Chapter 24 – Rescue
Ladybug scrambled away just before a dodgeball slammed into the roof right where her foot had just been. Hopping onto the next building, giant fork in hand, she tried to find a good place to fight, one that wasn't covered in a slick layer of slush. She needed all her concentration to win this battle, but her mind didn't want to cooperate.
Why hadn't Cat Noir just told her he was hurt? They were partners! They were friends! Weren't they? Didn't he trust her enough to tell her that he needed help? The obvious answer - that he didn't - stung.
Ladybug didn't move fast enough, and a dodgeball grazed her shoulder. Slipping on a thin coating of snow, she fell, then tumbled to the edge of the roof but caught herself with both hands. Her Lucky Charm clattered to the ground right before another volley sailed above her head. At least luck was on her side even when her partner wasn't. The fall saved her. That had almost been her head.
Dodgeboy stomped closer as Ladybug dangled from the edge, the footsteps reverberating across the roof and into her fingers. Cat Noir wasn't coming to help her out of this, so she made a risky snap decision. Dodgeboy expected her to drop to the ground to retreat, so she hurled herself upward, headbutting his chin before she leaped over him.
As her timer announced three minutes, Ladybug swerved, trying to figure out where she could lure this monster and end this quickly, then started running across the rooftops before she'd made up her mind.
Fear bubbled beneath her anger. Not fear for herself. Watching Cat Noir fall, realizing he was hurt- She'd never been so afraid in her life, never felt so helpless. It had been worse than that first day. Worse than Volpina, even.
Looping back the ground, she grabbed her Lucky Charm and looked up as Dodgeboy landed next to her. No time left to find a better location. She let her yoyo fly, cracking against the edge of the roof, knocking a damaged section loose and letting it fall on her opponent. He hardly slowed down, and she had to stumble backward, looking for something else to exploit, another way to use her Lucky Charm.
But the only thing she could think of was how she shouldn't have left Cat Noir like that. He was hurt, and he needed her, and she had left.
Dodgeboy shook dust from his eyes and aimed again. Ladybug was forced to leap backward, somersaulting over the school's front stairs and skirting around the back of the building, before swinging herself back to the roof. Cat Noir was better off where he was. If she could finish this quickly, he would stop hurting sooner. As she landed, her foot hit a patch of fresh snow, and she slipped, falling face-first on the cold metal roof.
Why did it have to be snowing? It made fighting difficult and thinking sluggish. A few flakes hung to her skin before melting off, and she shivered. Cold. Her earrings beeped two minutes.
Forget the roof. Slippery, cold surfaces were not her friends right now. A gust of frigid wind knocked into her as she tried to survey the ground and find a place to land. Or a place to hide and transform. Her grip tightened over her Lucky Charm, as if it could protect her.
Uneasiness settled over her shoulders. Why had she thought four minutes would be enough to finish the fight? Leaving now to recharge made the most sense, but where? Dodgeboy could easily rip apart even the most secure location to find her. She didn't have time to defeat him, but she didn't have the time to retreat either.
Blinking, she tried to clear the cold and worries about her partner out of her mind. Neither were going to help her right now. Her best bet was getting lost in the school. There were too many places for him to look.
Not taking any longer to decide, she dropped off the roof, landing on Dodgeboy's head as he scaled the side of the building to get to her. He barely grunted, catching her leg with a swipe of his arm and sending her careening into the wall of the school. Stars flashed before her eyes as pain exploded in the back of her head.
She landed on her knees, vision swimming. This hadn't been part of her plan, right? Something about the school. She needed to get inside the school for some reason.
Her legs wobbled as she tried to stand, fingers loose around her giant fork as she used it to prop herself up. Dodgeboy stalked closer, both cannons trained on her, until one pressed into her stomach, the other hovering in front of her face. "Take off your earrings," he said. He pushed Ladybug into the wall, wide circle of the barrel squeezing against her ribs.
A black blur and a loud crack were the only warning she had before Dodgeboy slumped forward, cannons crushing her against the wall before falling to the side as the akuma collapsed. Her earrings beeped a one-minute warning as she stared at Cat Noir, who breathed heavily, baton still raised like a club, glaring at the akuma.
He raised his eyes to her, still scowling. "Are you going to yell at me now, too?" With a gasp, he clutched his chest. The baton clattered to the ground. And Cat Noir fainted.