Ladybug followed the fiery streak from her balcony all the way across town. When it finally came to a stop at an old warehouse on the outskirts of the city, she felt herself gasping for air. The fire had moved at an extraordinary speed, and it had been no small task to keep it in sight. She watched as the fire descended upon a lower roof of the warehouse and intensified for a brief moment before fading out and leaving Phoenix in its place. Alpha Wolf was no where in sight.

She tucked herself behind a large crate near the wall, and opened her yo-yo to shoot a quick message to Chat Noir along with her location. His answer came almost immediately:

I'm on my way, bugaboo.

Phoenix stalked to the edge of the roof, and pulled a small device from a hidden pocket in her tunic. It was beeping rapidly.

"He's inside." She said, "We don't have time to waste."

"I agree." A deeper voice answered. Marinette shifted in her hiding spot, and caught a glimpse of Alpha Wolf on the ground just below Phoenix. A ghost-like wolf sat at his heals. "There's roughly twenty men inside." He continued, "Sheba did a recon. Decent height and strength, basic armor package, and well armored. They've got a couple shipping crates inside too."

Phoenix sighed, and jumped down to be level with her partner. "He's upped security since the news report this afternoon. I really wish they hadn't alerted the police." "Are you surprised they did? This is technically the police's job." Alpha offered, fingering the knife at his side. "No, I'm not surprised." Phoenix huffed, "I just wish they hadn't. It makes things harder for us."

Alpha Wolf walked to the wall they were standing beside and pulled out his knife. Then, much to Ladybug's surprise, he drove it into the wall and began to cut a large hole. The steel sides of the building gave way to the blade easily and silently.

A dark figured approached Ladybug from behind.

"What are they up too?" Chat whispered in her ear as he too hid from their sight.

"I think they're trying to get in the building. Dorn is inside."

"What are we going to do?" Chat asked, his tone serious.

"Master Fu said we shouldn't get involved." There wasn't much conviction in her voice. She could feel Chat's sly smile from behind her. "But we're already here, so what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

Very soon, they found themselves inside one of the warehouse's storage rooms. Ladybug followed Chat closely, allowing him to guide her through the dark maze of crates and discarded machinery. One wrong step, and everyone in the warehouse would know they were there.

Even with Chat's night vision, it took some time to get out of the storage room. They found the door open with a melted lock. Taking this as a sigh that they were going the right way, they crept through the door and down a narrow passage which led to the warehouse's main room. They could hear shouting and gunfire inside.

"You are all useless!" A voice with a rather gravely tone screamed. "They are just dogs!"

As Ladybug and Chat Noir stepped through the door, the battle had already begun.

It was hard for them to process all that was happening. Men were being cornered by snarling wolves, Alpha Wolf was dodging bullets as he fought his way through the room to Dorn, and Phoenix had just shoved a man from the catwalk above them. Chat pulled Ladybug behind a crate as one of the gunmen began to fire at them.

"Not that this isn't fun, but what exactly is the plan here, m'lady." Chat shouted above the gunshots. The crate behind them rattled as shot after shot threatened to puncture its side.

Another man fell from the walkway, landing in front of them with a horrendous thud. The two looked up and found Phoenix gazing at them in fear and disbelief.

In an instant, she had swung herself over the railing and dropped down in front of them.

"What are you two doing here?" She asked with panic in her voice. "This is too dangerous, you are going to get yourselves killed." The crate behind them rattled again. Her eyes glowed dangerously, and she rose up slightly, sending a blast of fire over the crate. As she ducked back down, painful screams took the place of gunfire. She didn't seem pleasant and friendly now.

"Did you just set him on fire?" Ladybug asked the woman before her in horrified disbelief. Phoenix looked at Ladybug with a hard set stare that made her skin crawl. "These aren't victims of some spell, kid. These men signed up for this fight. If we don't fight with everything we have, we die. Now, I suggest you leave while you still can. It won't be long before more see you." With that she ran from the cover of the crate, flinging herself back into the battle. Ladybug and Chat's eyes fell on the man who had fallen from the walkway a few minutes earlier. Chat shifted forward and checked the man's pulse. "He's alive." He said with a relieved sigh.
As she stared at the man's unconscious form a single thought radiated through Ladybug's mind: How do heroes reach this point?

"I'm staying, m'lady." Chat stated suddenly, "Their methods may be violent, but they need our help. I'm going to stay and fight but if you want to leave I won't blame you, Ladybug."

Chat Noir looked at Ladybug with the sincerest of stares. His offer hung in the balance. Ladybug weighed her options. Marinette wanted to run. Marinette wanted to hide. But she wasn't Marinette right now, she was Ladybug. She was the defender of Paris. She was hope to those who had none.

Ladybug met Chat Noir's gaze, her heart flitted inside her. "We're partners, Chat. We are stronger together." Chat Noir smiled, his eyes joyful. "Lets show them what we're made of, bugaboo!"

Having gathered their courage, they rolled from the shelter of the crate. Chat Noir ran into the chaos, bent on giving Alpha Wolf enough cover to make it to Dorn. He ran towards the gunmen who had Alpha Wolf pinned, spinning his staff to deflect the bullets they had started to send his way. A concerned shout from Alpha fell on deaf ears as Chat swung his staff against the knees of the gunmen, knocking them to the floor. Alpha sent him a proud smile and together they ran for the next obstacle in their path. Two brutes met them, wielding metal poles that had broken from the walkway during the battle.

Chat Noir smirked as he and Alpha Wolf stood against the men. "Looks like we're gonna have a cat fight." Alpha Wolf chuckled slightly as he drew his dagger, "More like a dog fight." Their enemies charged, swinging madly.

Meanwhile, Ladybug had swung her way up to the walkway where she found three men reloading their guns. She swung her yo-yo and pulled the weapons from their grasp, flinging them down onto the ground beneath them. However, the men wouldn't be overcome so easily. The larger of the three men made a run at Ladybug. She dodged, swinging herself above the heads of the other two. A smooth toss of her yo-yo knocked one of the men down. The second was quicker, dodging her strike and aiming a kick against her stomach. His kick landed true, and Ladybug fell backwards.

She gathered her strength as he aimed another strike, his two allies having rejoined him. She rolled out of reach as his foot slammed down on where her body had been, and barely missed rolling off the edge of the walkway. She looked around desperately, hoping to work a way out of her problem.

Suddenly, she felt a flash of heat and looked up to see one of the men screaming as flames ate away at his clothes. Another blast of fire sent the other two ducking for cover.

"I thought I told you to leave." Phoenix said, as she approached Ladybug and pulled her to her feet. Her expression was hard, but not quite angry.

"Chat and I- we thought we could-" Phoenix raised a silencing hand. "It doesn't matter why you decided to stay. You are here now. So, I might as well make use of your talents."

A reluctant smile graced the heroines lips, and a flicker of pride flashed in her eyes as she looked at Ladybug, but it was quickly extinguished as she looked back towards the men who were creeping out of hiding.

Ladybug called her lucky charm as Phoenix sent another wave of fire towards the men.

"A match?" She asked aloud. "Put it away until it's time." Phoenix ordered. "I think the guys need our help down below."

Ladybug looked down over the railing. The battle was easier to interpret from where they stood. Many of the men had been dealt with, and the few that remained were surrounded by the wolves. Chat and Alpha had finally made their way to Dorn, but he wasn't going down easy. Phoenix leapt from the railing fearlessly, landing with a role that gave her enough momentum to run straight for Dorn.

Ladybug, momentarily surprised, shook herself back to reality and swung down to the floor.

Chat Noir and Alpha Wolf backed away from Dorn, ready for any move he might make. Dorn watched as Ladybug and Phoenix came to stand beside their partners. A despicable smile spread across his face. "Phoenix, I see you've finally decided to come play with the big boys."

"Have you finally decided to quit hiding behind others?" Phoenix retorted with a glower.

Dorn reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small trigger. Before anyone could truly process what was happening, Chat Noir called upon his cataclysm and rushed Dorn. In a second, the trigger was destroyed. Dorn stared at the pile of ash at his feet. "Impressive." He stated firmly before landing a blow against Chat. "But useless." Alpha Wolf and Phoenix rushed Dorn, cutting off his escape and knocking him to the floor.

Ladybug stood frozen. A faint beep had caught her attention. A bad feeling engulfed her as she turned to one of the crates in the center of the room. As she approached the crate, the beeping became impossible to ignore. She knocked it open with her yoyo, and the sight of what was inside made her feel sick.

"We have a problem!" The other three looked up in horror. The timer was down to one minute. Phoenix turned to Alpha, "I know what we talked about, but we don't have a choice!" Alpha Wolf looked around desperately, his eyes searching the warehouse. As Ladybug and Chat Noir watched in confusion, he grabbed Phoenix and pulled her to him. The timer was down to thirty seconds now. Ladybug checked her lucky charm with no result. Phoenix broke from Alpha Wolf's embrace, and ran for the crate. Reaching inside, she pulled the explosive from the box. Fire engulfed her as she rose into the air rapidly, breaking through the roof with a resounding crash. The next thing anyone saw was fire erupting in the sky with a roar the whole city heard.

Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous' gave a warning beep, but no one heard them. A single figure was falling back down through the gaping hole in the ceiling. Ladybug moved with practiced precision, catching the falling figure before they hit the ground.

She landed and laid Phoenix gently on the floor. There wasn't a burn on her, but something was wrong. Alpha Wolf kneeled next to her, his expression heavy.
"She's not breathing."

Ladybug was not ready to give up yet. She grabbed the match from her side and readied to toss it. "Stop." Alpha Wolf said, his voice gentle and sad. Ladybug met his gaze with surprise as he continued to speak. "It won't help her, Ladybug. Besides, if you send up that charm it will heal these men's wounds as well- they'll escape. Not to mention the bomb will be repaired and put back in the crate. Some things don't need to be fixed." Ladybug's heart shattered as she watched Alpha Wolf squeeze his partners hand. "Give me the match, Ladybug."

The two young heroes hesitated, not knowing what he planned on doing with the lucky charm. "Trust me." He said. There was the beginnings of tears in his eyes.

Ladybug and Chat Noir wondered how they had ever thought this man was an akuma.

She complied and watched, confused as he lit the match. For a moment, he simply stated at the flame. It seemed a heavy burden had been placed on him.

With a deep sigh, he held the match to Phoenix's tunic, and as it caught fire realization came to Chat Noir. However, Ladybug was overcome with horror and lurched forward to put out the flame. Chat grabbed her arm and held her back. She rounded on him in anger, but stopped short at the gentle and hopeful look in his eyes.

"She's a phoenix, Ladybug." He said with a slight tone of awe, "She'll rise from the ashes."

A.N.— I love the way this chapter ends honestly. It gives me happy flutters on the inside. Please let me know what you guys think so far!