Tears of a Wolf
Chapter 2 The First Day
(Master Fu is still the guardian during this time)
Master Fu sat alone in his shop enjoying some freshly brewed hot tea. It was a cold mid-afternoon which made the tea taste even better to him. It was peaceful, quiet and the room was dimly lit, adding a certain aura of tranquility to the atmosphere. Everything was perfect, but soon the atmosphere would turn more ominous.
Shadows slowly stretched across the walls of his shop, like arms extending out to reach him. Master Fu thought nothing of it at first.
"Must be a cloud blocking the sun." He thought to himself.
The room slowly grew darker, and then more quickly, and even more quickly, until eventually you could have sworn it was evening. Master Fu remained calm and walked over to his window. Opening the blinds would surely solve this lighting problem he thought to himself.
As he opened the blinds, he was astonished to see that it did not help this issue whatsoever. He looked out his window only to see more darkness. In fact, it was pitch black. He couldn't see anything outside at all.
A piercing sound rang from behind him where he previously sat. It sounded like metal hitting against metal. He quickly looked behind him only to see nothing was there, at least he didn't think anything was there. It was so dark in his shop now that it was hard to see.
He began to stumble through the darkness back to his seat to investigate further. Was that the right choice? Should he have tried opening his door? He wasn't sure, but whatever was happening, it sure was strange.
As he made his way back to his seat he discovered that his teapot had been broken. Not just broken, but cut clear in half! That must have been what made the sound, but what on earth could have cut through a teapot so cleanly?
A nervous sweat dripped from his brow as the room was in total darkness at this point. You couldn't even see your own hand in front of your face. Finally Master Fu spoke aloud. His voice was anxious and afraid.
"Alex… could that… could that really be you?"
Silence… nothing but darkness and silence. The atmosphere in the room had so quickly and so easily gone from peaceful and pleasant to horrible and terrifying.
"Alex! Is that you? Answer me Wolf!"
Master Fu was really getting scared now, a rare occurrence for him, but not entirely unwarranted given the circumstances. He could almost feel his goosebumps rise on his skin as the air seemed to grow colder. He felt a close warm breath creep across his neck.
There was a scream, sounds of brief struggling, a soft noise resembling sounds of choking……. And then silence.
(Meanwhile at Collège Françoise Dupont)
The school day was almost over. Marinette sat behind Adrien and stared at him intently. She couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the teacher when something so gorgeous was directly in front of her.
Adrien must have felt her eyes burning into the back of his skull. He gradually turned his head to look behind him and caught her staring. He didn't think anything of it of course, he just smiled back at her in a friendly gesture.
Marinette immediately looked away, her cheeks red with embarrassment and a look of shock on her face. Alya couldn't help but giggle, witnessing the whole thing.
"Busted." She whispered to Marinette in a playful tone.
Marinette nudged her friend with her elbow, trying not to let the situation become even more embarrassing. As soon as school was over she was going to get out of there as quickly as possible… and be sure to look both ways before she crossed the street. She thought back again to the stranger that saved her. He was… weird to say the least. She didn't even know his name, but maybe she would ask again if he ever decided to come by the bakery.
Marinette didn't have any more time to ponder her strange morning as the city alarm system suddenly sounded, shooting her out of her daydream and interrupting her from her thoughts. An akuma attack…
"Alright everyone, class dismissed! You know the drill, go straight home!" said Miss Bustier.
"Yes! Ladyblog time!" Alya practically jumped out of her seat.
"Alya no!" Nino said as he tried to run after her.
The students quickly left the classroom leaving only Adrien and Marinette behind.
"Marinette, what are you still doing here?" Adrien asked. "Is everything okay?"
"Oh umm… yes Adrien everything's fine! Don't worry, my home is only across the street from here, you don't have to wait for me."
"Are you sure?" Adrien wore a look of concern.
"Positive. Be careful going home, I'll be fine."
Adrien felt a bit bad leaving her behind, but he couldn't keep Ladybug waiting. With a simple nod he ran out of the classroom.
Marinette pulled Tikki out of her bag as soon as she was sure Adrien had gone.
"Ready?" Tikki asked.
"Ready! Tikki, spots on!"
(Outside the massage shop)
An akumatized Master Fu was wreaking havoc just outside his own shop in the city. His appearance had drastically changed thanks to his akumatization. He had on a black and white metal suit, with stripes in the shape of lighting bolts that ran down it. His eyes were golden and he held a short staff which had the ability to shoot powerful blasts of light at whatever he wished. This could be just a simple bright light or even lightning if he so wished. He was also faster… much faster. Fast enough that it was difficult for the human eye to keep up with.
"Ladybug and Cat Noir, I am Fright Light! Show yourselves and give me your Miraculous, or this city will witness a fear it's never seen before!
Fright Light began to blast bolts of lightning everywhere, hitting buildings, disrupting power lines, and starting fires. His staff was quite powerful, but it wasn't long before Ladybug and Cat Noir showed up to face him. The two heroes watched from a nearby rooftop and quickly realized who the akumatized victim was.
"Is that… Master Fu?" asked Cat Noir in a shocked voice?
"It looks like it." Ladybug replied. "Something horrible must have happened in order for him to get akumatized. We need to end this quickly and find out what happened."
"Right!" Cat Noir's face lit up with determination.
"You distract him Kitty. The akuma is probably in his staff. Once you have his attention, I will go in and nab it from him."
"Not a problem my lady." Cat leaped from the roof and dove right into the chaos recklessly. Throwing caution to the wind, he landed directly in front of Fright Light. Ladybug covered her face with her palm. She didn't mean like that…
"Hey, cool staff there, Fright Light. Does it take AA batteries?"
"Cat Noir, give me your Miraculous!"
Fright Light wasn't messing around. He shot a blindingly bright light straight at Cat, which instantly stunned and disoriented him. It was as if a flash bang had gone off right in his face.
Cat wasn't able to see anything. He couldn't properly defend himself. Fright Light charged him at an incredible speed, striking Cat Noir in his rib cage, then his stomach, then his face. Each strike left behind an electric charge, further amplifying the pain. Cat Noir was sent flying into a brick wall with one final blow.
"Cat Noir!" Ladybug shouted. It had all happened so fast. She had never seen her partner taken down so easily before. She rushed to aid him. It was all up to her now.
Ladybug attacked Fright Light with her yo-yo, attempting to wrap him up in a bind. Her yo-yo circled around him several times, binding his arms to his sides and successfully restraining him.
Fright Light was far from being defeated. He sent out an electric charge which traveled along the string of her yo-yo and shocked Ladybug with a strong frequency.
Ladybug shouted in pain as she fell to her knees and was forced to let go of her yo-yo. Things were not looking good for either hero, but Ladybug heard a shout from a distance.
"LADYBUG!" It was Alya hiding behind a bush, recording the entire fight. She had never seen her two favorite heroes struggling quite like this before.
Nino reached up and put his hand over Alya's mouth. What was she trying to do? Get them killed?
Fright Light looked over in their direction and locked eyes with Alya.
"You! Cowards who hide in the dark! Let me show you the light!"
Alya wore a look of terror as Fright Light began to step towards her and Nino. Ladybug fought through her pain and stood back up, even as the residual effects of her shock continued to run through her body.
"Leave them alone!" Ladybug shouted.
Fright Light silenced her by blasting her with another bolt of lightning, sending Ladybug flying right into the same place that Cat Noir had landed.
This was scary. Ladybug and Cat Noir had never been battered like this so easily before. Fright Light was too fast and too vicious. They needed another plan, and fast!
Fright Light once again turned his attention towards Alya and Nino. He raised his staff and pointed it at the couple.
Nino jumped up and shielded Alya with his body, facing her and covering her as much as he could with his arms in an attempt to block the impending blast of lighting. They waited, several seconds passed but both Alya and Nino remained unharmed.
"What… what is this?" Alya and Nino could hear the voice of Fright Light from behind them. With a little hesitation, Nino looked back over his shoulder, and to his surprise, Fright Light was frozen in place.
Weird looking black bindings wrapped around his arms and legs. They almost looked like shadows if shadows could be a solid state of matter. Whatever they were, they were completely effective in immobilizing Fright Light.
"Alya look! said Nino, motioning her with a pointed finger. Alya finally looked out at what was happening, discovering that Fight Light had been stopped, but not by Ladybug, not by Cat Noir, but by someone else all together.
An older looking superhero in a dark gray costume with pointed wolf ears and fur running down his arms and back, stood behind Fright Light about five feet behind him with his right arm raised towards the villain.
"You! Let me go! I won't let you extinguish the light!" Fright Light shouted, angry at his forced restrain.
"Where there's light, there's shadow…" Gray Wolf spoke with a sinister tone.
Shadows began to travel from all directions, all coming towards Fright Light. The shadows were given a material form, which looked like tendrils slithering up the villain's body. Fright Light was still completely frozen, unable to move at all.
"NO! NO!" Fright Light shouted, but not out of anger this time. No, this time it was out of fear.
The shadow tendrils quickly covered his entire body, blocking out the sound of his screams. It would have been astonishing to see shadows being manipulated in such a way that defies the laws of physics, but honestly it was just frightening. Gray Wolf showed no remorse on his face, or any emotion at all for that matter.
Fright Light was destroyed by the shadows leaving Master Fu, lying unconscious in his place. There was no trace of the akuma. Perhaps the day was saved?
"You're Alya right? Head of the ladyblog?" asked Gray Wolf as he stepped towards the couple.
Alya wasn't sure if she should answer the question. She had never seen Ladybug and Cat Noir be taken out so easily, and this guy had just taken out the villain responsible! Sure whoever this guy was, he had just saved her and Nino, but his demeanor was incredibly intimidating. This guy was on a whole new level of power.
"Y…yes." Alya finally answered. Her and Nino only stood about ten feet or so away from him.
"Dude, how did you know her name?" Nino demanded an answer. He had a point. How did he know her name? Did he know it just from the ladyblog, or was there more to this guy than what meets the eye?
"I have a message for the ladyblog that I think you're going to want to record." Wolf said, ignoring Nino's question.
Alya was a bit too frightened to respond. She simply held up her phone and hit 'record' on her camera app. She didn't want to know what would happen if she didn't comply.
With a stern scowl, Wolf began to speak his message.
"My name is Gray Wolf, and I have a very important message for every citizen of Paris. I'm looking for Amy Aubert. Some of you may know her as the Scarlet Beetle. If Amy Aubert is not here in Paris in three days time, I will eclipse the entire city in an eternal darkness. No citizen who resides here will ever see the light of day again. In case Amy doesn't show up, I recommend evacuation procedures begin immediately. Your time starts now."
Alya and Nino listened with horrified faces. Eclipse the city? Was such a thing even possible? How was anybody supposed to survive without the sun?
Wolf turned his back and walked away, leaving Alya and Nino with more questions than answers. His threat echoed in their heads. It was only a matter of time now before they… no… before Paris figured out what to do.