Chapter 6: Turning Tables
The explosions triggered by the exploding origami butterflies, in the reading room, were heard and felt in the library's entrance, where Rena Rouge, Dragonfly and Forest Doe kept fighting Madame Romani and Brutus. Upon hearing them, the girls knew something had happened upstairs. Fearing the worst, and being the fastest of them, Dragonfly decided to check if Carapace and Ladybug needed some help, ignoring the fact that panda Rouge had arrived a minute before. Looking at Madame Romani and Brutus, she saw that both Forest Doe and Rena Rouge could handle the rest. The three of them had been able to tire them enough, for them to become easy opponents.
"Keep an eye on those two! I'm going to check if they're alright!" -Dragonfly said, as she zoomed out of there.
"Go! We'll handle these idiots!" -Rena Rouge exclaimed, as she saw Dragonfly go up the stairs to help Ladybug and Carapace.
"Handle these idiots?!" -Madame Romani exclaimed. –"What do you think we are, sludge or some low-lives?!" -she questioned Rena Rouge, obviously infuriated with the way the heroes talked about her, as if she was some low-life.
"No, you're worse than sludge, and way worse than low-lives! You're garbage! Disgusting garbage that decided to crawl up from the sewers!" -Forest Doe shouted at Madame Romani, as she fired three more arrows at her; one of them almost hitting her on the left shoulder. –"Dang it! I missed again!" -she thought to herself.
"There's no reason to insult your opponent like that! A warrior must always respect the other, both in and out of battle!" -Brutus said, as he deflected one of Rena Rouge's attacks, trying to smash her with his war hammer.
"Oh, would you shut up about it?! You and your stupid honour and useless fighting rules! Why do you even bother giving these kids tips on how to wield their weapons and how they should attack us?! It's like you're asking to be defeated." -Madame Romani yelled at Brutus, sick and tired of him and the way he perceived things. As she saw it, Reptile was not the smartest person in the world, but he did not waste time doing those things. All he wanted was to kill the heroes. –"Our master doesn't care about those things! The only thing he cares about is to see these kids' dead bodies at his feet, with or without their heads still attached to them!" -she continued to yell at him.
"I do not wish to argue with you. We're on the same side, and as such I agree with what you're saying, but a warrior should always face its opponent head on, without denigrating him or her…" -Brutus told her, trying to reason with her, as he stopped fighting.
"There you go again!" -Madame Romani yelled at him. –"Why can't you get it into that thick skull of yours, that it doesn't matter how you fight these kids?! The only thing that matters is that they die and that we get their miraculouses, so Hawk Moth can destroy them!" -she said.
"But…"
"Don't you dare say another word, about it, you imbecile!" -Madame Romani continued to yell at Brutus.
Seeing that, both Rena Rouge and Forest Doe felt like they were watching either an old couple arguing about the most trivial of things, or a sketch from the Three Stooges. It was the first time they were seeing two of Hawk Moth's lieutenants arguing about something as trivial as that, in the middle of a battle. They had seen Madame Romani and Reptile arguing before, but nothing like what was going on between her and Brutus. Looking at each other, they did not know if they ought to laugh about it, or tell them to stop arguing and focus on the fight they were having.
"This is surreal… and we've seen many surreal things before." -Forest Doe whispered to Rena Rouge, who waved her head in agreement.
"What do you say we take advantage of this?" -Rena Rouge asked her, as she looked at the two enemies, who continued to fight like cat and dog. –"Let's take these bozos down, and then go help the others." -she suggested. –"Follow my lead and fire a few arrows in a circle around them, please."
"With pleasure." -Forest Doe winked at the fox heroine. –"And you don't have to say "please", we're friends remember?" -she smirked.
Firing arrow after arrow, at an incredible speed, it took Forest Doe less than two seconds to have them trapped, just the way Rena Rouge wanted them. Hearing the sound of the arrows hitting the ground, Brutus and Madame Romani snapped back to reality. But when they did it, it was already too late. As soon as the last arrow hit the ground, completing the circle around them, Rena Rouge played her flute-staff and a silver tendril shot from it, grabbing both Madame Romani's crystal ball and Brutus' war hammer, throwing them away and out of reach, just before beginning to weave itself around the arrows with an incredible speed. Once that was done, the tendril erupted into flames, creating a circle of flames around Brutus and Madame Romani, who saw themselves trapped. And before they could think of crossing the flames, even knowing they would be severely burned by them, these began to change shape, until it assumed the shape that Rena Rouge wanted it to; a cage. But not just any cage, a glass cage.
"You can try and break it, but believe me, it won't work. I made this one to withstand the impact of a cannonball." -Rena Rouge said, priding herself of her work. –"And before you think of even trying to turn yourself into fog and exit it, think again, you witch. It's reinforced and sealed. Nothing goes in, and nothing comes out." -she smirked at the gypsy woman. Deep down, she knew that the two of them would be able to get out of it. But it was going to be incredibly hard to do so, and by the time they had managed to pull such a stunt, Origami would have already been dealt with. –"You're both stuck in there, whether you like it or not."
"Let me out, you, insolent fox girl!" -Madame Romani ordered, as she hit the glass with her fist, trying to break it.
"Forget it, you're not going anywhere, you witch." -Forest Doe told her, as she approached the glass and playfully stuck her tongue out. She was not the kind of girl who would do that often, because she had been raised, to never do it, but she just could not help doing it to Madame Romani, who, more than anyone else, deserved that kind of disrespect.
"Once again, that's showing disrespect for your opponents." -Brutus pointed out, as he tried to punch his way out of that cage, with no visible results.
"Oh, shut up with that!" -Madame Romani screamed from the top of her lungs at Brutus. –"Stop talking and use your brute strength for something! Produce another hammer and break this thing! I can't create illusions without my crystal ball, so you have to get us out of here!" -she continued to scream at Brutus, while cursing their bad luck.
"Now, don't go anywhere." -Rena Rouge told them, as she tapped the glass. –"We'll be back, after we have dealt with your master's latest victim." -she said, while signalling Forest Doe to follow her. –"Let's go and help the others, girl!"
"I'm right behind you, Rena." -Forest Doe said, as she picked up the pace and joined the fox heroine on the stairs. –"Let's hope they're alright. Those explosions sounded pretty big." -she said.
"This isn't over yet! I'll have your heads for this, Rena Rouge and Forest Doe! Yours and the rest of your friends as well!" -Madame Romani continued to yell at the heroines, as they went up the stairs. –"This is all your fault! Get us out of here, hurry! If we don't kill those kids, the master will punish us!" -she told Brutus, who kept trying to punch his way out of that glass cage, while trying to ignore every word that came out of her mouth.
Determined to destroy the Miraculous heroes, Origami continued to produce more and more origami animals to cause chaos, though most of them were butterflies that exploded when coming into contact with things, only to regenerate themselves from their own ashes and attack again and again, in a never-ending cycle of explosions that were continuing to damage the room. The room itself was looking more and more like a tornado had been unleashed inside it, destroying everything, after a massive bomb had been deployed inside it, which was not far from reality.
Not wishing to end up blown into smithereens, Carapace converted the energy shield he had created earlier into an energy bubble, placing it around him and his friends, hoping that it would withstand the explosions, as well as safe-guarding them, while they tried to come up with a plan to deal with Origami. Their last plan failed and they needed a new one, if they were to defeat Origami and save the day. The explosions were becoming stronger and stronger, and Carapace was fearing that the energy bubble would not hold. Nothing had ever been able to break one of his energy shields or bubbles, but he feared that one day, an Akuma would be able to do it, making him nervous. On top of that, the noise was not helping his nerves. Focusing, Carapace insulated the bubble, so they could talk without being interrupted by the continuous explosions that were happening.
"Finally, some peace and quiet." -Carapace said. He and the others had learned from Master Fu that the sound of silence was many times the best sound one could hear, when attempting to solve a problem.
"Thanks. I don't know about you, but my ears couldn't take much more of that." -Ladybug told the turtle hero.
"This is getting really dangerous." -Carapace said. –"I can't hear the explosions right now, but just looking at things going "kaboom", I know that things are getting way too dangerous." -he said.
"And here I thought that fighting a guy who's basically a living origami figure, would involve a lot more paper folding, and less explosions." -Panda Rouge joked, with an uneasy voice.
"No offense, Nathaniel, but that was one really bad joke." -Carapace told his friend. –"You should leave the comedy to Adrien and Kim." -he said.
Looking through the energy shield, Ladybug knew that things were not going to straighten themselves up alone. Origami was getting a better grasp of his powers as time went by, and soon, he would probably be able to discover a power or an ability that would make him even more powerful than he was right then. Sighing, she knew they did not have the time to just sit there and hope the others would be able to deal with Hawk Moth's lieutenants in a flash, and come and give them a hand. They were on their own, right then, and even though she wished she had the rest of the team, including the ones that had not answered the call for help, she knew that they would have to do with what they had.
"I've got a plan… but before I tell you about it, I need to be sure of something." -Ladybug smiled to the two heroes, trying to transmit a sense of confidence.
"You need to be sure of what?" –Carapace asked her, before telling himself that whatever it was the scarlet heroine was thinking about, it would have to be important, for her to say something like that. –"You know what? Never mind that question. Whatever it is that you need to be sure of, just tell us what we must do in the meantime."
"I need you to distract him, by forcing him to shape-shift as many times as you can." -Ladybug told them, after which, she looked Panda Rouge in the eyes. –"Plus, I need you to use your drawing powers to give me something that allows me to see things in slow-motion."
"In slow-motion?" -Panda Rouge asked her, puzzled. But why would you want to see things in slow-motion, Marinette." -he told her. –"You know what? I trust that you know what you're doing. Let me see what I can come up with."
Drawing as fast as he could, Panda Rouge came up with the sort of thing that Ladybug had asked him to. When he finished, he was holding in his left hand a pair of glasses with blue-tinted lenses. They looked like the kind of glasses one would see in a science-fiction film, with countless other gizmos that would help the hero to solve a problem it had gotten itself into.
"Glasses? Shouldn't have you given her, maybe, a watch that could slow down time or something?" -Carapace asked Panda Rouge, not understanding why he had given her a pair of high-tech looking glasses.
"I don't think my powers work like that." -Panda Rouge told him. –"Besides, they aren't just regular glasses, as you can see by the way they look. When you press this button here, it will record whatever is happening in front of you, and then, by pressing it again, you can see recording in slow-motion." -he explained it to Ladybug, as she examined the glasses.
"Okay, I think I get it how it works." -Ladybug said, as put on the glasses, seeing everything bright-blue in front of her. –"Alright, let's get out of here and do our thing. Remember, you guys distract him as much as you can, and leave the rest to me." -she said. –"Be careful."
"You too." -Panda Rouge told Ladybug. –"Open this bubble, Nino." -he told Carapace.
Focusing, Carapace made the energy bubble disappear, exposing the three heroes to all that was going on around them. The air smelled of burnt things, which was not a surprise, given all of those exploding origami butterflies. Trying to ignore it, the three heroes spread out, with Ladybug trying to find a safe place to do what she needed to do, while Panda Rouge and Carapace ran into the opposite direction, charging against Origami. The Akuma, seeing the two heroes coming right at him, wasted no time and attacked them, launching more origami butterflies at them; only these were not the exploding kind. Instead, when in mid-air, they turned themselves into razor-sharp shurikens, targeting the two heroes. Quickly Carapace created an energy shield in front of him, to catch all the shurikens that came in his direction, while Panda Rouge used his spear, rotating it with both his hands, deflecting them.
"So, is this all you got?" -Carapace asked Origami.
"We were expecting you to give us something more." -Panda Rouge said. –"I mean, no offense, but for someone who should be a really smart Akuma, and with the power to turn himself into whatever he wants, you are quite the disappointment. I mean, what you're doing with these origamis, it's art! And from an artist to another, you are not memorable at all." -he told Origami, trying to play mind games with him.
"You know what, Panda? I bet that he can't even turn himself into anything larger than that giant snake he turned into earlier." -Carapace taunted the Akuma.
"A giant snake? Well, I bet that he can't even be into places at once!" -Panda Rouge shouted, getting into Carapace's game.
Hearing him say that, Origami decided to prove them wrong by dividing himself into two, and then assuming different forms. To do so, he pulled the pages out of hundreds and several books that were still in the bookcases. In a matter of seconds, the transformation was complete. The one on the right turned into a giant origami scorpion, while the one on the right turned into a giant preying-mantis. The two creatures looked at the heroes for a couple of seconds, before attacking them. Carapace used his tonfas to whack and counterattack the preying-mantis attacks with its razor-sharp grasping forelegs, while Panda Rouge decided to use his drawing powers to create something to deal with both scorpion's stinger and its pincers. Drawing as fast as he could, he quickly drew some incredibly strong rubber bands, which he placed on the scorpion's pincers, when this tried to snap him into two, and a giant cork, which he used on the scorpion's stinger. Doing this, Origami was forced to turn himself into something else to deal with Panda Rouge. Shape-shifting in the blink of an eye, he turned himself into a Gashadokuro, a Japanese giant, whose body was made out of bones and was 10 to 20 times larger and taller than the average person. Panda Rouge recognized it from a book of Japanese folklore he read once. Looking at him, he saw that Origami's version was smaller than the one described in various legends, but it was still incredibly ugly and scary to anyone who would look at it.
"Okay, I wasn't expecting this to happen." -Panda Rouge thought to himself, as the origami Gashadokuro roared and tried to smash him with his enormous fist. –"Maybe I shouldn't have annoyed him in the first place." -he mused about, while trying to avoid being crushed to death.
And while Panda Rouge dealt with the Gashadokuro, Carapace continued to fight with Origami in his praying mantis form, who was proving himself to be a tough customer. Every time one of the energy shields Carapace had created around him was struck by it, he feared that Origami had found the strength, or a way to break them. Until then, nothing was able to break one of his shields, but he feared that there would come a day when that would happen.
"Who would ever think that a creature made out of paper would be able to hit this kind of strength?" -Carapace thought to himself. –"Come on, is that the best you can do?" -he shouted at praying mantis, who wasted no time in striking one of the energy shields, trying to kill him. –"Okay… I guess you can still do better!"
The battle raged on, with both Carapace and Panda Rouge trying their best to stay alive, while also striking Origami whenever they saw an opportunity to do it. And as always, the heroes were beginning to show the first signs of exhaustion, unlike the Akuma, who looked like he could do that the rest of the day, without getting tired. Suddenly, Dragonfly showed up, and was surprised by what was going on. She, who had not seen Origami using most of his powers, was impressed, to say the least, with what she was seeing.
"Hey, guys, what's going on?!" -Dragonfly asked her friends, noticing Panda Rouge next to Carapace. –"You're here too?" -she shouted at Panda Rouge.
"Yeah, I got here a little after you guys entered the library." –Panda Rouge said, as he performed a backflip, avoiding one of Origami Gashadokuro's strikes, but failing to realize that the Akuma had deliberately pulled that strike, to allure him to a better position, where he could slam him with his other fist.
Seeing her friend in danger, Dragonfly dove, with the intention of punching the Gashadokuro's fist and prevent him from crushing Panda Rouge. But as she was halfway, she noticed that she was not going to be able to do it. So instead, she decided that the best thing to do was to grab Panda Rouge. Squinting her eyes, because of the speed, she pushed him out of the way, just as the Gashadokuro's fist was about to crush him. As she zoomed under the Gashadokuro's humongous fist, Dragonfly felt the air above her being pushed down, and that just gave her an even bigger incentive to not stay under it for more than a quarter of a second. Grabbing Panda Rouge, she zoomed back into the air, where she knew they would be safe.
"Thanks, Alix." -Panda Rouge thanked the pink-haired heroine, when they were already in the air.
"Don't mention it." -Dragonfly smiled at him, without taking her eyes off the Gashadokuro. –"What is that thing?" -she asked him.
"It's a Gashadokuro." -Panda Rouge answered her.
"A what?!" -Dragonfly asked him, not having understood the name he had just said.
"A Gashadokuro. They are spirits that take the form of giant skeletons and are fifteen times taller than an average person, and they're supposedly created from the amassed bones of people who died of starvation or in battle, without being buried." -Panda Rouge explained her.
"And why didn't you just call it a giant skeleton?!" -Dragonfly asked him, as they landed on top of one of the few bookcases that were still intact n all that mess. –"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay, don't worry." -Panda Rouge reassured her. –"Marinette and Nino told me that you, Alya and Mylene were dealing with Madame Romani and Brutus downstairs." -she said.
"As far as I know, Mylene and Alya are still dealing with them. I came here to see if you guys needed a hand… and I guess you do." -Dragonfly declared, as she looked at the Gashadokuro, who was slowly making its way towards them. –"Looks like tall, dark and gruesome isn't happy that I took you away from him!" -she said.
"Go and help Nino, and keep Origami busy. I'll take care of this Gashadokuro." -Panda Rouge told her.
"Alright, and please, call it a giant skeleton! It's simpler and doesn't sound like a mouthful, okay?!" -Dragonfly told him in a playful tone, as she dashed out of there.
At the same time, Ladybug was recording everything that was happening with the glasses that Panda Rouge had given her. Just like he had told her, the glasses were incredibly easy to use and she was using them to look for something that would give her and her friends the advantage they needed in their fight against Origami. She did not know exactly what she was looking for, but she would know when she saw it. Just like she had asked them, Carapace, Panda Rouge, and now Dragonfly, made sure to keep Origami busy, while also testing just what he could and could not do. Origami himself seemed not have noticed she was absent from the battle, and the scarlet heroine took advantage of it, by sneaking around, while always being careful to not be spotted, either by him or any other of his creations, which was not easy. Still, taking advantage of her acrobatic skills, she kept moving almost nonstop, not giving anyone the chance to pinpoint her exact location. Unlike most Akumas, Origami seemed to have retained most of his intelligence, and did not look like he was obsessed with anyone in particular; that alone made him a lot more dangerous to the heroes, and Ladybug knew it. Whatever she was looking for, she needed to find it fast, otherwise, things could get more complicated.
"Okay, I think I got enough footage form this guy. Let's see what I can find in them." -Ladybug thought to herself, while also looking for a secluded location to do so.
Having found a place between two broken bookcases that had fallen, she wasted no time in going over the footage. She knew she was looking for a weakness, any weakness in Origami's attack pattern, moves or simply his own physical form. Hawk Moth's Akumas were incredibly resilient and strong, but they all had a weakness that could be explored. During their first missions as the Miraculous Team, Ladybug and her teammates had luck on their side and had been able to defeat the Akumas created by their worst enemy with relative ease. But as time went by, they had specialized themselves in spotting weaknesses in the Akumas, making their job a lot easier. And right then, that was just what Ladybug was going, she was looking for a weakness that would help them dealing with Origami.,
"Alright, this guy moves really fast, can duplicate himself and can pretty much turn himself into anything he wants to, as long as he has an incredible amount of paper around him." -Ladybug commented, as she looked at the footage of Origami duplicating himself and then turning into a giant scorpion and a giant praying-mantis. As she watched it, she pondered dragging Origami out of there, and into a place where there were less books and less paper sheets, thus cutting his supply of paper. But, doing so, they would have to find a place where they could fight him, without having anyone around, and outside, the crowd was already pretty big when they entered the library. If they did that, they would risk someone getting hurt in the process. –"No… that's out of the question. We need to take him down here, inside this building, so no one else gets hurt. The people inside those cocoons seem to be safe from all that's going on, so, that's one less thing to worry about." -she thought to herself. –"Come on, focus, you need to find something to help the others. Time is of the essence."
And not just of the essence. It was times like that, that Ladybug hated being the leader of that team, because being the one in charge, when things got pretty bad, sucked. Still, she tried not to think about it, and focused on the task at hand. She needed to find if there was anything in Origami, they could use to defeat him. Going over the footage, she began to watch it in slow-motion, looking for any detail that would stand out. At first, she saw nothing, nothing out of the ordinary. It was just footage of her friends battling the Akuma, and the Akuma looked normal. Not normal, normal, as one would say, but normal when it came to how Akumas behaved and attacked; it was hard to explain. All she knew was that she was not seeing anything that stood out of the ordinary.
At the same time, she could hear the battle going on, and was cursing herself for not being at her friends' side, helping them, knowing that they were doing their best to defeat Origami. But she knew that what she was doing was also important, and tried to put those thoughts aside, while continuing to look for anything, any speck of a clue that could turn the table in their favour. Going over the footage one more time, she took special attention to the parts, when Origami changed shapes, believing that that was the time, when he would be most vulnerable. And finally, she found what she was looking for and could not help but to smile.
"There it is! That guy really does have a weak spot!" -Ladybug thought to herself, as she viewed the footage once more. –"Well, not a weak spot, per say, but this… this is exactly what I was looking for!" -she said.
Re-watching the numerous pieces of footage she had, once again, she saw what looked like a small red origami figure, which showed up in the footage for a mere split second, every time Origami shape-shifted into a something else, or simply changed size. Unlike the rest of Origami's body, which was mostly white, that little origami figure was blood-red and looked like an origami cube.
"That little red origami cube that shows up, whenever Origami changes appearance or divides himself… that must be Origami's true body. He's able to divide and turn himself into whatever he wants, but those are just decoys to make us think we're fighting him, and not just decoys. The real Origami never goes into battle." -Ladybug smiled, knowing just what needed to be done. –"All we have to do, is to destroy that red origami, and he will be History." -she went on smiling.
With that discovery, Ladybug was ready to go back into action and help her teammates. Leaving the glasses behind, which would disappear, once the Ampulla Amulet was activated, she jumped out of her hiding spot and made her way to where the others were battling Origami. To her surprise, while she had been reviewing the footage she had collected, Rena Rouge and Forest Doe had showed up, and joined up the fight. Seeing them, the scarlet heroine believed that they would be able to deal with Origami a lot faster now.
Panda Rouge was still dealing with Origami's Gashadokuro's form, with a little help from Forest Doe; having managed to immobilize it for a couple of seconds, before it was able to break free of the restraints that the panda hero had put it on, only to continue attacking them.
"Fire may not be able to destroy you… but let's see if it can keep you at bay." -Panda Rouge said, as he quickly drew a pit of fire around the Gashadokuro, hoping that that would keep it up still, while he tried to come up with another way to deal with it. –"Doe! Don't let it move!" -he shouted at Forest Doe, who quickly shot multiple arrows at the place where the creature's eyes would be, making it roar and buying Panda a little more time to finish what he was doing.
Rena Rouge, on the other hand, was helping Carapace dealing with the giant origami praying-mantis, who had doubled in size, as well as speed and strength. As for Dragonfly, she was busy dealing with a few giant origami animals that were lurking around, making sure none of them would come near her friends, by using her frisbee to attract their attention, before beginning to bash them.
"Welcome back, girl!" -Rena Rouge exclaimed, as she had finished conjuring up a giant tarantula, and placing it in front of the praying-mantis, knowing that they were natural enemies, hoping to scare it, as Ladybug landed next to her.
"It's good to be back." -Ladybug told her best friend, with a confident smile on her face.
"Tell me, you found something." -Carapace asked her, without taking his eyes of the origami praying-mantis, who was attacking the spider Rena Rouge had created.
"I did. And I know how we can solve this in just a couple of seconds." -Ladybug told the turtle hero.
"Tell us what needs to be done, and we'll do it." -Carapace said.
"Alright! I need you to force him to shape-shift as many times as you can, again." -Ladybug declared. –"Use every trick you can come up with. Insult him, mock him… as Antelope would say, go wild!"
"You got it!" -Rena Rouge said, as she conjured up one of her illusions, by blowing her flute-staff.
Combining their attacks, the fox and the turtle heroes, attacked Origami, while also mocking him, attempting to do just what Ladybug had asked them to do. But Ladybug did not let herself out of the action. Tagging along Rena Rouge and Carapace, she attacked Origami, and just like her teammates, she tried her best to force him to change shape and size. And just like she expected, he did just as she thought he would. Like all Akumas, Origami had a short temper, and they all took advantage of it. He began to shape-shift, only to prove the heroes that he could do it.
"There you are!" -Ladybug thought to herself, seeing the little blood-red origami cube, when Origami shape-shifted, as she kept jumping around like a jumping-jack, not giving him the chance to catch her. –"Now, all I've got to do is to catch you with my yo-yo, mister." -she thought, as a smirk showed up on her face.
She waited for the right moment to strike him, while always avoiding everything that he threw at her and the other two heroes. She believed that if Origami found out what she was trying to do, that he would take measures to stop her. And when that moment finally arrived, Ladybug did not hesitate. Using her yo-yo, she threw it with the strength of a boxer, the finesse of a ballerina, and combined with the skill of an archer, hitting the small origami cube that she believed was Origami's true body. Once the yo-yo hit it, every origami construct that the Akuma had created was reduced to nothing more than piles of paper sheets, which fell on the ground. Standing next to her, Carapace and Rena Rouge looked at one another, puzzled, and asked Ladybug what she had done. She answered them that she had caught the real Origami, as the rest of the heroes joined them.
Walking to where the origami cube had landed, Ladybug looked at the tiny blood-red origami cube, and saw how it seemed to be moving, like trying to get out of there, in search of a spot to hide itself.
"Looks like we found the real you, haven't we?" -Ladybug smiled. She still did not fully understand how the memory of her mother teaching her how to create origami creatures had helped her figure out a way to put Origami in check, but she was not going to argue about the results. –"You really fooled us all there, thinking that we were battling the real you, when we were just fighting puppets that you were creating. But guess what, you can only fool a person for so long, until it sees through your tricks." -she said.
Ladybug was about to kneel and grab Origami's real body, when this one blew up. The explosion was such that it threw all the heroes into the air, with them falling to the ground, slightly shook by it and with their ears buzzing like crazy. Trying to get back up, the heroes wondered what had happened, and more importantly, what was going to happen next. Standing where Origami's real body was, was now a life-size blood-red origami samurai, looking at the heroes. Looking at it, the heroes saw that Origami had changed his appearance once again, surprising them, who had believed that they had him where they wanted him, but instead, he had turned the tables on them.
"You may have managed to find out about my real form, noble Ladybug, but you will not prevent me from finishing you off and getting your miraculouses!" –Origami said, as he produced, not one, but two samurai swords, pointing them at the heroes.
Hey everyone! I had this chapter pretty much written two days ago, but I couldn't find a suitable cliffhanger for it. Combined with the fact that yesterday I went to the movies to watch "Frozen 2", it took me a little bit to finish this. Still, I had one person asking me what's the time between updates for this story, and well, the answer is, it depends on my own time. But usualy it's either a chapter every four days, or a chapter every week, though I'm trying to write as fast as I canto make it a chapter every four days.
I bet you were all thinking that Ladybug and the others had won the battle, right there at the end of the chapter... guess origami still had one more trick up his sleeve. xD But seriously, I wanted to wrap up this fight, but I felt that Origami still deserved a little bit more time in the spotlight. That said, you can expect the end of this battle in the following chapter. As always, feel free to comment, fav and leave suggestions to improve this story, or future ones.
P.S. Oh, and before I forget, recently I commissioned a beautiful drawing to my friend, the talented artist "Kiriyan", featuring Ladybug and Queen Bee. If you want to, check it out on her page on DA, alright? Let her know if you liked it or not.