Disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous Ladybug.

Chapter 25

In a few moments Saura realized her mistake and ran to find Lila, just in time to see the akuma take her over and recognition dawned in her eyes at what she was supposed to be. The white and burnt orange suit stood out like a glaring beacon of evil. It was meant to stand out, to make it have the illusion of an easy target. Vulpina had been born again, and this time she would have to deal with a real fox.

A few moments before Saura had raced to where Lila was a black butterfly infected the fox tail pendant that hung around her neck and the familiar sound of Hawkmoth's voice rang in her head. Darkness was dredged op from the depths of her mind to meet with his desires. "I know what you want," Lila explained in a cold voice before continuing. "I'll get you the miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir, but in exchange you are going to have to give me more power."

A dark chuckle could be heard from the villain at the girl's sheer confidence and arrogance. "Do not forget that you are simply a pawn, Vulpina. Take what I am offering and you shall be able to keep it, so long as I receive what I desire." His voice was full of dark promises and new days filled with power, but for Lila it wasn't enough.

A frown creased her face as she glared at the empty street as if she was looking at the one offering her power. "No," she sternly said and could feel the weight of Hawkmoth's influence increasing in her mind as he tried to forcefully make her do his bidding. "I don't want illusions this time. I want power, no, magic. Real magic, and if you can't deliver then I'll be fine on my own." Her voice was steady, but her mind flashed a vision of Saura and the desires to be like her welled up within Lila. It was this desire that changed Hawkmoth's mind.

A voice, one that sounded almost like Hawkmoth's, resounded in her head as she gasped from the pain. "Very well. I suppose that I can cut a few of this puppet's strings," she could almost see the evil grin in her mind as the voice that sounded more and more foreign clawed at the inside of her mind. It terrified her as the darkness consumed her whole and produced a new villain for the heroic duo to fight.

When she opened her eyes, she was face to face with Saura and an unmistakable surge of rage welled up inside of her, but it was misplaced. She never felt rage towards her, but then again, she also wasn't herself. A burning in her veins let her know that power was saturating her being. "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in?" she asked as she spun her flute, but it felt different this time. It was heavier.

Saura bowed in taunting towards the newly made villain, "I didn't realize that the fight would be against a bunny this time." A fang peaked out of her lip as her lips curled into a grin to match her sarcastic voice. The frown on Vulpina's face was the only warning that Saura got before the flute that was in her hand crashed into her body at full force. Before she could correct herself, she crashed against a building and slumped to the ground with blood trickling down her head.

Chloe, who was only a short distance away, saw the scene and decided it was best to run away from the situation that she had undoubtedly created. As she was running, an arm reached out and grabbed Chloe before dragging her into a building. If it wasn't for the hand covering her mouth, she would have screamed in shock. Before her were the angry aqua eyes of Saura, completely intact with no sign of any battle wounds. Disbelief and fear showed clearly on Chloe's face as she tried to process what she had just seen and was currently seeing.

"You say one word and I'll push you out there to fend for yourself," Saura said in spite before releasing her hand from Chloe's mouth. Ignoring what she had said, the blonde decided that she would try speaking, but was quickly stopped from doing so. "Don't tempt me. I'll actually do it." After Chloe thought about the seriousness of Saura's statement, she shut her mouth and waited for an explanation as to what was happening.

Looking around, Saura pushed the hair out of her face as she took in her surroundings. It was a simple entrance way to a small shop filled with vintage antiques. Given another day, it would have been fun to look around, but now she had some work to do. She looked over to Chloe, who was struggling to keep her questions at bay. "This is exactly what I didn't want to happen," she said in exasperation. Her eyes narrowed before continuing. "When this is all over," she said gesturing at the air around her head like it held answers to her questions. "You and I are going to have a talk about how you have to stop making people turn into akumas!"

A sharp intake of breath was heard from Chloe as she looked at Saura in offense. "I never did anything like that! It was their own fault for turning!" she shouted. The fact that she felt no remorse or showed that she thought she had done nothing wrong made Saura want to literally slap some sense into the girl. Instead she clenched her jaw and swiftly pushed Chloe out the door of the shop they were in.

An aggravated scream resounded outside, followed by one of fear from Chloe. "I told her not to talk," Saura shrugged as Zorren floated out from inside of her hair. By the sounds coming from beyond the shop's door, it was clear that Volpina was wreaking havoc on the city. "I had no idea a bunny would cause so much trouble," she pondered in a strangely amused tone.

"You should probably not enjoy this," Zorren said as he crossed his arms in front of his small body. If someone were to see her in this moment, they would realize that she was not the same as most humans. Her canine was peeking out of her lip and her aqua eyes looked wild. Her hand was twitching in anticipation and if Zorren were to listen closely he would be able to hear the quickened pace of her heart. It had been so long that he'd nearly forgotten how much she enjoyed using magic. Then again, it was part of her nature as a magical being. Releasing part of her potential in a new form was similar to an adrenaline high, but far more powerful. Zorren sighed before looking back into her eyes and giving a smile of his own. "Don't make it too hard for me to disguise you this time."

A light chuckle escaped Saura's mouth as she felt the anticipation of finally releasing some of the magic ability she had for the first time in years. Spells were easy but repressing a true form and strong magic made using them all the more delectable. "Of course." She said with a lilt to her voice. "Now", she began as she opened the door of the shop. Her mouth curled up around the next words she said as the shackles keeping her form hidden were shaken. "Let's get fired up." As Zorren was pulled into the miraculous at her wrist, fire began to engulf her form until the person who stepped out of the door was no longer Saura, but another hero for Paris.

A/N: Since the last chapter was short, I wanted to finish this one and post it with it. I am still busy with school and general life stuff, so I will post only periodically as I have the time and when chapters are completed.

Thank you for reading!