The second they arrived, Kingpin started throwing bowling balls at them. At first, Chat Noir left Ladybug on her own. He bounced around and easily dodged the attacks. But after he heard her yelp and get thrown back as she was hit, he realized that it wasn't going to be that easy.
Anger flared up inside him. She didn't know what she was doing. Lives were at stake and he was stuck with a Ladybug who couldn't even avoid a simple attack.
"Let's make this split a spare!" Kingpin shouted and brought Chat's attention back to him.
"Ug," Chat Noir rolled his eyes. Even though he was angry and upset, he couldn't help but mock the villain. "Bowling puns don't roll well with me."
Kingpin raced towards Chat Noir as Ladybug slowly got to her feet. Chat took this chance to keep the bad guy occupied and away from her. He only hoped that she knew what to do.
"Over here, gutter ball!" Chat chirped as he bounced off the wall. He moved just as an attack grazed by his side. Kingpin wasn't the most brilliant villain they'd ever faced, but he was was fast. Thankfully, Chat was faster.
"Get over here!" Kingpin threw some more balls and pins towards the cat as he pounced around the open street. The cars spun around to line up like bowling pins as Kingpin rolled giant balls down towards them.
If he wasn't so worried about dodging the attacks, Chat would probably be laughing too hard to stand. The cars scattered as they were hit with a clattering sound one would normally hear in a bowling alley. Even with the threat of getting hit, he paused for a moment to laugh.
"Seriously?" Chat Noir grinned down at Kingpin from on top of the lightpole he'd just landed on.
"Stand still, you mangy cat!" Kingpin growled back at him.
Chat flipped a hand up in the air dismissively. "You'll never get a 300 with that attitude."
"Looks like it's time for a new player!" Kingpin straightened up and lifted a ball up under his chin.
Chat recognized the attack. It was the same one that got him before. It would take control of whoever it hit. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ladybug was completely out of the way. It took him half a heartbeat longer than it should have to find her. She just looked so different. Her long hair was blowing in the breeze, and she was nervously hunched over. She looked nothing like Ladybug.
Kingpin yelled in fury as he launched a fury of attacked towards Chat. Chat Noir moved fast and managed to avoid the attack by a hair. Perhaps making Kingpin angry hadn't been the best idea. It was time they hurried up and got this akuma taken care of.
"Use your Lucky Charm!" Chat finally shouted after he noticed Ladybug was just standing there staring at him.
"Oh," she said. He watched as she looked towards her hip, then her other hip as she had the wrong one, and pulled at her yo-yo.
Chat Noir slapped his hand to his face and groaned. She was completely useless. How was he supposed to fight an akuma with her?
"ROLLING THUNDER!" Kingpin yelled as he slammed down in front of Chat Noir.
Chat was too busy with his annoyance at Ladybug that he almost didn't get away. Almost. He was still a sly cat, after all. He pounced off to the side and rolled away as a bolt of lightning struck the ground where he'd once been.
"Almost had a strike there!" Chat said.
"La-la-lucky charm!" Ladybug stuttered behind them as she threw her yo-yo into the air.
Kingpin's eyes turned towards her. Chat jumped back up to his feet. No way. Not now. He was so close. "Eyes on me, rental shoes!"
Kingpin shot Chat an evil glare. "These aren't rentals!" He roared as he charged towards Chat Noir.
Chat managed to keep Kingpin distracted for a while. It felt like forever. He was starting to worry that Ladybug had given up when she flew between the two of them and tossed a red spotted scarf in the air. While Kingpin was frantically trying to swipe the scarf off his face, she grabbed the patch off his shirt and tossed it to Chat Noir.
He caught it and just stared at it for a moment in his hands. A shiver ran up his spine. This was it. He gripped it with both hands and tore it apart. A purple akuma fluttered up out of it.
"Catch it!" His voice scratched as the pure intensity of his words choked in his throat.
Ladybug spun in a circle and then leapt into the air. She flipped above the akuma and caught it spectacularly in her compact. As she landed on the ground, a white butterfly emerged and flew up into the sky.
"Did you see that?!" Ladybug let out a nervous laugh. Her voice was so low he almost didn't hear her. "I was totally amazing!"
Chat nodded a little too eagerly. He gestured quickly with his hand. "Come on, do the last part."
"Miraculous Ladybug!" She said as she tossed the scarf into the air.
Chat Noir took off before the pink light even started to swirl. There was no need to stick around for a fist bump. She wasn't even the real Ladybug. He'd never run so fast in his life as he dashed across the rooftops back to the last place he'd seen his lady.
This was it. He knew it. This had to work. It just had to.
He landed on the rooftop where that fateful incident happened. It was the first time he'd been back, and it was just as empty now as it had been after she'd disappeared. The pinkish light from Ladybug's spell flashed above him in the sky. Chat Noir sat down and waited.
And waited.
And waited.