I am feeling decidedly impatient today so its here! A day early! The final battle between hero and akuma! Who will survive as claws and thorns clash?
A plant akuma attacks Paris drawing the superhero duo into a battle that will change their lives forever. Rated T just to be safe.
Oh yeah I forgot this last time... I dont own this show.
The Meaning of Marigolds
(Part Four)
It took almost another hour of careful progress to make her way back to the tree where she and Chat figured Marigolds main body was. The tree was still slowly repairing itself and Ladycat marveled at how powerful cataclysm really was. Knowing what she needed to do Ladycat made her way over to the nearby metro station and moved headlong into the darkness.
Once the darkness of the tunnel really enveloped her Ladycat found that even with the night vision she could hardly see. She traveled past the cocooned ticket stands and jumped the gates before moving further down into the metro as she searched for her quarry. Time was lost to the darkness and it was only Plagg and Tikis voice whispering in her mind that kept her from totally freaking out. Cocoons were everywhere down here and they gave off an eerie light that allowed her to just barely make out the people within. It made her feel as if she was being constantly watched and it set her nerves horribly on edge. By the time she was used to the strange glow she began to notice the overwhelming quiet the tunnels had. The silence made her anticipation that much worst because Ladycat was used to these places being loud and bustling filled with people going about their day.
"Marinette it's ok these people won't have any negative effects from being cocooned. Once you release Lucky charm everything will go back to normal." Tiki whispered her words giving Ladycat strength.
"Yeah but can we hurry? Co-transforming is taking way more energy than I thought it would." Plagg complained as Ladycat hid a smile and Tiki told him to quit whining.
Eventually a different light source began to filter in from somewhere and as she moved forward Ladycat began to have to watch where she placed her feet. Vines crisscrossed the floor and when she turned the corner Ladycat froze awed by the sight before her. A single clear teardrop shaped bulb glowed in the darkness. The roots all sprang from the top of the bulb driving into the roof and covering almost all other available space. The little girl hung in the center of the clear bulb curled in on herself looking very similar to an orange and yellow pompom. Green accented gloves and boots and she was clutching what looked like a single black daisy flower. Ladycat didn't know how but she could just tell that the akuma was in that flower. Target acquired she moved forward ready to sling her yoyo the moment she came into range. Suddenly at the worst possible time the miraculous on her finger beeped signifying its count down.
"Oops" Plagg whispered in her mind as Marigolds eyes snapped open and her body twisted towards her.
"Bad kitty!" she shrieked and the walls seemed to come to life.
"Dammit!" Ladycat hissed and tried to dodge while getting ever closer the girls body. Spinning her yoyo she wielded it like a weed-whacker slashing through plants, roots, and anything else that got in her way. She made little headway though, for every two steps she took forward she had to leap one back to avoid some blow. After a minute of little to no progress she managed to lookup to find little Marigold watching her strangely.
"Your name is Mary right?!" She shouted her voice echoing in the open space.
Marigold flinched before yelling "My name is Marigold!"
Throwing herself sideways spiked vines swiftly following Ladycat yelled back "No its not. Your mom named you Mary not Marigold!"
The vines froze inches from her body and Ladycat gingerly slid backwards before picking herself up off the ground watching the child the entire time. "Mary, you need to calm down. I-I don't know what happened to make you do this b-but you need to stop." She managed panting for air.
Marigolds face scrunched "Those mean boys broke my mommies flower. I was bringing it to her in the hospital to help her feel better and they BROKE IT!" her last few words came out as a scream and the vines around Ladycat twisted some of them growing wicked looking thorns. Ladycat tensed but they didn't attack…yet.
"Those boys ought to get a spanking but why did you attack all of Paris?" Ladycat asked and the little girl looked up at her blankly.
"The butterfly man said he would help me make a garden so my mommy could see it from her window. That's why I was growing the tree, but then the bad kitty poisoned my tree." Her eyes flashed suddenly and Ladycat could see the purple moth like mask surround her face.
"Mary don't listen to the butterfly man! He's a bad guy and he is using you!" Ladycat cried taking several steps towards her in desperation.
"Bad kitty!" she screamed and Ladycat knew she had lost her again.
The ground around her shook and slew of roots that plummeted from the roof acting as if they were going to skewer her. Part of the roof dropped with them and she sprinted forward dodging debris as it rained down. Her plan was shot and as the earth above her groaned Ladycat knew she had to get out of this hole if she wanted to survive this battle. Realizing she was going to have to retreat again Ladycat cursed twisting over a hammer shaped root that tried to squash her. Drawing Chats staff from the small of her back she elongated it sending her soaring straight up towards where she could just make out the faintest bit of moonlight. About halfway up the vines blind sighted her ripping the staff from her hands and sent her smashing into the ground. Rolling swiftly the side to avoid another thorny attack she fetched up against the bulb like pod that Mary was in.
"Hello Kitty." Marigold said and Ladycat bounced to all fours resisting the urge to hiss at her as her hair torn loose from its normal pigtails literally stood on end. Vines slithered like snakes towards her and Ladycat jumped at the pod sinking her claws into the membranous surface as she desperately started to climb. A crazy plan clicked into place and she desperately hoped she had the energy to do it. If she could use cataclysm on base of the root system she hoped that it might curb Marigolds power enough that she could get the akumasized flower away from her. Seeing the vines rapidly closing in on her position Ladycat launched herself at the root base crying "Cat…" only to be cut off with a scream. Thorny vines slashed into her legs halting her mid air. Her upper body slammed back into the bulbs surface her momentum instantly halted and she flipped over slashing the vines with her claws. They loosened for a second and even as she tried to twist out of their grip more swarmed to join them biting into her as they pinned her legs and one arm to her side. Thorns dug deep into her flesh and Ladycat cried out again feeling the venom hit her system. With a shudder that caused the thorns to dig deeper Ladycat realized that her time was now extraordinarily limited. The thorns hurt and as the vines squeezed tighter desperation filled her.
"Stop please!" Ladycat wailed and the thorns all at once withdrew back into the vines as she was suddenly shoved forward into the bulb.
Marigold hovered before her a small frown on her tiny face. She reached forward and Ladycat flinched back as she pressed a small hand to her cheek. "You're crying." She stated
"It hurts." Ladycat answered and even though her one arm was free and the stupid akumasized flower was within reach she found that she simply didn't have the strength to take it from her.
Marigolds hand dropped to her side and to Ladycats shock tears filled her tiny eyes "I didn't want to hurt you but Marigolds are known for misery."
Ladycat realized that the girl was talking about the meaning of flowers and a swell of pity surged through her. "They are also known for passion and creativity." She countered
Marigold looked her in the eyes as Hawkmoths mask showed up around her face once more. "The butterfly man wants this mir…mirac…"
"The miraculous." Ladycat whispered helping her out and Marigold nodded.
Ladycat didn't know what to say, what to do. She could feel that they were at a cross roads, that things were about to tip past the point of no return. Usually she would use her Lucky Charm when she felt like this but with one arm pinned she didn't know what to do. Suddenly as if simply thinking the words invoked it the world grayed out. Marigold flashed polka dotted, then her own hand and with a sudden clarity she remembered the photograph.
"Mary, is this what you want?" Ladycat asked her voice soft.
To her surprise Marigold shook her head. "I want my mommy." She whimpered even as the mask reappeared again brighter this time and the vines tightened around Ladycat making her gasp in pain. "The butterfly man is yelling at me."
Ignoring the pain Ladycat moved slowly, pulling the photo free of her pinned glove and with her free hand held it out to her. "I will bring you to her if you want."
Abandoning the black daisy for the photo Marigold clutched the photo tight tears spilling down her tiny cheeks and the vines around Ladycat slowly unraveled letting her float freely in the bulb. "I just wanted to grow my mommy a garden." She said looking up at Ladycat the fear and sorrow evident in her eyes
Ladycat held out her arms. "Its ok sweet heart, come here and I will help you fix things."
Hawkmoths mask flickered around Marigolds face and she glanced back at the black daisy that hung in arms reach. Forsaking the black daisy completely Marigold rushed into Ladycats arms with a sob and she barely withheld a groan of pain as she realized at least one rib was more than bruised.
As soon as the child made contact with her Ladycat realized she could hear Hawkmoths voice in the same eerie way she could hear the kwamis.
"NO you stupid ignorant child get me the miraculous!" he screamed
"How dare you yell at a child you nasty man! Pick on someone your own size!" Ladycat yelled back and there was a stunned moment of silence. "You can hear me." He whispered and Ladycat shivered at the tone of longing she could detect in his voice.
"Yes, this girl is no longer your pawn and if you dare send another akuma to attack a child again I swear I will hunt you down and tear you to shreds. You have lost." Ladycat hissed her voice laced with venom.
Chats miraculous beeped a final warning so in the next instant she lunged forward and snatched the blackened Daisy. "NO!" Hawkmoth roared uselessly and without a second thought Ladycat cried "Cataclysm!" turning the plant to ash. Energy spent Chats side of the transformation came undone instantly reverting her back to plain old Ladybug.
Marigolds transformation came undone as well and she turned in her arms as Ladybug opened her hand allowing the black butterfly to wiggle out of a tiny daisy sprout in her palm.
"My plant!" Mary cried snatching the sprout from her palm and Ladybug let her for she had something far more important to take care of.
As their feet touched down to the earth Ladybug slung her yoyo at the akuma catching and purifying it at once.
"Can I see?" Mary asked back to a normal curious 6 year old as she tried to look at Ladybugs yoyo.
With a smile Ladybug lowered it to her eye level then pressed it in the center allowing the purified butterfly to escape. "Bye bye little butterfly!" Mary giggled then yawned hugely reaching up her free hand to swipe at her eyes. "I need to plant my sprout." She said and wandered forward to where a small backpack and a pot that said 4 Mommy in bright letters on it lay.
Once Mary was preoccupied Ladybug sat down, hard. "I didn't even notice those were there." She whispered then jumped as Plagg said softly. "Well you were a little distracted by the swarming vines of doom. Your pretty beat up too. Shouldn't you release Lucky Charm so everything can go back to normal?"
"I cant yet. I promised Mary I would take her to her mom in the hospital and besides… I don't want Chat to wake up alone." She whispered even as Tiki asked her the same thing Plagg did.
Plagg blinked slowly then sighed. "You kids are purr-factly ridiculous sometimes." He huffed before settling on top of her head
Ladybug rolled her eyes "Now I know where Chat gets it." She muttered and took stock of her injuries. The thorns had pierced her body all over although most of them were small punctures and had already stopped bleeding causing her red suit to be slightly darker in multiple areas. Cuts littered her costume while countless bruises were making themselves known. Her ribs hurt the worst and she was pretty sure that at least one of them was broken but all and all she knew that once she released Lucky Charm her injuries would heal. Knowing that made it a little easier to bear the pain as she got to her feet before walking over to where Mary had just finished repotting her sprout.
"Its time to go Mary." Ladybug said holding out a hand.
"Ok Ladybug. I like your hair down its pretty!" Mary answered and holding on tight to her little pot in one hand she placed her other hand in Ladybugs.
Now that there were no murderous vines avoid it didn't take as long as Ladybug feared it would for her to bring Mary to the hospital where her mother was. Less than halfway there Mary had practically been asleep on her feet and Ladybug had picked her up ignoring the flare of rib pain to carry her the rest of the way.
When she walked in through the doors to the hospital though, all hell had broken loose. It was quite a sight even for the people used to akuma fights to witness Ladybug waltz through the front doors bloody, disheveled, and carrying a child. She was bombarded with questions and doctors swarmed her because it was painfully obvious that she was injured. She had refused medical treatment, refused to sit down, and flat out refused to hand the sleeping Mary over. After arguing with a man in charge she was finally brought to Marys mothers room where her husband sat as well. They were overjoyed to have their daughter back and they thanked her profusely for saving their daughter even though she didn't tell them that she had been the cause of the akuma attack. Ladybug had grinned at the loving family even as her miraculous beeped letting her know that time was once again running out. After reclaiming the Lucky Charm photo she left via window not wanting to get caught up in the crowd that was swiftly forming outside the door. Plagg joined her as she hit the rooftops running, happy to note that the rooftop she had left Adrien at was far closer to the hospital than she had realized.
"You really need to rest Marinette." Tiki whispered in her mind as she slid on a loose shingle and stumbled almost crashing head first into a wall.
"I will we are almost there." Ladybug answered her voice coming in a pained gasp as she bounced over the wall her ribs sending a flare of pain for her troubles.
"Tiki stop distracting her." Plagg moaned. Since Ladybug needed her hands free to use her yoyo he was clinging desperately to her hair as she ran.
"I am so going to make him eat those words." Tiki grumbled making Ladybug giggle helplessly her pounding footsteps echoing the beats of her heart. She made it with a dot to spare skidding to a halt before Adriens cocoon. For a moment she could only gasp for air eyeing the sky as it slowly started to change colors with the rising dawn.
"Miraculous Cleanse!" she shouted her voice haggard as she tossed the photo up into the air where it burst like fireworks. A branch swarmed around her healing her before swarming around Adrien leaving him plant less and whole against the wall. A moment later he opened his eyes blinking and shaking his head.
He spotted her in an instant. "I knew you could do it My Lady." He said a very Chat like grin lighting up his face.
Ladybug trembled at his words a surge of warmth momentarily replacing the exhaustion. She wanted to move forward, wanted to speak but as the exhaustion swept back over her it was all she could do to stay standing.
"Marinette you've overreached yourself!" Tiki cried in her mind as Plagg plastered himself to the side of Adrien face whispering rapidly in his ear. Adrien's head jerked up sharply and seeming to truly take in her appearance he scrambled to his feet looking very concerned in the ever brightening morning. He took a step forward one hand reaching towards her and Ladybug smiled.
Her whole body felt ridiculously heavy and her eyes started to close "You're ok." Ladybug managed finally a small smile flitting across her lips. Then as her transformation wore off in a flash of pink light she pitched forward in a dead feint.
AHAHAHA I'm evil I know. Well now at least they both know who each other are! Next chapter is more of an epilogue since all the crazy fighting is over. See you guys in three days!