'Soy Electrodo!' Shouted the Akuma, racing up and down the boardwalk when Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared on the scene.

'Soy?' Ladybug said questioningly as they ran forwards to catch up with the girl.

'I think it means "I am" in Spanish.' Chat replied, his eyes firmly fixed forward.

Electrodo was wearing an electric blue fitted suit, with white gloves and long, white pigtails that left sparks as a trail behind her.

'Maybe don't touch her with your staff, Chat,' Ladybug pointed out.

'But the results may shock you!' He grinned.

Electrodo started monologuing, but all of it was lost on the two superheroes as it was entirely in Spanish. They were able to pick up a word or two due to the similarities in the languages, but overall it left them shrugging.

In each hand she wielded a short staff, and a wicked grin was on her face.

She halted suddenly, turning to look at them.

She pointed at them dramatically, before shouting something menacing.

'Sorry,' Chat called back, unhooking his staff to rest against his shoulder, 'do you speak French?'

'No!' Electrodo returned, before continuing to shout at them.

They started a slow circle, keeping their distance from the girl.

'With a name like Electrodo, she must have electrical powers?' Ladybug hazard.

Suddenly Electrodo leaped for them, and the two dove easily to safety.

Electrodo flew through the place where they had been and buried her twin staffs into the sand.

Luckily the area had been predominately cleared with the appearance, and those who were watching with interest had wisely given them a wide berth, Alya included.

However she disproportionately struggled to pull them free, and the superheroes met back up behind her with a certain sense of apprehension.

'What is she doing?' Chat questioned, lowering into a defensive stance.

With a heave, Electrodo pulled her staffs free, to reveal a large, mottled object that had collected between them.

'What's that?' Ladybug shot, diving out of the way as Electrodo hurled it at them.

'Glass, I'd imagine,' Chat replied, leaping up and over as the rough beach-ball sized object landed heavily.

'Is that a power of hers?'

'No,' Chat landed, noting the way Electrodo produced another ball. 'If you superheat sand, it turns into glass. Don't you remember that from Chemistry?'

Ladybug shook her head, dodging another attack and watching it leave a crater in the bricks beneath them.

There was movement out of the corner of her eye as she flew through the air and Chat's staff span past her nose before she could react.

She could only watch as the two staffs met in midair, Chat's staff tangling in the chain that connected Electrodo's back to the akuma herself.

Ladybug landed with a roll, seizing Chat's staff once it was clear of Electrodo's as it fell.

Electrodo retracted her staff with a grimace.

Chat looked dejected as Ladybug tossed his back to him.

'Why can't mine do that!?' He griped. 'It would be so much more useful,'

'Then you would have been shocked when you did that,' Ladybug pointed out, dodging more oddly-shaped glass balls.

'True,' He groused. 'So how are we going to beat this girl?'

'We'd need to get a closer look, I can't see what her cursed item could be right now.'

They moved in a wide arc, putting the ocean at their backs, but avoiding going onto the sand itself.

Electrodo threw both staffs, but they were dodged easily.

'I'll distract her,' Chat started, 'you see if you can get in behind her.'

'Right.' Ladybug nodded, and they darted in differing directions.

Chat separated his staff into two and threw one at Electrodo, drawing her attention away from Ladybug.

Electrodo chased after him, and Ladybug caught the discarded staff in her haste to follow.

Chat drew her down the now-cleared beach towards the waterline, giving Ladybug more room to move around in complete silence, whilst he taunted Electrodo loudly.

However, hilariously, most of his taunting was reduced to face pulling, as if he wanted Electrodo to understand him then they would require a translator with them.

Meanwhile Ladybug hung back, watching the girl fight.

Her eyes ran over her outfit once again, taking in the sleek design, paying careful attention to anything that did not fit in.

There was a pained yelp, and she looked up.

'Chat!' She called out, no longer caring of her position.

In a single leap she flew over the wide-eyed akuma, landing in the shallows next to him.

He carefully hauled himself to his feet, gasping for air.

'I'm alright, I'm alright,' he wheezed. 'She knocked the wind out of me.'

Another glass ball suddenly collided with Ladybug's shoulder, hurling her further into the water.

She landed roughly, her head pounding, and the glass holding her down for a heart-stopping moment before she could get out from under it.

The thing was knee-bucklingly heavy, but she hauled it up into the air and tangled it in her yoyo to make a sort of spiked ball-and-chain, before whirling it around herself in the same motion to hurl it back towards Electrodo.

It hit her hard, giving the two a moment to catch their breath, before the barrage continued.

'Did you see anything?' Chat questioned urgently.

'Normally it's associated with their weapons, but I don't think that's it,' Ladybug commented, plucking glass balls out of the air to haul back, thus evening their long-distance attacks without the risk of getting shocked.

'It's going to be something small then. Something on her person.'

'Right.'

They managed to push her back, giving them enough space to get out of the water again.

They both breathed a sigh of relief at that; they weren't stupid as to what would happen if she had caught them there.

Suddenly Electrodo slammed her twin staffs deep into the ground, and sent out a shock of lightening that leapt up from the ground and shattered all lightbulbs in the vicinity.

This also included the two superheroes, who could not leap out of the way in time and had convulsing pain lance up the two of them.

It was unbearable, like a wave that washed through them and lingered, like the remaining droplets from being doused in boiling hot water.

Ladybug released her Lucky Charm, and a pair of rubber gloves landed in her waiting hands.

'Finally, something straightforward.' She said aloud.

'Pass them here.' Chat said, not taking his eyes off of the akuma.

Obligingly she tossed them over, and he threw them over his own gloved hands.

'What are you-' she stared, but all was made clear when he rushed her.

The fighting would be legendary, Chat pushing her back up onto the boardwalk with his attacks.

He was decidedly the better sword-fighter, but she was faster than him, if not slightly awkward.

'Surrender!' He shouted at her, whilst Ladybug circled behind him.

'Nunca!' Electrodo shouted back.

'I'll take that as a "no!"' He bantered.

However there was something different about this fight.

Ladybug's heart sang after Chat, watching his every movement with a depth of concern that she had never felt before.

Before, there was confidence.

But now,

True, there was confidence, and faith that he would pull through, yet,

It was only now she was realizing how fallible he was.

Her Adrien was fighting hand to hand with a villain that if he touched he, he would be in serious trouble.

It left her terrified.

Trusting, faithful, but terrified.

She had to end the fight as quickly as she could.

It was only then that she saw it.

She swung her yoyo around two light posts on either side of the walk, leaving a taught wire stretching the width of it.

Chat noticed it and pushed her backwards, causing her to trip, her staffs spinning away.

'It's her anklet!' Ladybug exclaimed, releasing all connections to her yoyo as Electrodo, thus tangled in it, glared up at her.

Indeed, there was a fine chain of silver encircling her left ankle, studded with tiny pink gems.

Electrodo swept a protective hand over it, and Chat picked up her staffs.

'Hey, these are great!'

Electrodo snarled at him, yanking to retract the weapons awkwardly.

'I can see why you like them!' Chat grinned, not allowing her at all to snatch them out of his hands.

Ladybug leant forward towards the girl's foot, but the akuma span out of the way, still entangled in the yoyo.

Instead she took the yoyo with her as she span on one hand and landed back on the sand, glaring sparks at Chat Noir.

'Come on,' Ladybug sighed. 'Can't this one be easy?'

'You know Hawkmoth,' Chat shrugged. 'It's never that easy.'

Her earrings beeped then, and Chat looked at her.

'I can keep her busy, as long as you get back here as soon as you can.' He strode in front of her protectively, as casually as he could. 'I need you in top form, my lady.'

Electrodo finally extracted herself from the yoyo and tossed it angrily into the sand.

'Are you sure?' She questioned.

'Go. Come back.' He smiled, not taking his eyes off the akuma, readying the electric staffs. 'I love you.'

'I love you too.'

She took two steps forward, and pushed them into a sprint that circled around the chains that connected Chat to Electrodo, and snatched up her yoyo with such a fierce look in her eye that Electrodo fell back defensively.

Chat used the motion to follow the Akuma, yanking her around awkwardly with the chains that protruded from her cuffs.

'I'll be back!' She shouted, using her yoyo to fly back to the safety of the buildings.

A handful of reporters followed her, but it wasn't hard to lose them easily as they had the issue of having to go around rows of buildings.

Ladybug found a quiet corner on the street of Passieg de Joan de Borbó, the closest major road to the beach that Electrodo had taken over, being the busiest beach in Barcelona.

After a moment Marinette raced along the road awkwardly, her bare feet pounding the pavement as her wide-brimmed hat was stolen by the wind. She threw on the sandals she had bought from Chat's satchel that she had over one shoulder, and threw caution to the wind as she raced down the road in search of a bakery.

Tikki had hidden herself into Adrien's bag, which was currently being clutched to Marinette's chest.

Sure, she was passing restaurants and shops of the like, but none seemed to hold any type of pastry, in favor of ice creams and other iced goods.

And then, with a heart stopping moment, she saw Alya.

Half of her wanted to throw her arms around the girl and tell her everything.

But she knew that Alya could never know.

Tears sprang freely down her cheeks.

She had to get back to Chat.

Adrien was fighting for his life.

She dodged around the girl in the crowds, and continued down the street.

Someday she would tell her.

Today was not that day.

Finally a bakery appeared, painted a lush green with wide windows filled and delectable delights filling them.

Marinette threw herself through the front door, the bell clanging angrily above her.

Inside, the plump, motherly-looking woman behind the register startled, before looking Marinette up and down.

'¿Está todo bien, querida?'

'No, I'm not ok.' Marinette managed, thoroughly out of breath. 'I know you don't understand a word I'm saying, but I need to get back to him as soon as I can.' She scrubbed at her face behind her sunglasses, before shoving them unceremoniously into the bag. She looked up at the woman with huge eyes.

She looked at the various pastries for a moment, her eyes scanning ciabattas, tarts and miguelitos of all descriptions, with breads lining the back wall.

The woman produced a pair of tongs uncertainly, watching the hungry glance of the girl.

Until her eyes fell upon the jars on top of the cabinets.

Marinette pointed with a dramatic finger, until the woman pulled down the jar.

The superhero turned her attention back to the bag and for a panicked moment was unable to find her purse.

Tikki swam to the top and handed it to the girl, who breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked at the cookies, then looked at the purse, before holding up five fingers.

'Cinco?' The woman returned the gesture, and Marinette nodded, proffering the ten euro note.

With great care the woman placed five cookies into a paper bag, unnoticing of the way Marinette was dancing on her feet.

Something could have happened to Adrien by now.

As soon as they were bagged and sealed Marinette almost snatched it out of the woman's hand as she handed it to her, and left the cash abandoned on the counter as she rushed from the store.

She knew it was more than twice what she owed the woman but she didn't care.

She pushed her way back through the crowds with determination, until-

A hand landed on her shoulder, yanking her into stillness, and she let out a yelp in surprise.

'Hey, hey, I remember you!'

Marinette was outright panicking.

Did someone recognise her as Ladybug?

Were they a reporter?

Carefully, she peered over her shoulder, down the wrist and arm of the man that held her.

'Don't you remember me, bella? It's me, Antonio.'

And indeed, she remembered him to be the sleeze from earlier that day, the one who had accosted her outside the change rooms on the other side of the city.

'What are you doing here?' She questioned dumbly.

'I heard there was a whole lot of excitement down on Barceloneta Beach. Sounds like those French superheroes are fighting someone.' He shrugged. 'What a coincidence to run into you, mi bella.'

'It's not that surprising,' she muttered, eager to shake him off, 'it seems half of Spain is here.'

He looked her up and down with a look that made her regret not pulling on her t-shirt as well, flushing angrily red, before he winked at her, then paused.

'What's the matter, bella? You look upset?'

'I have to get back. Let me go.' She tried to get out from under his hand, but he did not relinquish his grip.

Instead, she snatched her sunglasses out of the bag and shoved them on her face.

'Back to where? The beach? It's all blocked off. Let's go somewhere else.' He grinned.

I have to get back to my Adrien.

'Don't worry, I can cheer you up,' Antonio smiled, uncaring of the crowds around them.

'I don't want to.' A thought occurred to her. 'Where's your friend?'

'Who, Miguel?' Antonio rolled his eyes. 'I can't let that Spaniard get all the ladies, can I?' He shook his head. 'No, I don't want to share you, mi bella.'

'Would you stop calling me that!?' She snapped at him. 'I'm not some possession!'

'There's that fire I saw this morning,' he leered at her. 'I think that's the most attractive part about you.'

He moved his free hand forward to remove her sunglasses, but she slapped his hand away.

'Fierce,' he said, undeterred, 'I love that in a girl,'

'Look, would you just let me go? I need to get back to my boyfriend.'

Well, he was, wasn't he?

He looked at her skeptically.

'When I saw you earlier, you were all alone. And here you are again, all alone. I see no boyfriend.'

'That's because he's not here right now.' She shot at him.

'Oh, quit playing hard-to-get, bella.' He winked at her, taking a step closer. 'I know it's an unbelievably sexy tactic, but you've already ensnared me,'

'But he does exist!' She snapped. 'He's caring, and wonderful, and, loves me no mattter what!'

'If he's so perfect, then why isn't he here?' Antonio rolled his eyes.

'Because,' she shifted uneasily, throwing an anxious glance over her shoulder in the boy's direction, 'he's waiting for me.'

When she turned back to look at him, her gaze was steely. 'So I'd really appreciate it if you let me go now.'

'But, mi bella, I don't want to los-' his comment changed direction sharply into a shriek of pain as Marinette bent his index finger backwards.

'I'll give you a count of five.' She said bending it further, so that it was at serious risk of breaking.

'Ok ok,' he said, retracting his hand and snatching it out of his grip. 'Geez, girlie. No need to be a bitch.'

'I can if I want to be.' Her gaze did not lighten. 'Now if you'll excuse me.'

And without any hesitation she turned on her heel and disappeared into the crowd, in the direction of Chat Noir.