Well here we are. Everything in this fanfic has led up to this- the final battle for the Miraculous'.
Chapter 13: The Battle Started Well
Argus, Jade Turtle and Alya didn't speak as they rode the elevator up to Hawk Moth's lair. Alya was still trying to come up with a name for her vixen alter-ego. As for what the two adults in the elevator were thinking about, Alya didn't want to know. She wondered if the two veteran heroes were imagining worst case scenarios.
As soon as the elevator reached the lair, the three heroes each rushed over to one of the villains guarding Hawk Moth.
As planned, Argus utilized her experience as a superhero and her training in martial arts as she fought Nathalie. Having been akumatized into the Assistant, Nathalie furiously wrote appointments in her planner before flicking the words off the page and toward Argus. Words that said things like "Exercise," "Pay Bills," and "Go Shopping" came from all directions and Argus just barely dodged them.
The Assistant appeared to get angrier and angrier as Argus continued to simply play defense. The peacock hero didn't make a single move to attack as the Assistant wrote and sent more appointments in the former's direction. Argus narrowly avoided each one, although it was fairly obvious that she was purposefully moving so that the attacks were close calls. She could see the Assistant's attacks coming from a mile away.
Finally, the Assistant made a mistake. "You will follow the schedule!" she cried as she sent an appointment in the direction of Argus' feet. Jumping upwards to avoid the attack, Argus used that momentum to do a midair backflip.
Landing right behind the Assistant, Argus took out her hand fan. Snapping it closed, Argus then reached around the Assistant's neck and pressed the fan on the side. The pressure from the fan on the neck was not enough to choke Argus' akumatized adversary, but it was just enough to cause the Assistant to lose consciousness. As her opponent slumped onto the floor, Argus knelt in order to keep her fan close to the Assistant's neck, just in case.
At first, Jade Turtle appeared to be having a much more difficult time than Argus was in battle. Fighting Mr. Singe would be a tough job even if the bodyguard hadn't been akumatized. But as Gorilla Warfare, Jade Turtle's opponent was ten times stronger than before.
Apparently following Argus' strategy, Jade Turtle played defense by narrowly avoiding Gorilla Warfare's attacks. But unlike his ward, who had appeared graceful with every dodge, Jade Turtle's body trembled each time he avoided Gorilla Warfare's massive fists. Perhaps it was due to the vibrations that shook Hawk Moth's lair every time Gorilla Warfare missed Jade Turtle and made contact with the walls or the floor. However, the wielder of the Turtle Miraculous seemed more and more nervous with each landing.
Eventually, Gorilla Warfare appeared to have the upper hand as he backed Jade Turtle into the wall. The superstrong akumatized villain raised his arms for one final blow, only for Jade Turtle to jump up and land on Gorilla Warfare's massive fists. Not wasting a second, Jade Turtle ran up Gorilla Warfare's arms and leaped over the akumatized villain's head.
Just as Jade Turtle started his descent behind Gorilla Warfare's back, the turtle-themed hero slipped his shield off of his back. Raising the shield high above his own head, Jade Turtle cried "Shellter!"
As a green, see-through, dome-like protective barrier started growing out of Jade Turtle's shield, he let go, allowing Gorilla Warfare to be trapped in the barrier as the hero landed on the floor. Gorilla Warfare started pounding at the dome's circular walls, but it didn't even crack.
Alya barely noticed any of this, as all of her attention was focused on fighting Lila. Unlike the two senior heroes, who played defensive until their opponents made an error, Alya figured that the best way to throw Volpina off guard was to attack her with confidence.
"Who are you?" Volpina gasped, sounding truly shocked. But Alya wasn't fooled. During training, Marinette had filled her in on what a liar Lila really was.
"I am the superhero with the Power of Illusions," Alya walked toward Volpina, flute in hand. "The wielder of the Fox Miraculous, and," Alya couldn't resist adding the next part. "A very close friend of Ladybug's."
"You liar!" Volpina cried. "That's my story. I'm wearing the real Fox Miraculous!" She threw her flute in Alya's direction, only for Alya to knock it aside with her own flute before it could hit her.
"No Lila," Alya said calmly as she lifted her flute to her lips. "You're lying to everyone, and you're lying to yourself. The truth will always come out sooner or later. And I will make sure that this truth will come out sooner." Playing a few notes on her flute, Alya leaped into the air and cried "Mirage!"
Alya landed in a crowd of clones surrounding Volpina. Together the illusions cried "I am… Rena Rouge!"
Volpina screamed wordlessly as she started punching illusions left and right. The akumatized villain was so focused on her rage that she didn't notice the real Rena Rouge come up behind her. At least, not until Rena Rouge reached her flute around Volpina's torso and grabbed it with her other hand.
Volpina roared as the true wielder of the Fox Miraculous tripped the former forward. Rena Rouge fell to the floor on top of Volpina's back, pinning the false fox just as the elevator arrived at the lair again.
Queen Bee ran to confront Hawk Moth, who had spent the fights just staring out the window, not bothering to get involved. Marinette and Adrien followed cautiously.
"It's over, Hawk Moth!" Queen Bee cried.
"Really?" Hawk Moth finally turned around. He appeared calm, but his eyes shone with barely restrained madness.
"Yes, really!" Queen Bee scowled. She took hold of her trompo and started spinning it toward the supervillain responsible for turning the citizens of Paris into his henchmen.
"Sting Stun!" Queen Bee cried… just as Hawk Moth did something unexpected.
"Lucky Charm!" Hawk Moth cried, lifting his cane in the air. A purple trampoline appeared out of thin air, landing on its side and exposing the design of a giant black butterfly on its top.
"NO!" Adrien yelled just as Queen Bee's trompo banged into the center of the trampoline. The spinning top sprung off of the trampoline and started spinning around the lair.
The next thing the six heroes knew they were lying, paralyzed, on the floor as Hawk Moth laughed triumphantly.