As I circled the Akuma, I made sure not to look into his eyes. I already knew what my fear was, and I didn't need anyone else knowing what that was, nor did I need to relive that moment, thank you very much.
Oogie-Boogie was watching me with a predatory hunger, and I could feel his gaze burning holes into me. I snarled, digging my fingers into the ground and getting ready to pounce. He moved faster than me, though, his wings spreading and he flew towards me. I launched myself to the left of him, dodging his body slam and quickly turning and running to attack him. I dug my claws into his body, nearly gagging at the smell he gave off but hanging on nonetheless. I raked my claws through the tar like substance, trying to find anything that could have been the akumatized item.
Oogie-Boogie bucked as he started screeching in what I assumed might have been pain. It was completely inhuman, sounding more like a dying animal or some sort of Halloween ghoul than anything. He tried to grab me, but all he was managing to do was cut or nick me, his clawed nails not quite long enough to grab me when he kept squirming. I growled, shoving my hand through the tar to see if maybe it was hidden inside. His screeching grew louder and I felt his claws dig into my shoulders, yanking me from his back and throwing me to the ground in front of him.
I struggled against his hold as he held me down, feeling blood trail down my arms from where his claws dug in. I looked everywhere but his face.
He let out a deep chuckle, grin returning to his face as his lips parted, blood red saliva dripping onto my cheeks. "Too easy, little beast. Too easy. I could take your miraculous, right here, right now." He slowly let go with one of his hands, one long, slender claw slipping under the chain that held my pendants and giving a light tug.
"Don't touch it!" I snarled, my words coming out more animalistic than normal due to the transformation.
Oogie-Boogie chuckled again, letting go of the chain and bringing his face closer to me. His breath stunk just as much as his body did, and it was hot against my cheek. "But of course, that would be much to easy, wouldn't it?" He said darkly, one claw running across my cheek and making a clean cut across it. I squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to look at him as I tried to break from his hold. "Come now, little miraculous holder- show me your fear! You can't hide it from me forever!"
"Wanna bet?!" I snarled, lurching up to try and break from his hold. He held on tight, though, and I whimpered in pain as I felt his claws dig into my shoulders. It went on like that for a few minutes, his claws digging in further each time. I was starting to grow tired, and a second beep from my miraculous rang out about the fighting. I groaned in annoyance and frustration, lifting a hand up the best I could and slashing at the male in an attempt to free myself.
He screeched in pain and I felt his presence move away from me, making me grin and open my eyes. Only to scream in surprise when Oogie-Boogie's eyes were still only a few inches from my own. I cursed in my head and went to close my eyes again but it was too late, he was already transforming into what I feared most.
Oogie-Boogie took on a more human shape, his eyes were brown and slanted, his hair short and brown. His skin was pale and he held a bottle of Hydrochloric acid in one hand, the other still gripping my shoulder painfully tight. I whimpered and froze, throat closing up instinctively as an manic smile took over his features.
"Well, well~ isn't this a wonderful fear!" He laughed darkly, moving to straddle my waist to keep my hands pinned down as he started to unscrew the cap of the acid. I could feel my lungs start to burn and felt tears starting to prick my eyes as I felt my breathing pick up.
"No. No no no. Nononono! Get off me!" I screamed bloody murder, bucking up to try and get him off me. I choked on air as he growled and slammed his hand into my throat, pinning me to the ground. My lips were parted, trying to heave air into my lungs through my panic. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the bottle he was slowly lowering to my lips, and I could feel how my tail curled between my legs like it did when dogs were scared, tickling my stomach.
Chat Noir glanced over and his eyes widened in shock. "Wolven!"
"Help! Get him off me! Get him off me, please!"
A yoyo wrapped around Oogie-Boogie's arms and pulled them back, giving me a chance to move again. I managed to free one of my hands in my struggle, and I swiped my nails- still sharpened to claws- across his face, creating four long scratch marks that began to bleed black. Oogie-Boogie growled in annoyance, the cuts healing almost immediately as Chat Noir practically came flying in to pull me away from under him. I pressed my face into his chest, shaking violently in his arms as he held me close to his body.
He started rubbing my back and helped me stand up on shaking legs, softly murmuring words of comfort to me. I wished it would work but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the man that Oogie-Boogie had morphed into, unable to calm down and barely able to hear Chat Noir's words. I was panting heavily as Neeks tried to calm me through our connection. I had a hand against my throat and the other wrapped around my middle, feeling a pain in my stomach I hadn't felt in years. The tears that had been streaming down my face when I was pinned were already starting to slow, but still showed no signs of stopping soon. Chat Noir saw where my eyes were locked and he carefully put his hand over my eyes, causing me to whimper. I felt him pull me back against his chest, felt his warmth through the layers of clothing we wore. Smelled that scent that was unmistakably Adrien.
"Just focus on me and breathe, Wolven. Just focus and breathe." I whimpered in acknowledgement, trying to focus only on Chat's presence and how to breathe properly. "Here, I'm going to take your hand away from your throat, alright?" I nodded slightly, more like a small jerk than anything, and I felt Chat's hand wrap around my own, pulling it away from my neck carefully. He slowly lowered it to my side, and soon the calm that Neeks was trying to give me and the feeling of warmth surrounding me took over, making me relax enough to be able to focus again.
"Chat...? You, um, you can remove your hand now... I'll be okay for now." I said softly, moving my hands up to the one over my eyes. He did as I asked, removing his hand and sighing softly.
"Think you can keep fighting?" He asked softly, looking worried as I tilted my head back to look at his face. I nodded, slashing a fear apart when it came too close to us.
I took a deep breath and shook my head, trying to get myself to focus. I could do this. I can fight him. It's not really him, it's just a fake. I steeled myself before going in to attack, slashing at him. Oogie-Boogie let my claws slice through his form as he laughed darkly, leaning down to speak into my ear.
"Tattle-tales should lose their ability to tattle, don't you think?" He whispered, making me freeze in place while he lifted his hand, the cuts across his chest turning back into skin from the black tar they had been. His brown eyes were glowing red around the edges as he trapped my jaw in his hands and forced it open, his other hand bringing the uncapped bottle of acid closer and closer. My eyes widened and I whimpered, trying to pull away from him and close my mouth.
He began tipping the bottle when a yoyo wrapped around his arm and yanked it back, and Chat Noir used his baton to knock away the bottle, which turned into a puddle of black tar when it was knocked far enough away. Oogie-Boogie let go of me in shock, and I scrambled away again, panting slightly as I tried to focus on the fight and trying to stay calm.
Small tremors still ran through my body, and I shook my head again. "Focus! Focus, dang it!" I muttered to myself, destroying a few of the fears as I did. "Just find the akuma's hiding place!"
I steeled myself for another clash with Oogie-Boogie and ran to him, shoving my hand into his chest. The inhuman screech was back, louder this time, and it caused my ears to ring. I felt my hand enclose around something slightly smaller than my hand, with something engraved in the center. I began to pull it out as quickly as I could with the tar trying to reform around my hand, my nose crinkling in disgust.
"No! You can't take that, little beast! Leave it alone!" Oogie-Boogie screeched, claws digging into my arm and creating long cuts on it as I pulled out my hand. A small, fake gravestone from one of those Halloween stores that opened yearly was encased tightly in my hand, with the words "Bea A. Fraid 1831-1871" carved into it's intricate design, a crack spreading down from the left corner to spread throughout the 1871. He screeched even more, turning back into his original form, his eyes turning even angrier. "Give that back!"
I breathed out a faint laugh and smirked at the Akuma, shaking my head. "Hm... Nope!" I said, much more confident and relaxed now that he was back to normal. I jumped back when I was slashed at, and looked at Ladybug. "Ladybug! Here, it's his Akuma!" She smiled gratefully and nodded, holding up a hand.
"Throw it over!" She called, so I did as asked and threw it to her, dodging another attack from Oogie-Boogie as she quickly broke the gravestone in half. Oogie-Boogie yowled in pain, causing the three of us to cover our ears with our hands from the sheer loudness and frequency of it. To our confusion, no butterfly came from the gravestone, and Oogie-Boogie melted into a puddle of tar along with all his fear minions, and I stared in horror at where he had been.
"I-I didn't kill him, did I...?" I asked weakly as we removed our hands, my body shaking again at the thought of having killed someone even though our abilities weren't created to do that. Chat Noir looked at me worriedly before he looked back at the tar puddles, his own fake ears drooping as he spoke, "No, you couldn't have... There should have been a butterfly... Right?" He looked over at Ladybug, who looked just as lost.
"I-I think so- this hasn't happened before! There has always been a butterfly, and the person always turns back to normal!"
"Then what happened?! What happened to Oogie-Boogie?!" I snapped, my nerves frayed and cut short by the evening. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed overhead as rain began to pour over the city, washing away the tar and plunging the city into near darkness. I couldn't tear my eyes away.
Another flash of lightning, and a dark, feminine chuckle resounded with the thunder, snatching my attention as the three of us looked around for the source.
"You are the defenders of Paris? Children? I cannot believe Hawkmoth is struggling!" The voice laughed, and Chat gasped softly.
"There! On top of the carousel!"
I turned my attention to the carousel, immediately spotting the silhouette of a woman standing on top of it. I couldn't make out much, but her eyes were glowing an eerie green.
"Who are you?" Ladybug asked, getting into a fighting position. My miraculous beeped a third time, and I could feel apprehension starting to leak into my mind from Neeks.
"That, little girl, is something you three are not ready to learn just yet." I could practically hear the smirk on her face as she spoke, and Ladybug growled in annoyance. "Just know that Hawkmoth isn't your only enemy this time around."
The woman's eyes slid over to me, and I tensed. Neeks' apprehension grew, and I fought back the instincts telling me to run far, far away. She bowed at the waist as she looked at me, speaking as she did. "Wolven- no, Neeks, my dear, it has been far too long." I gripped my head and bit back a cry of pain as Neeks suddenly panicked, his fear bursting forth and completely unlike him.
My miraculous beeped again, much louder and more urgent this time. The lady laughed loudly, and as the next flash of lightning streaked across the sky, she was gone.
This new villain is special, just recently created (seriously, she was not part of the plot until I was mostly done with this chapter) so sorry if it seems sudden! I just got a really good idea and it would make the story more interesting than just the kids fighting Hawkmoth so I hope you guys aren't too mad about the new addition! Sorry about the spontaneity of it though.