Let's Take It From The Top, Chapter 20: Elvis Has Left The Building
The old man ran.
"Running" was, perhaps, the wrong word for what Master Fu was doing. One did not reach his advanced age without losing some mobility, after all. And over a hundred and eighty-odd years, a person with the right training and the right mystical background learned a few shortcuts; stepping through a shadow or two, creating a momentary portal here and there, using an ancient sage's intuition to appear at precisely the right place when needed.
At least he hoped that these were the right places, anyway. Any thoughts of triage, testing and weighing others' souls were out the window now; the situation was far too desperate to be able to make any reasonable judgments. Master Fu knew that the only hope that many Parisians had left was for him to cast the dice however they may land and hope for the best.
As he left his last stop, he wheezed heavily from exhaustion. Wayzz hovered over him, worriedly. "Master, take a moment! You're about to fall over," the Kwami said.
"Y-yes... Wayzz... I must," panted Master Fu. "This may be... the fastest I have m-moved... since I was a boy. And I am clearly not one any more."
"Is this going to be enough to... fix things?" Wayzz asked.
"No. But it will buy time and save many who are in immediate peril," wheezed Master Fu. "If Papillon succeeds in what I asked him to do, that will help make this work. It may be the edge that we need in this moment."
"And then...?" the Kwami persisted.
Master Fu looked him in the eye, wearily. "You know what then."
"HEY! Get back here, Fang! I need that!"
Penny Rolling sighed, covering the phone that she held to her ear, trying to shield the person on the other end of the line from the chaos around her. "Yes, a red-eye flight would be preferable," she explained. "Jagged's crocodile, Fang, hates flying in the daytime..."
She watched as a large crocodile trotted through her part of the hotel suite they were in, a guitar in its mouth, with an unkempt rockstar in his underwear chasing after it and shaking his fist.
Oh, what I have to deal with, keeping this guy in line... she smiled, internally. But it's okay. He's only insane on days ending in 'Y'.
"What? No, no, that will be fine," she continued, clicking the pen in her other hand nervously. "Yes, the crocodile will pay for its own seat. It is trained not to eat other passengers."
Just as quickly, Jagged Stone ran back in the direction he had come from, with a soccer ball in his hands and a crocodile in hot pursuit.
"...Yes. Yes, I see. Yes, Mr. Stone will gladly purchase the other seats in that section along with his own. I completely understand why the crocodile's presence might make other passengers a little nervous."
"Hey, love! Is it all worked out now?" called Jagged from the next room, over the sounds of toppling furniture.
"Yes, I think so!" she called back, covering the mouthpiece. "I..."
"You what?" Jagged replied, hearing her trail off into silence. He poked his head into the room where Penny was standing. "Penny, what did you... WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?"
He gaped at the giant silver butterfly hovering in front of his assistant. It touched her pen and vanished, and he saw a sparkling energy signature appear in front of Penny's eyes. "ROCK AND ROLL!" he shouted. "Penny, where did you get THAT from! It's GOT to be part of the stage show in our next gig..."
"Jagged?" Penny said, quietly, listening to the voice in her head. "I think I might have to concentrate on something else for a little while..."
In her bedroom, Alya Cesaire settled in to watch a little television. This ought to be good! she thought. Face to Face is supposed to be all about Ladybug and Chat Noir tonight! I bet I can get some great information for my blog from this...
"Tonight, you'll have the opportunity of a lifetime. The chance to learn all about Ladybug and Chat Noir!" the host began. "Along with me, Nadja Chamack. We'll be revealing some sizzling hot information we've researched about your favorite superheroes, and interviewing people who've seen them up close!. Don't be..."
She reached up to her ear, hearing something over the earpiece that she wore, and her face appeared quite startled. "...I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, we have breaking news! We take you now live to Madeleine – Vendôme."
A reporter appeared, visibly distressed. "Are we on? This is Henri Bouchard, for TV 5 News. We are at the scene of a major disturbance in the Madeleine – Vendôme section of Paris. A mysterious menace has been reported walking the streets, surrounded by some kind of destructive black energy, which is growing by the moment. We do not know the identity of the... we believe it's a woman, or what she wants. She is..."
"THERE!" someone shouted. "OVER THERE!"
The camera shifted focus, and the reporter scurried to keep up with it. "Are you getting this, Thomas? We have a sighting! Zoom in, we don't want to get close." The camera view adjusted to show the glowing woman from a distance, marching steadily towards an unknown destination.
"Okay... the woman has not engaged in openly hostile behavior as of yet, but police have instructed everyone to stay clear of her. They have received warnings from local scientists that the energy around her is unknown to them, but potentially explosive, 'off the charts,' as one of them put it off the record," the reporter continued. "Please stay tuned for more information and for potential evacuation orders..."
Alya gasped. That looks an awful lot like the woman that Ladybug and Chat Noir confronted the other night! she thought. She nearly killed Chat Noir, from what witnesses said, and took out Dreadnaught with one touch! And her energy aura is nearly TWICE the size now!
I really wish that there was something I could do to help...
She turned to the end table by her bed, reaching for a drink she'd left there. Next to her glass, she found a small black box, roughly hexagonal, that had definitely not been there before.
What in the WORLD...?
Ladybug and Chat Noir dropped lightly onto the roof of a bank, a few blocks down from Ms. Bustier's apartment, now that they were satisfied that she would be all right. Both sets of eyes were focused on Chat's right arm, which continued to pulse steadily.
"Marinette..." Chat said, hesitantly. "You have to promise me something... When-"
"If. Not when," snapped Ladybug. "Don't talk as if any of this is inevitable. We're going to find a way. Master Fu will. I'm sure of it."
"Marinette..." he replied, stepping closer. "IF something happens to me, if this goes out of control... I have to know that you're not going to try anything crazy to save me, okay? I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt because of me."
"I couldn't live with myself if I could have done something, and I didn't, and you suffered because of that," parried Ladybug. "You understand that, too, right? It's why I have these powers."
"You have those powers because you are amazing, and kind, and compassionate, and so many other things," Chat smiled. "It has nothing to do with sacrificing yourself when you don't need to."
"I'll be the judge of when I need to, Adrien. Believe me, I don't want either of us to have something happen," she said, softly. "We'll cross that bridge IF we ever get to it."
"Maybe, in a weird way, it'd be for the best," Chat ventured. "I caused all of this. I brought this on myself. If I-"
"NO," Ladybug shouted, cutting him off. She stared into his eyes and continued, "I didn't ask for any of this, Adrien. I didn't ask for superpowers, or for a little magic friend, or for the boy who wouldn't stop staring at me the first week of school to collapse onto my balcony and make me fall in love with him. None of that. But it all happened! And you know what, Adrien? That was the worst thing that ever could've happened to you."
She stepped forward, until they were nose-to-nose, doing her best to hold back a breakdown. "Because now you're stuck with me, Mister. No matter what. And nothing's ever going to change that, so don't you even think about trying to be noble and saying 'goodbye.'"
Chat put his right arm behind him, carefully, and wrapped his left around Ladybug's waist. "I will never, ever, ever want to," he whispered.
They kissed, hard and needful, like two people not sure if they would ever get another chance.
Without warning...
Hello. Your attention, please?
"Did... you just hear that?" asked Chat, looking alarmed.
"...Yeah! A woman's voice in my head, right?" said Ladybug, and Chat nodded in agreement. "Who or what could that have been?"
Yes, you really are hearing this.
"Show yourself!" called Chat, assuming a defensive stance.
"Hold on, Chat," Ladybug cautioned. "This is... kind of like how Papillon communicates? Except that it's not him. Whoever it is, she doesn't sound hostile."
Ladybug and Chat Noir appear to be not far from the Panthéon at the moment... please proceed there. And hello, Ladybug and Chat, please stand by.
"Uh..." Chat said, perplexed.
"Do you think we should go there now?" asked Ladybug. "It sounds like she was talking to us.. but also to someone other than us."
"What have we got to lose?" Chat shrugged, and they headed in that direction.
In his mansion, Papillon smiled. "It sounds like you are a natural for this role," he projected outwards through his energy connection with the host.
It seems like it! he heard in his head. It's... a little bit of a strain, but I think it's manageable for a while.
"Keep in touch with me, and I will guide you in guiding them. Please hold on as long as you can; your doing this at all is greatly appreciated. I don't know who else would be capable of this," said Papillon.
If things are as bad as you said they are... how can I not try? I'll do my best.
Papillon ran to his car, not really caring if anyone saw his transformed form at this point, and gunned the engine. The disembodied voice in the air would, for once, not be his; he had a strong suspicion that this time, a far more personal touch would be necessary.
Chat Noir leaned against one of the pillars along the front of the Panthéon. "Okay, Mysterious Voice In My Head!" he called out. "Is this the part where everybody leaps out and yells 'Happy Birthday?'"
"...Is it your birthday?" wondered Ladybug.
"Well, no, but does the voice know that?" grinned Chat, making Ladybug roll her eyes.
"You are hopeless, you know that?" she laughed. "But I bet that we'll find out pretty quickly who is-"
*WHOOOOOOSH!*
One moment, the two of them were alone. A heartbeat later, a white blur appeared before their eyes, as if she'd been standing there all along.
"Hi there!" the girl exclaimed, brightly. "You two must be Ladybug and Chat Noir. Am I the first one here?"
Chat stumbled backwards, startled by her sudden appearance. She had a white costume with light brown trim, long pink-and-white ears on top of her head, and what appeared to be red running shoes on her slightly oversized feet. Her manner seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn't place who she might be underneath.
"You can call me Rabbit Transit!" she said. "I found a weird box in my room, opened it, and the next thing I knew, a little rabbit told me to say some magic words and then come find you. So, here I am! Now what?"
"We... didn't send for you ourselves, but we're glad to have you here!" Ladybug replied. "I think we'll need all the help we can get. What did you mean by... 'the first one here?'"
They heard heavy footfalls a short distance away, among other unfamiliar sounds. "Oh, nobody told you?" Rabbit Transit grinned. "I think it's about to get crowded around here."
Master Fu sat on a bench in central Paris, regaining his strength. "Okay," he breathed. "I think I'm ready again."
From his shirt pocket, Wayzz looked on with some remaining concern. "Good, Master. What's our next step?"
"Do you sense any further disruptions from either Chat Noir or Nathalie?" Fu asked.
The Kwami concentrated for a moment, then shook his tiny head. "They're about where they were when we left," confirmed Wayzz. "Nathalie is out of control, Chat Noir is... close, but not quite yet."
"Thank goodness... That should buy enough time for most, and hopefully all of my deliveries to be found and understood. Once that happens, we-"
Hello. Your attention, please?
Fu jumped for a moment, hearing a strange voice in his head, then smiled at Wayzz. "Excellent! It sounds like Papillon was successful as well!"
"Is THAT what that was?" asked Wayzz. "It sounded like someone standing behind me shouting through a megaphone!"
"But no one else heard it," noted Fu, gesturing to people walking by at a normal pace. "If it had been out loud, they would have-"
Yes, you really are hearing this.
"...have definitely reacted to that," he chuckled. He closed his eyes for a moment and thought hard. Greetings, young hero!
A slightly quieter voice was the response in Fu's head. Hello... to you, too? he heard. I see that this can go two-way.
If one knows how a Miraculous works, yes. Do not be afraid. My name is Fu. I will guide you, just as Papillon will, Fu thought. You can detect Miraculous energies around the city?
I can, the voice said. It's pretty neat, actually! It's like I have a map in my mind's eye, and I see glowing dots on it. More and more as I speak, in fact!
Please direct our new friends to where Ladybug and Chat Noir are, and we can go from there, directed Fu.
You got it...
"Okay! So... hello, everybody. I suppose you're all wondering why we gathered you here today," Chat Noir began, hesitantly. "...And so are we, because we weren't the ones who did it."
He and Ladybug stood, a bit stunned, at who and what stood before them. It's like... a menagerie, or a convention, or something! thought Chat. Where did THEY all come from?
Ladybug put her hand on Chat's shoulder and asked, "Let me handle this, honey?" He grinned back at her as she stepped forward.
"Um... hi! My name is Ladybug. This is Chat Noir. Some of you may have seen us on the news a couple of times... we have costumes with magical powers, just like I'm assuming that all of you have. If there's anyone here who DOESN'T have superpowers, or who didn't just make a new, floating magical friend... now's the time to go home, okay? This isn't some kind of role-playing thing, or a flash mob, or anything like that; this is a very dangerous situation. Believe it or not, this is for real."
She saw a chubby man in an owl costume slump down and begin to walk away, visibly disappointed. The remainder stayed, giving Ladybug their full attention.
"Okay... wow! I'm a little overwhelmed. I knew that Chat Noir and I weren't the only ones in Paris with these powers... but... FOURTEEN OF YOU?" she laughed, counting heads quickly. "Someone I know has been very busy."
A short, roundish man with visible horns raised his hand. "Yeah, uh... can you tell us what's going on here? I was eating lunch, I found a little box, and a floating goat thing told me I'd been picked for something. What's happening to us?"
A few other voices piped up in agreement. Ladybug scanned the small crowd. Some of them looked familiar - holy crap, that HAS to be Alya over there! Hi, girl! Some were harder to tell; there was a diverse mix of body types, ages and genders, from what she could tell from a glance.
"I'll tell you everything I can. First off, I can assure you that these transformations are temporary..."
Chat watched with more than a little admiration as Ladybug delivered a combination of an explanation, a Q-and-A session and a pep talk to the new heroes. She's a natural at this, he smiled.
"...So, that's what the threat is," Ladybug stated. "This is not someone you should expect to try to fight; I assume you weren't brought here for that. We are going to have to find some way to contain her without hurting her, or -"
A voice popped up in Ladybug's head, startling her. Ladybug, can you hear me? it asked. Think your answer back at me, like you were talking to me and I was next to you.
I... can hear you, Ladybug thought. I'm staring at a whole zoo-full of animal heroes. Was that your doing?
Great! That's what Papillon and Fu wanted. I'll explain it from here.
Abruptly, the voice increased in volume and timbre, clearly reaching everyone now rather than just Ladybug.
Hello! I am a representative of Papillon, another of the heroes of Paris. Thank you all for coming! You can call me... the Coordinator. My power is to know where all of the Miraculous and their hosts are, and to communicate with them. I can reach you all at once, like this. Or I can contact one or more of you and not the others. I'll show you... everyone who hears me say the name of a fruit in their heads, raise their hands.
Chat heard a soft voice think Banana at him, and raised his hand, as did four of the heroes in the crowd. Ladybug looked at him, a little confused until she realized what had happened.
Papillon empowered me to help all of you protect Paris today. As I'm sure Ladybug told all of you, you are not here for punches, kicks and power blasts. You are on a mission of protection and evacuation, not fighting. I will help direct you to those in the most danger; we will need all of you to save those in the path of the energized woman, get them to where they're safe, and help keep her away from Chat Noir. More lives are at stake than you know.
"If she touches us, what happens?" asked the Rooster, a tall, slim man.
"Think it back as if you were talking to Coordinator in your head, don't say it out loud," grinned Ladybug. "She'll hear it."
A moment later, the voice responded, We don't know for sure, but it WON'T be good for you. Trust us on that.
"Greaaaaat..." muttered the Dog, until the Ox elbowed him, gently.
"Pay attention," the Ox replied. "She knows what she's doing up there."
Ladybug concentrated for a moment, as the Coordinator gave her the list of hero names the users had chosen. "I need a couple of you to stay with Chat Noir and help him stay on the move. If he starts going out of control, if more than his arm starts glowing, please tell Coordinator immediately. Let's see... Buzzbomb, Baconator, Wukong?"
The Monkey host grinned at her. "That's The Great and Powerful Sun Wukong, the Monkey Ki-"
"I am not saying that whole thing every time I refer to you. Sorry," Ladybug giggled. "The rest of us, let's split up a bit. I need to see the woman up close, so Rabbit Transit, Hornhead, Slither, let's go together. The rest of you, spread out around the area where we're going and look for people who need help, okay? Be gentle, but if she's coming your way, don't take no for an answer. And DON'T ENGAGE!"
Coordinator... tell us where to go, please, she thought.
For now, our target is the Place Vendôme; that's where she's at now. She's headed this way, so Chat's escort group, try going south and east, okay?
"All right... let's do this!" called Ladybug.
She looked back at Chat Noir, as a cheer rose up from the group. "I'll be back soon, I promise. Stay safe," she ordered him, softly.
"You, too. Come back to me."
Papillon did his best to stay calm. Things are going according to plan... so far. But so many things can go wrong... and while this is necessary, this isn't a solution, is it?
He activated his private connection to Penny's transformed state. "You are performing marvelously so far, Coordinator," he told her. "How does it feel on your end?"
Her voice had a slight edge to it. It's... a strain on me, but I'm handling it for now.
She'll only be able to handle it for so long, he thought, privately. We have a time limit and we don't know what it is.
"I am asking a great deal of you, and I know that," assured Papillon. "One question - you can see Nathalie on your 'map', but can you talk to her? Can she hear you?"
I don't think so, Coordinator thought back. I can sense the energy around her, but she doesn't have a Miraculous of her own, right?
"No, she does not. That is actually good and bad - I'd like to speak with her, but I don't know if she is 'herself' inside right now, and if she is not we may not want her eavesdropping." Papillon scratched his chin, idly. "All right. I am en route, so I should turn this off for now. Telepathy and driving isn't quite as bad as texting and driving... but it's close."
Ladybug swung towards Nathalie's last reported location, feeling like she was going out of her mind. She saw a greenish, serpentine figure beneath her, not so much running over as gliding along the ground, riding a faint energy trail. A burly man with ram horns made mighty leaps, looking like he was having the time of his life. And a white blur joined her along the rooftops at intervals; she could swear that the girl was running up and down the sides of the buildings, rather than going around them.
"Rabbit, you good?" she asked, on one of her lupine ally's closer passes. "Don't burn up all your energy getting there."
"Nah, this is effortless!" Rabbit Transit grinned back. "If there's one thing I like and I'm good at, it's going fast."
"Still, be careful. I remember one time I was going as fast as I could, I got distracted, and WHAM! Straight into a billboard. I bet they wondered where the Ladybug-shaped dent in it came from..."
Rabbit Transit laughed loudly at that, before dashing ahead. Ladybug saw the white blur take off up the street, then come back to her side rapidly. "Uh-oh, boss. I think our villain's in sight," said Rabbit, pointing down the middle of the street. "Look."
"She's... not a villain. Not like in the classic sense, anyway. What happened to her wasn't her fault," chided Ladybug, seeing the shimmer of Nathalie's energy in the distance. "But she is dangerous. I'm swinging down to see if I can reach her, if the woman who's in there can still respond."
Closing in and confronting the... what shall we call her, anyway? I don't want to stick her with some villainous name that makes her sound evil, she thought.
The Entity, perhaps? The Target? I'm trying to think of something good, myself, came the response. The Cocoon?
I like that last one. The Energy Cocoon. If we can somehow dispel that, our problem is solved.
With a last glance over the surroundings, working out the best lines of escape in case things went badly, Ladybug moved in. The others followed, keeping a reasonable distance behind her.
Chat Noir kept on the move, slowly, with his new companions close by. "I'm not sure why I need three of you... but, well, good to meet you!" he called to them.
"Likewise," replied... Buzzbomb, that was what she called herself, thought Chat. She was a slightly chubby woman underneath, from what he could tell. "To be honest, I'd rather be in the thick of it, where we could make a fine mess with these powers! But I'll steer to the course I'm told," she added.
"If... the other half of this power gets too close to me, you'll have all the mess you can handle," sighed Chat. "And if I get out of control myself, that's why you three are here - to try to contain ME. Do you know what powers you have to do that yet?"
Baconator piped up, a young man in a porcine costume and a policeman's hat. "I can give it a try," he said. "My weapon looks like Chinese finger-cuffs... and my power is creating walls of energy. Like cages, barriers, that kind of thing... to detain the bad guys so they can't get away."
"That might work. And I love the name," grinned Chat. "How about you others?"
"The Great and Powerful Sun Wu..." began Wukong, stopping at a groan from his three companions. "FINE!" he laughed, "you're no fun! I am Wukong. I... lack my Compliant Rod, so I cannot test your skill with that baton of yours! But I have this hoop, which I can use in a dozen acrobatic ways, and when energized, it becomes the legendary circlet that contracts and forces the obedience of whom it contains."
"You're... sure you're new at this?" Chat asked. "You seem like you've been rehearsing that speech for years. How about you, Buzzbomb?"
"A venom strike, I'm told," she replied. "A stinger that could drop you where you stood. For a while, anyway."
"I wouldn't get too close to me if you don't have to... but it sounds like Ladybug had good instincts. Any of those might contain me for a while. For now, I'm not there yet, so let's not jump the gun on that!" laughed Chat. "A little further southeast, until we get further instructions."
His inner thoughts were filled with more concern, however. That... "pull" is getting stronger by the minute, and it's starting to get to me. If I didn't have this Miraculous, I'd be as out of control as Nathalie apparently is...
Ladybug landed a short distance away from Nathalie, watching her carefully. She could still see the woman inside the energy cocoon, but barely. This is thicker than the last time, she thought. Probably that much more dangerous!
"Nathalie? Can you hear me?" she called, loudly. "It's Ladybug. I helped you before. Are you in there, in any control of yourself?"
There was no audible response, but she saw Nathalie turn in her direction and begin creeping forward, causing Ladybug to start walking backwards. "Be calm, if you can hear me in there. We're not here to hurt you. We want to help you stop this," Ladybug continued.
"C-c-c-can't sto-o-o-op," came the response, in a distorted and echoing voice.
"Oh, boy," muttered Ladybug. She thought, Coordinator? I think Nathalie's not home right now, if you know what I mean. That could change our tactics.
Got you, Ladybug, Coordinator replied. A fourth hero is close by and closing on your position, in case he's needed.
"Rabbit, Slither, Hornhead?" said Ladybug, as calmly as she could. "Focus on the Cocoon. Whoever's in her path, wherever she's headed, I need you three to get them out of the way, FAST. I'll try to lead her down the middle of the street where she'll be in the open."
The trio moved quickly, checking on cars on the street and people remaining in the buildings on either side. The white blur of Rabbit Transit seemed to get Nathalie's attention, and she moved faster in its direction.
"Hey! Nathalie, eyes on me, okay? You want me, not them," Ladybug insisted. With a bit of horror, she saw the pavement under Nathalie's feet cracking and buckling. The Cataclysm energy is starting to dissolve everything around her, not just with a purposeful touch! What happens if that KEEPS expanding? she worried.
Hornhead leapt down beside Ladybug, off to her right, having successfully cleared a building on his side of the road. "Can I help, Ladybug?" he asked. "How do we fight her?"
"We d-don't!" Ladybug stammered. "Keep your distance, okay? I don't want you to-"
She was interrupted by the sight of an energy whip reaching out from the cocoon, like a tentacle, lashing out at the nearby Hornhead!
"MOVE!" Ladybug shouted. She grabbed Hornhead with her yo-yo and yanked hard, pulling him away just before the whip smashed the pavement where he'd been standing. With a quick spin, like a hammer-thrower at a track meet, she hurled Hornhead behind her as hard as she could. He bounced twice before regaining his feet, and Ladybug turned to see -
"NO!" came a scream from behind her, as another whip was zeroing in on Ladybug rapidly!
Ladybug tried to cover up, not knowing if it would do any good... she heard a loud, thumping, rhythmic sound nearby... and suddenly, she felt a huge weight smash into her, sending her flying!
Papillon's car screeched to a halt, a block away from where Ladybug and Nathalie had been reported. "Coordinator! What is happening?" he called.
Ladybug's been hit, hard! called Coordinator. I think she's... no, she's safe, for now. That was a near thing, though.
He considered his options and edged closer to the fight. I'm not here to fight Nathalie, he thought, but perhaps _I_ can reach her with words where others cannot?
As he moved in, so did another, smaller figure...
Ladybug reeled, overwhelmed by sudden motion. Did the whip hit me? she wondered. No - I'm moving sideways, like something's carrying me -
With a grunt, the force propelling her hit the brakes, the two of them rolling to a stop some distance away. Ladybug realized that two burly arms were wrapped around her, wriggled free, and regained her footing.
"Whoa! That was quite a ride..." she began. Once her vision cleared, she saw a large man in an Ox costume by her side.
"You did tell me that I could do that, remember? Hit you as hard as I could, and it wouldn't hurt you?" said the Ox. "It seemed like a very good time to try that out."
Ladybug blinked in recognition.
"...DAD?"
"The Blue Ox, for right now. Though I'm not quite as big as the fabled Babe, huh?" he grinned back at her.
She lunged forward and hugged him tightly, then whispered, "...Thank you. Just be careful out here, okay? Mom would kill me if something happened to you because you were out here protecting me."
"I could say the same, couldn't I?" argued Tom. "I'm just doing what the Kwami told me to - trying to keep people from getting hurt."
Ladybug grinned, then gestured to him. "C'mon. There's no one else who could make me feel safer, having my back," she beamed, as they moved towards the fray again.
"Chat Noir? Are you all right?" called Baconator, looking at him a little warily.
Chat stood still, catching his breath and gathering his will. He looked to Baconator as if he was sweating, trying to overcome something painful.
"I'm... okay," he gasped. "She's either getting stronger or closer. Or both. Let's keep moving."
He looked down at his right arm, and was displeased to see that the energy pulse now went almost all the way up to his shoulder. THAT'S not a good sign, he thought, grimly.
Chat looked over at Wukong, who had his hoop in hand and seemed itching to say the magic words to activate it, and waved him off. "Not yet!" Chat insisted. "I'm pretty sure that you'll know when. If I'm still talking to you, I'm still okay, right?"
Wukong shrugged. "For now," he mused. "But we're not here to let you wander off the moment that you're not."
"Fair enough," agreed Chat, with a grimace. "Let's go that way for now."
Papillon stepped forward, nervously, taking in all of the chaos surrounding him. The dark figure in the ball of energy noticed his presence and turned to face him, halting her advance momentarily.
"Nathalie... it's me," he called to her. "You know who I am. I am here to support you... to bring you home."
She took a tiny step forward, and paused again. "G-Gabriel?" he heard.
"Yes, it's me. Coordinator, I am going offline momentarily," Papillon replied. "Nooroo, fold your wings."
In a white flash, he reassumed the familiar form of Gabriel Agreste. Anyone who is anywhere near this place is running, not recording this, he thought to himself. And this is more important than my secret, anyway. "See? It's me, Gabriel! Nathalie, it is not too late to stop this. Take a deep breath for me."
"I... You have n-no idea what this feels l-like," Nathalie moaned. "I can't cont-trol it. I'm way past th-hat."
She took another small step forward, then another, before halting herself again.
"Keep talking," a low voice said, from just behind Gabriel. "Don't turn around. Keep your focus on her. This may be our one chance."
"I know that you do not want to hurt anyone, Nathalie," pleaded Gabriel. "And no one is here to hurt you. Just listen to my voice. I am begging you! If you keep going, terrible things can happen. To you, to Adrien, to me, to all of Paris."
Her stutter-steps continued, starting to once more become regular. "S-s-s-so sorry," she gasped. "Can't... stop. Don't want t-to hurt... you... Gabriel... m-move!"
"I will not move. For your sake, Nathalie. For all our sakes. Please, fight this!"
Gabriel's voice remained steady, but his nerves were quivering as Nathalie kept advancing. She's already been unable to stop herself once, he thought, and that crackling energy looks insanely dangerous...
Tendrils of energy began to lash out near him, trying to arc to his position, and he tried to suppress the impulse to scream and turn and run -
"SHELLTER!" called the voice from behind him, and a green energy dome sprang into existence over the two of them!
What in the WORLD?... thought Gabriel, and then it clicked into place for him. "Thank you, my friend. You have a knack for being where you are most needed, I see," he said, without taking his eyes off of Nathalie.
"Don't thank me yet," muttered the Jade Turtle, clearly straining hard. "Don't know how long... this will hold her off... Back away slowly with me. We must... talk. NOW."
Ladybug and Blue Ox rounded the corner, quickly... just in time to witness Gabriel being covered by a green shield, a small green figure behind him stumbling backwards, and energy tendrils sparking as they contacted the dome.
"Let's get over there, D... Blue Ox!" Ladybug called, and the pair got close to the scene at the moment where the shield started to flicker and the smaller man dropped to one knee.
"Blue, pick him up, gently!" she directed. "Gabriel... are you all right?"
"Thanks to him, yes. But we have to keep moving!" replied Gabriel, pointing to the still-advancing Nathalie.
In a flash, Rabbit Transit made her presence known. "Somebody call for a taxi?" she quipped.
"Perfect! Okay, let's do this. Blue, let's get... Mr. Turtle here to safety. We'll head in the last known direction of Chat Noir and his group, off to the southeast. Rabbit, scout for us. There shouldn't be anything ELSE between us and them - there's only one Energy Cocoon - but you can make sure we're going the right way. Gabriel... can you transform back?"
Gabriel and Blue Ox both stared at Ladybug for a moment, marveling at how the young woman assumed control of the situation by instinct. "I... think so," Gabriel said. "Nooroo, can you still spread your wings?"
A quick white flash indicated that, yes, he could.
"Excellent. Coordinator... status report?" intoned Papillon.
I am... almost out of power, they all heard in their heads. I'm getting weird readings from Chat's group, but I can't keep this connection up... trying not to pass out...
"Coordinator... let the power go, then. You have done what we needed you to do, admirably, and we all thank you. I will not risk harm to you."
Thank you, sir. Glad I could help.
They each heard a little *blip* in their heads, like a walkie-talkie turning off.
Rabbit Transit dashed off, and the remaining quartet hustled as quickly as they could to what shelter they could find.
In another white flash, Jade Turtle reverted back to Fu Wang, to neither Papillon's nor Ladybug's surprise. With Coordinator out of action, Papillon transformed back to Gabriel as well. Blue Ox laid Fu down on a bench, as gently as he could.
"Are you all right, Master Fu?" asked Ladybug, greatly disturbed by the pained look on Fu's face. "Do we need to get you to a hospital?"
"N-no, Ladybug, I can get by," he insisted. "Back is thrown out. Very... painful. This is why I... don't do that... any more. Need was too great."
"You have my considerable gratitude," Gabriel told him. "I did not know what else to try, but had she kept coming at me... Your gambit seems quite successful. So far, I do not believe Nathalie has caused anyone injury; the other heroes are clearing her path quite well."
"Yeah! They were a GREAT surprise," Ladybug agreed. "How did you do that?"
Gabriel looked at her with a half-smirk. "He had not told you?" he asked, lightly.
"Well... I knew you had one and I had one. I knew he had one. I didn't know there were another dozen-plus nearby!" she replied. "These were your doing, Master, right? Coordinator was the only butterfly?"
"Correct," gasped Fu. "Spent decades... hiding... all those secrets that I just set free. This has... not been... a good week for secrets."
"Quite an understatement," smiled Gabriel. "For all of us. Wouldn't you say, Ladybug, Mr. Dupain?"
"Just a bit," she smiled back.
"It is nice to see you again, Mr. Agreste. We seem to be meeting in the strangest circumstances," added Blue Ox.
"Ladybug... reach into my shirt pocket. There are snacks there for Wayzz and Nooroo. We will need their powers again," directed Fu, getting his breath back somewhat.
"Noted." As the Kwamis gratefully accepted the offered bites and chowed down, Fu raised himself up on his elbows, then sank down again from the resulting jolt of pain. "We are not... done here."
"I didn't think so. While these new heroes are helping to save people and prevent harm..." ventured Gabriel.
"...they're not solving the problem, are they?" finished Ladybug. "Master, do we have any solutions left?"
"Only one."
Chat Noir doubled over, abruptly, clearly in considerable pain.
"Hey! Kitty-cat!" called Wukong, suspiciously. "Are you all right? Do we need to... WHOA!"
The three Zodiac heroes stepped back as the energy around Chat flared briefly, forming a ball around him, then coalesced back around his right arm and shoulder.
"I don't like this at all," muttered Baconator.
"I don't think we're supposed to," agreed Buzzbomb. "Be ready, guys, just in case. Chat Noir?"
"G-get back," a low voice replied. "P-please."
"I think I've heard enough," Wukong declared, readying his hoop. "MONKEY... MAGIC!"
"I really don't think that's a good idea yet, Wukong - wait!" called Buzzbomb, but Wukong's glowing hoop was already in the air, aimed at Chat Noir. It floated in close...
...and a swift baton strike sent it flying a considerable distance away. The energy swirl formed a ball again, this time remaining, and Chat's eyes seemed to flare bright green in time with its pulses.
"I said... GET BACK," Chat ordered, his voice reverberating.
Wukong and Baconator assumed a defensive stance, while Buzzbomb decided that back was precisely where she should be getting to at that moment.
Gabriel glared at the fallen Fu. "You lectured me, and rightly so, for even thinking about combining the Ladybug and the Cat."
"If I... *cough* had another option, Gabriel, do you not think I w-would be using it?" snapped Fu. "A broken wish set all of this into motion. I fear that only a true one can set things right." He struggled to maintain composure, adding, "I have spent my entire life guarding these secrets, p-preventing exactly this moment. But I will not let millions perish because I was afraid to make a n-needed sacrifice."
"About that... sacrifice, Master," asked Ladybug, hesitantly. "You and Chat have told me how the wish can backfire terribly, how a cost must be paid to balance whatever it grants. What can I do to try to avoid that?"
"You," replied Fu, with surprise in his eyes, "are not whom I'd ask to sacrifice anything, young lady! YOU are not... r-replaceable."
"And you are?" asked Gabriel, sternly. "You've forgotten more about the Miraculous and their history than anyone else on Earth still knows, I'd wager. You would take a chance with that?"
"I am a very old man, whom very few would m-miss," Fu insisted.
"HEY! Enough about that! We'll fight over who does it later, but first we need to know how and why. Too much is at stake," declared Ladybug. "Master, please. What do we need to know most?"
Reluctantly, Fu began his explanation. "The user must possess both the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous, and invoke both. That alone will be extraordinarily disorienting for the user," he stated. "They must then focus their thoughts, over and over, on how they wish to change the world around them. Think of it like a wish from the trickiest genie ever, who wants to warp your desires; the wording must be precise, the intention pure, the concept clear. Beyond that, it is truly wild magic; it will choose the cost to be paid on its own whims. It might be the caster, it might be someone they know and love, it might be someone seemingly random halfway across the world! It has not been done successfully in a thousand years. And even if it is successful, the strain on the caster will be tremendous! Perhaps even fatal."
"So the first step, obviously, is that whoever does it will need my Miraculous," pondered Ladybug.
"...and Chat Noir's," finished Fu. "So we must get to where he is, and hope that it is not too late."
Blue Ox scooped Fu up once more, and the group traveled as quickly as they could. As they ran, Ladybug caught Wayzz's eye and gestured at him silently, Come here.
The tiny green Kwami floated over, dutifully. "What is it, Ladybug?" Wayzz whispered.
"You know Master Fu better than anyone, Wayzz. IS he all right?" asked Ladybug, in a hushed voice.
"He is in serious pain, and he is exhausted. He will recover, once he lets himself rest," explained Wayzz. "But as long as this crisis is in motion, he won't. I know him better than that. It's a miracle that he's even still awake right now."
"Precisely what I thought, and good to know," she replied. "If he even thinks about invoking this wish..."
"He wouldn't get as far as the first invocation in this state, let alone the rest of it. He'd die," said Wayzz, matter-of-factly. "But I can't stop him from trying."
"Which is something that we cannot let happen. No matter what."
A few minutes later, Ladybug announced, "Keep your eyes open. We should be getting close-"
*Whooooosh!*
"WE have a problem," declared Rabbit Transit, popping up out of nowhere. She had Buzzbomb's arm over her shoulder; the bee heroine was clearly not used to traveling at rocket-propelled speeds.
"Buzzbomb! Are you all right?" gasped Ladybug.
"I am..." she replied, hesitantly, "but you're going to want to look about a hundred meters that way." She pointed in the direction from which Rabbit had come, and Ladybug took off running.
"Oh, no..."
She saw Wukong face-down on the ground, twitching slightly. Baconator was a few meters away, trying to stand up and failing repeatedly.
"What happened here?" asked Ladybug, trying not to scream.
"Monkey-boy there decided it was time to restrain Chat Noir. Chat disagreed in a big way," muttered the porcine paragon. "I tried to defend him, it didn't work too well."
"Where IS he?" she demanded. "Which way did Chat go?"
Ladybug followed Baconator's arm as he pointed down another street, and her heart sank down into her shoes as she glimpsed a ball of black energy some distance away, slowly plodding forwards.
Quickly, Ladybug formulated a game plan, and articulated a roundabout course to put themselves between Chat and where he was headed, which was presumably Nathalie's location.
Once everyone was in position, watching Chat plod towards them, Ladybug gave out final directions. "Blue Ox, we may need your strength, just in case! Sit Master Fu down over there. Rabbit, you keep an eye on him for me. If Chat goes after him for some reason, whisk him out of the way." She slipped a sly wink Rabbit's way, which got a grin from her in return.
Good. Rabbit's on board with what I whispered to her on the way here, thought Ladybug. I sure hope that it works! It has to.
She narrowed her eyes to make sure that the same things flashed for her intuitive LuckyVision... and they did.
"Papillon, you're not a fighter... but we're not here to fight him, so stay close. If something leaps out at you where one of your butterflies can help, don't hesitate, though I don't know who would be around here right now for it to reach. Your presence and your face may be more important in reaching Chat," she added, to which Papillon nodded.
"You're sure that we shouldn't have asked Baconator and Buzzbomb to stay close?" asked Rabbit Transit.
"They were both pretty shaken up, and again, this shouldn't be a fight," explained Ladybug. "And even if it is, they couldn't stop him before, so I don't want to risk their getting hurt."
Which is a funny way of saying that I don't know how _any_ of us will stop him, if he doesn't let us.
"Your plan is sound, Ladybug... but it is risky," croaked Master Fu. "I would feel better if you had Wayzz's protective barrier, but I'm in no condition for that."
"I was thinking about that, actually..." purred Ladybug. "Could I please borrow your Miraculous for a moment, Master Fu? There's something about it that I'm curious about."
He handed it over, a curious look on his face, but Ladybug's face betrayed no guile.
"Wayzz, I have a question or two for you," began Ladybug. "Would you agree that we might need your guidance here?"
"Uh-huh," answered Wayzz.
"And that Master Fu needs rest, desperately, and that he has done all that he possibly can to put us in a position to save everyone?"
"Uh-HUH," Wayzz echoed, wide-eyed, realizing what she was implying.
"Young lady," Fu tried to object, "I don't know what you think that you are-"
"And that Paris will need his knowledge and his wisdom for many years to come, and we shouldn't give him the chance to throw all of that away?"
"STOP!" Fu croaked, desperately. "Ladybug, this cannot happen! Do not even think about sacrificing yourself, invoking this wish! You do not understand what that would mean for you!"
She leaned down over him, guiding him back down onto the bench in a sitting position. "Master Fu, believe me, I don't think that I want to do it this way, risking myself like this. But I know exactly what it would mean." Her eyes got watery as she continued. "It means saving my family, my friends, my city, my country, possibly. All those people! It means saving the boy who won my heart... and the father who's risking his life to try to save him... and you."
"Ladybug, listen to reason-"
"I. DON'T. CARE!," she declared. "Too much is at stake for me to leave this to chance, no matter how risky it is. You don't want me to do this any more than I want you to do it," she concluded, touching his face gently. "But right here, right now, I can save you. Rabbit, go!"
In his vehemence, Master Fu hadn't noticed Rabbit Transit gliding up behind him. She scooped him up before he could protest, and with a whooshing noise, the two of them were gone.
Gabriel stared at Ladybug, his jaw dropping. "Remind me to never face you over a poker table, Ladybug," he admired. "That was remarkably sly of you! I had no idea that was about to happen."
"She's a terror on Monopoly night, too," chuckled Blue Ox.
"He is going to be soooo mad," smiled Ladybug, sheepishly. "But we'll worry about that tomorrow. One step at a time."
She turned her gaze to the approaching Chat Noir, and declared, "First, let's save this handsome fellow here, if we can."
"He's very lucky to have you," said Gabriel, quietly. "And so are all the rest of us. But this isn't over by a longshot."
The trio stared him down, unflinchingly, as his slow pace brought him ever closer. I don't know how we're going to do this, Adrien, thought Ladybug. But we have to. We need your Miraculous, and we need you. I need you. So much.
Even if I have to take you down to save you.
Next time:
* The conclusion to our wayward saga...