Fair warning to all you wonderful readers. If you don't like cliff hangers wait another three days before reading. Also blood warning... Nothing gory but let's face it they are fighting a glass akuma, they are gonna get sliced up.

DJKatt… (Action intensifies) Don't hold your breath!

Yuuzhan Vong Jedi… Oh you seem to have the same sleep schedule I do... practically never. Sometimes I wonder how I manage to write...

Avatar NIX… Hehe keep rolling I'm not done yet... Also I've already dunked them in river water... Twice!

After a fight with an akuma goes wrong Chat and a knocked out Ladybug hide in a closet to wait for their transformation to recharge.

I own nothing... Except my imagination.

Shattered Iron (Part 3)

Chat hated moments like these. Moments where he could see everything that was about to go wrong and yet he was completely helpless to stop it. It was moments like these that he would brace his body as best he could before throwing himself on the mercy of Ladybugs luck in hopes that whatever blow he was about to take wouldn't be bad enough to hurt her as well. Sometimes though their luck just didn't hold out and somehow he realized this was one of those moments.

"Look out!" Chat screamed already lunging for her but she was too far and he knew that this time he wouldn't make it.

Glass sprayed from the end of the pipe behind her and whether it was luck, his warning or instinct Chat would never know. Jumping sideways Ladybug managed to avoiding a direct deadly blow however she didn't escape unscathed. Ladybugs eyes blew wide as shattered glass tore into her side and arm, the spray hitting with enough force to knock her spinning from the air towards the ground. That look was instantly and forever burned into Chats memory as the fragments of glass struck her and planting the baton he launched himself forward catching her before she smashed into the unforgiving ground. Chat didn't stop moving as his feet hit the ground and Ladybug hissed in pain as he dodged another one of Shatterglasses attacks jolting her in the process. They were in the open they needed a place to hide and as if she could hear his thoughts Ladybug spoke up even as he flung himself back to avoid some fire Shatterglass blasted their way.

"Fountain Chat!" Ladybug grunted and seconds later he ducked down behind the rim as fire baked the wall inches away. As gentle as he could Chat placed Ladybug on the ground panic singing through his veins as he saw the shredded suit and bloody skin beneath it. Blood already coated her side darkening her suit and bits of glass shimmered from the wound practically winking as the sun played across the sharp edges. With a grimace Ladybug looked down at the wound and shuddered before pulling a shard of glass from her arm that was preventing her from moving her elbow properly. The suits and the kwamis magic gave them a far higher tolerance to pain than any normal human being. Ladybug knew that if she had been hit with such an attack as a normal human she would be unconscious either from pain or shock. Even with all that though her head swam from the pain burning through her side and the feel of her blood steadily soaking her skin and suit was enough to make her nauseous.

"Marinette focus! You cant lose consciousness now!" Tiki cried within her mind and jolted her back awake her eyes flickering open to see Chat crouched before her a look of loss and helplessness plastered across his face.

"Ladybug…" Chat whimpered unsure of what to do. They were pinned on the wrong side of the fountain to make a clean escape, Ladybug was badly injured, and it was all his fault. He hadn't protected her like he was supposed to and now she had been badly injured because of it. Wincing as a spray of glass dusted them with broken shards and concrete he jumped as Ladybugs voice broke the silence.

"W-we need to finish this quickly before I pass out from blood loss." Ladybug managed shifting so that she could rise to her knees.

Chats eyes nearly popped from his head. "WHAT?!" he exclaimed "No, no, no, no, no, and no, I'm taking you to the hospital."

Ladybug raised an eyebrow at him although he could see that she was desperately putting on a brave face. Tears edged the corners of her eyes, lips were pressed into a firm line, and her face was white from the pain. Briefly it crossed her mind to try and staunch the blood flow by pressing a hand to the shredded skin but that turned out to be a bad idea. Even as she pressed one hand to her blood slicked side she immediately froze and flinched away as the pressure made the embedded shards dig deeper.

Chat shifted reaching for her and Ladybug could tell he was freaking out as a small puddle of blood began to form by her side. The glass had hit something major or it had cut deep enough that there was just a lot of damaged vessels. Either way it hurt like hell and Ladybug didn't think she wanted to have to explain to the hospital how she got injured so badly as a civilian.

"No hospital. We don't have time." Ladybug answered blocking his hand with a gentle touch and in the next instant threw her yoyo into the air crying "Lucky Charm!"

Light coalesced from the yoyo and a second later a red polka dotted tube fell into her hands. It was made of a pliable rubber, a little over a foot long, and the base on one side was several inches in diameter. "What in the world?" she muttered looking around and even glancing over the rim of the fountain for a brief second. Ducking back down with a bit off whimper from the pain Ladybug said "He is coming towards us. Shatterglass knows he's got us pinned."

Chat nearly jumped out of his skin as fire scorched the place her head had been just seconds ago. "Someone needs to cool off." Chat muttered dropping his crouch even lower as the heat from the flames made it uncomfortably warm

Ladybug gasped suddenly her eyes lighting up as she looked at the polka dotted tube once more "You're a genius Chat that's it! I-I've got a plan, use Cataclysm on the fountain and we can spray him with the water. That will allow us to grab and break his pipe!"

Chat faltered for a moment at the complement then frowned as what she said sank in. Opening his mouth to argue Ladybug stopped him with a glare before he could get a word out. "I'm injured not dead Chat. Please it's our only chance…" she begged and Chat growled.

"She's right it's the best chance you've got. Hop to it before she does bleed to death!" Plagg chimed in and this time Chat snarled out loud making Ladybug jump.

"For the record I hate this. Cataclysm!" Chat snarled and launched himself right over her head planting his palm into the top of the fountain.

The fountain's façade crumbled revealing pipes that instantly blew as the pressure regulators went out. Water shot into the air unrestrained and Ladybug somehow made it to her feet to be at his side as she tried to shove the tube into place on the broken pipes. Understanding dawned on him even as the water soaked them turning the water pink from her blood and Chat reached out helping her shove the tube into place. Shatterglass was mere feet from them just on the other side of the rim of the fountain already raising his pipe to his lips a nasty smirk and a purple mask lining his face.

"Smirk on this." Chat snarled and without even having to be told Chat bent the tube forward shooting the untamed jet of water right into Shatterglasses face. Steam burst away from him and the pipe as there came a garbled yelling sound. Shatterglass flailed in the water stream stumbling back as the pipe dulled to a vibrant akumified purple instead of the bright cherry red color it had been. Ladybug moved throwing her yoyo so that it wrapped around the pipe and yanked it from his now slippery grip. Shatterglass went down and Chat kept the spray on him to ensure he stayed that way. The yoyo snapped back to Ladybug and she was relieved to find the pipe was cool to the touch once more.

"No more evil doing for you little akuma." Ladybug snapped ignoring the pain in her side as she sloshed forward and made it to the fountains edge. In the next instant she smashed it into the ground causing the brittle metal to break apart. A purple butterfly wiggled free and before it could escape she caught the butterfly in her yoyo.

"Gotcha!" Ladybug cried even as she collapsed in the water her yoyo snapping back to her grip. The water turned pink around her and for a moment Ladybug felt herself start to tilt forward.

"Marinette you're losing too much blood! You need to get up!" Tiki cried in her mind and Ladybugs eyes fluttered back open once more.

"Ladybug!" Chat yelped splashing to her side her lucky charm in hand.

"I'm ok Chat just catching my breath for a second." Ladybug lied as he gently pulled her back up to her feet. Leaning against him she pressed a finger to the yoyo releasing the butterfly "Bye, bye little butterfly." They murmured together watching the white creature float up into the air.

She let the yoyo drop from her hand and Chat pressed the tube into her hand in the yoyos place.

"Do you need my help?" Chat asked concern laced through his voice.

Ladybug looked up at him and smiled even as she shook her head. "You take worse blows all the time Chat, besides don't think I didn't see those claw marks on your back." Then in one fluid movement she tossed the tube up into the air calling "Miraculous Cleanse!"

The healing light burst forth cleaning up the fountain healing them both and fixing all the other things that had been damaged in the fight. Ladybug sighed as the light passed over her fixing her costume and she heard Chat sigh in relief as well. Together they climbed from the water as both of their miraculous beeped and the man who had been Shatterglass sat up looking dazed.

"What's going on? How did I get here?" The man warbled

Chat glanced at Ladybug who despite the healing still looked rather grey and a little weak. "You get moving Ladybug I'll handle him."

Ladybug nodded "I'll wait for you on the roof. I have something I need to tell you."

Chat pressed a claw to his chest "You are going to confess your undying love for my puns My Lady?"

Ladybug snorted rolling her eyes "Better hurry we only have a few minutes." She replied and slowly started walking towards the alley on the other side of the plaza.

Chat grinned and scooping up the now fixed glassmaking pipe he made it to the confused de-akumafied mans side. "Here is your pipe sir you were akumified."

The man blinked up at him and with a shaking hand took the pipe. "My… my wife. Did you stop her as well? Is she ok?"

Chat paused staring at the man in totally confusion. "You were the only one akumafied sir. We haven't…"

"NO!" the man cried grabbing Chats hand. "We were working on our jointed masterpiece. She was working in metal while I worked in glass. We were going to call it Shattered Iron. This was all my fault because of the contest and that jealous bastered, I-I egged him on since I knew we did better work. The other artist was jealous. He told me if I took the contest commission I would regret it. Those punks did his dirty work and when we came in this morning everything was gone... destroyed…" The man's voice was sad, compelling and as he looked up into Chats eyes he could see the misery there. "The butterfly took her first and I tried to stop her but I was confused, terrified, and so very angry when I saw her transform. It's in the glass pendent I gave her! I tried to smash it with my pipe but I-I don't remember what happened next."

Chat couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't want to believe and yet he had to know. "What are you saying?"

The man's eyes grew wide as panic filled them "You don't know…you haven't seen her… It wasn't just me that got akumafied, it was both of us!"

Dread spiked through Chat leaving him cold despite the heat of the day. They hadn't seen any other akuma while they were fighting Shatterglass and yet suddenly the oddness of their first interaction made sense. The molten puddle and his use of our instead of my when addressing the non-existent masterpiece.

"No…oh no… is that… is that even possible? Two akuma at the same time?" Chat cried his head spinning about as he saw Ladybug land on the roof on the other side of the plaza.

"Its possible for Hawkmoth to make two akuma in the same day just as its possible for us to transform twice in one day. So two at the same time is possible although it wears the poor kwami out to do so." Plagg answered the worried tone of his kwamis voice making Chat swallow hard.

They were in no shape to fight a second akuma right now and both of their miraculous were about to wear off. If the man was right and Chat believed him wholeheartedly the other akuma was probably near by.

"Find someplace to hide we will find your wife." Chat snapped a little harsher than he meant to. He didn't wait to hear another thing the man said as he broke his grip and darted forward yelling "Ladybug!"

She spun round to face him staring down from the rooftop looking confused as he ran closer. Ladybug could hear the panicked tone in his voice and that made her wonder what was going on. She hadn't wanted to admit it but things felt a little strange to her even though the battle with Shatterglass had ended. The city was still far too quiet like it was holding its breath and it made her skin crawl.

"Something is wrong." Tiki squeaked

"No kidding but what?" Ladybug retorted then in the next moment she had her answer.

"Shatterglass wasn't alone! There are two akuma!" Chat screamed as he closed the distance between them.

Her eyes went wide and a flicker of movement off to the side was all the warning she had. Something metal and vaguely baseball bat shaped swung into her peripheral vision and she heard Chat holler something as it collided with her skull. Stars exploded with pain behind Ladybugs eyelids and then darkness swamped her as Tikis screams echoed in her mind.

Ladybug fell.

Cliff hanger anyone?