So, not-as-fun fact, this would've originally been out sooner, but I got Omicron around Christmas 2021 and that threw me into a funk for about a week. But I got better and school smoothed out so I was able to do this without too many hiccups. Enjoy!
Chapter Nine
Green-Eyed Wasp, Part Two
Adrien stepped back nervously. "How did you even get in here?" he demanded. Felix casually checked his nails and opened the bathroom door.
"Simple," he replied, a small smirk on his face. "You forgot to lock the door. Couple that with the fact that the water turned off about seven minutes after you got in the 'shower' and you didn't come out of the bathroom for five minutes after that, and you've got a recipe for me to start wondering what you're up to."
Adrien sighed in defeat. "Look, Felix, I'm not in the mood for any of your tricks right now. Green-Eyed Wasp is bound to be here any moment with my mind-controlled partner-"
"Girlfriend, I think you meant."
"That part isn't important. Either way, she'll be here with Ladybug and a Ladybug sentimonster, and she's gonna go on a complete warpath with them, and I have to stop her, but I don't know if I can!"
Felix's smirk faded. "If you don't defeat Mom, what will happen?" he asked, genuine concern filling his eyes.
The sound of Plagg clearing his throat filled the room. "If I may," he began. Adrien nodded. "What is it?"
"Tyranno Moth wants your ring and Ladybug's earrings for a wish, right? Well, that wish basically destroys the current universe and remakes a new one based on the wisher's wish," Plagg explained. "It's only been used once before, and I really don't want to remember it."
Felix and Adrien exchanged shocked glances. "What was it?" Felix demanded.
Plagg sighed. "Fine. A grieving widower found the Miraculous and wished for his wife to be returned to him and the killer's nation to be wiped out, but the price was catastrophic and no one remembered the old world except us kwamis. You've heard of Xyalendia?"
"No?"
"Exactly my point."
A bout of nausea gripped Adrien in a cold embrace. Just the thought of it all made him sick. "Were other wishes made?" he asked.
Plagg shrugged. "Those were either stopped or lessened in some way." Then he chuckled darkly. "About the only thing Vorath's holders were good for were stopping those wish attempts."
"Wait, what?" Adrien stammered.
"From what I remember, the Dark Dragon Miraculous's powers can channel the wish if said powers are used on the wishmaker. It was usually to change specific things about the world using the wish without, you know, eradicating the universe itself. The rest of that reality-shattering power got shot off into space towards who-knows-where. All I know is that we're risking a lot with this plan."
"And what exactly is your plan?" Felix asked. "And how can I help?"
Adrien blinked in surprise. "You want to help?"
"I don't think getting erased from existence would be pleasant, and I don't want to live in a world where Tyranno Moth's mad ambitions succeed," Felix replied. Adrien sighed in relief, then tensed up again. The sound of buzzing filled the air.
"Green-Eyed Wasp is almost here," he whispered. Plagg quickly jumped inside Adrien's overshirt as Adrien glanced towards Felix. "I'll explain in a minute. Let's just try and play it cool for now."
Felix nodded, then turned on his heel and left the bathroom, Adrien quickly following.
Thirty seconds later, the door to Adrien's room swung open as Green-Eyed Wasp strutted in, her mind-controlled Ladybugs at her heels. "Felix, Adrien!" she trilled as she pinched their cheeks. "I have your new bodyguards right here. Felix, you get Sentibug as your protector. Adrien, you get Ladybug."
The two enthralled Ladybugs moved from the flanks of their mistress to the flanks of their charges, standing completely still and emotionless. Green-Eyed Wasp smiled darkly as a jagged purple butterfly mask formed over her face.
"No, I'm not taking the Miraculous just yet, Tyranno Moth," she snapped, breaking her otherwise calm facade. "We need Cat Noir, for one thing, and I have no idea where he is. And what if Dragonus or his goons attempt to get the boys?"
Adrien guessed that Tyranno Moth had acknowledged Green-Eyed Wasp's words and was negotiating a deal. He watched as Green-Eyed Wasp's mouth twisted into another smile. "Really? Fowl Scorpia, helping me? Oh, Tyranno Moth, you shouldn't have. That'll certainly draw out the heroes. Don't worry, the Miraculouses will be yours. But be patient." The butterfly mask faded from Green-Eyed Wasp's face, and her lips curled into a snarl.
"That nagging dinosaur thinks he can just order me around," she muttered darkly, then turned back to the boys. "They'll keep you safe from here on out. Ladybug, Sentibug, obey them and keep them out of trouble while I finish off the heroes. Understood?"
"Understood," they droned. Green-Eyed Wasp smirked as she turned towards the door. "I won't be long! Behave yourselves!"
The sound of Green-Eyed Wasp's heels clicking down the stairs faded, and only when the buzzing of her wings pierced the outside air did Adrien and Felix breathe a sigh of relief. Felix waved a hand in front of Sentibug's eyes, trying to break the sentimonster's stare. "Freaky," he muttered.
Adrien had to agree. The green orbs that had overtaken Ladybug's normally soft bluebell eyes gazed emptily at him, no warmth or recognition, just emotionless obedience. He had a feeling that if he asked her to jump, she'd be in the upper atmosphere before he could specify how high.
"Okay. Felix, I'm gonna need you to leave the room," Adrien said.
Felix blinked in surprise. "Why?" he demanded. "If you've got a plan, I want to hear it. We need to stop my mom."
"Felix…" Adrien said, his voice laced with a dangerous edge.
The other boy blinked in surprise. "Alright, fine. No need to get snappy about it. Should I take Sentibug with me?"
"Yes. Just to be on the safe side."
"Fair enough. Sentibug, follow me," Felix ordered as he walked over to the door. "And tell me a little about yourself while you're at it." Sentibug followed dutifully, closing the door behind her, leaving Adrien and Ladybug alone in the room.
Part of Adrien was unsettled at how quickly and effortlessly his cousin ordered the sentimonster around without a care in the world, but he pushed that thought aside as he turned to Ladybug. "Okay. Uh… whatever you do, don't move," he said hesitantly.
Ladybug immediately tensed up. "Whatever your command is, I must obey."
Adrien felt like he was going to be sick. Green-Eyed Wasp did this to her, a little voice whispered in his head. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Dragonus. Make her pay. Adrien steeled himself. Hopefully, his theory was correct.
In one fluid motion, he plucked the earrings off of Ladybug's ears, releasing her transformation and Tikki in a flash of pink sparkles. Marinette's knees gave out from under her, and she would've fallen if Adrien hadn't quickly caught her. Her eyelids fluttered weakly as she looked up at Adrien's face, which broke into a relieved smile.
"Bugaboo," he whispered gratefully as he pulled her into a hug. Marinette smiled back slightly, her entire body still recovering from the shock of being pulled out of the mind control.
"Hey, kitty," Marinette whispered back. "Can you set me down on the couch, please? I just need a minute to rest." Adrien nodded as he slipped the earrings in his pocket, helping her shuffle over to the couch and gently resting her down on it. It was only then he got a full glimpse of Marinette's eyes.
There was a greenish tinge to the whites, just barely noticeable at first glance. Tikki floated over tiredly and landed on Marinette's lap, and Adrien just barely noticed a greenish tinge in the kwami's eyes, too.
Marinette clenched her teeth and gripped her arm, snapping Adrien out of his stupor. "Oh, that still hurts," she groaned.
Adrien immediately went into first aid mode. "Is it the sting? Can I take a look at it?"
Marinette nodded as she shifted her right arm out of her jacket sleeve and let Adrien check the wound on her bicep. "How bad is it?"
Adrien gasped. The area where the stinger went in pulsed the same green color as Green-Eyed Wasp's eyes, sickly green veins crawling down Marinette's arm and, he guessed, up along the length of her bicep as well.
"It's bad. You're not bleeding or anything, but the area where you got stung is still full of Green-Eyed Wasp's toxins. And I think they're trying to take you over completely."
Marinette's eyes widened in horror, then she shrieked and clutched her head, panting heavily. "It's like I can hear her thoughts… she wants me to fall further… obey her every command…"
"Hey, hey!" Adrien yelled, grasping her hand. "Stay with me, Marinette! I need you! I need some info, a plan, something!" He squeezed her hand perhaps a little too tightly, earning a yelp from the girl.
"Sorry," Marinette muttered, trying to keep her panicked breathing under control. "It just feels so… wrong. I hate being out of control, having someone else try to control me."
Adrien nodded and put an arm around her. "I know, princess. I know."
The two sat quietly for a moment before Marinette straightened up. "Okay… you need a plan, right?" she asked.
Adrien nodded. "The others are waiting to hear back from me. We're meeting up at the vent outside Gare du Nord."
Marinette exhaled. "Okay. Green-Eyed Wasp's stinger is her akumatized object, right? So, what if you guys tried what we did with Bakerix the first time around? Maybe clip her wings and let her float above the fan while you snag the stinger?" she suggested.
Adrien nodded slowly. "That could work. The only problem is getting her to fall for the bait… and getting past you and Sentibug."
Marinette rested her hand lightly on Adrien's arm and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry about me. If it becomes worse, Sentibug and I might give you a tough time, but you'll have the entire team to back you up. Just be careful… and don't let the Darks do anything catastrophic."
Adrien smiled gently. "I won't, m'lady. I promise."
Marinette smiled back. Then she recoiled, gripping her head again. Adrien could see the green veins creeping up her neck.
"No!" he shouted desperately. "Marinette, try to resist it! Please!" Adrien's voice cracked when Marinette's arms went limp like a doll's as she fell under the toxins' control again. Then she lashed out, pulling Adrien's pocket inside out as she grabbed the earrings. Her hands hesitated for the slightest moment before she put them back in.
"Tikki, Spots On," she droned, her kwami getting sucked into the earrings as she transformed back into Ladybug, her eyes turning solid green again. Adrien choked back a sob.
Ladybug turned her gaze on Adrien. "You shouldn't have done that," she said. "My mistress is on her way back. She sensed her control being broken. She is not pleased."
"I order you to not reveal my secret identity to Green-Eyed Wasp or stop me from leaving or tell anyone which direction I went!" Adrien yelled in desperation. Immediately, Ladybug's lips closed and she stood still.
Adrien quickly called on his transformation as he ran into the bathroom, throwing one last desperate glance at Ladybug before he heard the buzzing of Green-Eyed Wasp's wings. Cat Noir groaned as he drew his staff and vaulted over the Agreste mansion walls, being careful to hide himself as Green-Eyed Wasp dove towards the front doors.
Cat Noir could still hear the villainess's enraged scream three blocks away from the mansion.
"Felix, you'd better cover for me," he muttered as he turned and made his way to Gare du Nord.
"So, does anyone have a plan?" Lila began. The others lounged on the various couches and recliners that dotted the recently refitted rec room.
Alex opened his fingers, letting his piercing blue eyes peek out. "What does it look like we're doing? We're planning," he replied, lying on the main leather couch.
Lila crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "This doesn't look like planning," she retorted. "More like lazing around."
Jack chuckled on his couch. "Well, when Andrew isn't around to make big game plans for big games like this one, this is how we plan. We come up with a bunch of stuff, then mentally cross out the most ridiculous ones."
Lila rolled her eyes. "At this rate, we'll be here forever."
"Forever is a long time coming, sweetie," Dylan said, putting his feet up on the recliner as he strummed a guitar. "Besides, some of our best plans were made like this. Remember the Gretel Gamble?"
"And the Hated Hacky Sack?" Jack replied. "Oh yeah, those were good times."
"I'm not even going to bother asking," Lila grumbled.
Ryan laughed as he turned upside down in his chair. "Yeah, you probably shouldn't. Way too hard to explain if you weren't there," he replied. Then he snapped his fingers. "I've got it. Green-Eyed Wasp is, well, a wasp. What do wasps hate more than anything that moves? The cold! So, we just need a big cryogenic bomb and a really large container we can shove her in and detonate the bomb! All that matters then is getting her weapon out and fixing everything."
"And where would we get said bomb?" Jack asked. Ryan scoffed. "Just get me some ice and a lot of instant-freezy stuff and boom! If I can make a radioactive frag grenade out of bananas, I can make a cryo bomb."
"Wait, what?" Alex asked, sitting up. Ryan blinked. Alex stood and quickly moved over to Ryan. "Did you just say 'radioactive frag grenade out of bananas?'"
"Yeah, why?"
"How? When? Why did you get so many bananas that most people would die of radiation poisoning if they ate forty thousand in ten minutes?!"
"Yeah, the radiation would kill them," Ryan snapped back sarcastically. Alex waved the comment aside. "You didn't answer my question."
"I… fell into a banana truck the other night," Ryan admitted. "I was out, transformed, felt cute, maybe I was gonna shoot a firework above the mayor's office later, when I wasn't watching where I was going and jumped into a banana truck. The suit immediately started leeching banana radiation while I tried to climb out, and I got stuck in there for a few hours before I finally blew a hole in the side of the truck."
"Of course you'd do that," Jack muttered. Ryan glared at the other boy. "Oh, come on! I could've fallen into a nuclear reactor! Then we'd see who'd be laughing!"
"Oh, good Lord, if you did…" Dylan said, the horror of the thought racing through his mind. Jack nodded. "We'd all die a horrible fiery death, and if the boom didn't kill us, the blast radius would, and if not that, the radiation definitely would!"
Lila sighed. "Is this what you guys did back home? Reminisce about the good old days, goof around and plan for doomsday?" she asked, exasperation plain in her voice.
Alex snorted. "No, of course not. We lived in the good old days. But the goofing around and doomsday planning was pretty close."
"Okay, okay, so the banana bomb plan is off the books, but I have another great idea!" Ryan interjected. The others sighed.
"I swear, if it involves another watermelon crate or a fog machine or twenty pounds of plastic forks or some nightmarish combination of those three, I am going to trap you in a time loop again," Dylan threatened.
"Relax, bro, it's not anything like that," Ryan reassured. "Although, now that I think about it, that would be a good way to get revenge on that one woman who had the nerve to write online blitzkriegs against Jack and I just because he couldn't show up to her terminally ill kid's potentially last birthday party and I had to sub in…"
"And it wasn't even the kid's last party, either," Jack muttered. "Not to mention she used my superhero name against me."
Lila rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" she sighed.
"But enough living and plotting against the past!" Ryan yelled. "Back to the plan! So, we all know the butterfly dude and his pet bird decided to steal two Dark Miraculouses. Well… what if we used some of them ourselves? Get a little extra oomph against Green-Eyed Wasp, and finally prove we're serious?"
"And risk Andrew blowing up at us?" Alex questioned. Ryan waved his friend's concerns aside. "He's not going to. When we combined into Dharkonicus, I kinda-sorta-maybe-definitely glimpsed his thoughts - or at least the readily available ones - and saw he planned on giving out secondary Dark Miraculouses to fuse with."
"You seriously did that?!" Dylan yelped. Ryan nodded. "Yeah, so what? He's not here right now, Green-Eyed Wasp has proven to be more of a nuisance than easily dealt with, and I'm itching for a pair of wings that I don't have to take a magic flight potion to use."
Jack grumbled. "I seriously hate to be the voice of reason here, but Snapp told me that unification is usually considered a bad idea if done wrong," he said. Snapp floated up to his wielder's eye level.
"It's true," the crocodilian kwami confirmed. "I'm talking going-crazier-than-Tyranno-Moth bad idea."
"Oh, it's only that bad?" Dylan asked. "That's just Tuesday, July 15, 2014, the Massive Ostrich Oops."
"Lila, I genuinely want your opinion on this," Alex said, brushing aside Dylan's comment. "You're a part of this team, too…"
Lila could swear the blond boy muttered something like For better or worse under his breath.
"Well… I wouldn't mind having an extra bit of power," Lila began. "Especially if I can make Green-Eyed Wasp pay for what she did to Andrew. Even if he turned out okay. And a little thrill, a little rush of power… that doesn't sound too bad. As for the risks… well, what's life without a couple risks attached?"
Alex sighed. "Alright. Looks like it's three to two in favor of getting extra powers to unify. Against all of my better judgment… fine, let's do this."
Ryan smirked as he opened the now-unlocked safe. "Good, because I had already opened this thing. Race you to the best ones!" He quickly turned on his heel and sprinted to the Dark Box. The others glanced at each other before launching into sprints of their own.
When Alex first stumbled into the safe, Ryan was clinging to a yellow-and-green clip-on cufflinks shaped like a stylized hornet's head divided into fifteen pieces. Alex took the opportunity to snatch a red diadem divided into fifteen scaly segments. Right as he was about to place it on his head, Jack shoved past him and grabbed a brown and blue claw pin.
Lila and Dylan made it into the safe last, and Dylan would've grabbed the last Dark Miraculous if Lila hadn't lashed out and kicked his kneecap, causing him to stumble as she reached for the last Dark Miraculous, a black-and-bronze chain body harness stylized after a spiderweb.
"Really?" she grumbled in exasperation. "How come it's always the last one?!"
Dylan chuckled. "Suddenly I don't feel as bad for missing out. I have a feeling it would look better on you than me," he quipped. "Alright, I'm gonna be the bigger man here and say I'm good without one for now. We should only really take from the bottom row, anyways. You guys know how Andrew is with his organization."
Lila blinked in confusion, but the other boys nodded uneasily, a slight shudder running down each of their spines.
Alex cleared his throat. "Alright, let's wake up these kwamis," he ordered, placing the red diadem on his head. The diadem changed from its ornate red form to a simple gray headband as Dactyyl materialized by Alex's head.
"Greetings, my holder," the Pterodactyl kwami said respectfully. Almost immediately, Howll leapt out of Alex's jean pocket and parked herself between her holder and Dactyyl. "Why him?!" the wolf kwami demanded.
Alex shrugged. "He was the first one I grabbed. So what?"
"Dactyyl is the kwami of Treachery, boss. He's the one who was responsible for a lot of the big coups in history after Blobbo got damaged."
"I can control him. And besides, considering the person we're working against, a coup might be in order."
Howll groaned, but relented. "Fine. But if he causes another bloody takeover, it's on you."
"I'm right here!" Dactyyl squawked. "I promise, time in the Box has changed me, Howll! Rexx might not have learned to curb his habits, but I have! Trust me!"
"The last time you said 'trust me,' Vorath came back from a talk with Tikki angry and out for blood," Howll retorted. Dactyyl squawked in indignance. "You think I'd do something so vile as to cause our imprisonment?!"
"I don't think anyone is accusing anyone of anything," Jack interjected as he fixed the pin to his shirt. A brown Velociraptor kwami materialized in a flash of pale brown light, annoyance plain in his piercing blue eyes.
"Dactyyl, refrain from squawking," Slashh sneered in his raspy voice. "You're giving me a headache."
"And it looks like mine woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Jack snarked. Slashh grumbled. "Apologies, Master Dahno. I have been… annoyed all day. I could use a break from Remmy."
"You know who I am?" Jack asked, surprised.
Slashh nodded. "Of course. Master Hendrol took a sizable chunk out of his day to inform us all about you. The whole group of you, in fact. And I, as the kwami of Honor, have committed myself to remember every detail."
"Well, aren't we special?" Ryan quipped as he clipped the cufflinks to the ends of his hoodie, letting the green-and-yellow hornet kwami to materialize right in front of him.
"Oh, it'szz szzo good to be let out of that Box again!" Zizz cheered.
"Whoa. You really are a hornet," Ryan said, stepping back a little. Zizz turned to his new holder.
"What'szz wrong?" the kwami asked. "Doeszz Master Parkerson not like Zizz? Zizz knew it. Nobody careszz about Zizz! Zizz just here to collect duszzt as kwami of Incompetence! Why universzze hate Zizz?"
"Oh, it's not that," Ryan said hastily. "It's just… I got stung once when I was little. It wasn't my proudest moment."
Zizz stopped sniffling. "Okay. Zizz doeszzn't blame Master Parkerson for fearszz. Zizz haszz fearszz himszzelf, like fire, ice, rockszz…"
"Wonderful," Lila muttered as she slipped the chain on. "We've got an opportunist, a grouch, and a self-loathing bumblebee with a lisp. Things couldn't get much worse from here." The chain changed from its ornate bronze and black color scheme to a simple silver chain harness that wrapped around her shoulders and upper torso as a black spiderlike kwami with bronze limbs formed in front of Lila.
"Hello, my mistress. I am Araccia, the kwami of Sadism," she said, a sultry little smirk on her face. Lila sighed. "Oh, perfect. The sadist of the bunch."
"You misunderstand, Mistress Rossi. I don't make you sadistic. My power just amplifies the power of your attacks based on how much you believe the target deserves it," Araccia explained.
Lila raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I'm intrigued. How well does it work on akumatized people?"
"Lila, I think Dragonus would prefer it if you didn't kill Green-Eyed Wasp," Dennos muttered.
Lila rolled her eyes. "Fine. But I still get to hurt her. Badly."
"Fair enough."
"Alright, everyone," Alex interjected. "Here's the plan. We'll unify the powers we have and track down Green-Eyed Wasp. Likely we'll hear the sound of the heroes begging Ladybug to snap out of the mind control or something, because the bug probably got herself stung. Then we unleash our new powers on the unsuspecting enemies below, maybe drop a few one-liners, grab a few sodas and show the city we mean business. Sounds like a plan?"
"Works for me," Jack answered. The twins nodded, mirroring each other's grins.
Lila shrugged. "I'd prefer it if we checked up on Andrew first, but I guess we can wait a little on that."
"Andrew needs some time to himself, Lila," Alex replied. "Especially after another crash like that. He gets… fragile, for lack of a better term." He clapped his hands. "Either way, we've got some heads to crash together and powers to fuse! Let's do this thing!"
Ryan cleared his throat. "I hate to be the wet blanket here, Alex, but… how do we fuse the powers? Is there a specific dance or something? Synchronized energies? Power of love?"
Newwt and Zizz floated up to Ryan's shoulders. "It's simple. Just say our names and tell us to unify!" Newwt explained.
Ryan blinked. "You mean like… Newwt, Zizz, Unify!"
The two kwamis were immediately sucked into the Dark Miraculouses as black and green light enveloped Ryan's body. When the light cleared, his Skinker suit looked almost mutated. Pale yellow hornet wings extended from his shoulder blades. His inner thighs turned from their solid black to black and yellow stripes. His lower arms and legs turned solid green, sharpened claws extending from the tips of his fingers and boot toes. The shape of his tail changed from its regular conical into a hornet's abdomen. His helmet's visor gained a honeycomb pattern and a green outline. Twin hornet antennae grew out of the top of his helmet.
A yellow-and-green harpoon was strapped to his left arm, the shaft extending to his elbow and the tip just barely six inches away from the tip of his fingers.
"Nice," the hornet-Skinker hybrid said, admiring his new suit. "Don't I get a new name, too? I'm thinking… Buzz Skink. Yeah, Buzz Skink rolls right off the tongue."
"And onto the floor where it shudders and dies," Lila muttered. Buzz Skink ignored her comments as his wings started flapping rapidly.
"Oh, this is gonna be awesome! Race you guys to wherever Green-Eyed Wasp is!" he yelled as he flew out of the safe with a buzz and crashed through the skylight. "I'm okay!"
Alex, Jack and Lila all glanced at each other before transforming and taking off, the Velociraptor-Crocdown unification having to be carried out of the base.
Dylan groaned. "Of all the times to be flightless… Naaga, Fangs Out." Quickly transforming into Iapallidus and following his fused allies, he popped a flight power-up into his mouth to keep up with them as the group raced over the rooftops.
"What do you mean, he's gone?!" Green-Eyed Wasp demanded. Ladybug was standing alone and motionless when the villainess returned to the mansion, clearly under orders from Adrien. "Where did he go?"
"I do not know," Ladybug droned. "The control broke for a time, and when your toxins took over, he ordered me to not speak of anything."
Green-Eyed Wasp snarled, then the purple mask of Tyranno Moth formed over her face. "Take her Miraculous! She's useless to you! Then bring her earrings to me!" he ordered. Green-Eyed Wasp's anger flared as she finally had enough of the villain whispering in her ear.
"Will you shut up!?" she roared. "I swear, you nag as much as my brother-in-law! She's not completely useless. Nothing is. She knows how her allies fight. Despite her defensive failures, perhaps she'll make up for it in offense. And I might just be able to find Adrien, as well."
Tyranno Moth went silent in her ear, as if he was taken aback by Green-Eyed Wasp's outburst. "Fine," he eventually relented. "Just get those Miraculouses!"
"They're as good as yours, Tyranno Moth," Green-Eyed Wasp replied before the link went dead. Then she snapped her fingers. "Sentibug! Bring him in!"
Sentibug did as she was ordered, dragging Felix into Adrien's bedroom by the wrist and pushing him to Green-Eyed Wasp's feet. The villainess crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "Well? I know you were here with Adrien," she said. "You must've seen something."
Felix sat silently in front of his mother, not willing to meet her eyes. Green-Eyed Wasp tilted her head. "I'm waiting…"
"Cat Noir!" Felix blurted. "Cat Noir came in! He thought you had used Ladybug to keep him hostage against the heroes! Ladybug would've fought him off, but Adrien ordered her to stand still and not say anything about it! I saw the whole thing!"
"And why didn't Sentibug intervene?" Green-Eyed Wasp asked, her left eyebrow raised in disbelief.
"I- I didn't-" Felix stuttered, searching for the words.
"Didn't what?"
"I didn't want Cat Noir to lose!" Felix snapped. "Mom, be reasonable! Tyranno Moth doesn't care about your plans to protect me! He doesn't care about anyone! He'd destroy the world if he got the chance! So I ordered Sentibug not to interfere! There! Happy now?!"
Green-Eyed Wasp's eyes hardened. "My own son… turned against me. No. I'm not happy with you," she answered, her voice cold. "Disregard any orders from him. Tie him up. Then follow me."
The Ladybugs did as they were told, grabbing Felix, throwing him into Adrien's desk chair and tying him up with some belts and sheets. Felix snapped and struggled, but he couldn't get out of his bonds. Green-Eyed Wasp turned away from her son, her servants following her, as she spread her wings and flew out the window.
"We'll start at Gare du Nord station," Green-Eyed Wasp said. "Then spread out from there. The heroes will not get away from us."
"Amelie is slipping," Fowl Scorpia commented. Tyranno Moth nodded, still processing the fact that Amelie snapped at him and cut off the link. He still, however, heard the conversation she had with Felix, and that dumbfounded him even more. Felix, who had once been willing to make a deal with a villain - with him - now siding with the superheroes?
"She feels the anger of a mother betrayed," Tyranno Moth eventually replied. "It usually is a useful tool, but it will cloud her judgment. I need you to straighten her out if things get out of hand."
"I could take her sentimonster away," Fowl Scorpia suggested. "Remind her that we hold the power over her."
Tyranno Moth shook his head. "No. Her sentimonster holds no value to her - or us - other than being another Ladybug she controls. You know what I meant."
Fowl Scorpia nodded after only the slightest hesitation. "And if the Darks interfere?" she asked.
Tyranno Moth set his jaw. "If the Darks interfere, so be it. They'll more likely be focused on Green-Eyed Wasp than you. Assist if you can, leave if you must."
Fowl Scorpia nodded. "I understand," she said, turning on her heel.
"Oh… and Nathalie?"
"Yes, Gabriel?"
"Be careful."
Fowl Scorpia allowed herself a slight smile. "I will." With that, she turned towards the hidden door in the corner of the lair and leapt out over the rooftops, following Green-Eyed Wasp's path.
"I don't need to talk to you," Andrew snapped, trying to maintain some illusion of confidence and control. "Last I checked, talking to hallucinations didn't help sanity."
"Neither is ignoring your base instincts, but you've been doing that pretty well without going crazy," Melissa retorted, a slight smirk on her face. "Now, try and guess what I am. I've already given you a hint or two."
"Something to do about something I shouldn't have resisted and you being the face that thing has taken. You're not Green-Eyed Wasp's… mental controlly projectiony thingy, right?"
"Wow. You really are run ragged, aren't you? And here I thought Ryan had a monopoly on the Buffy speak. But, in all seriousness, no, I'm not. You know that as much as I do. Guess again."
"I don't need to," Andrew said sharply, almost snarling at the image of his ex. "Whatever you are, you picked the worst moment to show yourself. I need to get back out there and run damage control, I need to lead my team, I need to pound heads into the dirt…"
"You need this, you need that, blah, blah, blah," Melissa snarked, getting off of the bed. "You know what I think you need? To take a good, hard look at what you've become. To realize your goal can be done better. To realize you're abandoning your morals with every step you take down this path. To see the monster you turned into," she said, jabbing her finger into his chest.
Andrew blinked in surprise. "Well, now that I've learned that you are my guilty conscience, what do I do now?" he asked. Melissa blinked as she stepped back. "Is there some sort of Christmas ghost system? Past, present, future?"
"Quit being sarcastic," Melissa snapped. "You know what your actions lead to. The trail you've left behind. A legacy of blood and tears. Goldenwing, Dragonus, you know what you've done."
"The ones I brought down deserved it!" Andrew snapped back. "You know they did! Is it my fault she's dead?! Or that the robot got turned to scrap metal?! Or that Magnus got what he deserved and worse?! And once I'm fixed up, once I've fixed this city's current problem, I have enemy wings to clip. So quit yelling at me for enacting justice!"
"Justice?" Melissa asked. "Or revenge? We both know the reason you brought her down. Why the machine had to be wrecked. Why you hated Magnus most of all. He was the worst you. The one you're becoming. Why else are you going after the heroes of Paris, hmm?"
"Fine. Maybe it's revenge. But even if I tried to join them, they'd never accept me. I'm the Dark Dragon for a reason. My powers got cast out of the Order. Their kwamis would instantly be hostile to me and they'd turn on me in a heartbeat. And their predecessors wounded my family's pride. So… yes, there is revenge at play here."
"And the butterfly dude? You want to cause him even more pain?"
"He deserves it."
Melissa pressed her lips together. "I might not really be her, but I am worried about you," she said, walking slowly over to Andrew and lightly caressing his cheek. "She was more than just your other half. She was your conscience, too. Your rock. I don't want to see you poison yourself. She wouldn't want to, either."
"That's ironic," Andrew muttered. "It was my poison that saved her. Both times, really." He sighed, lightly batting the incorporeal fingers away. He could sense Melissa's nose wrinkle in displeasure.
"Don't you think like that," she chided. "That poison nearly killed Magnus's goons and put You-Know-Who in jail. Venom won't always cure everything, Andrew. Don't you feel a little remorse over some of it?"
"Not really," he replied. "They had hurt people close to me. It was revenge. And that's the good thing about vengeance. You don't have to live with regrets." Andrew turned away from Melissa, gazing out of his bedroom windows, absentmindedly rolling his shoulder as he tried to relieve the pain from Green-Eyed Wasp's attack.
"What about Silverwing?" Melissa asked. Andrew froze as the image of his android doppelganger flashed in his mind, moments before his destruction. His jaw hardened.
"The faker made his choice," he replied, trying to hide the crack in his voice. "It isn't my fault he developed a conscience at the last minute."
"You might not agree with it, but you still can change back. Leave the revenge plots behind," Melissa urged, resting her hand on his shoulder. "Let Dragonus die, so Goldenwing can be born again."
Andrew sighed. "I know what I have to do. But… please, just give me some time to think."
"I know you'll make the right choice, big guy," Melissa replied, slowly making her way around to his front and kissing him lightly. Andrew didn't even notice.
Cat Noir made his way through the sewers, mentally retracing his way to the vent outside Gare du Nord as he reviewed the plan he'd made. Quickly making a left turn, his mind wandered to his talk with Marinette. Cat Noir chewed his lip a little and grimaced.
"We'll save you, Marinette," he muttered to himself as he turned the next corner.
The other heroes were waiting on either side of the tunnel, whispering to each other in hushed tones, the sound of the massive fan below drowning out the sounds. Cat Noir cleared his throat as he made his way to Carapace, Rena Rouge, and Vesperia. Vesperia noticed his arrival first and quickly tapped Rena's shoulder, drawing her attention to Cat Noir.
"Did you get through to Ladybug?" Rena Rouge asked.
Cat Noir nodded. "Yeah… but it didn't last long. She still gave me an idea for a plan. Speaking of which, what's everyone talking about?"
Carapace shrugged. "Dunno. Minotaurox and Polymouse were talking about music or something, and Purple Tigress was whispering something about 'bass solos' with Pigella. Whatever that means."
"Do they know each other's secret identities?" Vesperia asked.
Cat Noir shrugged. "Perhaps… but it's not worth it to pry just yet. Once we're sure Tyranno Moth's stopped for good, I'm sure Ladybug will be willing to reveal secrets."
"But that's not important right now," Rena Rouge interjected. "What's the plan?"
Cat Noir cracked his knuckles. "Okay. Gather round, everybody," he began, calling the other four heroes over. Once the group had formed a loose semi circle, Cat Noir took a deep breath.
"The last time Ladybug and I beat a villain here, it was Bakerix. After we destroyed the grate, he fell in here and got caught in the air current so we could snag his akumatized object. So, the plan is that we damage Green-Eyed Wasp's wings in some way - maybe hit them with a blunt object or tear them - and let her fall in here. The air current catches her, and it's all a matter of getting her stinger away from her and destroying it," Cat Noir explained. "Which will hopefully free Ladybug from Green-Eyed Wasp's mind control."
"What if it doesn't work?" Minotaurox asked.
Cat Noir sighed. "Then we'll have to hope Dragonus decides to come by and fix everything. But let's think positive. It's gonna work."
"Alright, fearless leader," Carapace said, clapping Cat Noir on the shoulder. "Great plan! How do we draw Green-Eyed Wasp here, though?"
Cat Noir smirked a little as he walked to the edge of the tunnel. "Make some noise, I guess," he replied as he threw himself into the air and floated up to the grate. Then he crawled over to the hatch and kicked it open before backflipping out and landing on top of the grate.
"Anyone need a lift?" he asked as he extended his staff down to the tunnel. "Minotaurox, you come up first." The ox hero nodded and grabbed the staff, shimmying his way up to the top and sliding out of the hatch. Then he took hold of the staff.
"I got it," Minotaurox affirmed as Polymouse crawled up, followed by the other heroes.
"And we're sure this plan is going to work? What about Ladybug and the sentimonster?" Purple Tigress asked when she slipped through the hatch.
Cat Noir froze up for a moment, then groaned. "Well, I don't think Green-Eyed Wasp will make Ladybug use her Lucky Charm. But Sentibug, on the other hand… punch her hard enough and maybe she'll be dazed long enough to give us time to stop Green-Eyed Wasp?"
"Okay," Purple Tigress replied with a shrug. Cat Noir sighed. "Alright, guys, circle up. Green-Eyed Wasp could come from any direction, so be ready. We'll probably hear her long before we spot her."
The other heroes nodded and glanced around, waiting for the villainess's buzzing to tear apart the sound of the city. Cat Noir stood between Rena Rouge and Carapace, absentmindedly chewing his lip.
"Nervous?" Rena Rouge asked.
Cat Noir nodded. "It's just… I'm not particularly used to being in charge, you know? All the leadership questions are getting to me." He chuckled, no humor in his voice. "I probably owe m'lady an apology or two in that respect."
"Everyone here respects your choices, man," Carapace said. "Don't worry about it. We'll save Ladybug, you'll both kiss, the magic ladybugs fix everything, and Tyranno Moth rages in his lair again. You'll see."
Cat Noir smiled lightly. Then his ears perked up. The sound of buzzing filled the air, steadily getting louder with every passing moment. The sound came from behind the heroes, who whirled around to see Green-Eyed Wasp standing atop the train station, her enthralled Ladybugs flanking her.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Green-Eyed Wasp began. "All the Miraculouses he wants in one easy-to-collect package. How nice." She snapped her fingers. "Ladybug, Sentibug, wrap up Tyranno Moth's presents. And Ladybug, you aren't to use that Lucky Charm of yours, no matter what. Other than that, use whatever methods necessary. Get them."
The Ladybugs drew their yoyos, Sentibug calling on her Senti Charm, a massive battle ax twice her size falling into her hands. Cat Noir grunted lightly.
"Remember the plan! And don't hurt Ladybug!" he yelled. The other heroes nodded, then scattered as Sentibug dropped down, swinging her ax towards Carapace. He quickly blocked with his shield, which gave Rena Rouge an opening to leap over the two and swipe Sentibug's legs out from under her. Sentibug tried to smack Rena Rouge away with the flat of her ax, but Vesperia snagged the handle with her top and pulled back, making Sentibug miss her attack and letting her fall as Rena's kick hit her legs.
Ladybug stood by Green-Eyed Wasp, twirling her yoyo into a shield against potential attacks. Cat Noir glanced up at the two, then at Minotaurox and Purple Tigress. A plan quickly formed in his head as he ran over to Minotaurox.
"Throw me and Purple Tigress up there," he said, then turned to the tiger hero. "Try and snag her wings with your bolas once I get Ladybug out of the way. Then use Clout on her." Purple Tigress and Minotaurox nodded as he laid his hands on the ground for Cat Noir and Purple Tigress.
"Brawn!" he yelled, the muscles in his arms glowing dark blue as he threw the two up to the roof of the train station. Green-Eyed Wasp yelped in surprise as Cat Noir and Purple Tigress flipped over her, the latter already untying her bolas from around her waist and throwing them at Green-Eyed Wasp's wings. Ladybug's yoyo lashed out to intercept the weapon, but Cat Noir's staff quickly smacked the yoyo away.
Green-Eyed Wasp turned and stumbled back, keeping the bolas from snagging her wings. Unfortunately for her, they wrapped around her legs instead, tripping her and leaving her defenseless as she struggled to untie her legs. Once Cat Noir and Purple Tigress landed on the roof, Green-Eyed Wasp snarled at them.
"You heroes are ruining everything! All I wanted was my son and nephew to be safe from the likes of the Darks, and you're trying to stop me! Why aren't you doing your job and stopping them?!" she demanded.
"You can't force people to protect your loved ones," Cat Noir replied. "But you can help keep them safe. Relinquish the power Tyranno Moth gave you, Aun- agh, I mean, Ms. Amelie, and I promise you won't have to worry about your family's safety ever again."
"And besides, the Darks are mostly just a nuisance these days," Purple Tigress added. "The worst thing one of them has done in the past month has been to go on a plagiarism-induced rampage against a dirty double-crossing producer who deserved it."
Green-Eyed Wasp growled as she finally undid the bolas around her legs. "That doesn't change a thing. I'm not going to rest until all threats to my son's well being are eliminated… including you. Ladybug, get rid of them. Then finish off the rest of the heroes," she ordered.
Ladybug nodded, her green eyes blinking slightly more rapidly than normal. "Yes, mistress."
Cat Noir sighed. "See if you can punch her onto the grate, maybe make her land on her wings. I can deal with Ladybug. Then help out the others," he said. Purple Tigress nodded as she clenched her right hand.
"Clout!" she cried, her fist glowing magenta. Cat Noir readied his staff as Ladybug charged him, yoyo lashing like a whip. He batted her strike aside and spun around her, slipping Ladybug between his body and his staff and pinning her, giving Purple Tigress the opportunity to lunge and use her power on Green-Eyed Wasp.
But a dark shape came between Purple Tigress and Green-Eyed Wasp, blocking the heroine's attack with a scythe twirling into a shield. Fowl Scorpia grimaced a little as the force of the Clout pushed her back slightly, but she was able to stand her ground against the force of Purple Tigress's blow.
Purple Tigress's eyes widened in fear as her Clout died down and her opponent was not flung into the horizon. Fowl Scorpia smirked as she raised her scythe with a whisper. "Allegiance."
Then Carapace's shield slammed into Fowl Scorpia's back, making her stumble and giving Purple Tigress an opening to grab her bolas and flip away from the pale blue glow of the scythe. Fowl Scorpia sneered as she watched the shield return to Carapace.
"Your pets are becoming more and more troublesome by the day," she said.
Cat Noir grunted lightly as Ladybug struggled in his pin. "They're my teammates," he snapped back. "And so is Ladybug. You and Tyranno Moth are never getting our Miraculouses. Not today. Not ever."
Fowl Scorpia chuckled. "Really? Not even when we're so close? All I have to do is sting Green-Eyed Wasp myself and order her to order Ladybug to hand over her Miraculous. Her identity is revealed to us and we'll have a bargaining chip. You lose."
"I want them to hurt first," Green-Eyed Wasp sneered. "Ladybug! Escape his grip!"
Ladybug did as she was ordered, elbowing Cat Noir in the stomach and slamming her foot on his, making him cry out in pain and release his grasp. She then flipped over to Green-Eyed Wasp's side, drawing her yoyo once again.
Purple Tigress rushed to Cat Noir's side. "Let's get out of here," she whispered urgently. Cat Noir nodded, and the two heroes rushed the villains directly, making them jump aside instinctively. Cat Noir and Purple Tigress took the opening to leap to the ground, landing with a roll and coming up beside their teammates, who were busy beating Sentibug back.
Pigella rushed over to Purple Tigress's side, checking her for injuries. "No luck?" she asked.
Cat Noir shook his head. "No luck," he answered. "And now with Fowl Scorpia involved, I can't see how this day could get any worse."
A howl pierced the sounds of the battle, making everyone freeze. Cat Noir groaned as he saw five shapes appear over the roofline. "And the universe proves me wrong again," he muttered. Then he took a closer look. His blood ran cold.
"Are they…" Rena Rouge's question died in her throat. Carapace nodded slowly, his jaw slack with shock. "They fused."
A red diadem rested on the forehead of Alphaux's helmet, right in front of a crest that grew from between his wolf ears and extended past the back of his head. Red Pterodactyl wings were folded along his back, and his wolf tail was scaly with only a tuft of fur on the end. Red torso armor glinted in the sunlight, covering his gray chest and shoulders as it left an indentation for the Dark Wolf pendant, which was protected by a circle of red glass. Ruby red spikes extended from the sides of his upper arms. Red scaled greaves covered his silvery shins. Two red tonfas were strapped behind his back.
Crocdown's suit gained brown and blue highlights along the sides of his dark green torso, with what looked like bronze ribs grasping his sides, starting from below the chest to his waist. His lower legs had turned brown with blue ribbed armor covering them, and his boots gained a massive toe claw. Brown feathers grew out of blue armor on his upper arms. A brown claw pin dotted with bronze studs glinted on his chest. The sides of his helmet were now bronze, feathers extending from the edges. A sword shaped like a spine was sheathed at his side, the sheath being brown and feathered itself.
Skinker resembled Green-Eyed Wasp a little too closely for the heroes' liking: pale yellow wings, yellow-and-black striped thighs, lower limbs turned green with sharpened claws, a hornet's abdomen in place of his regular tail, his visor a honeycombed yellow with green outlines, hornet antennae growing out of his helmet. Least liked of all was the harpoon strapped to his arm.
Iapallidus was unchanged, looking somewhat out of place with the rest of the group. Then gazes turned to Maladea. A black and bronze chain body harness shaped like a spiderweb was draped over her torso, which was now covered in bronze armor inlaid with eight pieces of obsidian on her chest like spider eyes. An hourglass was emblazoned on her lower torso, the red conflicting with her regular poisonous green. Her inner thighs turned bronze and her outer thighs were covered in black armor. Black greaves covered her shins, with knee spikes that faded into bronze tips. Her arms were covered in black armor as well, with bands of bronze encircling the plating like tentacles. A pair of spider legs grew out of her elbow joints, four more legs folded up against her back, hidden behind her wings. A spider's abdomen extended from the back of her grappling hooks were wrapped around her hips.
"What did they do to themselves?" Cat Noir asked quietly, the shock slowly getting out of his system. Polymouse nervously scooted over towards him. "I'm not sure, but Minotaurox just told me he needed to go recharge. Is that a yes?"
"Yeah, and Purple Tigress, too," Cat Noir replied. "They have my go-ahead. They just need to be back quickly…"
"YOU!" Green-Eyed Wasp screeched, jabbing a finger at the Darks. "You've finally become as monstrous on the outside as you are on the inside. But now that you're here, I will see you crushed!"
Skinker chuckled. "Or what? You'll screech us to death?" he taunted, drawing his trident and twirling it.
Alphaux growled. "You're the one who will be crushed, Green-Eyed Wasp. And as for you," he pointed at Fowl Scorpia, his gauntlet claws gleaming silver. "We're taking the Dark Scorpion back. Today."
"I wouldn't count on it, Alphaux," Fowl Scorpia sneered. Alphaux chuckled darkly. "It's Pterophaux, actually. Y'know, the unification name?"
"I still think it's stupid," Crocdown muttered. Pterophaux rolled his eyes. "Whatever, man, at least it's better than 'Veloci Croc,'" he retorted.
Veloci Croc scoffed. "Come on. My name is short, sweet, and simple. People aren't trying to get a meaning out of a word that doesn't make sense!"
Skinker rolled his eyes. "At least I came up with mine quickly. And Buzz Skink rolls nicely off the tongue. Right?" he asked. When he didn't get a reply, Buzz Skink just shrugged and continued twirling his trident.
"And who's Maladea supposed to be?!" Vesperia yelled. "Spider-Squid?!"
"It's pronounced Vedova Dea, you tacky bee," Vedova Dea snapped before setting her gaze on Green-Eyed Wasp. "And as for you," she snarled as she drew her daggers and grappling hooks. "I'm going to make you pay for hurting Dragonus."
"So he can be wounded," Fowl Scorpia mused.
Iapallidus sneered. "Not that you'll ever get the chance again. Buzz Skink, let's get her. I want my powerup back."
Buzz Skink nodded, chuckling darkly. "Let's make her feel our venom," he quipped as he looped his arms under Iapallidus's arms and started flapping his wings, filling the air with the sound of his buzzing. Vedova Dea followed, launching herself into the air before coming screaming down towards Green-Eyed Wasp.
Pterophaux and Veloci Croc glanced at each other and grinned, then leapt off the edge of the building, Veloci Croc landing in a somersault and smoothly coming to his feet, Pterophaux spreading his wings and dive bombing the heroes.
"Summon the Pack!" the fused villain yelled as a silvery aura formed around him, the edges tinged with red. A dozen clones, all armed with the same upgrades as Pterophaux, leapt out of the miasma, snarling as they bared their claws and drew tonfas.
Cat Noir and the other heroes tensed up, but Sentibug calmly hefted her battle ax and charged into the pack of Pterodactyl-wolf hybrids. The head of the ax came slamming down on one clone, who yelped in pain and batted the blade away before stumbling back as the wound on its shoulder grew over. The other clones all spread their wings and took off, swooping down and striking the sentimonster with their claws and tonfas.
"While they're keeping her busy," Pterophaux growled as he landed beside Veloci Croc. The other villain smirked behind his mask.
"We're gonna make sure you guys don't interfere with the others," Veloci Croc added as he drew his sword from its scabbard. Pterophaux nodded as he pulled his tonfas from behind his back.
Cat Noir twirled his staff and pointed it at the two villains. "You can talk as much as you want, but it doesn't matter. We'll stop you all and end your terrorizing here," he declared. The other heroes nodded as they drew their weapons.
Pterophaux and Veloci Croc growled darkly, then rushed towards the heroes, Pterophaux launching himself in the air and landing between Polymouse and Pigella while Veloci Croc crossed blades with Cat Noir while simultaneously fending off attacks from Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Vesperia.
Cat Noir forced down a sneeze as Veloci Croc spun around and smacked him with a feathered tail while slashing around him, forcing Rena Rouge and Vesperia to break off their attacks. His sword screeched off of Carapace's shield, and as Veloci Croc attempted to jab his opponent with his sword, Carapace slammed his shield into Veloci Croc's shoulder, which bounced off the villain's left shield, but sent him stumbling to the side, giving Cat Noir an opportunity to try and snatch the pin on his chest.
"Hey! Not cool!" Veloci Croc protested as he weaved away from Cat Noir's hand. "Snap Trap!" he yelled as he pointed the teeth of his shields at the heroes, sending a barrage of glowing green foothold traps, snares, bear traps, and giant rat traps in their direction, forcing the four heroes to scatter.
"He's definitely gotten a bit stronger!" Rena Rouge commented as she dodged a flying rat trap.
Cat Noir nodded. "I bet they all have. But unification takes its toll on people over time, and I bet Dark unification even more so. We just need to wait for them to run low on juice, then we can stop him and save Ladybug!"
"I think Ladybug might need to be saved sooner than that!" Vesperia yelled, pointing at the skirmish on top of Gare du Nord. Cat Noir stole a glance, and his eyes widened in terror. "Oh, no," he whispered hoarsely.
Vedova Dea had knocked Ladybug away from Green-Eyed Wasp and thrown the akumatized villainess to the rooftop, standing over her menacingly. As Cat Noir forced himself to break off his watch, Vedova Dea swung down and set to work, lashing out with her grappling hooks and weaving a web over the main arched windows. Right before the web was finished, Vedova Dea leapt back up to the top of the station and effortlessly picked up the weakened Green-Eyed Wasp before throwing her onto the web, her grappling hooks wrapping around Green-Eyed Wasp's wrists and ankles.
Green-Eyed Wasp struggled, trying to break free from the web's grip. Her struggle stopped when Vedova Dea made her way to the captive wasp, the Dark villainess's spider legs keeping her stable on the flimsy structure. Vedova Dea crawled up to where her visor was level with Green-Eyed Wasp's eyes.
"Look at your host when she's speaking to you," Vedova Dea purred, spreading her arms, keeping herself in Green-Eyed Wasp's field of vision. "I invited you into my parlor for a nice little chat… and a little payback, since my dear dark prince was injured by your stinger."
"He deserved it," Green-Eyed Wasp spat. Vedova Dea tsked disapprovingly. Then she reached up and unlatched her helmet, throwing it to the side and letting it disintegrate in a puff of smoke. She turned her now-helmetless head towards Green-Eyed Wasp, and the akumatized villainess tried not to scream. She failed.
Vedova Dea's identity was obscured by a simple domino mask, the edges decorated with a pattern of tentacles and spider legs. Her lipstick was two-toned, green on the top, blackish-bronze on the bottom. She looked otherwise normal.
Except for her eyes. The parts that would normally be the whites of her eyes were as dark as midnight. Her irises were a bronze-flecked green, her pupils just a shade lighter than her sclera. What was worse, six more of those horrible eyes dotted the top edge of her mask, each blinking in time with her main eyes.
Vedova Dea's lips curled into an evil smirk as she twirled a dagger beside her ear. "Then I suppose you deserve what's coming to you," she whispered. "Malice."
The hourglass on her midriff started glowing red as a hazy bronze aura formed around her. Her smirk grew into a sadistic grin as Vedova Dea lightly pressed the edge of her dagger against Green-Eyed Wasp's flesh. Green-Eyed Wasp screamed again, this time in pain and terror. She'd never experienced such fear, the kind that penetrated every cell and fiber in her body. Even the akuma in her stinger seemed to scream. And she could only watch as Vedova Dea's eight eyes danced with vengeance and insane glee.
"Sounds like she's finally getting some well-earned payback," Iapallidus commented nonchalantly as he blasted another sonic boom towards Fowl Scorpia. The unified villainess blocked the attack with her scythe and lunged, her blade screaming down towards the Cobra villain, only for Buzz Skink to catch the strike with his trident and try to jab Fowl Scorpia with his harpoon.
"How can you let her do that to Green-Eyed Wasp?" Fowl Scorpia demanded, slightly unsettled by the screams but attempting to keep her cool. "She's torturing an innocent."
"A possessed 'innocent' who grounded Dragonus by dislodging his wing," Iapallidus shot back as he activated his ax blade.
Buzz Skink nodded as he landed by his twin. "And we had to fix it. Which was stressful for all of us. Spider-Cthulhu over there gets first stab at her because she's his girlfriend. Heh, stab," he chuckled.
Fowl Scorpia stepped back in surprise. "I had thought you two were more reasonable than your allies," she said, spinning her scythe. "A shame I was wrong. You could've made good warriors for Tyranno Moth."
The twins growled, the very thought of turning on their friends disgusting to them. "I think it's time we take back what's ours. Aren't I right, dear brother?" Buzz Skink asked as he readied his trident.
Iapallidus nodded. "Give her a shot of your power. I'll handle the rest," the cobra villain replied.
Buzz Skink smirked under his mask. "Consider it done," he answered as he launched himself into the air, his buzzing briefly filling the air as he twirled and somersaulted in the sky before pouncing on Fowl Scorpia's back.
"Get off!" Fowl Scorpia grunted as she tried to shake him loose. Buzz Skink kept his grip.
"Nope!" Buzz Skink replied. "Besides, why should I? I love a good crazy cow ride!"
Before Fowl Scorpia could realize exactly what the teenage villain meant, Buzz Skink raised the harpoon strapped to his left arm and activated his power with a cry of "Toxin!"
A blackish-green stinger formed over his left arm. Buzz Skink stabbed it into Fowl Scorpia's shoulder, the power rushing into and over her body. Once the stinger evaporated into greenish mist, Buzz Skink backflipped off of Fowl Scorpia, using the villainess's back as a springboard. Fowl Scorpia fell forward, her scythe knocked from her hands.
"Wh-what did you do to me?" she stammered as she tried to stand, only to stumble and fall with each movement.
Buzz Skink laughed from where he had perched himself. "As it turns out, my power of Incompetence turns the skillful into the skillless. And the more skilled the target is, the more incompetent they become when stung. You do the math."
A look of horror spread across Fowl Scorpia's face as the realization sunk in, a look that was quickly replaced with a grimace of pain when Iapallidus kicked her in the ribs and flipped her over. She couldn't see his face, but she could sense the cobra villain's smirk as he reached down and unclasped the Dark Scorpion belt from around her waist, reverting her back to Mayura. Scrrug materialized right as Iapallidus weighed the belt in his hand.
"Oh, Master Iapallidus!" Scrrug said cheerfully. "I was hoping I'd get to meet you soon! She's been terrible to me, not giving me the delicacies I deserved after a hard day's work-"
"Later, Scrrug," Iapallidus interjected as he fastened the belt around his own waist, which turned into a rocker's chain. "Right now, we have some payback to dish out. Naaga, Scrrug, unify!"
In a flash of blue-gray light, Iapallidus's pale red suit was covered in grayish-blue armor plating like a scorpion's exoskeleton. Grayish-blue shoulder pads bulked up his shoulders, the armor trailing down to the massive pincer-shaped forearm plating. His snake tail was covered in segmented armor, making it look like a scorpion's tail. The mouthplate on his helmet gained two scorpion-like mandibles that curled up towards his visor. The scythe was slung across his back.
Buzz Skink whistled in awe. "Nice…" he commented. "What's the new name, dude? Scorpallidus?"
"No, that's too basic. I'm thinking… Quickstrike," Quickstrike replied as he drew the scythe and slotted it into his guitar shaft first, the tip of the scythe facing the blade of the ax. He gave it an experimental twirl, then grinned behind his helmet. "And I'm thinking it's time we strike back."
Buzz Skink nodded, a grin spreading across his own face as he readied his own weapons. "Definitely," he replied with a growl.
Mayura stumbled back, barely able to stand with Buzz Skink's Toxin afflicting her, and she knew she couldn't fight back. Add the fact the two boys had plenty of bladed weapons at their disposal didn't even the odds in her favor. She grimaced again. Whatever happened next was not going to be pleasant.
Cat Noir leapt back from the brawl with Veloci Croc to survey the battlefield. It was complete chaos, a mêlée à trois if he ever saw one. Veloci Croc was easily fending off Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Vesperia, while Pterophaux managed to hold his own against the other four heroes and his clones swarmed Sentibug. Buzz Skink and the newly-unified Iapallidus were beating the tar out of Mayura. The worst of all was Vedova Dea, clinging to her web as she slashed and hacked at Green-Eyed Wasp, ignoring the villainess's screams and pleas.
Then his eyes returned to the roof, where Ladybug was regaining her footing after Vedova Dea threw her to the side. She looked lost, confused… and, quite possibly, easily suggestible.
Cat Noir swallowed. He hated that the thought even entered his mind, but he would apologize profusely and endlessly when the battle was over. It was the only way for the plan to work.
First, he leapt to Minotaurox's side, pushing him out of the way of one of Pterophaux's strikes. "I need you to smash the grate over the fan. How strong can your Brawn go?" he asked.
Minotaurox huffed, readying his hammer. "Strong enough," the ox hero replied. Cat Noir nodded. "Good. Do it now, I'll take care of the rest."
Then he threw his staff at Pterophaux, hitting the unified flier square in the chest. Pterophaux growled. "Now what was that for? All I'm doing is trying to teach them a lesson in air superiority!"
Cat Noir didn't answer, deliberately trying to infuriate Pterophaux as he rushed away and springboarded off of one of Veloci Croc's shields, much to the latter's displeasure as he tried to swing his blade at Cat Noir.
Dodging every attack, Cat Noir landed on the roof right by Ladybug. Her eyes were still a glazed green as she spotted him. But before she could attack, he got very close to her and lightly grabbed her arms, gently massaging the spot on her bicep where she'd been stung.
"It's okay," he said, trying to channel his best Adrien tone. "I'm okay. You're okay." Ladybug still resisted, struggling as she tried to break free and attack. Cat Noir forced his inhibitions down and placed a light kiss on her cheek. "Just… listen to me," he ordered.
Ladybug immediately stopped resisting, her shoulders going slack. "What is your order?" she asked.
Cat Noir sighed. "Vedova Dea is hurting Green-Eyed Wasp," he answered. "I need you to keep her from being hurt anymore."
Ladybug nodded. "It is your command, and she is my mistress. It makes sense," she replied, her voice just a drone. Cat Noir shivered slightly, disgust crawling up his spine. He hated doing that, but it was the only way. Now all he had to do was hope Veloci Croc and Pterophaux were sufficiently angry with him.
Putting on his brave face, Cat Noir glanced over the edge of the roof. Sure enough, one glance from the two villains was enough to break their focus on the other heroes and growl at him. "Fire on him!" Pterophaux ordered. Cat Noir ducked back, right as Ladybug leapt forward and swung over the edge towards Vedova Dea.
Just as Cat Noir predicted, the two were so angry that they opened fire on the first thing that moved into their sight line, blasting their secondary powers at the target.
"Doublecross!" Pterophaux snarled, aiming his tonfas at Ladybug and shooting a red energy current at her. At the same time, Veloci Croc growled "Honorbound!" and shot a green energy beam out of his visor.
Unfortunately for both of them, Ladybug had swung between Green-Eyed Wasp and Vedova Dea, inadvertently using her as a shield.
Pterophaux's power of treachery forced Vedova Dea to turn on her base instincts, halting her attack on Green-Eyed Wasp. Veloci Croc's honor power rendered her immobile as it sensed the duplicity in her heart. The result of both powers being used on her was her web falling apart as she fell to the ground, landing on her back and wings with a crack.
"Ooh, that's probably not going to end well," Cat Noir winced as he watched. That part wasn't supposed to happen, but it was probably for the better. One less fusion-crazy Dark to deal with, at least. His gaze flickered between Ladybug supporting Green-Eyed Wasp and Veloci Croc's faltering battle as the villain noticed Vedova Dea's landing.
"Leave him!" Cat Noir yelled as he pointed towards Green-Eyed Wasp and Ladybug. "Split them up so we can finish the plan!"
The other three heroes nodded, leaping away from Veloci Croc and charging the disoriented Green-Eyed Wasp. Rena Rouge swatted the villainess away from Ladybug, giving Carapace the opportunity to trap Ladybug in a Shell-ter and Vesperia quickly tripped Green-Eyed Wasp as she stumbled away, letting the villainess fall into the vent.
Green-Eyed Wasp screamed, believing she was about to be shredded alive, only for the air current to suspend her above the blades of the fan. She couldn't fly away, not after the damage Vedova Dea had dealt to her wings, reducing them to little more than tatters.
"Now, Vesperia!" Cat Noir shouted. Vesperia quickly drew her top and swung it towards Green-Eyed Wasp, wrapping it around the villainess's stinger and pulling it from her arm.
But before it was fully off, Green-Eyed Wasp screamed, "Ladybug! Use your Lucky Charm! Now!"
The order carried through the sound of the fan, reaching Ladybug's ears as she fruitlessly pounded on the dome containing her. She did as she was ordered, calling on her Lucky Charm and receiving a volleyball net, but it was too late.
"Cataclysm!" Cat Noir cried as Vesperia pulled up the stinger and threw it to his palm, making it crumble to black powder and releasing the akuma and amok. Sentibug disintegrated, leaving a very confused pack of wolf-Pterodactyl clones standing where the sentimonster had been a moment before.
Ladybug's eyes drained of their green coloration as Green-Eyed Wasp's control was released, and she would've fallen if Carapace hadn't disengaged his shield and Cat Noir hadn't raced to her side, catching her as her knees gave out.
"M'lady?" Cat Noir whispered hoarsely, brushing a loose strand of hair off her face. "Are you okay? C'mon, talk to me, please. We need you to purify the akuma."
Ladybug's eyes flared open as she bolted upright, coughing up a puddle of smoking green toxins that sizzled as it hit the ground. She turned to Cat Noir, weakly holding his gaze.
"Yeah… I'm okay," she reassured as he helped her up. "Just… wow. Horrible vertigo. But yeah, I'm fine." She quickly lashed out with her yoyo, catching the akuma and amok just before they fluttered too far away. Right before she threw the volleyball net into the air, Ladybug glanced around, noticing the chaos and fused Darks around her. "What happened?"
"I'll explain later," Cat Noir replied. "Right now, my aunt is more-or-less hovering above the vent fan and unification-crazy Maladea is going to be royally ticked off when she sees you, so it probably would be a good idea to use the ladybugs."
Ladybug responded with a slow, confused nod as she threw the net into the air as she cried her signature phrase. The magic ladybugs quickly fixed all damages caused during the fight, including Vedova Dea's injuries and Mayura's incompetence curse, and safely retrieved Green-Eyed Wasp, who transformed back into Amelie.
The heroes quickly regrouped beside Ladybug and Cat Noir as they helped Amelie up. "Are you okay, ma'am?" Cat Noir asked.
Amelie lightly rubbed her forehead. "I think so," she replied. "Just a little disoriented, that's all."
"That's normal," Ladybug reassured as she kept an eye on Veloci Croc and Pterophaux, who were helping Vedova Dea up and checking her wings. Then the sound of an enraged hiss followed by an explosion that echoed from the top of Gare du Nord pierced the relative quiet as Quickstrike and Buzz Skink leapt down from the roof.
"Mayura got away," Quickstrike hissed. "Found her second wind after she fixed everything up." He jabbed a thumb in the heroes' direction. Buzz Skink growled. "We should finish them off. Just for getting in the way of giving that bird what she deserved."
"While it would be well-deserved and I certainly wouldn't stop you," Pterophaux began as he glared at the heroes. "Vedova Dea just took her first crash, and that was kind of our fault. Besides, we've won today. We got one of them back. Let's quit while we're ahead."
The twins threw one last glare in the heroes' direction. "Fine," Buzz Skink relented.
Quickstrike nodded. "Let's go," he said as he tried to take Vedova Dea's left side. She swatted him lightly, glaring at him with all eight of her blackened eyes.
"I'm fine," she protested, flexing her wings, then she flinched.
Pterophaux scoffed. "You most certainly are not fine. Now let us help you," he ordered, wrapping an arm around her right shoulder, Buzz Skink taking her other side. The two launched themselves into the air, taking Vedova Dea with them as they flew back to base. Veloci Croc and Quickstrike followed, leaping onto the rooftops and racing after them.
The sound of several Miraculouses beeping caught the heroes' attention, snapping them out of the stupor they had put themselves in as they processed what just happened.
"Okay, everyone go transform back, feed your kwamis, then you're free to go," Ladybug said, quickly taking charge before turning to Cat Noir. "And… I feel like you want to talk to me," she added.
Cat Noir nodded as the other heroes leapt away. "Well, more like apologize, really," he corrected. "And it might be better to have a more private environment. Meet up at your place in a half hour?"
"Yeah, of course," Ladybug answered as she unlatched her yoyo and spun it up. "See you in a bit!" Almost too quickly, she swung away, over the rooftops and into the horizon. Cat Noir sighed, then turned to Amelie. "I imagine you need a ride?" he asked.
Amelie nodded, smiling gratefully. "Thank you. I just want to make sure my son and nephew are okay," she explained.
Cat Noir's eye twitched a little as he smiled back. "Sure!" he chirped. "Hop on."
A moment later, Amelie was yelping in adrenaline-fueled terror as Cat Noir took them both back to the Agreste mansion.
Andrew Hendrol sighed as he felt the magic of the Miraculous cure wash over him, fully relieving him of the pain in his shoulder. Part of him was tempted to glance around, check to see if Melissa had vanished. But he knew that she'd never be gone from his mind.
"Thank you," he whispered to the quiet room. "For making my choice easier." Andrew's gaze turned towards the window, watching as the last remnants of the ladybugs flew around the city. He knew the choice he was going to make was risky, even stupid. But he knew it was what he needed. Even if it was, at the very least, a test to make sure his wing worked properly.
"A beast reborn," Andrew mused as he inspected his Dark Miraculous hand, the ring feeling heavier than it had in years past. "Atop the distant iron spire."
I had meant for this to be a two-parter, buuut so much stuff would've been packed into the chapter that it wouldn't have been easily enjoyable for people to read or me to write. Besides, the ending-stuff that would've been here fits better in the next chapter anyhow. So chapter ten is going to be called Green-Eyed Wasp: Repercussions. As always, tell me what you think, questions, comments, critiques, and stay safe, healthy, and see you next week!