Chapter 12 – Egyptian mythology lessons

Okay, so, believe it or not, I'm actually trying to release these chapters in a timely matter… not doing a very good job, am I? Ah well, I don't really care about timely uploads (I care so much), and honestly just want my stories to feel natural rather than forced (They do not). Plus, I finally took myself the time now, and updated all the previous chapters to NOT have an over-abundance of BOLD TEXT ANYMORE! *Patting myself on the back*

Now, please enjoy this chapter, as well as any previous chapters now that they are actually readable. :D


-s-s-s-

(Narrators POV)

"Shina, you get your winged butt back here right now!" Manuel called out in frustration, as the new kwarmi kept hyperactively flying around the room, investigating every single corner it found.

Shina (pronounced "Shee-nuh") was a bright blue kwarmi with the ears, nose, mane, and tail of a horse, but the wings of an eagle on her back. Therefore, it was easy to deduce, that this one was a Pegasus. An animal-choice that struck Manuel as quite odd for a second, but he figured, that if a dragon could be a miraculous, a pegasus wasn't off limits either.

"You'll have to make me!", it called back from somewhere under Manuels empty closet, "Achoo… You, young man, need to dust down here!", it also added with a cough.

"Shina, don't make me move the closet!", the boy warned through grit teeth.

"You couldn't!", he heard the pegasus call out from beneath, "You only have one arm!"

"Manuel, your tonic's ready!", Wayzz called out to me as he flew into my room, prompting me to call under the closet, "Well, LOOK who's wrong!"

A pause set in, then a barely audible "Oh no…" came out from beneath the closet.

"Now listen.", Manuel called under, "I'm now gonna get my arm fixed, and then come back. And by then, you'd better be out from under there, okay?"

Not waiting for a response, Manuel turned around and left the Kwami to herself. "I sound like a goddamn parent. This better not be the new norm now."

-w-w-w- (Manuels POV)

Master Fu was currently sitting in front of his new glowing tonic, still seemingly putting some magic spells on it. When I entered the room, he looked up to me. "Ah, there you are. Your healing tonic is just ready.", he too told me.

"Thank you so SO much.", I replied with a great relief within, "This will make my life so much easier again."

"That is what I hope.", he agreed with me, as he handed me the glowing orb. Grabbing it in my not broken hand, I quickly broke it and let its healing glow envelop me. I could feel the pain leaving my arm, and my further slight wounds heal within an instant.

When the light vanished again, I sat down across from Fu, with a relieved sigh. "Thank god my arm is good again… I need to take better care in future battles."

"You will also need better abilities.", Master Fu added, a finger lifted to his chin in thought, "Civil courage and determination can only get you so far… How is the research with the Parallel-Mircaulous coming along?"

"Not quite as well as I would like.", I had to admit, whilst looking to the side in shame, "I have absolutely no experience with them, and my possibilities to test them are quite limited as well."

The guardian closed his eyes in thought, but I just had to add with a growl, "Not to mention that certain Kwamis aren't exactly cooperative…"

From that, his ears perked up, "Hmm? Are some of them giving you trouble?"

"Well, trouble would be exaggerated.", I denied carefully, not quite sure on how to describe my problem with the pegasus-kwami, "Shina is just making this… unnecessarily frustrating. Constantly flying around, actively refusing to answer questions. It's like she thinks of herself as more important than anything else."

"I see…", Master Fu replied, his eyes closed in thought as he stroked his chin. "Say, why don't you take a walk for the time being?"

Goddammit… It seems like anytime I run into any sort of inconvenience here, Master Fu is sending me out to take a walk. Feels like I'm a freaking dog around here.

"Because I have multiple more important things to do, than just walk around Paris aimlessly.", I explained, "The new miraculous are nowhere near explored, we have zero clue on who or where the masked woman is, we have no effective means of tracking and countering the power-stones, and I still have no way to putting up a meaningful fight."

"All of the above are true indeed.", the guardian confirmed, so I, feeling reinforced in my point, replied, "So, I can't just take a break at every minor inconvenience! I have responsibilities and duties to deal with in this world!"

"Well, you have a point…", Fu had to agree, however… "But then, maybe don't think of it as a walk, but rather…" With Master Fu not being quite sure what to say, Wayzz helped him out for a moment, "Patrols! You know, just to check if everything's in order!"

I stopped and thought about this for a moment. "Thinking this through, maybe that would be a good idea.", I eventually had to admit, even if I didn't want to, "There have already been akumas that weren't shown in the show. If I purely rely on recognizing the scenes, chances are I'll overlook other villains that will need my sabotage."

"Okay fine, you win!", I just accepted begrudgingly, "I'll go on patrol around the neighbourhood for a while, but if I don't find anything out of the ordinary, I'm coming back and continue right where I left off!"

-o-o-o- (about half an hour later)

After aimlessly walking around through Paris for quite a while, searching for anything out of the ordinary, I actually did stumble upon something eventually! What a surprise!

I saw Ladybug swinging across the rooftops, following a helicopter that was out of control. Given my lack of better things to do all the way out here in the middle of Paris' streets, I started chasing after them as well.

And it wasn't long until I noticed Ladybug dropping something awfully specific along the way. A history-book, which landed right in the middle of the road, in plain view for me, and for Alya Cesaire, who was recording Ladybug's action for her blog on the other side of the road.

"Oh great. That means the Pharaoh is gonna make an appearance today, ain't he?", I sighed deeply. No matter how opposed I was to these silly-ass patrols, now I had to admit to Master Fu AND to myself, that they were definitely giving me a heads-up for the supervillain about to come. Yeah, wasn't too happy about it.

With an excited gasp, Alya pulled me out of my resentful thoughts, "HAH! Freak out! What you see here is no ordinary schoolbook! It's a 10th grade history-book, and I should know, since I have the exact same one! Could our very own Ladybug actually be a highschool-student?! Stay tuned for more!"

"No one ever told you, NOT to just pick up things you find in the streets?", I made myself noticeable, making Alya point out, "Manuel, you have an uncanny talent to always be right where the action is happening."

"Civilian hero is always busy it seems.", I replied bluntly, "Can't even go for a walk without running into a crashing helicopter."

"But it's good you're here! I could use another pair of eyes to investigate this!", the Ladyblogger moved right on, and shoved the book right in my face, "Look, Ladybug just dropped this history-book right here! This may be a critical clue to her real identity!"

"Or, per chance, a great way to endanger ourselves.", I replied disinterested, "If Ladybug had it, there's likely a reason for it. It could contain some sort of sealed power or worse, hold secrets that us outsiders are not meant to know about."

Yeah, I'm pulling all of this out of my arse right now. I was just really desperate to not let Alya keep the book. If there was any clue leading to Marinette in there, chances are journalist extraordinary will stumble upon it. Even if she didn't in the show, my existence here has caused enough differences as is. So, I'm not gonna gamble.

But obviously, Alya wasn't buying it. "It's a history-book, Manuel…", she replied unconvinced, "How dangerous can it be?"

"Famous last words.", I countered deadpanned, "I mean, why else would Ladybug have it?"

"Maybe, and I'm just throwing that out there, to learn history?", the girl replied, copying my preferred smart-ass-attitude.

I mean, yeah, that would be obvious. And is the truth. But right now, I was getting impatient, and aiming to end this conversation soon, "Listen, I will just take this with me for the time being, make sure it's nothing dangerous, and then give it back to you, that okay?"

"What? No, it isn't!", Alya protested, "I gotta investigate this for my blog!"

"You can do that after I made sure it's safe!", I made clear whilst already walking away, "In a city, where magical death-battles are daily business, it's better to be safe than sorry!"

I'm assuming Alya stopped chasing after me from here on out, given that, just before she was out of earshot, I heard a slight sigh, and the start of another entry in her blog, "Ugh, major bummer, everyone. The civilian hero Manuel basically just confiscated Ladybugs history-book for „safety-reasons"." That was all I could understand before I was too far away.

-o-o-o- (another half hour later)

When I made it back to Master Fus, the first thing I noticed was, that the guardian and Wayzz must have had a long talk with Shina, given that the winged kwarmi came flying right my way, "Oh good, you're back! I demand you punish these two… two… pests for harassing me!"

And with that, she hid behind my shoulder, only sticking her head out to kind of… hiss back at them. Lots of evidence that I missed a lot of content on my… ‚patrol'.

With a slight scoff Wayzz complained, "Okay, I've been called many things over the millennia, but pest is definitely something I never had to hear."

"Now, now Wayzz, Shina just has quite a harsh temper and not a fraction of your wisdom yet.", Fu calmed his own kwarmi down, "Still, Shina, blatant disrespect is not helping anyone here."

"See! They're still doing it, even right in front of you!", she practically yelled right in my ear, causing me to contort my face, "Shina! Either quiet down or keep your distance from my ear!"

Outright ignoring my complaint, the kwarmi outed further demands, "Well? I order you to stop them from emotionally tormenting me! Just throw them out as is!"

I had to take a moment to process what she asked of me. And once I did, I didn't know how to react. "What?!"

"You heard me!", she confirmed, "A gentleman, who fails to treat a lady with the proper respect, is not worthy of remaining upon her domain."

This is, where I finally managed to wrap my head around what was going on here. And obviously, this little gal needed to hear some truth. "Shina, hate to tell ya, but I lack both the power AND the will to do so. Plus, this isn't ‚your domain'."

An annoyed sigh later, she forced her black choker around my neck, and replied, "Fine then. If it's power you need, then I shall share mine with you. Just say the phrase "Let's fly.", and you shall receive a generous portion of my godly capabilities."

"What was that? ‚Let's fly'?", I repeated confused, which already caused her to be absorbed in the gem of her chocker, turning it white with a blue wing.

A cyan visor with a yellow rim spread itself over my eyes, and my hair got swept back, similar to Soleils classic hairstyle. My forehead was also protected by a sky-blue helmet with a white wing on each side. The pegasus' bodysuit was cyan, and my hands were covered with white gloves with a yellow ring on their edges.
The suit also came with noticeably light shoes in white with soles and shoelaces in yellow.
Oh yeah! As a finishing touch, the arms were also adorned with cyan feathers! Really nailed that Pegasus-theme there!

Once my transformation had finished later, I was quite unsure on what to do next. Obviously, I wasn't going to throw Master Fu and Wayzz out of their own home, but this was the first time ever Shina willingly transformed me. I couldn't just throw this chance away.

"How do you feel, Manuel?", Wayzz asked right away, whilst flying around to take a careful look at me, "Does anything feel off?"

"I'm feeling… chilly.", I answered confused, getting slight goosebumps on my arms, "I can tell every small movement you make, just from the breeze it creates."

"Indeed, the Miraculous of the Pegasus is supposed to be very sensitive to air…", Master Fu confirmed, before he spoke more to himself than me, "Though I didn't expect it to be this precise. Perhaps it is dependent on the wielder's compatibility?"

He shook that train of thought away for the time being, and turned to me again, "From what I've found out thus far, the "bow of the wind" is able to form its own arrows. Would you mind trying?"

Grabbing behind my back, I pulled forth the primary weapon of the pegasus: A white bow, with cyan feathers on both ends and a yellow hilt in the middle, along with a string of pure cyan energy.

As awesome as it looked, I couldn't overlook the slight problem that I noticed once I pulled its string to the limits, „Ungh… It's… draining me…" A blue light enveloped my arm, which then moved along the string and formed a blue shining arrow.

The strain of forming the arrow caused my arm to shake, until I unintentionally let go, and shot right in my door, which basically blew apart. Instantly panicked from what I had just done, I apologized in a frantic fashion, "Oh my god! Sorry! I'm so so sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"…Impressive shot.", the Master replied calmly, as he inspected what was left of the door, "Whenever I tried it, it barely made a dent. Yet it almost destroyed the whole wall in your case." A piece of debris fell off the wall as he said that, making a cartoonish visual joke. "Do you know what caused such explosive power to unleash itself?"

"Afraid not.", I declined, still panting from the insane strain of the arrow, "I just pulled the bow… and that happened…"

"Perhaps you subconsciously used a lot more energy?", Wayzz took into consideration, which made my ears perk up, "Wait, energy? You mean, this bow is literally draining me to form its arrows?"

"That's what it looks like at least.", Master Fu confirmed before adding, "We don't yet know, how to control the amount of energy it takes though."

"Maybe it's cognitive? That your mind controls how much energy it takes?", the green kwarmi asked, "Or perhaps it's simply random."

„Such a thing as randomness doesn't exist with the Miraculous.", Master Fu denied, whilst deep in thought, „Even Ladybugs Lucky Charm, though it seems like it at times, never takes shape without a purpose. There has to be something else."

Deeply in thought, neither Master Fu nor Wayzz noticed the rather large piece of the ceiling, that was about to fall right on top of the kwarmi and likely crush him. But, in an absolutely lucky coincidence, I felt the air-current it caused, and suddenly, time seemed to slow down.

I felt light as a feather, and every sound seemed far away. With my heartbeat echoing in my ear, and the ever so slowly falling debris in my sight, I made a charge forward to shove Wayzz just out of the way with the palm of my hand. Only, the force of that shove was so strong that it pushed the little kwarmi right in the wall, leaving yet another crack in it.

"Oww, Manuel!", the turtle-spirit complained, "What's-" He interrupted himself, as the piece of the ceiling landed on the floor with an audible impact, making him understand. "Goodness… That was close. Uh- I, of course, apologize for my outburst."

"It's a good thing you have fast reflexes.", Master Fu sighed in relief, "If the kwarmi is harmed, it puts a harsh penalty on the power of its Miraculous until they're healed. And Wayzz is quite dear to me as well."

"Reflexes…" On that word, my mind got stuck. "Was it really just fast reflexes? It felt so… different."

"Are you alright?", the Master asked confused, "Is the Miraculous getting to you again?"

"N-No!", I denied right away, before explaining, "It's just… that right there didn't feel like a mere reflex. Once I noticed that thing, my senses seemed to switch into high gear."

"An adrenaline rush, maybe?", Wayzz suggested, but I declined again, "I mean, by the effects, yes. But to a far greater extent. Not just faster movements, but like I was hyper-focused. That falling piece even seemed to slow down."

"Perhaps a drastic increase in speed?", the Miraculous-guardian thought, "Maybe your speed increased to such a high point, that your perspective slowed down. That would also explain, why we barely even saw your movement."

"You didn't?!", I called out in confusion, "Are such speeds possible?"

"Apparently. Your speedy movement also caused quite a strong gust of wind.", Wayzz added, making Master Fu conclude, "So, for the time being, we'll just assume that it was a speed increase. And it's also important to note, that great enough speed causes a gust of wind."

He went to his counter with the old player, and whilst he made a note on his tablet, he added, "Oh, yes! Before I forget: I got you a phone as well. It's important for us to keep in contact somehow."

Handing me a standard black smartphone, he explained, "It's far from the latest model, but it does support the most important functions like phone-calls, texting and internet-access."

"…How much money do you have?", I asked fascinated, "I'm not ungrateful, but I don't want you bankrupting yourself because of me."

"Don't worry about that. I'm financially stable enough to provide for us both.", he assured me, before going back to testing, "Now then, there is one last ability the Miraculous of the Pegasus, called Hurricane. The bow can power one of its arrows with a special kind of power, that makes it create a tornado wherever it hits. How about you give it a try?"

"Right away!", I agreed, and drew my hand across the bow, "Hurricane!" The blue light, that before just moved along the string, was now cyan instead and enveloped the whole bow, before forming a much larger arrow with feathers on its side.

However, forming that one really took everything out of me, making my legs tremble just from standing there. "Okay… here goes…! Out of the way!", I warned them, before letting go of the string and shooting what I'll lovingly call "the Storm-Arrow", right in the ground in hopes of minimizing the damage.

Upon impact, it instantly burst in cyan lines which circled counterclockwise around the point of impact. Along with these lines came harsh wind currents, strong enough to lift the both of us off the ground and forcing us against the walls. Heck, poor Wayzz, small and light as he was, got blown all around the room and pinned to the cracked ceiling.

The Hurricane showed no signs of stopping by itself, whilst my throat started burning. Eventually I managed to snap my fingers in the hopes that it would do something, and, on a completely lucky guess, actually caused it to die down again. Or the time-limit was up, hell if I know.

With the pressure from the wind now gone, Master Fu caught himself when he broke free from the wall, whilst I dropped straight to the ground in exhaustion. Little Wayzz landed right on my head when he fell from the ceiling.

"Okay…", I sighed as I laid there, "So that's the Hurricane."

"Much stronger than when we tested it ourselves.", Wayzz noted, on which Master Fu picked up, "There has to be something about you, that greatly bolsters those powers."

"Maybe energy?", Wayzz offered, "The more you have to spare?"

"Or stamina?", the master spoke in thought, "If you can endure for longer?"

"Possibly resolve.", I replied, slightly annoyed by the burning on my neck again, "The only thing making me unique here."

"All good guesses, but we can't be-" The master cut himself off, when something seemed to have caught his eye, "Manuel, take off the Miraculous! Right now!"

The alarm in his voice indicating the direness of the situation to me, I did as I was told, even if I didn't understand it yet. I ripped the Pegasus-chocker off my neck in one swift movement, causing my transformation to drop, Shina to be expelled from the gem, and the burning in my throat to stop.

When Shina caught herself mid-air, she was almost instantly back in my face, ready to scold me all over again, "You ungrateful peasant! How dare you to not only reject my incomprehensible powers, but to also expel me from my own divine artefact?!"

"He had no choice, Shina.", Master Fu explained calmly, "Just like with the Miraculous of the Hedgehog, it seems you're also incompatible with the Miraculous of the Pegasus."

That message had to sink in for just a second, before I called out in frustration, "Goddammit! I gotta be compatible with at least ONE of these! I NEED to have some way to put up a fight!"

"Quiet down, lowlife!", Shina commanded annoyed, "If you truly wish to remain on my property, old man, you are now going to explain to me, what you mean by incompatible."

A slight scoff escaped the usually composed master. "I'm hardly old, little one. But as you wish, I will grant you an explanation."

Sitting down with crossed legs again, he gave the arrogant kwarmi a quick rundown on the compatibility-system between Miraculous and Wielder. How their personalities need to fit one another to boost the power, and how they can harm or even kill one another if they conflict too much.

I also learned that Achilles apparently didn't actually get a hyper-precise snipe-shot on his heel, but actually wore the Miraculous of the Rooster (indicated by the helmet) right there, in spite of his incompatibility, which killed him in that famous battle. A fascinating retcon on the classic mythology.

Upon finishing, the Pegasus-kwarmi had nothing better to do, than let out an arrogant laugh, "Ah ha hah! Figures that a streetrat wouldn't be able to handle the incomparable powers of a goddess!"

"If I had to guess, you would be a perfect fit for Chloe.", I growled annoyed, "Same arrogance, same insulting speech-habits, same attitude-problem."

With an approving snicker, the kwarmi replied, "Ah yes, she sounds like someone I would be able to look eye-to-eye. Very well, you shall have the honour, to introduce me to this classy lady. So? Up and away, my servant!"

About now I realized, how much this conversation went out of control. Therefore, I cut it short, "Not happening, Shina. Chloe would dive into madness if she even laid eyes upon you." Yes, it was a cheap excuse, but it was the best way to make her drop the case.

At least that way, she too understood what a bad idea that would have been. "An acceptable inquire, if I do say so myself. Truly, the sight of a goddess is something, not everyone can comprehend. However, one day the time shall be ripe, for Lady Chloe to receive the blessing of my acquaintance."

Flying mere inches from my face, she also added, "Until then, you shall keep yourself at the ready for my demands, my servant. When the time comes for Miss Chloe to meet me, you are to deliver me to her. Until then, I shall return to whence I came from. You shall receive the blessing of my presence again, when I require your services."

And with that, she returned to her Miraculous, turning it back into its powered state, and giving us some long overdue peace and silence. As I put the choker back in its case, and that one in the Miraclebox, I asked Master Fu, "So, uh… Is she not aware that she can't awaken on her own?"

Stroking his beard, the guardian replied with a slight smile, "An insignificant detail, I may have… forgotten to tell her."

A laugh escaped me. I've never heard this wise man show his humour before, much less crack a joke. I must have a really bad influence on him.

"Well, for the time being, how about we exchange our contact-information?", Master Fu noted, "I already saved your number, but I would advise you to save mine under an alias."

"I'm just gonna save you under 'Turtle-Man' then.", I decided on the spot, with a light grin on my face.

-o-o-o- (about 10 minutes later)

And just like that, my active mission had changed: Fill in my contacts with all the ones I allied with yet.

Therefore, I made my way to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery to get the number of Marinette, and possibly Alya as well. However, on my way there, a blue blur crossed my path yet again.

"Ey yo!", Soleil called out as she slid to a halt in front of me, "Manuel, my friend and comrade! What's up?!"

"Soleil! Great timing!", I matched her enthusiastic greeting, "What's your number?"

"My number?!", she called out in confusion. Then after a few seconds she turned red, "Is that your way of asking me out?"

Now myself most likely turning red as well, I denied immediately, "Whoa, hey! No no no no no! Heck no, it isn't! I just finally have a phone!"

Calming down again, Soleil replied, "Ah, I see. Phew, thank God. If my parents got wind of me dating, there would be akumatizations left and right I tell you."

"Preaching to the choir on that one.", I agreed with a sigh, "Cheers to terrible parents."

"Yup, cheers."

A high-five later, or with Soleil rather a low-five, we did exchange our numbers, and I noticed by the way, that my number in this world was the same as my number at home. "Either these are coincidences, fate, or someone's pulling the strings behind the scenes. Either way, it's creepy as shit."

Once we had confirmed that both numbers worked, I also asked Soleil, "So, uh, what are you doing? Just running around aimlessly?"

"Not really.", Soleil denied, her cheerful demeanour returning, "There's a marathon all throughout Paris next month! And you better believe I'm climbing up the ranks there!" She struck a confident pose, standing upright, pointing to herself with her thumb and giving me the wink, making her look even more like a Sonic-incarnation than she already did.

That was the exact point I noticed something different about her. In cartoon-terminology, I would have described it as a better character-model. Her hair was more detailed, now singular strains visible, and the texture of her tank-top was more defined. The singular threads that held her trousers together were now also visible, and even the laces of her shoes had their own texture now.

In short, her character model didn't look like that of an extra anymore. She looked like a major character now. And she looked amazing, let me tell you!

"Eheheh, what's wrong?", the girl pulled me out of my observation with a teasing undertone, "First time you got a girl's phone-number?"

After taking a moment to catch my bearings, I replied deadpanned, "Frankly, yes. First time I got ANYONES number, actually."

Her eyes widening in realization, she called out, "Oh, right! I forgot! You never actually had a phone, did you?!"

"Not until now.", I lied to her face, while looking at this most basic of basic smartphones in my hand, "Let me tell you, the advantages of a phone become much more apparent when you don't have them."

Letting out a laugh, Soleil agreed, "I can imagine! Not being able to contact anyone if needed can be a serious danger. Especially in a city where superheroes and -villains duke it out every other day."

We both laughed at that. It was a case of Laugh away the pain. For Soleil to forget about her absent parents, for me to distract myself from the genuinely loving family I've been ripped away from.

Taking a deep breath after our laughing fit, Soleil asked, "So anyway, I have been on my way to the Egyptian-exhibit at the Louvre! You coming along?"

"The Louvre?", I asked confused. No way in hell this was a coincidence, "Why exactly?"

"Alya texted me, that Marinette made a Ladybug-discovery.", she elaborated, sounding slightly confused herself, "And if something goes south, she wanted someone there who knew how to defend themselves."

"Ah, so basically she called you as security.", I concluded, "Why would she call you for that? Wouldn't someone like Kim or Ivan be a better fit for that?"

A slight sigh escaped her, "If Kim and Ivan are those jagged guys, then yeah, you'd think that. But those operations we've been doing apparently make us substitute-heroes or something."

"S-Substitute-heroes?!", I called out in shock, "Is she insane?!"

"I mean, yeah, definitely, but I don't think that's the point.", she chuckled slightly as we went on our way, "You have been a thorn in Hawk Moths eyes several times now, once you even ripped victory right from his hands. Unsurprising, that she sees us as civilian-forms of Ladybug and Chat Noir."

„Right, you're right.", I realized with harsh dismay. Yet again, my idiocy was causing problems for myself. „Now how do we fix that?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Soleil answered, „I dunno, but does it really need fixing?" When she noticed my confused expression, she reasoned, „Personally, I'm glad that people now associate me with something other than my parents."

That point opened a whole different can of worms, that I just had to address this time, „People must really hate your parents if you're that grateful for a chance to distance yourself from them."

„It's gotten better recently. At least people don't frown at the mere sight of me anymore."

It felt like she was trying to put me at ease with that statement, but it really did the opposite. She basically said that her parents were so awful that people couldn't stand the sight of their daughter. And that, I just needed to ask about, „Why did they frown at you in the first place?"

This time giving a disapproving frown herself, she answered annoyed, „Because I'm the child of Damien and Eliana Chausson, d'uh? It wasn't my freaking horoscope that made people hate me!"

I could practically feel that I was walking on very thin ice here, so I deemed it better to put it to rest for now. Still, Soleil did add, „Listen, I appreciate you trying to make me feel better about who I am. But feigning ignorance is doing exactly the opposite. I don't want people to just forget I'm a Chausson. I want them to see me as myself, rather than the daughter of my parents. Does that make sense?"

„Totally.", I agreed with her. After all, you know what they say: ‚To assume makes an ass out of me and u.'

„Good, then hop on and let's go already.", the girl cut off the dialogue, and picked me up like she had done once already, before going into a super-sonic sprint.

-o-o-o- (10 minutes later)

It was a genuine surprise, that Soleil was actually capable of sprinting all the way to the Louvre while only getting out of breath once, in spite of her carrying me. That girl had some amazing stamina.

But now that we were here, things were going to ramp up in tension fairly soon, as this was the battlefield of the Pharaoh in the show. It's a good thing I never left my backpack anywhere behind, otherwise I would be completely unarmed for this endeavour.

„Calm down, pal.", Soleil chastised me when she noticed how tensed up I was, „I get that it has the qualities of a battlefield, but that doesn't mean an akuma is gonna pop up right around the corner."

Not even answering, but just taking her arm and pulling her behind the glass-pyramid, I observed the giant in pitch-black, decorated with golden Egyptian accessories on his wrists and ankles. Furthermore, he also had one of those golden neck-accessories, and the head of a goddamn lion with his neon-blue eyes shining.

"Would ya look at that, an akuma popping up right around the corner.", I whispered to her with a grin on my face, to which she groaned, "Yeah yeah, damn smartass. Rub it in some more, why don't 'cha?

Whilst I took out my combat-pole, which I'm really glad I had retrieved previously on my patrol, the Pharao called out, "Anubis, give me mummies!" And with a short golden glow, his head changed from that of a lion, to that of a… Coyote perhaps? Maybe a fox? I dunno, some sorta canine.

But the important part is, that he now started shooting lasers out of his eyes, mummifying everyone around it hit. "Soleil, watch out for that.", I instructed her out of reflex, "You can't fight when you're wrapped up like a Christmas-gift."

"No shit, Sherlock!", Soleil called out in annoyance, making a bit more noise than I would have liked, "More importantly, we gotta take that bastard down before he's the last non-mummy around! Any plans?!"

Looking around, just to look like I assessed the scene, I eventually explained, "It looks like he's trying to replicate that ancient ritual. If that's correct, he needs 100 mummies and a girl."

Her eyes shrinking in terror, she immediately made her point clear, "No! Never! Nuh-uh! Forget it! No way in hell am I taking that place!"

Looking out behind the Louvre again, I pointed out, "You won't have to." Pointing towards the Pharao, I clarified, "He already has his perfect sacrifice."

Said sacrifice, he held firmly in his left hand, preventing it from doing much out of kicking in vain. But on a second look, I noticed a few things, that were seriously wrong.

"Hey, that sacrifice… Is that freaking Marinette?", Soleil too noticed with an angry growl in her voice, which I confirmed, "I'm afraid so… Which brings a whole 'nother problem I'm not going to talk about right now."

"Like her about to be sacrificed?", she pointed out, before I quickly pulled her down along with me, just before one of Pharao's lasers hit her right on the head.

"I don't want to cause you any more panic-", I started carefully, but Soleil threw in, "Bad way to start a sentence, man!"

"Yeah, well…" I thought carefully about how I was gonna put this. "I'm afraid the root of my problems is along with him as well."

Freezing at that thought, Soleil called out, "You mean to tell me, that HAWK MOTH is there too?!"

"No, Hawk Moth is Ladybugs problem. MY problem is that masked woman over there.", I clarified, and pointed through the glass of the Louvre towards the woman in black, "From the looks of things, that creepy lady over there is the one creating and placing the dark stones."

Oddly enough, my partner took a sigh of relief, and whilst she pulled me out of firing range from the Pharao, she suggested, "Thank god, then that means we can end it all right here and now!"

"One way or another…", I agreed with a pit in my stomach. There's no way that woman was going to be an easy target, and if she showed herself out in the open like this, not even slightly hidden or obscured in any way, then that spoke volumes about her confidence. No, attacking her directly was bound to end in a massacre.

But unfortunately, before I had even finished that train of thought, Soleil was already charging right at her, battle cry and all, "HYYAAAAH! NOW DIE!"

The masked woman looked her way, an uninterested look on her face. By the time Soleils jumping kick was about to connect with her head, the enemy was more than ready to take one quick step out of the way, and kick Soleil across the whole plaza in retaliation.

"Now that's just pitiful.", our nameless enemy spoke with her distorted voice, "Sending a side-character as the vanguard. Pharao! I'd recommend clearing this pest!"

Looking her way, Pharao replied displeased, "You do not give orders to a pharaoh. However, I will comply for now…"

When he shot another eye-laser at Soleil, she just barely managed to roll out of the way. "Okay… unexpected…", the girl admitted confused, but was surprised by the Pharao calling for the wings of Horus and flying right her way.

When he was just about to reach her, he instead called for the strength of Sekhmet and landing a devastating punch in her gut, sending her flying right in the wall of the museum.

"Soleil!", Marinette, who was still caught in Pharaos hand, called out in worry, before pleading to her captor, "Please, leave them alone! They're innocent!"

The masked woman stepped next to her godly ally, and assured him, "The other one, you can leave to me. Just fulfil your ritual, or whatever you wanted to do."

Looking down at her, and giving her a nod of approval, the Pharao called upon the power of Anubis again, and walking off to collect his 100 mummies.

"Wait a minute, wasn't mummification only for the great Pharaos of ancient Egypt?", it just crossed my mind randomly, "How was this ritual EVER supposed to be possible in the first place?"

I only got to follow this trail of thought for a few seconds, before my new nemesis took the opportunity to land a free blow to the stomach. And then, while I was wheezing and stumbling over, she also punched me across the face making me fly across the plaza.

In that moment, I noticed two things:
First of all, she seemed to be an opportunist, not unlike myself. She sees an opportunity and takes it without a second thought.
And secondly, she was both fast and strong as all hell. That punch in the guts felt like it broke several ribs already, and that punch to the face definitely gave me a concussion. I'd be lucky if I barely made it out of this fight alive.

"Some civilian-hero you are.", she mocked when she stood above me again, "Just standing there, letting the mind wander whilst there is a fight going on. Really bad idea, Gilson."

Barely catching my breath, I replied, "Thanks… Gonna remember that… Ahhhh…"

"Now then, I would say we should get rid of you, wouldn't you say?", she declared whilst drawing a knife from under her coat and getting ready to thrust it down upon me.

You know, panic can grant an incredibly powerful energy-boost, given that I somehow managed to roll out of the way before she could stab me to death. Quickly rising to my feet again, I held up a finger to hopefully get a break until I could breathe properly again.

"Uff… Haaaah… Okay…", I panted heavily, whilst she was still standing there with the knife in her hand, "Wasn't ready that time…"

-w-w-w- (Narration)

As Manuel and the masked woman started their less than equal battle, Chat Noir, who had been in the Egyptian exhibit thus far, now made his way towards the central hall of the museum, closely followed by Alya who had been ranting to him for the better part of the last two minutes, "I mean, who does that lady think she is, you know?! How do glasses make me unfit as a sacrifice?! What is that even supposed to mean?!"

"You know how some souls are said to get reincarnated throughout history?", Chat Noir replied quite exasperated at this point, "Maybe Marinette just has a special soul in her, which makes her a prime-candidate, or something…"

"Come on, this is Marinette we're talking about.", Alya inquired unconvinced, "I mean, she's the coolest girl I know, but I swear, there's no way she's any more special than me."

Letting out a slight sigh, Chat Noir replied, "I don't know either. And honestly, I don't think it matters anyway. Marinette is going to be sacrificed if Ladybug and I don't save her. That's all I need to know."

Getting back to the topic at hand, Alya too realized the actual seriousness of the situation again, "Right! Then let's go! No way we're letting that arrogant king do whatever he wants!"

Now in the entrance-hall, and confronted with countless time-bubbles, Chat Noir instructed the ladyblogger, "Not your best idea, lady! The Pharao is way too strong for you! There's no telling what's going to happen once he's on to us."

It was a valid concern, even Alya saw that. But her classic stubbornness in combination with the situation they were faced with, she refused to accept it, "Believe me, I know! But that's my best friend he's going to sacrifice! I won't just sit back and watch it happen!"

The feline hero looked back at her, slightly intrigued. "Alya, was it?", he continued with a softer tone, "You're one seriously brave girl. No way anyone can deny that. No need to prove yourself to anyone, okay?"

Alya gritted her teeth as she looked downwards. "Marinette is my best friend…", she repeated, this time in a low growl, "And she is about to be sacrificed by a supervillain." As she balled her fists, she yelled more to herself than Chat Noir, "If Manuel can risk his life for complete strangers, then I can do the same for my BFF, dammit!"

Chat Noir took a step back. He knew that sort of determination from himself. And if he was anything to go by, then no matter what he was going to say, he would not be able to keep her from her intentions.

Seeing that her mind was made up beyond a doubt, he saw no choice but to just give in. "Alright, if you're sure about this, then I won't stop you.", the hero accepted, though he wasn't too comfortable with it, given how much more aggressive these recent akumas had been, "But I have to ask you, to leave the Pharao to me. Instead, I'd rather ask you to find and support Manuel."

Alyas face turned to confusion. She knew that the boy was too reckless for his own good, but despite being the Ladyblogger, she wasn't too sure how he fit into that equation. "Manuel? What's he got to do with the supervillain?"

Chat Noir grit his teeth as he remembered the unspoken deal that was sealed between the super- and substitute-heroes. Outsiders should know as little as possible about all of this.

However, he also had to admit, that sending in Alya of all people without any warning whatsoever was a perfect setup for a catastrophe. It would be better, if she at least knew the most fundamental stuff.

"Okay, listen, we only got so much time: If we break it down to the most basics, Manuel is a passive support for Ladybug and I.", he explained in a hurry, lest there would be nobody left to save soon, "He finds and destroys a purple stone that boosts the villains power, so that we can actually keep up with our enemies."

Alya, though listening intently, stared at him wide-eyed. "A stone…", she asked confused, "That boosts the villains power… If you were anyone else, I'd say you're messing with me right now."

"The point is, Manuel could probably use all the help he can get finding that thing.", Chat, getting more and more stressed, brought to the point, "So if you could help him with that, you would really do us a solid there."

Shaking her head to get rid of all the confusion, Alya confirmed determined, "If that's the most I can do for Marinette, then consider it done. But you better look out for her!"

"You take care too!", Chat confirmed whilst they started to split, "If there's guards, don't do what I do, but think about your next move!"

-x-x-x-

Back at the hedges around the museum, Manuels masked enemy currently granted him another short breather as he pulled the knife out of his left shoulder, gasping in pain. The censorship didn't make my blood gush out the way he thought it should, but it did let his clothes get soaked red around it more and more.

"Okay… Yeah, that ain't good.", he noted the sharp pain in his shoulder, "Provided me with a free weapon though…"

"You won't get a chance to use it though…", she spoke grimly, as she charged at him with another knife she pulled out from under her coat.

Barely diving out of the way, Manuel groaned under the aching pain in his shoulder, "Oh yeah, sure. Got another one of them."

"Come now, you're just making this harder for yourself.", she growled, as she spun around again with the knife.

Feeling a deep cut across his stomach, Manuel doubled over, struggling to breathe. "Ngh… Missed the vitals, heh…", he mocked her, whilst kneeling on the ground. Looking back up at her, he added with a grin, "As well, as a little detail. GET 'ER!"

In a split second of confusion, Manuel took the opportunity to fully open his jacket, and out flew a spiked white kwarmi that bashed the enemies face with its spines.

"Gotcha, you villain!", it called out as the surprised enemy tumbled backwards.

The kwarmi flew back to its Master, who quickly got back to his feet, "Great job, Whissp! Now, Spines UP!"

A quick flash of white light, and Manuel wore a white hedgehog-themed super-suit complete with a superlong, thick scarf around his neck.

Taken aback once more by the sudden development, the nemesis couldn't even reacted before being wrapped around by the scarf and smashed into the ground.

Quickly rolling backwards, the woman barely avoided Manuels hand reaching for her hood. Close as he was now, she took the chance to kick him in the stomach, making him stumble back and pushing her away a bit as well.

"Grr… Cheapshooting bastard.", she growled annoyed at this turn of tides. She was about to attack again, but got distracted by a stick thrown at her from the sides.

"I'll show you unworthy as sacrifice, lady!", Alya called out angrily from the surrounding hedges, already getting ready to throw another stick.

Though the masked woman was capable of dodging the stick with ease, she did notice her leg get wrapped in by the white scarf again. With one strong pull, Manuel pulled her off her feet, but failed to take the chance for a follow-up.

Groaning in annoyance, the masked woman got back up carefully. Struggling to keep both Manuel and Alya in her vision at once, she soon decided, "I guess, that's enough for the day."

Seeing that she was getting ready to peace out again, the hedgehog-hero threw the end of his scarf at her hand again, "You're not getting out of this!"

Against his expectations, the nemesis caught his scarf instead. Swinging him around, she threw him right into Alya.

With both of them bewildered by her unexpected counter, the enemy used the chance to disappear in her signature black cloud.

By the time Manuel got back up again, she was already gone. "Dammit. Right when I had her, she decides to book it.", Manuel cursed at his missed opportunity.

"Uhh, I'm sorry about that.", he heard Alyas voice apologize behind him, genuine regret in her voice, "I guess I shouldn't have interfered."

Turning his attention back to her, he brushed that thought off, "Don't worry about it, I'll get her eventually." Now noticing the harsh bruise on her forehead, he asked in concern, "Much more important right now: Are you going to be okay? That… doesn't look too good."

The girl looked at him confused. "I'm fine, thanks.", she assured him, not quite sure what to expect from him, "B-But aren't you at all… mad? I just ruined your chance to defeat your enemy."

Looking back to where his nemesis had just disappeared from, he scoffed slightly, "Nah, out of all things that could have happened, that wasn't one." Putting his hand to his chin, he started thinking, "I'm not sure what the deal is with her, but she is confident and very skilled in battle. It will take much more than improvised martial-arts and make-or-break magic powers to take her down."

His train of thought was interrupted by two things. First, a shooting pain in his arm, signalling that he was pushing his limits with the incompatibility-issue. Second, a dark cloud forming in the sky, with a ray of light shooting upwards into it.

"Oh no, Marinette!", Alya called out in worry. Taking a hold of Manuels hand, she practically begged him, "Please, mister, you have to help her! She's about to be sacrificed by that Pharao-guy!"

He looked down at her with widened eyes. Two things stuck out to him there, "Mister? Does she… not recognize me?" Judging by what he called The Ladybug-Phenomenon, he just assumed this shouldn't surprise him. The other thing surprised him much more, "That slight shaking in her voice. She is getting desperate to help Marinette."

Making a purely impulsive decision, he gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "Alright, I'll see what I can do. You just stay save."

With that, he used his telekinesis to lift himself off the ground and float on the roof of the museum. Only when he was already up there, he stopped to think again, "Wait, hang on. Did I just use my telekinesis to fly? When did I get so proficient with that?"

However, that thought was yet again cut off from the intense pain in his shoulder. "D-Dammit…! Can't… hold… on…"

"W-Whissp, Spines down!"

Transformed back to his slashed and bruised civilian-self, Manuel just knelt on the roof he landed on. Panting and breathing heavily, he felt like he was just about to pass out.

"Manuel, kiddo!", Whissp tried to talk to him, but his wielder barely registered him.

Instead, the boy forced himself to stand up so he could jump back into battle.

One foot he put forward under great exertion. "Gotta get back in there."

Then another foot which was already getting shaky. "Must fix… what I messed up…"

With the third step, he stumbled forward, landing on all fours. "Ugh… Can't just… quit… now…"

Collapsing and landing on his stomach, he started losing consciousness, "I have to… hold… on…" Slowly closing his eyes, he couldn't even feel Whissp anymore.

The kwarmi was trying desperately to keep him awake by pulling his head up by his hair. Noticing his wielder not reacting at all, Whissp started crying in fear and desperation.

-o-o-o- (two minutes earlier)

Soleil squirmed in panic as she ascended towards the dark cloud, pushed upwards by the beam of light. "Waahh...! Stop, stop, stohohohop! Let me down, please! Not so high!", she called out as she looked down to where Chat Noir was struggling to keep all the excess mummies at bay whilst the Pharao kept going with his ritual.

"Awaken, Nefertiti!", he chanted repeatedly, his hands held high in a praying position, along with the mummies that actually participated in the ritual.

"Hold on, Soleil!", Chat Noir called out to her, as he threw a mummy over him and into three others. But as he tried to make his way towards her, his path was blocked by five more yet again. "No no no…", he spoke to himself under pressure, "Where are you, Ladybug?"

"Why mehehehe?!", she cried in fear as she ascended further and further, "I hate you, you fake freaking-!" Her cry was interrupted by a yo-yo wrapping itself around her waist and pulling her out of the light-beam and swinging her onto the roof to safety, in spite of her hysterically high-pitched scream.

When she noticed she had solid ground under her feet again (after 10 seconds), she called down to Ladybug, "Thank you, Ladybug! But never do that to me again, got it!"

Shaking her head with a sigh, Ladybug ignored the girls complaint as she pulled Chat Noir out of his rough spot towards her. "Just barely saved you from becoming a Christmas-gift, did I?", she teased him with a grin, to which he replied, "You know I'd love to be YOUR gift, M'lady."

Spinning her yo-yo as a shield in preparation for battle, Ladybug chastised her feline partner, "Save the flirting for later, he can't be allowed to complete his ritual!"

Getting into a battle-stance himself, Chat Noir replied slightly hurt, "Hey, you started it this time! Plus, he can't finish without a sacrifice anyway!"

"I'm not coming back down there for you!", they heard Soleil call to them from the distance, as she turned her back and sat down behind the railing to pout in defiance as the heroes started ducking it out with the villain.

Only after several seconds of petty pouting, she noticed her partner in crime further along on the same roof. "Oh, hey! He's here too! Coincidence or fate, I wonder…"

But after a few seconds, she noticed that something was wrong. He wasn't moving at all. He just laid there, motionless, save for a part of his jacket that seemed to pull upwards. "Oh no…"

Getting a pit in her stomach, she stumbled to her feet and ran towards him. "No no no, this can't be real!"

Kneeling down beside him, she now took note of the terrible state he was in. Like always after battle, he had bruises all over. But this time, he had several knife-wounds in addition to those.

Most notable, he had two really deep ones. One across his stomach, which his unconscious body had his hand put over. And one gaping hole in his shoulder, around which a deep-red puddle had formed by now.

The sheer amount of blood she had to see made Soleil feel like she was about to throw up. But the clearly critical situation made her recompose herself quickly, though her mind was still in disarray. "Come on, Soleil… First aid, how did that work again? Your partner is at stake here, dammit!"

Turning him on his back, she put her ear on his chest. And as she failed to detect a heartbeat, her own heart started beating heavily in a blind panic. "Oh no… Manuel, no! Don't you do this to me, you bastard!"

"WAKE UP, MAN!", she screamed at him, in perfect synchronisation with another voice she had never heard before.

It took her two seconds to process. Then she stumbled back startled, "W-What?!"

Not even acknowledging her presence, Whissp flew out of Manuels pocket again, and tried pulling him up by his collar again, "Come on! You're not done! WE'RE not done!"

"Stop it!", Soleil called out in worry, pushing him off her friend, "You're strangling him, you idiot!"

Catching himself in the air, Whissp finally noticed Soleil, "You! Didn't you do this to him?!"

"What- NO! I'm trying to save his life here!", she denied taken aback, to which Whissp answered, "Yet another one, huh? I'm not sure how to tell if you guys are trustworthy…"

"We guys? Plural?", she noticed, but brushed that to the side for now, "Never mind that. The hospital isn't too far from here! If we can stabilize him, the doctors may arrive in time to save him!"

Just barely coming to an agreement on these terms, Soleil proceeded to make an emergency-call, and getting into a heated argument with the receptionist Jim, because apparently, the personnel was not too keen on sending an ambulance into an akuma-zone.

But Jim did understand the seriousness of the situation, given how hysterical Soleils voice became over time. So eventually, he agreed to come by himself, letting both girl and kwarmi breathe easier.

"Okay, help is under way.", Soleil sighed in relief, turning to her unconscious friend again, "Now, do you know how first-aid works?"

"I don't even know what that is.", Whissp denied confused.

Letting out another deep sigh, the girl accepted, "Guess this is up to me then… Don't you die on me, man."

The both of them got startled for a moment, when the roof shook for a second as Chat Noir got thrown into the wall beneath them. "Oh right, that's still going on.", Soleil realized at that moment, but Whissp couldn't care less in the moment, "They're fine, they're superheroes! But HE isn't fine, so focus!"

Getting back on topic, Soleil refocused, "Right, no distractions now." Thus she commenced her far from perfect, but definitely life-saving first-aid, in spite of Whissp who accused her of hurting him every so often.

-e-e-e-


Whelp, this is it. That was literally the hardest chapter thus far, because no matter where I went, everything led to a dead-end. But I'm all the prouder it's done now, and I hope the quality didn't dip too much in the process.

At least I have a starting point for the next chapter, so it should be easy to keep the ball rolling into the next one. Hope you're looking forward to it, and I hope even more, that I'm not losing your interest with my lousy upload-rate.

All of that said, see you next time! Judging by experience, it's probably gonna take like half a year, but hey! Who's counting?! (Me… I probably shouldn't do that…)

Next time on Superheroes and animations:
With a near-death-experience checked off his bucket list, Manuel has to admit that he can't keep going like this. Be it training, equipment or super-powers, something has to change in his arsenal. Not to mention, with Whissp and Soleil getting acquainted, another status-update is up for him.