"Brother, duck!"

With a yelp, the Pharaoh dove to the floor, narrowly avoiding being crushed between a wall and a flying table. As the expensive wooden furniture burst into a thousand expensive splinters, Deben tried to lunge for Egypt's ruler.

"I don't think so!" At Akhenaden's cry, Gadius, a Shadow-summoned warrior with ferociously red hair, in heavy golden armour launched himself forward with a roar, slamming into the akuma and knocking it away from the Pharaoh as his own summoned beasts, the wolves from before, attempted to move into a better position to protect their summoner.

"If you stopped attacking, for thirty seconds." The Pharaoh grouched as he got to his feet, watching the brawl between Gadius and the akuma as he backed up, "We could work this out, so you didn't need to destroy the palace. We can forgive the charges if you…"

"I DIDN'T STEAL!" Akhenaden was not fast enough, as his summoned beast was lifted off the floor and flung across the room. Gardius crashed into the Bearer of the Eye, sending both tumbling through the open doorway.

"Calm down and we'll talk this out." The Pharaoh offered, not risking glancing over his shoulder but relieved to hear his brother groaning, suggesting he was still alive, "We can't do anything about anything until you stop destroying the palace."

"Sure, I 'calm down' and then get to rot in a prison cell for the next Millennia." The akuma snorted, "Why should I believe you?"

"Because I'm Pharaoh and if I say they have to listen to you, then they have to listen." Akhenamkhanen had a point and Deben paused. "The numbers don't back you up, but you wouldn't be the first noble to be stolen from by another."

Deben paused and rocked back on his heels, considering the offer. Killing the Pharaoh solved nothing. It only made the situation worse. And Farasha had not spoken with him in some time. It was entirely possible that he had abandoned Deben when Heba had slipped from his grasp.

Speaking of…

"Were you aware that Farasha is after your nephew?" The akuma offered as he tried to decide whether he was going to keep punching or not.

"Did he say why?"

When the akuma shook his head, the Pharaoh grimaced. He had a feeling he knew why. Heba was privy to almost every important meeting that Atem took part in. He had also grown up in the palace, meaning he knew every last inch of it, including where everyone's bed chambers were as well as the hidden exits from them, in case of emergency.

And he was much less heavily guarded than anyone else with that information would be.

If Farasha managed to get that information out of Heba, then the entire palace and the safety of the royal family was at risk.

Not that the akuma had been strangling Heba…

The Pharaoh's hands balled into fists as he remembered the sight of his son, unconscious in the akuma's grasp. Anger boiled beneath the surface and his hand twitched towards the sword at his hip as he was reminded of how close he had come to losing Atem.

If it had not been for Kheper, Egypt would have lost its Prince and Akhenemkhanon would have lost his only son.

And Deben showed no signs of regret.

The temptation to strike was strong, but he held back. He had been forced to learn restraint early on in his life, when he and his twin brother had been competing for everything and Akhenaden had been determined to prove himself stronger and better than Akhenamkhanen.

Akhenamkhanen was the older of the pair and had been forced by his father to learn humility and diplomacy early. It did not do to strike your own family, even if they stole your things. If you could control your temper when someone was pushing all your buttons, and would consistently do so, you could certainly do so when an enemy was doing it.

The sound of footsteps outside the room made both men turn to look. Akhenaden's low murmur of reassurance could be heard as Kem Mau slipped into the room and bowed to the Pharaoh before quietly informing him that, "We've found the real thief."

He had not intended Deben to head, but the akuma's eyes narrowed and he let out a snarl, "I told you I did not steal anything! Who is it?"

"Me, father." The akuma froze as Khafra entered the room, face turned towards the floor, shoulders drooped. Kheper was just behind him and closed the door, trapping them all within the room. "I'm the one who stole from the taxes."

Deben stared at his son, trying to process his words. He knew Khafra's debts were high, but he also had paid them off. There would have been no reason for him to have stolen from the taxes…

"Why?" The one-word demand made Khafra wince. The Pharaoh's gaze upon the boy did not help his nerves either.

"I…" Khafra hesitated. Admitting his theft now would be the honest thing to do, and would protect his father.

But at the same time he KNEW he was not the only one who skimmed the taxes. Other nobles did it and got away with it. They had only been caught because the royal family had it in for his.

"The truth, Khafra." Kheper's hand on his arm reminded Khafra that the Labybug Bearer had his back.

"Because they were threatening Zahur."

"Za…" Deben's expression darkened, "You kept gambling! You wasted all that money I gave you, didn't you!"

Kheper pulled Khafra behind him as Deben took a step towards them, his huge metallic foot clanging against the stone. "My Pharaoh, you might want to…"

Deben let out a furious roar and lunged for his son. Kem Mau dove between the gold skinned man and the beetle hero, using his staff to block the huge golden sword that swung for Kheper's side.

Kheper shoved Khafra towards the Pharaoh. He had hoped the truth coming out would calm the situation, not make it worse but if Deben could not be calmed through talking, then there was no choice but to fight.

As Kem Mau kept the akuma locked in combat, Kheper's eyes scanned Deben for the two items that might hold the butterfly. Both items were on display, but looked to be fused with the creature's skin, meaning they could not be stolen easily.

"Lucky Charm!" He called, tossing his yoyo skyward. In the burst of black-spotted beetles, a length of red and black rope landed in his hands. For a moment he considered trying to tie the akuma's feet together and make him trip, but decided against it when his eyes landed upon the splintered furniture.

If he was strong enough to fling furniture that was heavier than Kheper, he would probably be able to snap the rope easily.

When glancing around the already damaged room revealed nothing he could use, he backed up quickly as he called, "Mau, into the hallway!"

Kem Mau nodded and the Pharaoh, recognising that he was in the way, attempted to move through the door, only to find it was magically sealed. His Pendant lit up for a moment as he tried to dispel what was holding it shut, only to find that it would not budge.

"Akhenaden!" The Pharoah's bellow went unanswered, causing him to slam a fist into the frame.

"We told him to go take shelter, his arm was broken." Kheper winced as his first warning sound chirped, "Mau!"

"CATACLYSM!" The feline hero somersaulted over the group and slammed the palm of his hand into the door. It dissolved into ash, allowing them to escape out into the empty hallway.

The Pharaoh was first through, followed by Khafra. Kem Mau was nearly next, but Kheper's suprise bodycheck knocked him to one side, protecting him from the bull like charge of Deben.

The akuma slammed into the beetle hero, his motion carrying them both through into the hallway beyond as he wrapped his arms around the teen tightly, trapping his arms at his side. As the metallic limbs slowly crushed Kheper's arms and torso, causing the bones to crack, the hero bit down hard on his tongue, barely able to resist crying out, hoping not to distract Kem Mau or the Pharaoh.

The feline hero growled as his ring chirped and his partner's expression twisted in pain. His tail lashed back and forth. Using his power on the door had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he could not use it to free Kheper and he was running out of time.

"HEY!" Khafra's bellow caused everyone to turn to look at him, "It's me you're mad at! Leave him alone!"

Deben paused for a moment, his grip easing up, allowing Kheper a moment's reprieve and giving Kem Mau the chance to get his staff between the hero and the akuma. The leverage it gave him allowed him to force Deben's arms far enough away from Kheper for his partner to slip free.

The other masked teen let out a whimper as he hit the floor, but rolled behind Deben and kicked up, forcing the akuma towards the nearest pillar.

"Mau! Grab the…" Kheper did not need to finish as he tossed the other end of the rope to his partner. The pair darted around both akuma and pillar, binding beast to post and pinning it in place. Kem grabbed the other end from his partner and tied it tightly, before darting in front of Farasha's victim.

"The armlet and the bracer." Kheper bit out, trying to ignore the agony in his chest in favour of getting this over with.

Kem Mau was in agreement, struggling through the injuries to his throat, and both struck in the same moment.

Kheper's yoyo crushed the armlet, while Kem Mau's staff struck the bracer hard enough to snap it and both pieces of jewellery hit the floor. From the bracer emerged a purple-black butterfly, which Kheper caught out of mid-air using his yoyo.

"Bye bye, little butterfly." He breathed, leaning against Kem Mau as he released the now purified creature, too dizzy to stay on his feet much longer. As the butterfly fluttered away, Deben was once again surrounded by bubbles of dark energy, which faded away to reveal the much smaller Khufu, who fell to his knees as the magically summoned rope tumbled to the ground.

Kheper leaned on his partner as he grabbed up the Lucky Charm, his head spinning.

"Mir…Miraculous Kheper!" He flung the rope up into the air, where it exploded into a cloud of red and black ladybugs that swept out through the palace, wrapping around those who had been hurt and healing them back to pre-akuma state.

Both Kheper and Kem Mau let out relieved sighs as every ache and pain from their fights eased up, all the physical damage to the palace was fixed and peace was restored to the palace, for now.

And then their respective Miraculous chirped insistently.

Kheper's hand went to his earrings as he realised he was not sure how much longer he had left, and Kem Mau quickly checked his ring, paling slightly when he saw only two paw pads left upon it.

"Go." The Pharaoh's order did not need to be repeated and the pair darted out the nearest window, heading for the places that their civilian forms should be and hoping to get there before they lost their disguises.

Once they were gone, the Pharaoh stalked over to Khufu, who bowed deeply, "My Pharaoh… please forgive me."

"You were not at fault, Khufu." Akhenamkhanen offered him a hand up, "Let us work out how we're going to fix this mess. Together."

"I… I'll work to pay what's owed." Khafra offered, shaken by the consequences of his actions.

"That's something we can discuss once we get to my office." The Pharaoh smiled, relieved that Khafra was willing to do something to fix his mistakes, "Let's grab my brother on the way."

"Thank you, my Pharaoh."