It bugs me for some reason that this fits into 3 parts instead of 4 but it just worked out that way.
Disclaimer: I own lefts, not rights.
Chapter 16: Evillustrator, Part 3
The elevator was way too slow for Ladybug's patience, but without her yoyo, it was the only way up to the top floor, and eventually she did get there. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she darted into Chloe's room, just to find it empty.
"Where'd they go?" She asked. No response from the empty room.
She grabbed her yo-yo from the bedpost and looked down the hall, searching for any sign. Eventually, she spotted a couple of feather dusters, leading down to a room with the door wide open and the floor gone.
"That must have been where they went," she muttered, walking to the edge of the hole.
Beneath her, Chat Noir was in chains, and Evillustrator was reaching for his ring.
"Not on my watch," Ladybug said, throwing her yo-yo and wrapping it around Evillustrator's torso. He looked up, surprised, and couldn't react before Ladybug yanked him up.
Evillustrator fell into the hallway, and Ladybug reached for the pen.
Panicked, Evillustrator scribbled something.
Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around his arm and pulled, but his drawing was finished and a pile of stuffed black cats fell onto her.
Pushing herself out of the pile of cats, she saw that Evillustrator was searching the pile. He must have lost his pen when she yanked his arm.
Deciding she might actually have the advantage, Ladybug used her yo-yo to cut through the pile and slam into anything onto the floor. The first couple tries and she managed to break a feather duster.
Evillustrator was getting more and more panicked. Letting some of the cats fall down to where Chat Noir was, Ladybug continued the search, confident that the battle was over.
And then Evillustrator found his pen.
Ladybug threw her yo-yo almost immediately, but Evillustrator had enough time to draw something and the hallway tilted forward. With the help of her forward momentum from her throw, Ladybug was tossed forward and slammed into the doors of the elevator at the end of the hall.
"How did you do that?" Ladybug asked, standing up.
"Just added a little something to the floor to make it lift up," Evillustrator explained. He erased the elevator doors Ladybug was leaning on, sending her into the elevator. The doors appeared, trapping her.
"Huh?" Ladybug asked, but her confusion was answered when the elevator began to fall. She used her yo-yo to whack open the panel on the ceiling and then to wrap around something on the walls.
The elevator continued to fall, leaving Ladybug hanging. She swung herself over to the ladder and began to climb, before realizing Evillustrator had probably gone down to the first floor to meet her.
And then down she went, ignoring the pain in her ankle with every step.
She landed on top of the elevator just in time to see Evillustrator's red head appeared below her.
"Hey Nathaniel!" Ladybug called. Evillustrator looked up, shocked.
Ladybug jumped down right in front of him, elbowing the pad he was drawing on just as he finished something. The pad fell to the ground, broken.
"Game's over," she said.
"Not until you get my pen," Evillustrator replied. "And how do you plan on doing that?"
It was at that moment that Ladybug realized her yo-yo had been erased.
Ladybug dove for Evillustrator, hand out for the pen, and they both fell to the ground. The pen fell out of his hand and rolled off into the lobby.
Ladybug crawled over Evillustrator to get it, but Evillustrator grabbed her bad ankle and pulled her back.
With a yelp, she fell back to the ground.
Evillustrator crawled out and ran to grab it, but Ladybug was up moments later and chased after him. She grabbed one of the flower pots in the lobby and chucked it at him. He fell, but he was close enough that he could reach the fist closed around it just as Ladybug reached him.
Ladybug fell to her knees and grabbed Evillustrator's fist. With one hand, she held his hand still, and with the other she grabbed onto where the pen was sticking out and tried to break it.
Evillustrator head butted her in the stomach, and Ladybug fell backwards.
Evillustrator reached for her earrings, but Ladybug kicked him in the stomach, and he stumbled backwards.
Ladybug stood up, her ankle yelling at her as she did, and the two faced off.
"We seem to be at an impasse," Evillustrator said. "I can't draw, and you can't summon your lucky charm."
"You're not a fighter, Nathaniel," Ladybug replied. "You're an artist. This isn't you."
"And the boy hanging out in the back of the classroom is?" Evillustrator questioned. "The one who is never talked to, always mocked? The one who could only dream of what I'm doing now?"
With those words, Evillustrator dove at Ladybug, but she knocked him in the chin and he stumbled backwards.
"How about the boy who'd never hurt a fly?" Ladybug asked. "Or the boy who drew amazing pieces of art - not just weapons. Isn't that better than this?"
"I don't want to hurt you," Evillustrator admitted. "But I can't lose these powers. I'm somebody now - and I'm not going to give that up."
Evillustrator moved again, and Ladybug punched him on the cheek. This time, it was enough for the pen to roll out of his hand.
"I don't want to hurt you either, Nathaniel," Ladybug replied. "But your powers cost too much."
"No," Evillustrator whispered. Ladybug ignored him, and stomped on the pen.
The pain of flare from it shot up her leg as the winds picked up. She and Chat Noir appeared in the hotel again, and they both immediately collapsed on each other.
"That was too close," Chat Noir whispered.
"Way too close," Ladybug agreed.
Still plenty more akumas to go!