Cat Noir lands in his shower and transforms, and Plagg gives him the most disbelieving look he's ever seen. "Wouldn't Cat Noir be more useful in this situation?"
Adrien says "If Volpina has a thing for me, maybe I can use it to get her to see reason." Nathan did when he asked his sister out on a date, after all!
Plagg deadpans "Nino got Akumatized because he wanted to throw you a birthday party, Adrien. And Nathan got Akumatized because he was so thoroughly embarrassed by Chloe, and his crush on Bloom got outed to the entire class. That's different." Plus, Nathan's a gentle soul, even when Akumatized, and only went after Chloe because she humiliated him.
And then Plagg has to hide in his jacket, just in case the Akuma lets Volpina see him. Sure enough, Volpina lands in Adrien's room in maybe ten seconds, coming in through the window he likes to use to get out as Cat Noir.
"Um, hey…who are you?" Even if he didn't know, the way she gets so close to him would tell him soon enough - maybe he should've listened to Plagg, she didn't get nearly this close when he was Cat Noir. And she didn't have that creepy, crazed look in her eye. She 'introduces' herself as Volpina, saying she didn't know how to tell him she wasn't lying in the park.
And then Ladybug and Dragon Fyre leap in through the window, prompting Volpina to move directly in front of him and latch an iron grip on his arm. "Nobody's going to ruin our date this time!"
Adrien tries to get his wrist free from Volpina's painfully tight grip, even as he nervously says "S'cuse me, but it wasn't really a date, per se…" That grip nearly snaps his wrist in two right then, even as Volpina glares at him furiously, and he quickly backtracks "I mean, it could've become one, right? No need to get bent out of shape…"
In response, Volpina makes another illusion with that flute of hers to hide in. Adrien can practically hear Plagg's voice screaming 'I TOLD YOU SO!' from his jacket, and he'll probably get yelled at by his sister after this is all over, but now is not the time to lament a bad idea - hindsight, and all that.
Within a minute, they're…at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Hanging from the top of the Eiffel Tower, to be precise. By one of Volpina's hands, the other still wrapped around Adrien's undoubtedly bruised wrist. The look of absolute horror on both Ladybug and Dragon Fyre's faces doesn't make him feel much better, especially not with Volpina swinging him around wildly. "Give me your Miraculous', or I drop him!"
Ladybug yells "I thought you loved him!"
Volpina laughs crazily, and yells back "Not as much as I'd love seeing you two defeated!" She pulls Adrien up so she's face to face with him, and asks "No hard feelings, right?"
Yes, VERY hard feelings! Like a boulder!
She then holds him out and releases three of her fingers, leaving only her thumb and pinkie finger to hold him up - his Lady shouts for her to stop, but Adrien sincerely doubts she hears it past whatever it is Hawk Moth is saying as a purple butterfly outline appears over her face. Her face twists into an ugly sneer, as she asks "What do you care? I'm getting their Miraculous' just like you wanted, so what if he drops?"
And then Adrien's ripped straight out of Volpina's grasp, like his entire body was just gripped by a very large hand as he goes crashing straight into a new person he immediately grabs onto. And then his sister's voice snarls "Get him out of here, Spots! I'll take care of the Fox!" She's going to tear that little witch to SHREDS! NOBODY THREATENS TO KILL HER BROTHER!
When Adrien looks over, the look of utter fury on Dragon Fyre's face…he'd feel bad for Volpina if he wasn't shaking in his shoes right at the moment. Literally.
One of Ladybug's arms goes around his body, and the other throws her Yo-Yo to get the two of them well away from the beatdown that's undoubtedly about to happen. Adrien knows his sister well enough to know she's about to go off on Volpina - that look, that is comforting. There's probably something seriously wrong with him if he thinks his sister about to burn someone to ashes after she rips them apart is comforting.
They get to his room, and Ladybug asks "Are you alright, Adrien? Did she hurt you?" From the way he either won't or can't let go of her, she doesn't need an answer for the first question.
Adrien would try to deny it, but he's currently shaking like he's in an earthquake. And he seriously doubts that would convince his Lady that he's alright, no matter how steady his voice might be when he says as much. "Jus-Just my wrist…"
When Ladybug eases his jacket sleeve up, she sees there's already a dark purple bruise around his wrist - almost like a shackle, it's so wide. Adrien winces when she touches the area - not even that hard, she was being gentle! - and quickly says "It's probably just a sprain, it'll be fine…"
Ladybug winces, then says "I've had my share of those…probably happened when she was swinging you around so much."
Yeah, probably - her grip didn't help matters, though. After a minute, he says "You should get back to Volpina, right? I'll be fine, don't worry about me." Guilt flashes across his Lady's face right then, and she says "You're right. Go find your Bodyguard, hide somewhere that's not here. With a little luck, the Miraculous Cure will fix your wrist to."
After Ladybug Yo-Yo's away, Plagg flies out and says "Let me see that wrist, kid." There's no room for argument in Plagg's voice, so Adrien just shows him the purple band under his hand. Plagg actually hisses, and says "Of all the…that girl is bad news, Adrien."
Adrien nods, and says "I think that Akuma made her crazy, Plagg!"
Plagg sighs, and says "A Miraculous…enhances things. Not just physical abilities, at that. Emotions, desires, all of it. You, for instance, have a lot more confidence as Cat Noir - confident enough to be a silly jokester, something you can't be as Adrien. You yelled at your father, remember?" Adrien nods, and asks "You think the Akuma replicated that effect?" "Yeah, kid, I do. I really do. Akumas tend to amplify emotions, at least the emotions your feeling when the Akuma affects you. She went from creepy to full-blown crazy." She must've been thinking about Adrien - or obsessing over him, plotting about him, something - when the Akuma found her.
And then they see Volpina leaping from roof to roof frantically, one of her fake ears on fire and her outfit burned, covered in soot, and looking scared out of her mind. "YOU LIKE THROWING KIDS OFF THE EIFFEL TOWER, YOU COWARD?! WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE?!" Given the detail that there's a raging, blazing Dragon Fyre quite literally hot on her heels, they can't particularly blame her. Especially with the jet of flames they see - it must be fifteen feet long easily.
Plagg doesn't feel particularly inclined to go save the little liar - maybe he can convince Adrien to ice that hand some and have a slice of Camembert.
Dragon Fyre leaps forward as soon as Adrien's safely in Ladybug's arms, and snarls "Fox, meet Dragon." The Cure will fix that dent in the Tower...probably. And the piece she just tore off and threw at Volpina.
Volpina leaps off the tower, flying away almost desperately as the dragon-themed hero goes off on her. "Get back here, you coward!" Predictably, she doesn't - instead heading towards the city.
Oh, not a chance, Liar Rossi.
Dragon Fyre lands in the Trocadero, actually making an impact from the sheer force of the landing, and leaps up after the fleeing fox. It only takes about two more leaps to catch up, landing in front of Volpina like the meteor she faked. In response, Volpina plays her flute and makes about a hundred copies of herself. Before any of them can run off, though, Dragon Fyre unleashes an enormous jet of fire at them while growling out "Liar, liar, fox on fire." All but one Volpina disappears, the real one going flying backwards looking like she just ran through a wildfire.
By the time Ladybug gets to the fight, which has moved to the edge of the city by now thanks to Volpina's escape attempts, Volpina looks half-dead of heat stroke and the beatdown she's getting. Cat Noir lands next to Ladybug, who seems content to watch Dragon Fyre beat Volpina to a pulp for the moment - or, at the very least, let her blow off some steam. Honestly, though, they couldn't really stop her given the stunt the fake fox pulled - one of the first things Plagg warned him about was how all of Longg's Holders go off when what's theirs is threatened. And this Holder has fire magic to match her fiery temper.
"Cat Noir!" Ladybug's voice pulls the blonde from his thoughts, and he sees her expression quickly turning from annoyance to concern. He must still look rattled, then - either because of Hawk Moth's identity or Volpina's very real attempt to kill him, it doesn't make much difference in the end.
Seeing her expression, he says "Had a little trouble finding the mansion, having got turned around looking for Hawk Moth, but by the time I got there you were already gone and-"
She cuts him off by putting a hand over his, luckily his good hand, which he just now notices is still shaking. "What happened, Kitty? You can tell me."
No, he can't. He really, really can't. He can stand between her and an Akuma, has given his life for her more than once so she can finish the job, but he can't tell her just what exactly happened to scare him so much. He figures, if he actually had fur, it'd all be standing on end.
Her other hand moves to rest against his cheek, and he leans into her touch at once - she's all-business during an Akuma attack usually, even if both her and his sister hate it whenever he has to take a hit for her and Dragon Fyre will all-too-readily go off on an Akuma for it - like right now - so he selfishly wants as much as his Lady will give. He reaches up to hold the hand on his cheek, and says "Later, LB. After the Akuma's been purified."
Ladybug frowns at him, he can practically swim in the amount of concern he can see painted all over her face, but then she nods and says "This conversation isn't over, Kitty."
No, he knows it isn't…but he'd really like his sister to be there for it. If only for support. They try to catch up to Dragon Fyre and Volpina, and by the time they do it's basically a mercy for Volpina - and, when the Akuma is purified, it's fairly clear that Lila remembers something of when she was Akumatized. Mainly because she starts clinging to Ladybug like her life - still - depends on it.
Ladybug bites her bottom lip, then says "I'll get her back home, guys. Meet you later?" Much as she wants to corner her kitty and find out what's scared him this much - his eyes are dilated as wide as possible, and his tail was moving restlessly. She's never seen him like this, so not finding them at Adrien's place must've really scared him - if the way he holds onto Dragon Fyre even after she stops trying to get back to Volpina is any indication, anyway.
Cat Noir glances at his sister, then asks "How about tomorrow afternoon? You look drained, Sis." He's being a coward, he knows he is, but he'd like to postpone the discussion of 'Gabriel Agreste is apparently Hawk Moth' as long as possible. Maybe give his father a chance to explain just why he has a long-lost spellbook in a hidden safe. And, just maybe, see if there was anything else in there - something that might point to his father's innocence or guilt. He doesn't see Ladybug later, even with Plagg telling him he's got to face things sooner or later.
The very next day, though, he's wishing he'd just found Ladybug and told her everything.
AN: Ok, so I am mean enough to leave it at this cliffhanger. ^_~
More chapters coming soon! Enjoy!