser like you?"

"Because…" Emilie started but stopped when a hand held her shoulder, turning to look back at her friend.

"She's not worth it Emilie."

"You can't let her talk to you like that." Her friend frowned, glaring at their visitor. "I won't let her insult you."

"I'm not insulted Emilie. Please, just walk away."

Svetlana nodded as she looked at the pair. "Of course, walk away like the cowards you are."

Annamarie tried not to roll her eyes; after everything that Akumas and Guaimites threw at her, petty insults were nothing anymore so she turned and walked back towards the door.

Clearly seeing she wasn't going to get what she wanted, Svetlana tried one last thing. "You know, I don't know why I even bothered coming here. I should have known a Tolrana wouldn't take up a challenge. Just look at your mother."

The teen froze where she was, turning on the spot. "What did you say?"

"What? That your mother was a… how to say it… a no good second rate dancer? Just like her daughter."

Hand closing into a fist, Annamarie glared at the other. "I'll show you what it means to be a Tolrana. Meet me back here tomorrow afternoon."

Grinning, the Russian nodded. "Good. I look forward to showing you how a true Prima acts." She chuckled dryly. "And feel free to invite anyone you want to watch." She stepped right up into the brunette's face. "I'm sure they will enjoy watching a real ballerina."

Peacock kept her eyes closed as she lifted her arms and danced across the wide open space of the rooftop, remembering each not of her music as it played only in her memory. As it called for a turn, she moved on the spot and felt something collide with her back, opening her eyes and realising she had an audience, Chat grinning as he clapped a few times. "Bravo, magnificent as always birdie."

She rolled her eyes then frowned at him. "How long you two been there?"

"Just arrived." Ladybug explained. "But you should know better than to go around dancing Pea. What if someone saw you and worked out you're a ballerina?"

"I know, I know." She sighed, walking to the edge of the roof and looking down. "It's just… I have this big dance off tomorrow against this rude Russian." She sighed, sitting down. "I shouldn't have let her get to me but she insulted my mother and…" She sighed loudly again. "I couldn't help it."

Sitting on either side of her, Ladybug and Chat offered their silent comfort before Chat nodded. "Well, I think you should head home, get some rest."

"It's patrol night."

"Pea, you need some sleep." Ladybug said. "Go home, get some rest and tomorrow you will be as amazing as the first time we saw you dance. We will even come and cheer you on if you want."

She smiled softly at them. "Thanks guys."

Chat nodded then made a shoo motion with his hands. "Go on, get flying feathers. Text us the time and location when you get home. Go and get your beauty sleep." He winked at her. "Not that you need it."

With a grateful smile, Peacock took her leave of the pair and headed off towards her home.

As she vanished, Chat curled his arm about Ladybug's waist and smirked. "So… wanna play 'cat got your tongue'?"

Ladybug rolled her eyes but she couldn't stop the blush on her cheeks.

"You nervous?" Emilie asked as she stood with her friend, watching her tie up the ribbons on her shoes.

Finishing off and looking into a mirror, Annamarie sighed. "I'm not nervous, more… annoyed. I let myself be played right into that hot head's hands, just fanning her ego." She turned, brushing her hand back over her miraculous hair slide. "But I don't know if I can dance as well as I used to. You know I'm out of practice."

"Well, if 'out of practice' is what I saw from you the other day, then you are going to knock her socks off." Her friend said with a grin. "You will be… miraculous Annamarie."

She chuckled at her encouragement and the unintentional joke then hugged each other. "She should have challenged you."

"It's your mother she insulted. Now prove how wrong she was."

With one last hug, the two headed out to the studio where the challenge was being held, a small crowd of people gathered at the back of the room, including Marinette, Adrien, Alya, Nino, Rose, En, Louie, some girls from the ballet and the Russian's friends.

Svetlana was already there, dressed in a black leotard with a short skirt on top of it and leggings, her lips still painted blood red as she smirked at the other dancer. "You don't mind if I go first do you?" She asked with a fake consideration. "Set the bar as it were."

"Please, be my guest." The other said in a monotone voice, stepping to the side.

Confident smirk on her lips, the visitor took to the stage and someone started the music, the famous music of the swan lake filling the room.

At the side, Annamarie watched as Svetlana began to move, watching her every movement carefully and she had to admit she was good, her movements smooth, her poise careful and delicate. "She is good." She commented to Emile next to her who nodded and they continued to watch.

After a few minutes, the dancer came to a stop with the last notes, panting hard from the effort the show had taken, the crowd clapping and cheering at the display while Svetlana was given a towel to dry her brow off, looking over at her opponent. "See if you can do better than that Frenchy."

Rolling her eyes, the teen stepped out onto the stage herself, the small cheering from the audience making her smile before silence fell and the music started. They were dancing to the same music from Swan Lake but as the first few notes came into the air, she felt something inside her shift and change, a warm guiding sensation from inside.

She began to dance and it felt easy. It didn't feel forced or stressful as it had the last few times she'd preformed. It felt fun. It felt good and relaxed. She completed her performance with a smile and a soft exhale, not even out of breath. She couldn't help but be amazed by how well that had gone but as she turned to look at her audience she realised it wasn't just how she felt but how she had performed.

Everyone was staring at her with an odd awestruck expression. Apart from Svetlana whose face was in an even harder snarl. "Why you little… how… how could you… no one is… is better than ME!" She hissed, stepping up to the other's face. "You… you're not even out of breath! HOW!"

Annamarie took a step back, wincing as she felt a burning heat radiating off the other. "What the…" She gasped, noticing the floor under her feet was turning black and smoking.

In the audience, everyone was making their way out of the room before Svetlana's whole body erupted in flames, someone screaming in fear and Annamarie had to duck as a large ball of fire was thrown at her, colliding with the wall and shattering, the fire spreading to anything flammable.

Svetlana laughed, the fire not harming her as it roared over her body. "You!" She hissed, pointing at the dancer as she tried to avoid the flames around her. "You! Burn! Hot Head! Burn! You!" she shouted, throwing another fireball, Annamarie diving away at the last moment and making her way for the doors.

She could feel the heat at the back of her neck as she managed to get outside into the hallway, narrowly avoiding the blow. As Hot Head blew open the doors and the fire began to spread, a high pressured fine white mist was shot into her face, making her splutter and her flames dim for a moment.

Chat Noir smirked as he lowered the fire extinguisher. "Now that's what I call hot stuff."

"Not your best line Kitty." Ladybird sighed at his side then looked at Annamarie. "You better get out of here civilian." She smirked. "Royal Peacock should be showing up soon."

Annamarie smirked back. "I guess she will." She said then ran down the hallway to find somewhere safe to transform. After dipping into a dressing room she smiled to her kwami who had been hiding nearby. "Can I have at least one day off? Just once?"

Frou sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Heroes life."

She smiled and nodded, touching her hair slid. "Froufrou, Feather's up!"

"Woah!" Chat gasped as he ducked under another fireball that was thrown at his head, backing off to the other side of the room. "This is… this one is serious!" He gasped, hurrying to the only spot that wasn't engulfed in the burning inferno.

Ladybug nodded in agreement as she held up a hand to protect herself from the flames, her second shield working hard to protect her from the flames as Hot Head suddenly threw another ball up at them. Just before it collided with her however, a powerful wind came out and knocked the ball off target, Peacock coming to their side but already it was possible to see the sweat from the heat.

"We need to get out of here!" She shouted, looking at the fire.

"What about the studio?" Ladybug gasped.

"It's lost!" The dancer shouted. "If we stay here then we will burn with it! Everyone has been evacuated. We have to get outside now!" She looked around, her school burning around her but she put the fear away as she batted away another fire ball with her fan. "There is a back exit, over there!"

The exit however, was right past the burning woman who was creating another blast ball in her hands that Chat took care of. Taking a deep breath, Ladybug nodded. "On my mark, charge for the door."

The others nodded, ready for the next attack and for their move. Just as the mite pulled her arm back for another shot, Ladybug nodded. "NOW!" She shouted, the three of them sprinting forwards, past the flames and heat around them.

The trio charged, ducking down as the next blast was aimed at them. Ladybug hit her shoulder hard against the door and it slammed open allowing them to get out and into a rear alleyway. Peacock glanced back as they ran, a small whimper coming from her lips as she saw the studio in flames but then she saw Hot Head chasing after them, the tarmac under her bubbling and melting as she floated over it.

Chat grunted as they kept running. "How are we going to get rid of this one? We can't get close enough to look for a mite without burning, let alone find one."

Ladybug frowned as well, looking around for something to help them. "Head for the river. If we can get there, we might stand a chance."

Location in mind the group began to make their way towards the Seine, Peacock taking to the sky in order to ensure their path was clear but as she did she was able to see that the fire at the studio had spread to the next building and was in danger of spreading to the next one. Swooping back down, Peacock looked to her companions. "Ladybug the fire is spreading! We need to end this soon or the whole of Paris is going to AHH!" She screamed as a fireball collided with the back of her guilder, the flames sticking to it and already beginning to eat at the magical device until she had no choice but to let go or the flames would be on her.

She fell for a bit but then someone grabbed her and helped her get safely to a roof top. "Careful Birdie, or your goose would be cooked."

She glared at the cat. "How long have you waited to use that pun Chat?"

"A while." He confessed with a rakish grin but then peeked around the corner of the chimney as he saw the Akuma aiming for them. A second before the ball hit them head on, Chat grabbed his ally and knelt down, wrapping his cape around them both.

The blast still hit but instead of burning alive, the black fabric from his back almost absorbed the flames, leaving them unharmed. Everyone involved was confused by the development but the two miraculous took advantage of it and ran for their lives, heading towards the river.

Peacock ran aside Chat to avoid getting hit again, her eyes locked forwards. "Any ideas?"

"Apart from stay alive? Not really."

"Perhaps we should call for Niji to come help us?"

"We can do this without him." Chat said shaking his head. "We train for this."

"We didn't train to be cooked alive!" She shouted back as another fire ball came flying after them, exploding on the roof and cutting off their path. They jumped down to street level with Ladybug at their side but the flames continued to follow them, as if being controlled by the mite.

The trio skidded to a stop as they found the flames hemming them in, wrapping around them, engulfing the walls, trees and anything flammable. The only word that came to mind as they turned to face the fire was 'trapped', hemmed in on all sides while the burning form of the mite hovered before them. Peacock lifted her fan and waved it over the flames to try and extinguish them but it swept up in the gust, the fire almost alive as it wrapped around the blue hero's wrist and left a darker mark on her suit, making her hiss in pain.

"You!" She shouted, pointing at them. "BURN!"

"Yeah, yeah, we get the message." Chat huffed but internally all of them were panicking over how to defeat this Guaimite, feeling Ladybug and Peacock pressing against his back as they looked at the flames coming towards them.

Hot Head growled as she began to come closer, the trio backing off as best they could from the heat but it was quickly getting too much.

Panting in the hot air, Ladybug looked at her friends, seeing the looks of horror on their faces.

Hot Head smiled as she pulled back her hands, creating a massive ball of flames. "BURN!"

Before the group could think of a way to get out of it, before Chat could grab his cloak or Ladybug her shield, a sudden stream of water collided with the Akuma's back, the flames being extinguished at once under the liquid and forcing her into a wall where she collapsed.

The three heroes turned in amazement to see what had taken out the mite and standing at the side of the road was the large red and black fire engine, its crew at the ready as the hose dripped while others worked at getting the other fires under control. One of them nodded at the trio before going to fight the flames.

Looking at each other in amazement, the heroes were quick to run to the downed Akuma, watching as the black ash that covered her body began to crack and flames grow over it, her face twisting as she recovered.

Ladybug looked at her quickly and swallowed. "Hurry! We need to find the mite before she wakes up!"

The trio searched but on the ashen body, they couldn't see the black egg when Hot Head's eyes snapped open and the fire raced back over her body, forcing the trio back. As she rose up off the floor once more, Peacock spotted what she was looking for and backed off from the heat. "I saw it!" She shouted as they backed away. "It's on her foot! It's still a mite, we still have time!"

Chat nodded that he had heard her but then turned away. "Problem is she's on fire again!" He glanced back. "And the brigade are busy with ensuring Paris doesn't burn down. How we going to get it!"

As a fireball bounced off her shield, Ladybug frowned and threw her main yo-yo into the air. "Lucky Charm!" She shouted, letting the item fall into her hands. "A pair of tongs?" She said, pinching them experimentally. "Tikki, seriously, we need to have words!"

"Ladybug! Look out!" Chat shouted in warning before tackling her to the ground before a ball of fire slammed on the ground where she had been stood, landing on top of her.

Peacock rolled her eyes as the two rolled to a stop and she stepped up to keep Hot Head busy. "Guys, now is not the time to flirt!"

"Well Hot Head isn't the only one around here who is smokin'."

Ladybug also rolled her eyes before jumping away from yet another fireball. "How are we going to get this leach?"

"I have an idea." Peacock said, opening her fan to its guilder setting. "Ladybug, grab hold! Chat, keep her busy!"

Chat ran to Hot Head and jumped into the air as Ladybug ran for Peacock, grabbing the back of her fan before Peacock took to the air, flying higher over the city and the mite. "Ladybug! Get ready! This is going to be close!"

With one hand holding the edge of the bright blue fan, the other held the lucky charm, working out what her friend was planning. Finally Peacock banked sharply and began to dive down to the floor, right for the ground Hot Head, swooping down under the flames and under her feet. The heat and flames filled the air and she had to force herself to keep her eyes open and keep steady so Ladybug could grab the mite from the sole of the Akuma's foot.

From the scream the fire let out, Peacock knew she'd done it and landed, looking at Ladybug holding the thick squirming black leach trapped in the tongs. The two masked girls wrinkled their noses at it as it tried to escape. "That thing is gross." Peacock said, taking it from her hand. "I'll take that."

Ladybug nodded and turned to her yo-yo, opening it up. "Ready?"

"Ready when you are." Peacock chuckled, holding the tongs to the ground, letting it go just as the yo-yo came spinning towards her, snatching the mite up off the floor and trapping it inside. After a moment she released the fine dust and watched it float away, smiling at their victory before sending the tongs up into the sky, watching them extinguish the flames and repair any damage. The cure even took away the excess water that had been used by the fire brigade and changed Hot Head to the Russian dancer Svetlana. Walking over to her, the Peacock nodded. "Hey, are you alright?"

"W-what happened to me?" She said, rubbing her head. "I… I was…"

"Try not to think about it." Peacock interrupted. "It's best if you don't. All you need to know is that you are safe now. It might be best if you are checked out by a paramedic. Come on, I'll take you."

As the blue hero saw to the dancer, the black cat and red lady walked over to the fire engine who were putting their equipment away. "Thank you for your help. We really needed it today."

"It was our pleasure Ladybug." The man said, holding out his hand. "After all the times you saved us, the least we could do was save you."

(LINE)

"Excellent." Niji praised as the heroes surrounded him, stopping any move he had planned. "You are really beginning to improve."

The trio relaxed from their formation, Chat bending over double as he did. "Phew! I didn't think I would have it in me to fight Hot Head and train today."

"Yeah, it has been a long day. I'm looking forward to going to bed." Marinette chuckled, also leaning on a wall to get her breath back.

Annamarie nodded before looking at her mentor. "Master, can I ask you something?"

"I wouldn't be much of a mentor if I refused. What is it?"

"Today, before Hot Head… I was dancing against her… and… I was sure I wasn't going to do well. Ever since Shenfa's release, I haven't been as strong or committed to my dancing… I've been neglecting it. But today… it was like I was at my peak once more, I was… I felt flawless, like I could do anything." She laughed dryly. "Not that I'm complaining but… it was just strange."

The golden miraculous smiled at her. "Were the others near?"

"Adrien and Marinette? Umm… yes they were actually. How did you know?"

"If a miraculous is in close enough proximity to each other, they provide a... sort of emotional boost to each other." He smiled at the others. "A miraculous is strongest when surrounded by the others. Even when it is inactive."

The trio of heroes looked at each other and smiled, Chat more than the others. "Always knew we were stronger together."

The girls rolled their eyes but couldn't deny the truth in the words. The sun smiled and nodded. "That's enough for tonight, it's time you…" the god broke off suddenly as he jumped away from the others, just in time to avoid a large black blade that came swinging down on where he had been stood.

The blade dissolved into nothingness while the heroes stood in stunned horror as they watched a form become solid right before their eyes; black hair, blood red eyes, black ancient clothes and a cold heartless smile on his lips. "You are losing your touch Sun. I almost got you."

The three miraculous quickly got ready for the fight, pushing aside their exhaustion of the day as they prepared to face their archenemy but before they could make a move a bright golden dome appeared around them, trapping them inside.

Ladybug ran to it, pounding her hand on the surface. "What! No! Niji!"

Their mentor didn't look at them, just staring ahead. "What are you doing here Shen?"

The spirit grinned. "I'm here to do what I said I would do all those years ago; destroy you and everything you treasure."

"We stopped you before. You won't succeed this time."

Shenfa hummed as he walked around the golden shield, looking at the three masked heroes within, all of their eyes full of hate as he slowly reached out for them, touching the wall before recoiling quickly, a faint steam coming from his hand. He turned back to the human kwami. "There will come a time when I'm strong enough to destroy your little pets Niji. You won't be able to protect them forever." He looked at his hand and hummed. "Even now I grow stronger. My mites infect more and more of these humans with each passing day." The eyes turned back to the trapped miraculous. "And needless to remind you, I still have one of your little children in my control."

Chat gave a slight hiss at the reminder. "It won't be forever."

"No." Shenfa agreed. "Soon all of you will be destroyed."

Niji frowned but then charged forwards, snapping out at the other, a golden blade of his own appearing in his hand as he went after the head but Shenfa vanished just in time to avoid the strike, making himself appear again, his blade in his grasp.

Shen smirked as he backed off and swung his own attack. "You're slower than I remember Niji." He teased, blocking the attacks at a rate the heroes didn't know possible. And terrifyingly, he appeared to be winning.

"Niji!" Peacock shouted out. "Let us help!"

"No!" The sun kwami shouted back as he fought on. "I have this!"

Shen chuckled as he kicked the god in the stomach, sending him across the roof and to the floor. "Why not Niji? Let them out and let me kill them before your very eyes."

"Your fight is with me Shenfa!" Niji growled, getting back up as he began to attack again.

The spirit backed off a little. "You're weak, old man. Using too much strength to keep your chosen safe." He jumped forward, reaching out and grabbing the celestial kwami by the wrist, stopping his attack. "Right now, I am the stronger of the two of us."

As he spoke, Niji let out a sharp scream, his arm under the other's hand smoking and the gold of his clothes was slowly turning black. Shenfa grinned as he watched the other slip and fall to his knees, teeth gritting tight to avoid showing his true pain, trying to block out the calls of help from the dome, concentrating on keeping it strong.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" He asked the god at his feet.

"Let him go Shen!" Ladybug shouted. "It's us you want!"

"You will get yours soon enough Ladybug." The darkness shouted back, glaring at the spotted hero. "Make no mistake about that."

With him distracted, Niji took the moment and lifted the arm not in the other's grasp, stabbing the form with a short golden dagger where the heart should have been, the weapon embedding in solid flesh. Shenfa looked down at blade in his chest then growled, letting go of the god and watching him fall to the ground. "This isn't over Niji. I will finish what we started."

Niji panted as he got to his feet, grasping the burn on his arm, watching as Shenfa's form began to slowly turn to smoke and vanish. Even when they were left alone, the dome remained in place but when their master fell forwards to the ground, it flickered out of existence. The three of them instantly ran to his side, helping him stand while Peacock looking at the massive burn down his arm. "We need to get him to Fu's now!"

Together the three heroes managed to get their mentor back to master Fu's without any problems, glad no one appeared to notice them since they didn't have time for subtleties. They all but crashed through the upstairs window as they arrived, scaring the life out of Dawa and Fu who had been watching TV. Dawa suddenly panicked when she saw it was Niji that was hurt, hurrying to help him into a chair. "Wh-what happened?" She said, looking over his arm and the black burn on it.

"We… we were out training." Ladybug explained as her spots came down and Dawa's hand began to glow a silvery white. "T-then he came out of nowhere… we… we didn't have a chance."

"Niji created this shield around us." Adrien continued. "To stop Shenfa hurting us."

"And to stop us helping him." Annamarie hissed, anger clear in her voice. "We could have helped."

"No…" Niji whispered. "No… you're… not ready to… face him."

"We could have helped you." She repeated.

The group fell into silence, broken only by the painful grunts of Niji as his wife healed him.

Adrien finally let out a sigh. "Know your enemy." He lifted his eyes to the gods. "If we are going to fight him we need to know more about him. Where did he come from? What is he? We need to know."

The two gods looked at each other for a while, as if mentally talking before Niji looked away and nodded. "Alright, it might be time for you to know." Niji sighed, sitting up straighter in the chair. "Shenfa… he… he was once… human."

"Human? You mean… like us?"

"Yes. It… it was thousands of years ago. To your history books, it was the beginning of civilisation, the bronze age." Niji explained, looking towards the floor. "Shenfa lived in a small settlement where they worshipped us."

"Wait, hold up…" Adrien interrupted. "You… were worship?"

Dawa smiled shyly. "Not us… personally but they did worship the sun and moon."

"Oh."

"As I was saying." Niji said, glaring at the boy in a way that would guarantee there would be no more interruptions. "Shenfa began to think that the nightfall and the moon were a sign of darkness in the world, the cause of all his misery and suffering.

"He was not of sound mind but as time went on, it became clear he was dangerous. His obsession began to make him violent and one night…" the Sun kwami paused then looked away. "We could do nothing but watch as he slaughtered his whole village. Not a single person was spared. It was… horrid. So we decided to come down to earth, the first time we took these forms. We stood before him… still covered in their…" He paused then looked away. "Anyway… we stood before him and… told him that he was wrong… that the moon was not darkness, but guidance."

His head lowered to his hands. "We… should have known… we shouldn't have interfered in the affairs of humans. It never would have happened if we just… ignored it."

"What happened was an accident." Dawa comforted, placing her hand over where he had been wounded. "We had no idea."

"But it's still our fault." Niji said once more.

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked as she looked on the pair.

"Back then, our power was far stronger than it is now. And since we had met a living thing before we had no idea… what would happen."

Those listening to the story waited patiently with expressions varying from curious to concern.

Niji took a moment then sighed. "Shenfa… absorbed some of our powers, just from being in our presence. It… it was too much for his mortal form to contain… it should have killed him but his anger and… hatred to us and mankind… it consumed him, destroyed him and… created the thing that went on to almost destroy the world."

"That's why you created the miraculous." Marinette said after a short moment to digest the new information. "You felt guilty."

"Yes." Niji confirmed, unable to look at them. "Our power created him. He was our creation, we had to do something to stop him." He gripped his hands tighter. "It's our fault he is out there now, hurting people."

"And it's you that created the powers that stopped him before and will stop him again." The ladybug said, not a trace of mistrust in her voice. "And it's that power that will defeat him again. I know we will."

The gods looked at her and smiled while Niji touched his arm where he'd been hurt just moments ago. "He's stronger than I expected now. We will have to be ready for him."

"With you training and guiding us, we will be."

A/N: Hope you liked the chapter! Don't forget to review.