Frigid Heart scowled at her as she reached for the necklace and tried to roll out of the way. Ladybug huffed in annoyance as he squirmed. She planted her clawed hand on his shoulder and held him down with one hand. He smiled up at her and she paused in confusion.
She wasn't looking at her right hand as it reached for the necklace sitting on his clavicle. Pain flared against her fingertips and she looked down to see he had formed a thin layer of ice around the akumatized object that steamed even in the cold air temperature. She retracted her hand and frowned.
She felt his feet plant against her stomach too late. With a hard shove she fell backwards and he freed himself from the yo-yo string. She scrambled to her feet swearing under her breath as he shot ice at her once again. She kept an eye on the sky as he drove her backwards, she wasn't about to get stuck again.
"You are looking Meow-velous today," Chat Noir's voice startled her as he dropped beside her. He swung his baton deflecting the ice that was pelting towards her.
"And you're rather late today Chat," she said out of the side of her mouth. Her earrings beeped again to punctuate her point.
"Right, I uh," she scowled as he fumbled for words.
"Don't bother with an excuse," she said through gritted teeth before putting her arm around his waist and throwing her yo-yo into the air. As soon as she felt it latch onto something solid she pulled herself and her partner into the relative safety of a rooftop.
"The akuma is in his necklace but it's covered in some sort of dry ice, I can't touch it," she huffed, crossing her arms and looking down at the villain. She avoided looking at Chat Noir but she knew he could feel the annoyance radiating off of her. It didn't help that her tail was flicking angrily and her new cat ears were flat against her head.
"I'm sorry Ladybug but I just couldn't get away from my civilian life," Chat spoke softly. She felt some of her anger fade. She couldn't blame him but a dull ache had started in the back of her head making it hard to focus on her compassion.
"What your girlfriend hold you up or something," she joked, trying to break the tension, and glanced at him. She noticed his brows knit together and he looked away from her with a sour expression.
"Something like that," he muttered. She felt her eyes blow wide with shock before forcing her expression to go neutral. He didn't know his girlfriend was the one that was stuck in an ice dome without her partner. The more rational part of her said that he just couldn't tell her as it would jeopardize his identity. The exhausted part of her mind that was now being pierced by a mounting headache made her whip around and stare daggers at the akuma. She couldn't grill Chat for answers so instead she could lash at a villain.
Ladybug leaped down to the ground and rushed Frigid Heart. She threw her yo-yo near his head to distract him. He took the bait and smugly stepped directly into the path of her clenched fist and she hit him with an underhook. Her gauntleted hand connected with his jaw and sent him flying backwards. She heard the crunch of his body hitting ice behind him. She was dimly aware of how violent it was and hoped no journalists were around to film it, but it was satisfying.
Chat Noir jumped down and summoned his cataclysm. She watched him touch the necklace with an almost comical gentleness. The ice crumbled to dust allowing the necklace to be safely held, he pulled it off the villain and threw it to Ladybug. She caught it in one hand and read the dangling pendants claim to be best friends forever.
She looked around at the damage and realized she had left her lucky charm in the remains of the ice dome. She walked over to it and picked up the hair dryer. She scowled at the useless object. Her head was pounding as she tried to discern if she had ever won a fight without effectively using the lucky charm.
"Ladybug!" Chat Noir's panicked voice alerted her as something nearly came into contact with her head. She ducked just in time and heard someone running towards her. The enhanced hearing from her tiger miraculous told her the footsteps were too light to be Chat's. She used the only thing in her hands at the moment to defend herself. She stood back up and aimed the hair dryer directly at the incoming threat, turning it on and blasting heat.
A girl with long purple hair came to a stop and yelled out as the heat blinded her. She had a costume similar to Frigid Hearts but instead of blue it had purple's swirling across the fabric. She brought her hands up in defense and purple shimmering ice grew from the ground and forced Ladybug back.
Chat jumped over to the startled girls and brought his baton down at the akumatized girl. She jumped back out of the way with only one eye open. Ladybug noticed the matching necklace hung from her neck.
"Chat we need that necklace too," Ladybug instructed before dashing out of the way. Her earrings were beeping wildly. She ran into a nearby alley just as her transformation ended. Tiki was pulled from her earrings and the electric feeling of a forced de-transformation pricked at her skin. Her head exploded in pain and she fell to her knees. Her hands flew up to her head trying to claw the pain away.
"Gahh," she inhaled a sharp breath, "Tiki why does it hurt so bad?"
"Forced de-transforamtion isn't pleasant at the best of times and when you unify miraculouses it's exponentially worse, especially when you don't go back down to one miraculous before it happens. The strain is too much for mortal bodies to handle," Tiki's tired voice explained as if it was obvious. Ladybug looked at her arms and realized she was still covered in stripes from the miraculous of the tiger. She briefly wondered what she should call herself but dismissed the thought. She had more pressing matters.
She glanced at the pawprint on the magenta gem and noted she still had a few minutes of transformation. She looked behind her and saw Frigid Heart was starting to stir and the new villain was pushing Chat onto his back foot. He seemed sluggish as he blocked attacks. Her heart tightened in fear for his safety.
"Tiki, look for something to eat!" She called over her shoulder as she rushed into the fight. She jumped towards the villainess, her claws extended. The akuma ducked out of the way and used a sheet of ice to deflect the attack. Ladybug darted around the ice and scratched towards her. The akuma jumped backwards into Chat Noir's waiting arms and he pulled her back to his chest, trapping her between him and his baton that was held horizontally over her. The akuma resisted against Chat but even though he was visibly tired she couldn't break free.
Ladybug grabbed the locket and yanked it from her neck. She put it in her gauntleted hand along with the other half, placing them side by side so they fit together. She looked around at the damage and realized her lucky charm had disappeared along with her transformation. Chat Noir's grip started to slip on the villain.
"Roarr, Tiki, Unify!" She called. She silently prayed that Tiki had found something to eat as red light washed over her and she felt her yo-yo materialize on her hip. She called down a lucky charm, to her surprise an odd abstract shape appeared. The polkadots were inconsistent in size and shape and the object itself looked like a twisted piece of plastic that had been melted in the sun.
A wave of exhaustion broke over her. Pain seeped into her every bone. She clenched her gauntleted fist as hard as she could and felt her metal claws dig into the softer metal of the pendants. Once she was satisfied she opened her hand and let a purple butterfly flutter out. She grabbed the yo-yo and haphazardly threw it towards the fluttering akuma just as the world tipped on its side.
She opened her eyes a moment later and found herself laying on top of someone. Chat Noir was groaning beneath her and her face was laying on his chest. She pushed herself off of him, the movement sent electric pain though her head and she slowly maneuvered to a kneeling position. She realized she was attached to her yo-yo that sat on the ground out of arm's reach ahead of her. She pulled the string and dragged the yo-yo across the ground until she could reach it. She opened it and let the purified butterfly flap out.
"Ladybug?" Chat's soft voice was like nails on a chalkboard piercing her ears. In fact every sound was sharp and painful. She groaned in response and put a hand on his bicep in an attempt to make him be quiet.
"Ladybug your earrings, there's only one dot flashing," his voice, although grating, was piqued with concern. She scowled as her hand moved up to feel the small jewels. They didn't feel any different. She on the other hand felt awful, and she knew she had to fix it.
She threw the miraculous cure into the air and let the ladybugs wash over her. She looked around in confusion as the pain and exhaustion stayed. The street was devoid of ice and the once akumatized civilians were running towards each other. She pushed herself to her feet and stumbled in the direction of her exit. She felt a hand grab onto her wrist.
"Ladybug," Chat breathed with a worried look, "I don't know what happened but I don't think you should be unifying the miraculouses."
She yanked her hand away from him. The force sent ripples of pain through her head.
"I wouldn't have to if you would show up on time," she said between laboured breaths. It came out harsher then she meant it. His ears flattened and he looked down in shame. Her heart told her to apologize but the words felt stuck in her throat. The magenta gem beeped as the last pawprint flashed its final warning. She turned and pulled herself to a rooftop with her yo-yo. She wasn't about to let herself detransform early again.
Ladybug rushed to her balcony, letting her transformation with Roarr fall just before it timed out. She landed on her bed as she was left as only Ladybug. Electricity flared through her. She swallowed back a scream as she writhed on her bed.
"T-Tiki, Spots off," the red form of Tiki fell to the bed unmoving. She panted from the exertion and scooped Tiki into her hands.
"Tiki?" Her voice wobbled. She let out a breath of relief as the kwami stirred. Marinette fumbled down her ladder and pulled a packaged candy bar she had been saving, out of her desk. She tore it open and placed it in front of the tiny god. Tiki grabbed the bar and ate it in one impossible bite.
"Let's never do that again Marinette," Tiki's soft voice laughed. Marinette felt her own giggle creep out of her lips.
"I'm so, so sorry Tiki," She said sobered as she saw the exhaustion in Tiki's body. She even looked less saturated than normal. Marinette crawled back into bed putting Tiki on her pillow beside her. She didn't care if she got in trouble for not returning to class, she was beyond spent. By the time her eyelids closed she was already asleep.
Although it was nearly imperceptible, the two dark glass jewels that sat on Marinette's earlobes had a tiny imperfection. The sunlight that streamed through her skylight lit up the side of her face. A small shadow in the earring revealed the hairline crack that had begun to form in the glass of her miraculous.