Le Chat et Le Serpent

Chapter 27 - Won't Back Down

Preparing for Battle

Volpina sneered as she threw the mandarin ball towards a suited up Felix. It gently brushed his collar before diligently returning to her open hand. "Fetch."

The Butterfly Miraculous flew from Felix's chest, dragging Nooroo through the air with it.

"It worked!" No longer having Felix's power to maintain Volpina, Lila stood wearing only the Dog suit. She fist bumped the air as she danced in a circle.

Felix's face was flat as he took the jewel back from her. "Good work, Lila. Now all we need to do is make sure we're able to get it on our next target." The orange glow from Lila's detransformation highlighted his pensive state.

"Which you're of course going to make me do." Lila's face scrunched as if she had smelt rotten milk.

Felix tsked towards her. "Of course. You bitch about my own capabilities, yet you can barely send out a butterfly. Do what you do best, find someone to piss off."

Lila rolled her eyes as she passed back the Dog Miraculous. "I don't understand why we don't just go after Luka, or Nino!" She jetted her hand towards the board.

Felix repressed the urge to lash out against her. Clicking his jaw, he instead chose to stand before their detective work. "Because we aren't certain if Adrien is Chat Noir, or who has the rings."

"Oh!" The mention of the rings triggered the memory of the photos she captured at the restaurant. "Look at these."

Lila made Felix's skin crawl, but she continued to prove her usefulness times over. If she had left him to fend for himself, he likely would have been found, or know nothing of Adrien's worsening reactions to the rings. Eagerly, he grabbed her burner phone to inspect the photos. The elation that coursed through him evaporated as the content of the pictures sunk in. 

Lila, or in her disguise at the time Liam, had lifted up the lid of the garbage can to get a proper view of the wreckage within. There were mounds of multi-shaded blood stains; dark chunks of clots rested on garnet and scarlett towels. Nooroo's voluminous gasp alleviated Felix from the responsibility of formulating a response.

"Ugh, you're so dramatic, Nooroo!" Lila sighed at the horrified Kwami.

Ignoring Lila, Felix turned towards Nooroo. "Have you seen this before? Is it normal for there to be that much?" He purposefully evaded the key descriptive word, knowing that it would force him to reimagine the image that seared into his head.

Nooroo drearily shook their head. "Bleeds like this were rare. A similar one ended with Adrien in the hospital."

Biting his lip, Felix internally cursed the rings. There was no excuse for the Agreste's to treat this amount of loss with a blasé attitude. "People lose less blood when they get shot. What caused this?"

"The most severe losses I saw were either from conflicting demands or when Adrien fought the order with all his might." Nooroo informed Felix, to the maximum of their capabilities.

"Hmmm..." Felix returned to a contemplative state. Still lacking the courage to see the gruesome stack of blood, he flipped a few photos back before looking at the phone again. There were several photos documenting the dinner outing. "Logically, the ring holder was at this table then?"

Nooroo was silent; the fact that each patron was a holder inhibited them from saying nearly anything besides commenting on their surface appearance. If Nooroo confirmed or denied the possibility of one of them wearing the ring; any comment could lead Felix and Lila to focus on how the return of the Miraculous' to the Guardian occurred, or worse, who was on each side of the transaction.