Chapter 5: Origami
The giant origami animals attacked the five heroes, by charging against them by both land and air. And the only thing they could do was defend themselves, while making their way towards the library's. They tried to destroy them with their weapons, but they seemed to be indestructible. And on top of it, the more they attacked the origami animals, the more vicious their attacks became. It was hard to choose which ones were giving them more trouble, if the fliers or the ones that walked on two or four legs.
"What I wouldn't give for one of Chat's Cataclysms, right about now." -Ladybug thought to herself, as she used her yo-yo as a shield to deflect the origami cranes that were trying to beak her to death. –"I bet with one of his Cataclysms he would reduce them all to ashes." -she kept musing about, while giving her best to deal with her attackers, who had seemingly the power to regenerate themselves, even after she had cut them with her yo-yo. –"But thinking better about it, maybe what we needed was one of Queen Bee's tornados. She could just blow them away and that would be the end of it."
But unfortunately, neither Queen Bee nor Chat Noir were there to help them. They would have to find a way out of that mess without the help of most of their friends, who were not there with them. And with the attacks of the origami attacks becoming stronger and faster, they needed to come up with a plan to get rid of them, as they tried to reach the library. Never before such a small distance felt so big to them, as they were mere meters from the entrance, which was being guarded by two enormous origami bears.
"Oh, I wish Ivan was here, right now!" -Forest Doe thought to herself, as she threw another set of arrows into the air, trying to catch two origami birds, which she believed were storks that had been trying to poke her with their sharp beaks. –"If he was, I know he would be using these creatures as punching bags, and throwing them around as if they were ragdolls." -she thought, imagining him as Grizzly Bear picking those two and use them as spears against one of the other origami animals.
Up in the sky, Dragonfly was using her frisbee to knock down as many as the origami birds out of the sky as she could. But this was proving hard, because they were fast, and worst yet, they could change shape, alternating their size and their shape to avoid the frisbee. Still, that did not discourage her. Being as stubborn, as she preferred to be called, strong-willed, she loved a challenge, even when she was in mortal danger.
"Keep running… but no matter what you do, you're all going down, birdies!" -Dragonfly said as she grabbed her frisbee and threw it again, hitting two giant origami butterflies.
Outside of the battlefield, the people that had gathered around the area where the heroes were fighting kept photographing them and cheering them, and encouraging them to keep fighting. The whole scene looked like something out of a football match, where the spectators applauded and cheered for their favourite players in field, and the police officers, who could not do a thing to help the heroes, began to feel like they were just security guards in said football match, whose only job was crowd control. But truth be told, most of them preferred it that way, because they knew that they did not stand a chance against whatever kind of enemies Hawk Moth would throw at the heroes. They had been trained to arrest criminals, stop bank robbers, and assist the community in anyways possible, not battle supernatural fiends.
As for the Miraculous heroes, right then, they did envy everyone who was standing behind the energy shields Carapace had placed on the barricades, who were just there to watch the show and snap photos of the action, instead of having to deal with the numerous fiends that were trying to kill them.
"How can we keep these guys at bay, so we can get out of here and deal with whoever's controlling them, inside the library?" -Rena Rouge said, as she smacked a pair of origami cats with her flute-staff, who were trying to attack her. –"These guys would be so cute, if they were not trying to kill us… no, Alya, don't think about those things now, focus!" -she thought to herself, as her brain tried to come up with a way to get her and the others out of that mess. –"I could try and come up with a fire illusion… but if these guys are magical, I don't know if they will burn to a crisp or not… still it's a worth a shot."
Doing just that, Rena Rouge blew her flute-staff and quickly created a set of flames that spread around her and torched the origami animals that were nearer her. The paper creatures began to howl and shriek as the fire consumed them in a matter of seconds. Smiling, she believed that she had found a way to deal with those creatures and help the others. But the smile she had on her face quickly disappeared, as she saw the ashes that were once origami animals return to their original shape. And the worst part was that they looked even more ferocious than before.
"Just as I suspected… they burn down, only to reassemble themselves from the ashes… talk about a Phoenix complex…" -Rena Rouge thought to herself, while trying not to panic. –"So, if fire doesn't work, and I'm betting soaking them with water will have a similar effect, how do we deal with these things?" -she kept thinking as a pair of origami goats charged against her, forcing her to dodge them, and hitting the floor pretty hard. Turning her head to the left and looking over her shoulder, she saw them making a dash towards her–"This is insane… If I take my eyes of one of them, they'll take that chance to attack and… that's it! I bet that they won't be able to attack us, if they can't see us!"
Using her flute-staff, the fox heroine worked as fast as she could to bring to life the illusion, she thought would help her and her friends out of that situation. Three seconds later, on the floor around her, a bit of smoke appeared and began to spread in every direction. But this smoke was not smoke, it was fog; a fog as dense as pea soup, which did not allow one to see half meter in front of its nose. It did not take long for it to involve everything and everyone that were in the pram where the battle was taking place. As expected, the origami animals could not see what was going on, and that gave the heroes the advantage they needed. Like their opponents, they could not see much in front of them, but their heightened senses allowed them to sense what was around them. From behind the energy shields, people tried to see what was going on, but the fog was too thick to even try it. The only thing they could do was hear the origami animals making all kinds of noises.
Taking advantage of it, the heroes made their way to the library's entrance, while avoiding the origami animals in their way. As they ran, jumped and flew through the fog, they thanked the times they had trained blindfolded for occasions such as that one. They knew Rena's illusion would not last forever, so they did not waste time in fighting whatever obstacles that were in their way. The only one they knew they would have to fight were the two origami bears that were guarding the entrance, and they knew that because of the fog they were likely to still be guarding it, not knowing what to do. But to their relief, Carapace had a plan of his own to deal with them. Using his hearing to determine where the two origami bears were, and activating his powers, he placed the two paper bears into energy bubbles, making it impossible for them to exit them and attack them. Reaching the library's entrance all at the same time, Ladybug silently told them to close the doors behind them. She did not want to give the origami animals the chance to follow them inside, after the fog disappeared. Doing just that, Rena Rouge and Dragonfly began to close the doors, while Carapace used his powers once more, this time to unite the energy shields he had placed to prevent bystanders from approaching the battlefield, and create a sphere, where the animals would remain, while they dealt with things inside.
"The last thing we need is one of those animals running wild." -Carapace said, as he finished creating the energy sphere.
"Good thinking." -Ladybug said, while thinking that she should have thought about it herself. Still, it was nice to see that like it happened so many times, she and her friends were in full-synchronization during a battle. –"That way, that will be less a problem for us to worry about." -she said, as Rena Rouge and Dragonfly finished closing the doors.
Looking around, the library's entrance looked like the polar opposite of what Ladybug expected it to look. She expected it to look like a war zone, or at the very least, a little messed up. But instead, it looked like nothing had happened there. Everything was in its proper place and there were no signs of any Akuma being there. For a second, she wondered if all of that was a trap that had been set for them, and they had fallen into it.
"Don't you think there's something strange going on here?" -Ladybug asked the others, while keeping an eye out for trouble.
"Now that you mention it, where is everyone?" -Rena Rouge asked, as she looked around, and just like her best friend, felt like there was something wrong with that picture; namely, the lack of people. A library that size should be packing with people. And on top of it, if an Akuma attacked it, then people would have tried to exit the building, before it could harm them. –"I don't see anyone." -she said. –"But there's got to be people inside this library. Otherwise, who sent that blurred photo to the Miraculous Blog email?"
"Uh, guys, I think I know what happened to the people that were inside." -Forest Doe said, as she entered into one of the side rooms.
Having heard the doe heroine say that, the remaining heroes went to check what she had found. And to their surprise, what they saw was something they were not expecting to see. Splattered all over the walls of that room were numerous cocoons made out of sheets of paper, with each sheet plastered one on top of another, until creating what they were seeing. And inside them were people, squirming and trying to get out. Looking at them, the cocoons did not have a disgusting appearance like it happened in monster movies, where the villainous creature places its victims inside cocoons that are either made from some kind of natural resin, or some slimy substance produced by the creature itself. But the idea of having people squirming inside them, was not a pretty one.
"O-kay, this is strange, to say the least." -Dragonfly said. –"I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to think that we're inside a monster movie of some sorts." -she said, hoping that would not be the case.
"We've got to cut them open, and fast." -Ladybug said, as she readied her yo-yo, to use it as a buzz cutter. –"And I bet that were going to find more people trapped like this, all over the library." -she said.
"Alright, let's do it. The faster we do it, the better." -Carapace said.
They were about to start cutting open the paper cocoons and let the people inside them out, when a loud noise was heard from behind them. Turning around they saw a cloud of purple smoke materializing out of thin air, and from it, two rather familiar faces to them appeared. With her long bright-orange hair and her black and dress, holding a crystal ball on her hands, was none other than Hawk Moth's lieutenant, the gypsy witch, Madame Romani, smiling at them with a smile worthy of a psychopath who wanted to quench its thirst for blood. As for the other, standing 7 feet tall, with chalk-white skin, fire-red hair and wearing a golden and black armour, was Brutus, another of Hawk Moth's lieutenants.
"Good afternoon, Miraculous Team… oh, just five of you? I was hoping to get you all here." -Madame Romani said. –"Still, five miraculouses are better than no miraculous at all." -she smirked evilly.
"Indeed. Master Hawk Moth will be content to have them." -Brutus said.
"Romani?! Brutus?" -Rena Rouge asked, slightly surprised to see the two of them. She was expecting to see the Akuma appearing to greet them, like so many other times, and not two of Hawk Moth's lieutenants.
"That's Madame Romani for you, fox girl!" -the gypsy woman yelled at the fox heroine, clearly furious about being addressed that way.
"Well, if that's how you want to play, then it's not fox girl, you witch. My name's Rena Rouge!" -Rena Rouge shot back at Romani, playing her game.
"Are those things outside, your work?!" -Ladybug asked Madame Romani, demanding to know. Because if they were, then she had somehow acquired the power to create illusions that could regenerate themselves, and that would mean that her powers were getting stronger, just like hers and the rest of the team.
"My work? Don't be ridiculous… I wouldn't waste my energy conjuring up paper creatures to try and kill you, when I could conjure up swords or any other razor-sharp weapons to do just that, Ladybug!" -Madame Romani cackled maniacally. –"No, they are the work of the latest Akuma that my master has created, in order to kill you… and believe me, he will kill you." -she smirked at them, the way only an insane psychopath smirks. –"But where are our manners? You're here to fight him, aren't you? Well, then, let's not leave you hanging… Show yourself to these infernal brats!"
When Madame Romani berated those last words, the heroes wondered what was going to happen next, only to have their answer given to them seconds later. A strange was heard coming down the stone staircase, and making its way to the lobby. Looking up, they saw a tornado composed of nothing more than sheets of paper approaching them. When it reached near Madame Romani, it stopped, and every single paper sheet fell to the ground, stacking themselves into a pile.
"Well, that was anti-climactic…" -Rena Rouge commented.
But before Rena Rouge could finish her sentence, the pile of paper sheets began to slowly take form, folding themselves countless times, until they had assumed a human shape, bearing the resemblance of a 19th century Ronin. His whole body was made out paper, as well as his clothes and his weapon, a samurai sword. Apart from the sword's sheet which was black, the only other parts of him that were not absolutely white, were his hair, which was also black, wore in a chonmage, a Japanese traditional topknot haircut, and his eyes which were red. Looking at him, the heroes could not tell what he was thinking about, due to his neutral face expression, and that alone, made him far more dangerous than a foe, whose emotions could be guessed, just by looking into its face.
"Miraculous Team. Allow me introduce you to Origami… your executioner." -Brutus smirked evilly at them.
Up until 20 minutes ago, Origami had been a Japanese exchange student named Takeshi Matsuura; someone with a healthy obsession regarding origami, who, on that day had decided to visit the Bibliothèque Mazarine to find a book regarding that hobby of his. Checking the library's catalogue, he found the one he wanted and quickly went to the librarian on duty to solicit it. Unfortunately, the book he solicited was a rare exemplar, which belonged to the "Rare Collections" and as such, it could only be solicited by someone carrying a written authorization from the library's director to visualize it, and the librarian told him that the book was off-limits. He tried to persuade her to allow him to see the book, even if it was just for a few minutes, but she insisted that without a written authorization, she could not allow him to have the book. After nearly 10 minutes, he finally gave up, and as he left, he told the librarian, with his voice filled with anger, that a book, no matter how rare, should never be off-limits to anyone who wishes to read it. This statement was the reason why Brutus, who was visiting the library, scouting for possible victims, felt that he would give a perfect Akuma. He had requested his master to allow Romani to accompany him, so he would not have problems mingling with everyone in the library. The gypsy witch, who was not a fan of him or his methods, accompanied him, just because she did not want go against her master's wishes.
And when Hawk Moth akumatized Takeshi, and he turned into Origami, Brutus believed that he had made a fine choice. He looked both deathly and serene, two qualities he appreciated in any soldier. To him, if there was an Akuma that would be able to kill the Miraculous Team, it would be Origami.
"Kōkina senshi ni aisatsu… greetings noble warriors." -Origami said, greeting them in both Japanese and English. –"You are here to stop me, but I must warn you, no one will prevent me from achieving my goal, not even you. So, I politely ask you to hand over your miraculouses, and I promise you that your death will be fast and painless." -he said, as he unsheathed his sword, which just like everything else about him, was made out of paper. Still,
"If I were you, I would do as he says." -Brutus told the heroes. –"He may not look like it, but he is stronger than he seems, and incredibly fast." -he said, after watching him cocooning every single person in the library, including the librarian that told him, that she could not grant him access to the book he wanted to read. He moved with a speed and agility that were beyond incredible, and the best part, was that he moved almost without making a single sound.
"Sorry, but not interested. Handing out our miraculouses to you guys, is not up for discussions." -Carapace said.
"Then, so be it. Your death will be painful and your miraculouses will be given to Hawk Moth." -Origami said, as he extended his left arm and pointed his sword at the heroes. –"But I can promise you that even though it will be painful, it will also be fast. I have a book to read." -he promised them.
"A book? Is he telling us that he has been akumatized because of a book?" -Ladybug thought to herself.
"Bring it on!" -Dragonfly yelled at him. –"I'm waiting for you!"
Moving as quick as lightning, Origami targeted the heroes and before they could react, he had already hit the five of them on the chest, sending them against the wall. Somehow, they did not feel the blow, and if they had not been thrown the way they were, they would have thought that Origami had not even laid a finger on them. Hitting the marble covered wall, a wave of pain coursed through their bodies, and they knew that they would be feeling that in the morning. Falling to the ground, they gritted their teeth in pain, knowing that the fight had just begun and they were all on the ground.
"This library will be your tomb, heroes. And once we have dealt with you, we will find the rest of your little friends and kill them as well." -Madame Romani cackled maniacally.
"Fat chance of that happening, you witch!" -Forest Doe exclaimed, as she got back up.
"You'll pay for calling me that! Origami, finish them, quickly!" -Madame Romani ordered the Akuma.
Not wasting a second, Origami charged against the heroes. Only this time, already knowing just how fast he could move, Ladybug and the others did not hesitate, and instead of attacking him, they dodged his attack, moving as fast as they could.
"Operation: Divide and Conquer, people!" -Ladybug shouted at her team.
"You got it, girl!" -Rena Rouge exclaimed to her.
Operation "Divide and Conquer" was a plan they had come up with for occasions, when only part of the team would be present. It was a rather simple plan and it consisted in one of the most basic, yet effective tactics there was for the kind of problem they had in hands… multiple enemies. They would divide themselves into duos, where there would be a member of the team who was an expert in attack, and another that would be in expert in defense. Being paired up like that, they stood better chances of winning against whatever enemy that was targeting them.
"I'll handle gruesome twosome over there!" -Dragonfly exclaimed.
"I'll help you!" -Rena Rouge told her.
"Count me in, as well!" -Forest Doe said.
"Then, looks like the boss lady and I will take care of Origami." -Carapace said, as he drew his tonfas and prepared to attack the Akuma.
And with those words, a fight erupted in the middle of the library's entrance, opposing the Miraculous heroes and the Origami, along with two of Hawk Moth's lieutenants. Ladybug and Carapace did not hesitate and went against Origami with everything they had, while Rena Rouge, Dragonfly and Forest Doe attacked Madame Romani and Brutus.
Ladybug threw her yo-yo against Origami trying to him, failing numerous times. And when she believed she was going to hit him, he would either dodge, only to appear behind her, or shape-shift into a shield, a wall, or an animal. Seeing him do that, the scarlet heroine continued to attack him, hoping to find a weakness in him she could explore for her own benefit.
"This guy has got to have a weakness! I just need to find it!" -Ladybug thought to herself, as she threw her yo-yo, trying to wrap its string around Origami, only to miss him again. –"Dang it! He's slipperier than an eel!" -she cursed her bad luck, as he shape-shifter into an eel, just to mock her. –"Really?!"
As for Carapace, he tried to whack him with his tonfas, but Origami was just too fast for him. Seeing that, he tried a different approach. Instead of trying to hit him, he would create energy bubbles, trying to capture him. But it did not work, because every time he tried to encase him into one, he would just disperse, only to pull himself together a second later.
"Oh, come on! This is ridiculous!" -Carapace sighed, getting tired of that, as he dodged another of Origami's attacks, which kept growing in speed and number.
Next, he tried to block him with a couple of energy shields, hoping to corner him. But the best he could do was block a couple of attacks from Origami, who had begun to shape his hands and arms to look like pointy spears, cutting everything that was in his way. Ladybug quickly saw that that approach of theirs was not going to work, and that they had to do something to turn the tables on him. Looking at Carapace, Ladybug gave him the same look she would give everyone, when she felt like they should take the fight to another place. Her plan was to take Origami into a more secluded place, where even with his powers, it would be harder for him to move around, giving them upper hand in the fight.
"We can't stop him from assuming all these shapes and sizes, but we can definitely try and restrict the space where he can do it." -Ladybug thought to herself.
At the same time, Forest Doe and Dragonfly were dealing with Madame Romani, while Rena Rouge dealt with Brutus. At first, Romani wanted to take on the fox heroine herself, but Doe and Dragonfly attacked her, and forced her to deal with the two of them, leaving Rena Rouge to fight Brutus. And as she battled Madame Romani, Dragonfly made it her mission to annoy the gypsy witch as much as she could, just to break her concentration and gain the advantage in that fight.
"You clearly haven't learned anything since our last encounter, you gypsy witch!" -Dragonfly said, as she caught her frisbee back, only to throw it against Madame Romani. –"Or should I call it "the last time we kicked your butt and sent you back to your master, whinnying that it wasn't your fault that we beat the snot out of you, for the umpteenth time?", huh?" -she kept ridiculing her. In the absence of Antelope, she was having all the fun, by mocking the villains.
Hearing those insults made Romani's blood boil inside her. She hated when the heroes amused themselves, by mocking and insulting her.
"You won't be smiling that much when I'm through with you, you brat!" -Madame Romani said, as she conjured another one of her illusions; this time, a set of several flying swords, which she did not hesitate to throw at Dragonfly. –"I'll break your neck with my bare hands, before I remove that miraculous that you're wearing around it!" -she said, her eyes blazing with rage.
"Try your best, you witch!" -Dragonfly exclaimed, as she dodged the swords the gypsy woman had thrown at her, by performing several backward flips, just before taking off into the air, where she hoped to escape, and come up with a counterattack.
"You won't get away that easily! These swords will follow to the ends of the earth and back!" -Madame Romani roared, when she was hit on the chin by Forest Doe. –"Ughh… why you…" -she snarled, while massaging her chin with her left hand.
The deer heroine had used her invisibility power to disappear for a couple of seconds, reappearing right next to the gypsy with and elbowing her on the nose, before picking her up by the shoulder and throwing her into the ground. She threw Madame Romani so hard into the ground, that this one opened a couple of cracks on the pristine marble floor. Screaming in pain, Romani felt like she had broken a pair of ribs upon impact, but the rage she had inside her, prevented her from experiencing the totality of the pain. Panting hard, she tried to get up, only to be stopped by Forest Doe, who did not hesitate and shot an arrow at her, which landed a couple of centimetres from where her head was. Walking towards her, the deer heroine kept an arrow pointed at the gypsy's face, so she would not get any ideas of moving.
"You should pay more attention to what's going around you, instead of talking like a maniac." -Forest Doe told her, as she kept pointing her bow and arrow at Madame Romani's face. –"Otherwise, you'll get into this sort of trouble."
"And you should know that you're not the only who knows a few tricks, little doe." -Madame Romani smiled maniacally, with a smile that would put Pennywise's creepy smile to shame.
Without any warning, Romani's body began to change. At first, it seemed like her body was melting, but it was not melting. Instead, it was turning into smoke, which quickly passed right through Forest Doe's body, only to reappear behind her; but not before a smoke tendril wrapped itself around Doe's bow and arrow and yanked them out of her hands. Looking at the gypsy witch, the deer heroine would have not believed un what happened, if she had not seen it with her own eyes.
"Do you like it?! I recently discovered that I can turn myself into smoke and reappear somewhere else." -Madame Romani gloated about her accomplishment, as she finished regenerating. –"I can only roam a couple of meters when I'm only smoke, but it's more than enough to get out of most sticky situations." -she continued to gloat about it.
"Looks like we aren't the only ones, whose powers can also evolve." -Forest Doe thought to herself, while grabbing her bow from the floor.
"Now, where were we? Oh, yes, I was about to take care of Dragonfly, but I guess I can start with you… ouch!" -Madame Romani yelled, as she felt something hitting her on the back of her head. Once again, Dragonfly, who had managed to give the swords that she had thrown at her the slip, had used her frisbee to strike her.
"Nice trick! Could you do it again? From up here, I couldn't watch the whole thing!" -Dragonfly shouted at the villainess, while grabbing her frisbee, which had returned to her, the same way a boomerang would.
"You're starting to annoy me!" -Madame Romani berated at the dragonfly heroine, as she made her crystal ball appear on her hands, ready to conjure up a new and deadly illusion to deal with both Dragonfly and Forest Doe.
And while the two of them were dealing with Romani, Rena Rouge was busy handling Brutus, who was giving her a hard time. This was the first time she was fighting him one-on-one, and he was presenting himself a tough customer.
"I must say that you are quite skilful with that staff. Almost as much as Chat Noir." -Brutus complimented Rena Rouge, who continued to tray and lay a hit on him with her flute-staff, only for Brutus to block and deflect all of her attacks with his own staff. –"Don't use your elbows… use your shoulders to gain thrust! Hat way your attacks will be stronger!" -he advised her, as he landed a blow on her left leg, making her drop to her knees.
"T-Thanks for the advice…" -Rena Rouge said, gritting her teeth in pain. She was sure that that last blow was going to leave a nasty bruise, which would take at least a day to disappear. –"… but instead, of giving me advices, why don't you give one to yourself and give up!" -she said, as she quickly held up her flute-staff and blew it.
Using her powers, Rena Rouge created an illusion to allow her to escape the clutches of Brutus. Sprouting from her flute-staff a series of snakes with sharp fangs threw themselves at the brute, rapidly coiling themselves around him, making it impossible for him to move. She knew that he would be able to get rid of them, but it would take him a couple of seconds. And as he struggled to rip the snakes from his body, she used those precious seconds to put a couple of meters between the two of them.
"That was a dirty trick, Rena Rouge!" -Brutus said, as he ripped the last snake that coiled itself around his torso.
"Dirty trick? Look who's talking… you can pull all kinds of weapons at will from your body." Rena Rouge countered his statement. –"I'm just using what I've got to deal with you, you overgrown brute!" -she exclaimed, as her eyes deviated from Brutus for a second, to check out the battle between Madame Romani and the girls. –"They're handling themselves, but we got to go and help Marinette and Nino. We need to take these two down and make sure they don't come after us, while we're dealing with Origami."
The fight opposing the two heroes against Origami changed places, with Ladybug and Carapace forcing the Akuma to go deep into the library, where they knew there would less space for him to move around. Their plan was to not give him enough room to use most of his shape-shifting powers. And as they went further into the library, they saw two things that made them realize that they had to put a stop to Origami's shenanigans. First, they saw countless paper cocoons with people trapped inside them. And second, they realized that he could shape-shift into whatever he wanted with a snap of its fingers, as well as change his size. As they entered the library's reading room, things got even more chaotic, and their plan to stop Origami by forcing him into a place where he could not use his powers so freely, felt redundant.
Climbing to the top of a bookshelf, Ladybug was trying to catch Origami, as he continued to shift sizes and shapes, while also taking his time to throw at her and Carapace all kinds of origami-shaped objects that went from shurikens to darts.
"He continues to evade all our attacks! We've got to make him stay still for a moment if we're to have any chances of taking him down… maybe if we try to mock him, he'll lose his cool and start acting like most Akumas do, when they're taunted and provoked." -Ladybug thought to herself, as she jumped from bookcase to bookcase. –"Hey! I thought I was battling an Akuma, not a chicken who spends his time running from us!" -she yelled at Origami, hoping to hit a nerve with that statement. It would not be the first time that would work.
"A chicken, you say? Let me show you that I am not a chicken, by transforming into a chicken's biggest fear." -Origami smirked at the heroes.
"He's going to turn into a pot of chicken soup or a cleaver? Because I can't see what else a chicken might fear." -Carapace thought to himself. He was so under pressure, that right then, he could not even think in abstract terms.
Before Ladybug and Carapace's eyes, Origami shape-shifted once again; this time into what was his biggest shape yet. He turned into a giant snake, which due to its sheer size, proceeded to crush everything that was in its way, while trying to catch the heroes. The two of them thought that due to its size, it would move a lot slower than before, but they were both wrong. If anything, Origami kept his speed, despite of his now massive size. It did not take long for all kinds of debris to start falling all over the place, as well as on top of Ladybug and Carapace.
"Evasive manoeuvres!" -Ladybug shouted at Carapace.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" -Carapace chuckled, as he dodged a desk that was thrown in to the air. –"Looks like we've just got ourselves into an even bigger mess than before." -he said.
The whole place began to shake, as Origami, in his snake form, bumped against the walls, the floor and even the ceiling, trying to catch both Ladybug and Carapace. The turtle hero created a couple of shields and place them on Origami's way, trying to slow him down, but once again, the Akuma would just find a way to evade them, by either jumping over them, passing under them, or by simply scattering his body, only to have it gather itself in one piece the second after. Launching itself against the heroes, Origami continued to shake the whole room, as the heroes began to think that the whole place could come down at any second. Using her yo-yo, Ladybug tried to swing by Origami's head, hoping to kick him with both her feet, only to fail. The Akuma, seeing this did not hesitate and lunged his head forward, with the intention of grabbing the scarlet heroine with his fangs. Ladybug saw this and tried to dodge from them, only to fail. As she saw Origami opening his mouth, showing the sharp-pointy paper fangs in his mouth, time seemed to slow down for a mere second. And during that mere second, she saw how Carapace jumped up and placed himself in front of her, ending himself being the one who was caught by Origami.
"Carapace!" -Ladybug shouted, as she saw him being picked by Origami.
With Carapace trapped in its mouth, Origami charged against every bookshelf, desk, and any other object that it was in its way, trying his best to tire the turtle hero, who was feeling his back being pushed to its physical limits. Every single time Origami went through a bookshelf, Carapace was the one who took most of the hit, causing him excruciating pains. Still, he was determined to stop that, using his tonfas to try and pry open Origami's snake form mouth, and force him to let him go. But doing that was proving to be a lot harder than he thought it was going to be, especially because for an Akuma made out of paper, Origami was incredibly strong. All the while, Ladybug was trying her best to also force Origami to let go of her friend.
"This guy's not going to let go of me, and if I keep letting him use me like a battering ram, there won't be much of me left to fight…" -Carapace thought to himself, while trying to come up with a solution to his predicament. –"Come on, let go of me you venomous snake, you!" -he shouted at the Akuma.
Dodging the debris caused by Origami, Ladybug tried to use her sixth sense to see if there was anything in that reading room, she could use to help Carapace. The problem was that with Origami moving as fast as he was, the whole place would not stand still long enough for her power to work on. Climbing up a bookshelf, she sought a place where she could use her sixth sense power, without risking any major debris falling or hitting her, while also hoping to find what she needed to save her friend.
"Hold on, Nino, I'm going to try and get you out of that monster's mouth." -Ladybug thought to herself, as she tried to come up with a solution to get him out of that tight jam.
Ladybug kept using her sixth sense, but to no avail. There just not seemed to exist anything in that reading room any combination of objects that could help her fighting Origami. She was beginning to wonder if her powers were working, when among all of the noise that origami was making, while moving through the reading room, a distinct sound was heard. A sound that was different from everything that she had heard, since their battle against origami in that room had begun. It was the sound of a window shattering. She had heard a few windows shattering when Origami rammed his colossal body against some of the windows that existed in that reading room, but the sound from it was different. His was the sound of a window shattering, because something or someone had entered through it. Looking down, seeking the place from where that noise had come from, she saw what had happened; another member of the Miraculous Team had showed up; Panda Rouge.
"Sorry, I'm late!" -Panda Rouge exclaimed, as he waved at Ladybug, who was still on top of the bookshelf. –"Took me a little to get over here." -he said, as the scarlet heroine jumped from the bookshelf, landing right next to him.
"Better late than never, that's what I always say." -Ladybug smiled, happy to see her friend and teammate.
"What is that thing?" -Panda Rouge asked, as he looked at the giant origami snake that was holding Carapace in its fangs. –"You know what? Never mind… I think the only thing that really matters is getting him out of there." -he said, before Ladybug could answer him.
"I've been trying to use my sixth sense, but it's not working. Don't know if it's because things are so chaotic, or if it's because there aren't any objects that might help me get Nino out of there." -Ladybug told Panda Rouge.
"Well, let me try and see if I can work this out." -Panda Rouge smiled confidently, believing he could save the turtle hero. –"If it's made out of paper, then maybe a little fire should do the trick." -he said.
"Wait, don't!" -Ladybug shouted at him, trying to warn him. –"You might burn down the place… plus, using fire on him, will probably not work." -she said, remembering seeing Rena Rouge trying to burn down the origami animals, only for these to regenerate from their ashes.
"Then, if we can't use fire, let's see if this works." -Panda Rouge said, as his spear shrunk down to the size of a pen, and he began to draw with hit, making use of his special ability.
Wasting no time, Panda Rouge began to draw as fast as his hand allowed him to, and in a matter of seconds, he designed and brought to lie several pairs of giant scissors, like the ones that Haute Couture had used against them, during Paris Fashion Week, a few months prior. Commanding them, Panda Rouge ordered them to attack Origami. Doing so, they begun an almost choreographed attack on the Akuma, snipping a cutting in several points of the same. When he felt the first cut being made, Origami roared in pain, letting go of Carapace, who wasted no time in running from him. As he ran towards where his teammates were, he felt like his body had been used as a punching bag for several hours, believing that there was not a single fibre in his being that was not agonizing in pain. Still, he said nothing, while also trying to put the thoughts regarding that pain aside. That was not the time to think about it. Once Origami was defeated, he would complain about how much pain he was.
"Thanks for the saving, bro!" -Carapace exclaimed, as he high-fived Panda Rouge.
"Anytime." -Panda Rouge smiled. –"Now, can either one of you tell me what we're exactly dealing with here?" -he asked them, while keeping an eye on the scissors that were still attacking Origami.
"An Akuma that is literally a living origami, who can change its size, appearance and is incredibly fast." -Ladybug promptly told him. –"Oh, and he can also create living origami creatures, like the ones you saw inside that energy bubble outside, but I think you might have already figured that one out." -she added.
"Yeah, I was also going to ask you about that." -Panda Rouge said. –"Are we the only ones here?"
"Dragonfly, Forest Doe and Rena Rouge are downstairs fighting Madame Romani and Brutus." -Carapace answered him.
Their conversation was cut short, when an ear-piercing scream was heard, coming from Origami, who blasted the scissors Panda Rouge had created moments before, as he rapidly changed forms, returning to his original shape and regenerating from the injuries the scissors had caused him. Looking at the heroes, he saw Panda Rouge and quickly understood where those flying scissors had come from.
"So, a new warrior has appeared." -Origami said, as he finished assembling back into his original form. –"You too will share the fate of your friends… unless you hand me over your miraculous. If you do that, I will spare your life." -he said, while holding his sword with both his hands.
"Not going to happen, man." -Panda Rouge said, as he made his spear expand, and prepared himself to fight.
Panda Rouge had barely finished talking, when Origami used another of his tricks to deal with the three heroes. Firing what looked like paper bullets at them, Carapace quickly raised a shield in front of them, to protect them. But before those paper bullets could hit the energy shield the turtle hero had created, they shape-shifted into numerous butterflies. But unlike those that had attacked them outside, when they first arrived, these exploded when hitting or touching any surface. And the heroes quickly found out just how explosive they were, when those creatures began to land everywhere, triggering a series of explosions that filled the air with burnt pieces of paper, shattered glass, and other kinds of debris, before their ashes reassembled together, as if nothing had happened to them. The explosions were quite violent and made the room tremble even more than when Origami, in his snake form, bumped against the room's walls. Luckily, Carapace's energy shield protected them from the blasts, as well as the falling debris.
"You didn't tell me he could do that!" -Panda Rouge exclaimed, with his ears buzzing from the explosions.
"We didn't know he could do that!" -Ladybug exclaimed back, suffering from the same problem as Panda.
"He's getting more powerful. No doubt he's beginning to test just how many kinds of abilities he has!" -Carapace said. –"We need to take him down, before he decides to create exploding origami bears or walruses!" -he said, as he looked at one of the countless paper butterflies that had were still regenerating from the ashes.
And just like that; looking at one of the numerous origami butterflies that were in the air, Ladybug's mind took her for another stroll down memory lane, as she once again remembered about the day her mother taught her how to make origamis.
(Flashback)
Tom had just come back from the car, with the bottle of juice, when he saw his wife and his daughter playing with what looked to him an origami. Seeing it, he could not help but to smile, as remembered that when he first time he met Sabine, she was also doing an origami; a crane to be more precise, which she offered to him.
"Well, well, well, looks like someone has decided to do some magic tricks with paper." -Tom chuckled, as he looked at his wife, who smiled at him. He had always called "magic tricks with paper" to the art of making origami figures, because to him, the creation of such creatures was an act of magic that required only a piece of paper.
"She was so sad because she couldn't catch any butterflies, in order to make a wish, that I couldn't resist." -Sabine declared, as Tom sat next to her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Daddy, daddy, look!" -Marinette exclaimed, as she showed Tom the beautiful origami butterfly she was holding on her hands.
"It looks really beautiful, honey." -Tom smiled at his daughter, while caressing her hair.
"It's the strongest butterfly in the world!" -Marinette exclaimed, as she kept playing with the paper butterfly.
"It is a really strong butterfly, yes, Marinette." -Sabine smiled at her. –"But, it's also very fragile. She's both strong and fragile at the same time, sweetie." -she told her.
"Strong and fragile at the same time?" -Marinette asked her with an innocent voice, which matched the innocent look in her eyes, not understanding what her mother was talking about.
"Yes, I'll show you. Give me the butterfly, please, sweetie." -Sabine said, as she asked her for the origami butterfly, which she handed her. –"Now, if you throw it into the air, and let it fall, nothing happens to her." -she said, as she did just that. Throwing the butterfly into the air, this one fell to the ground. –"See? It remains the same. And that's not all… look."
Marinette kept staring at her mother's hands, as she herself played with the butterfly. After this one hit the ground, Sabine grabbed it and tried to pull it apart, trying to rip it, which caused Marinette to scream, not wishing to see the butterfly destroyed.
"No! Don't rip the butterfly, mommy!" -Marinette screamed.
"Don't worry, sweetie… see? I can't rip it." -Sabine said, as she demonstrated it, by gently pulling the origami in opposite directions. –"If you pull really hard, you can rip the poor little thing… but if you pull gently, you can't rip it. That's how strong an origami really is." -she said. –"But, like I said, they are both strong and fragile at the same time… and here, is how fragile they are."
With a swift and gentle move, she unfolded the origami and this one returned to its original shape, a blank piece of paper. Seeing that, Marinette was both sad and happy. She was sad because the origami butterfly, her mother had done for her was gone. But at the same time, she was happy to see such a trick, which like the first one, looked like magic to her.
"Always remember this, Marinette. Something as delicate as this butterfly, can be both strong and fragile at the same time… just like you." –Sabine told Marinette. –"You're going to grow up into a beautiful woman, who may look like she's fragile, but in fact, is really strong, on top of being curious, beautiful and playful." -she said, as she tickled Marinette on her tummy, making her chuckle. –"Now, do you want me to make you a new origami butterfly, or do you want me to teach you how to make a different animal like a dog or a kitty?"
"Yes! Make another butterfly, another one!" -Marinette said, clapping her hands in excitement.
(End of Flashback)
It was strange for Ladybug, to have remembrances of that day, crossing her mind twice in the same day. But she did not mind, because it made her once again remember about a day in her childhood where she had learned something that would help her later in life, in the most incredible way, one could imagine.
"That's it! I know how we're going to defeat this guy!" -Ladybug thought to herself, as a light bulb went off in her head, and a plan began to take form, all thanks to that particular memory of hers. –"Thanks, mom. If this works, I'll have to thank you for it somehow." -she mused to herself.
Sorry if this one took a little longer than expected, but between this cold that has been giving me nothing more than numerous headaches, and making me cough like a crazy, I also attended Lisbon Games Week 2019 this past weekend, and you can imagine that that left me with very little time to write on my hands. But to make it up to you, this chapter is a lot bigger than the previous one, and it's packed with way more action.
I noticed that a few of you have wondered why there was that flashback in the previous chapter, and well, it was a bit of an experience that I decided to do, which consisted in dividing a whole flashback into two parts, and giving you half in the previous chapter, and the other half in this chapter, as most of you have already read. I don't know if it was a successful experience, but I'm counting on you to tell me if you want me to do that more often, or not. :)
On the following chapter, we will see what happens, when Ladybug puts her plan into motion. As always, feel free to comment, fav and leave suggestions to improve this story and/or future ones.
P.S. Before I forget, I want to announce you that I recently got a beta-reader, Greenwiz34, who's was kind enough to help me revising the whole series from the start. So, you might want to check out the previous stories for updates (because they're coming... I'll let you know when that happens).