Ms. Death is caught in a pinch. Infront of her is the newly awakened Ladybug and Bunnix and behind her is an even more threatening Chat Noir whom is juiced up in destructive juice.
Thinking about it, Chat Noir's cataclysm is more versatile which makes it more dangerous than hers and Ladybugs new suit gives the Ladybug user more abilities than she ever knew existed so it's easy to assume she is put at an disadvantage but.....that's not how she sees it.
Like a new kid being given a new technology. They may have attained newly found powers and abilities but both of them are still inexperienced with it. The two just recently received these new gifts so she will use it to her advantage.
During the years of isolation with both powers of creation and destruction, she didn't just spend her time dilly dallying.
"You're not gonna help?" Ladybug directs her attention towards Bunnix which just stands idly by. "I can't help you this time, minibug. I'm sorry but the rules of time prevents me from interacting with your world anymore. I have to abide by its rules of not tampering with the timelines and as you know, I already involve myself a little too much so you guys are on your own."
(Ugh. Again with this rules of time nonsense. With my memories back, I forgot how annoying these rules of time are.)
Ladybug sighs in disappointment, "our timelines are already tampered enough. Ms. Death here alone is proof enough. Can't you just make an exception?"
The young bluenette tries her best to convince her but the expression of regret can be seen all over her face. It is very aggravating. Coming into terms of their situation, she directs her attention back into her older self.
"Sorry, you are on your own for now. I'll be back soon when she is defeated. I'll take care of it from there" Bunnix opens a portal behind the bluenette and steps in, never to be seen again.
(When she is defeated? With how things going. It'll be more of if we CAN defeat her or not.)
She will just have to do this with Chat Noir but will that be enough?
"Now Chat!" Ladybug shouts as she flies up using her new gadget backpack that allows her to sprout wings and fly. "RIGHT!" Chat heard loud and clear and with no to waste, he activates his cataclysm and charges straight towards their opponent.
His pounce was so strong that upon lifting his feet, the intense pressure was so immense that it left a crack in its wake.
"Cataclysm" he brings up his right arm and attempts to touch Ms. Death, aiming for the one shot kill. That however proved to be futile when she easily dodges it by jumping upwards.
While she is in the air, that leaves her vulnerable in which Ladybug takes advantage of. It was her turn as she throws her yoyo and wraps it around the villain to restrain her.
Another attempt that goes south as Ms. Death also saw this coming. Using her cat-like sixth sense, Ms. Death foresaw this event and so she willingly allows the yoyo to wrap around her to only reverse it.
As soon as the yoyo wraps around her and tightens, she forcibly angles her body until her head is facing downward. Using that momentum, she catches the string that connects her with Ladybug and with both of her feet, forcibly tugging on her yoyo.
Chat Noir, watching from the ground, senses that Ms. Death was up to something so he instantly takes action as he also leaps upwards to her and tries to stop her.
Everything was coming together as expected and now that Chat Noir has left himself wide open, she will use his partner as collateral damage and send them both flying downwards.
The strength she puts in overwhelms the young hero as she is being pulled through the air over Ms.Death and slams her downward towards Chat Noir. Chat caught her just in time before impact and uses himself as a landing cushion.
Ladybug was within his cataclysm space so it took all of his focus to control his power and not accidentally kill her partner. It also didn't help that he took the most damage upon impact with the floor but atleast that kept her lady safe with minor damage.
"Ladybug....she's strong. This is not gonna be an easy fight" Chat proceeds to state the obvious. Ladybug shakes off the feeling of dizziness and tries to refocus, "well, never said it was gonna be a cat-walk kitty" she chimes in, naturally making a pun in the midst of their literal life-or-death battle.
"You making puns at the worst times. Especially that is not one of your strong suits M'Lady. Leave the claw-ever jokes to the master, savy?" he claps back, grinning to his bugaboo.
Ladybug looks back at him and through the cyan colored visor, her nod of disapproval is clear but the smile she hides in the helmet says otherwise.
He never changes, even up against the strongest opponent they have ever faced, he never fails to make her feel a special type of way.
With their life literally on the line, he continues to act as he always has and that is the one thing she refuses to change about him because in times of fear and weakness, she can always rely on him to boost her confidence.
"Thank you" her sudden appreciation came out of nowhere but it surely affected him in a good way. When Ladybug was about to get off of him, Chat pulled her in closer to his chest, "Ladybug no!" Ladybug fell back to his arms with no forewarning at all and it made her blush slightly in confusion.
It was only until she looked above her that she saw Ms. Death nose-diving straight towards the two. It was fast and she didn't have ample time to reactivate her backpack so the moment seemed hopeless. Chat Noir however reacted instinctively and pulled out his metal baton.
"Extend!" The baton that he holds extends so high that it made contact with Ms. Death. The older version of Ladybug caught the baton in time but the speed and force it was going only pushed her away from them, creating distance. The pole extended far enough where she impacted with the ceiling, causing debris to fall.
Seeing this as an opportunity, she activates her wings and grabs hold of Chat Noir as they fly away to a safe distance. (I'm not being dusted away?) Ladybug, now realizing the cataclysm particles flowing around her. She looks to Chat as he retracts his baton back to him.
He did mention it takes immense focus to control his powers so that it prevents it from harming innocent lives but doing this to such extent under alot of pressure is really admirable.
Ladybug puts down Chat as soon as they reach a safe distance. "You think we got her?" Ladybug asks but the look on Cat's face says otherwise.
He points towards the smoke in the ceiling and watches as a dark figure drops down and lads on the fallen debris. She emerges from the smoke with zero to no significant signs of taking any damage.
To rub salt on the wound, Ms. Death gestures to wipe off the dirt off her shoulders and continues to smirk menacingly at the two.
There was not a single dirt on her body.
Chat Noir.
"This is bad LB."
.
Ladybug.
"Why do you
say that?"
.
"I just hit her with my
baton infused with
cataclysm particles
but she walks out
just fine. Practically
unscathed."
.
"So. what does
that mean?"
.
"It means that she is
immune or atleast
resisted to my
powered cataclysm."
.
"Then we can't rely
on your powers fully.
We need to come up
with a strategy to
take her down."
.
"I understand but
what can we do
against someone
that powerful?"
Ladybug takes the time to come up with a plan but all she's drawing are blanks. "I have an idea but I need more time. For now, keeps her busy and try to drive her into a corner with your cataclysm powers."
Chat looks at her with doubt in his eyes, not yet convinced. "Listen Chaton. From the looks of things, she doesn't know your baton was infused with cataclysm in the midst of the chaos so I bet that she will still dodge your cataclysm if you just attack her with it. Can you do ranged attacks?"
"Can I do long range attacks. Say less M'Lady" Chat understands the idea of her plan so he nods in total support and noting that he does have a couple range attacks up his sleeve.
This works in her favor. As strategy goes, he will act as the main front and Ladybug will be laid in the back, providing air support.
With Ms. Death slowly approaching closer, the two heroes call a break and get into position. Chat Noir wastes no time as she closes the distance between the two. Within a short distance, Chat holds both his hands out towards the enemy in front and calls upon his power.
"Destructive skill: Multi Shot Cataclysm" a fast barrage of mini cataclysmic particles shoots out from his hands and flies directly towards Ms. Death. The amount of cataclysm being shot out was too much to handle, causing her to back away quickly.
After the barrage of cataclysms, Chat Noir takes a more offensive approach as he pulls out his baton once more and infuses it with the particles.
As he was about to take a swing, Ms. Death pulled out a similar weapon that resembles his baton but it was more old, more rusted and combatants back with an equal strength.
Both batons collided and for a moment, they were on equal grounds in terms of force but Chat was quickly overwhelmed by the speed and power she swung her baton.
Ms. Death prevails and sends the cat flying across the room. Ladybug clocks in her turn as she charges in and engages with her own style of close combat. With her wings, the ability to fly enhances her agility and allows her to dodge the oncoming attacks with ease.
"Here goes nothing. Awakened Skill: Lucky Charm!" Ladybug holds both her yoyos and the items created were two twin nightsticks, like the ones cops use as weapons for close encounters.
This was perfect for the situation she's in. As she closes in the distance, she dodges a sudden claw attack fused with cataclysm and counters with a roundhouse kick in the air to the stomach.
This blunt move sends her back and seems to do some damage as she experiences some repercussions from it. "Let's tryout these new toys" she notes as she flies towards her. The nightsticks she has were put into good work as she uses them to parry any attack she threw and dish out just as much with it's counter.
Every time Ms. Death gets hit by those sticks, she could feel another source of power from it. She deduced that the source of this power is coming from Ladybugs lucky charm or more importantly, her awakened powers. It was because of the new suit she has attained.
That must be the main catalyst of her own power being sucked from and in turn strengthen Ladybug and weakens her.
Ladybugs new awakened power not only gives her new gadgets but also new abilities such as siphoning power from another source.
What a ridiculously O.P. Power.
On the other hand. For Ladybug, It was the perfect tool at the time and for quite a while. As the fight prolonged, Ladybug could sense that her strength was getting stronger while Ms. Death's movements were getting a little sluggish.
Soon, she was able to hold her own by herself but that was before Ms. Death found these childish games an annoyance.
With an open punch, Ladybug saw this opportunity as a potential opening to deflect and in term disarm her weapon but what she didn't see coming was her undoing.
Ms. Death feints her attack at the last second and instead, grabs one of her arms when she tries to disarm her weapon.
She countered her counter and now that she's got the annoying bug in her grasp, she holds on tight as all she had to do was say one simple word.
"Cataclysm."
The power activates where she was holding Ladybug as it slowly eats away her suit, deeper till it gets into the skin. Ladybug screams in pain and in sudden panic. She tries her best to release herself from her hold but her grip on was too tight. Ms. Death remains still as she laughs sinisterly to the joyful music of torment in her ears.
Just about her time was about to come to an end, a sudden glimpse of light coming from above alerts the two ladies. Something was coming down fast and forcibly separated the two. Ms. Death lets go of Ladybug's arm and creates some distance between the two.
The one that caused them to break apart was Chat Noir, angered and powered up with destructive powers. "How dare you hurt M'Lady. You're gonna pay for that" he speaks in a deep, rash tone.
The enemy only stood her ground as she carelessly smirked at his empty threats. That's when Chat dashes at her with inhuman speed.
In a blink of an eye, Ms. Death was pushed back into a corner as the two super powered beings are locked together with their hands. "Wow kitty, what's gotten you so worked up all of a sudden huh? Cat's caught yer tongue?" her words continue to taunt the triggered cat. In response to her bold talk, Chat Noir utilizes what he has left.
With his hands occupied with hers. Chat uses his head and headbutts her straight with force.
The sudden attack caused her head to be blown back and in pain. "Ow, you damn pesky cat" she groans in pain. Ms. Death looks to her surroundings and realizes that the particles that surrounded Chat Noir are also swallowing her up.
The cataclysmic space she got herself into is slowly corroding her suit and eventually entering it's skin.
"What's wrong Ms. Death? You don't feline looking good today."
In a panic, she gains extra power from nowhere, enough to push back Chat Noir. Now that she is no longer being pinned down by the walls, she has to get this guy away from her quickly before the cataclysm will be what brings her down.
With the remaining strength she has left, she kicks Chat Noir back a couple feet and the cataclysm that was surrounding her quickly fades away back to his area of space. Chat Noir tries to regain his composure while Ladybug runs to her side.
"Chaton, you okay?"
His groaning in frustration speaks volume of his current state.
He needs to calm down.
Ladybug never lost his composure so easily, even when she got hurt, the most he did when losing his cool was get mad but to this extent?
(He's losing his composure.)
(He's not completely focused.)
(What's gotten him so worked up?)
Even still, looking towards Ms. Death's current state, it appears she has taken some heavy damage from his cataclysm as it appears she is worn out and exhausted too. "Heh, you think you got me backed into the corner?" she chuckles to herself, acting strong.
The two heroes watch in silent as Ms. Death forcibly moved herself to stand up. "I haven't even used my full strength yet. Don't think you kids can beat me so easily. I still got some tricks up my sleeve" she pulls out her own version of a yoyo from behind.
(It was a bluff.)
(It had to be.)
(There was no way she can still fight anymore.)
That's what Ladybug thought but the expression Chat Noir gave upon hearing it scared the heroine. He knew something she didn't and by his face, she can only assume something worse is about to happen.
As soon as she saw her yoyo, Ladybug immediately knew what was about to happen and that can prove to be fatally challenging. "Chat, I need you right now! Do you hear me?" she calls out in a panic but it was too late. Ms. Death throws her yoyo in the air and calls out for her powers.
"CORRUPTED CHARM!"
A swarm of balck comic ladybug's flies into the air to spawn a giant two handed sword but she holds it with ease with 1 hand.
Ms. Death catches it when it falls into her hands, "Cataclysm" she coats her newly made weapon with the particles to make it even more lethal.
The two heroes of Paris stand to their feet in preparations for the second round. "The plan doesn't change,Chaton. We need to drive her to a corner. If I can somehow disarm her of that huge weapon, it's our win" Ladybug proclaims. She looks to her partner but he wasn't looking back.
"Where is he?" The blonde hero mumbles to himself. Ladybug couldn't hear hear clearly but she knew he had something in his mind.
*SLAP*
"Chat Noir I need you right now. Please!" Her pleading got through and snapped him back to reality. Her desperate eyes catches his attention and warps back into the dangerous situation they were in. He needed to get it together if they want to come out of this battle alive.
Chat didn't say anything but he understood the plan, what's stopping him from acting tho was the immense intimidation exerting from the villain in front of him. Ms. Death took the opportunity and dashed at the two in great speed. She winds her big weapon and throws a quick slash.
The two heroes reacted in time when Ladybug activated her back wings and flew into the air and Chat brought out his baton and blocked her attack. Upon impact, Chat deduced that the weapon wasn't necessarily as sharp as it looked but it didn't mean it did not have any force to it.
It was so strong that he noticed his baton begins to break. He never saw this happening before, no matter how many times he swings it, it has never once cracked till now. Chat backed off from the collision because he feels that if he went on any longer, his weapon would have broken.
Ms. Death however did not stop with the oncoming barrage. She closes the distance between the two and continues slashing away, never letting the cat hero take a break. Ladybug watches from the sidelines as her partner continues to struggle fighting her older self.
She wants to help him but she can't come up with any useful plans. Chat can't afford to stay defensive forever, he's baton can't take anymore so when his weapon gets hit away from his vision, Ms. Death sees the opportunity to finally knock him out for good.
That was until she was stopped by the entalging strings that confines her movement. She looks back to see where this string came from and it was noneother than that pesky redbug. "I was wondering when you were entering the fight. For a second, I thought you were gonna watch helplessly as I butcher your partner in front of you."
She cannot let her words get to her but at the sametime, she speaks the truth. For a while now, all she had been doing was provide support from a distance while Chat Noir had to carry the heavy weight in the fight. Evenstill, now she takes action and she will not be burdened in this fight.
Ladybug pulls on her yoyo to lift Ms. Death from the air and away from Chat Noir.
(That's good. Focus on me.)
When Ms. Death was in close proximity of the young bluenette, she activated her cataclysm once more to effortlessly break out of the yoyo strings. Ladybug never saw this coming, she didn't expect her yoyo to break so easily and in turn, was her downfall.
The corrupted antagonist flies just closely above her vicinity and in one swift full swipe, she slashes her backpack, causing it to deteriorate into nothingness. The backpack that contained her wings gets dusted away and Ladybug then loses her ability to fly.
Helplessly, she falls to the ground.
Ladybug hits the ground hard but luckily her helmet protected her head from sustaining any serious brain injuries. Still, it did hurt and made her lose focus of her powers for a second, causing the helmet to wither away.
That was all Ms. Death needed.
The corrupted albino lands near the hurt Ladybug and approaches her carefully. The young hero tries her damndest to get up but right now she doesn't have the strength to do so. She doesn't even think her awakened form is still activated.
"I finally got you" she whispers to her, kneeling down to her level. Ladybug retains her composure when under normal circumstances, normal people would be panicking for their lives.
Especially someone like Marinette who can't handle situations under such pressure and instead would just collapse so this feat alone proves the amount of bravery in her will. The villain leans in to grab one of her earrings, Ladybug grabs hold of her to try pull her arm away but she was too adamant in getting her miraculous.
"No! Please don't do this" she begs once more but her older version refuses to listen.
Ms. Death prives one of her earrings off in one swift move. Ladybug screams in pain as her suit starts to detransform. Ladybug repeatedly begs her to stop but she refuses to listen until she moves onto the next one.
Once she removed the other pair as well, it caused Ladybug to detransform completely and now instead of the heroine of Paris people admired and praised, now lies ordinary Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
Pathetic, that's all she could think of right now. Even with the Ladybug miraculous and the newly awakened powers that boosted her strength and speed, that was not nearly enough. "What? You thought this was gonna be easy?" Ms. Death speaks out, "you just thought to yourself 'if I have the Ladybug miraculous then everything will work out just fine?'" her menacing voice seeps into her ears.
It was a hard pill to swallow but as shameful as it was. Its true.
She thought that getting her miraculous back and with the help of Chat Noir by his side that everything will work out just fine. She thought that this battle would end up the same way all their fights have with them being victorious.
Being with him have her the idea that they could overcome anything and everything bad that comes their way.
That's how it was and has been for a longtime. Now it's different and the young teenagers were hit in the face with reality and the consequences of their ignorance.
"This isn't some akuma fight you kids go up against on a daily basis" her tone switched to a more serious and cold one. Marinette looks up to her, "This is what true battle looks like. The possibility of dying has never been so crystal clear."
Marinette was fully aware of it. In one case with Chat Blanc, she has had people, friends close to her die and that will haunt her for the rest of her life but in the end, she came out victorious and she will do the same here. Despite going at it without him-or more like against him, she toughened through and manages to save him.
Marinette fights to stand on her feet but what can she do? Ms. Death although witnessing this does not feel the slightest bit threatened nor compelled to fight her anymore. "Give....my miraculous back" she charges towards her old self but was immediately projected off of her when she measly pushed her away.
Repeatedly, Marinette would stand up to run at her and repeatedly she would be pushed back down to the floor. It was almost embarrassing to watch but she did not stay down.
Chat Noir finally wakes conscious from the sudden impact and the first thing he did was to look for the foe. It didn't take long for his enhanced eyesight to spot the villain but there was one more person he saw. A person he did not expect to find here, the last person he ever wanted to see in a place like this.
"Marinette?"
(What is she doing here?)
(Why is she fighting Ms. Death?)
(Where's Ladybug?)
It was only then he spotted the Ladybug miraculouses. Ms. Death has taken the miraculous from Ladybug and Marinette is the only person left here who is fighting her.
Putting the pieces together, he figures that Marinette is Ladybug.
In any situation, he would be happy knowing this but watching her princess getting constantly pushed down to the ground is degrading, embarrassing, pathetic, sad and painful to see but at the sametime.
Inspiring.
She keeps getting pushed down but not once has she stopped fighting. With her life put on the line, she still continues to suppress her pain and struggle for what's right. Marinette doesn't have to go so far but that is what Ladybug would have done.
Marinette is Ladybug.
"MARINETTE!" Chat calls out. Marinette looks back with tears staining her eyes. (Chat? Oh no, he knows my identity) "So you finally wake" Ms. Death chimes in. "That's right. Marinette is Ladybug, the hero of Paris and your longtime crush. How do you feel knowing that your partner you know is this pathetic klutzy girl huh?"
Chat only smirks on that comment, "there's nothing to think of it. I have no longer any doubt in my mind. It's clear and focused." Chat raised both his arms in the air. Marinette observes closely and realizes what he was about to do so she runs to him and leaves the villain by herself.
(I've always wanted to do this.)
The particles that coat his body, he channels every ounce of cataclysm and focuses its power in the center point of his fist. He saw this in the movie many times over and his favorite superhero says this quote whenever he wants to cause destruction. With so much potential destruction in it's literal paws, he slams it down to the ground.
"Cataclysm mode: DESTRUCTIVE SMASH!"
He slams both his fist in the ground and in no time, the very ground that they are standing on crumbles. The floor continues to crack until it collapses on itself.
Ms. Death never saw this coming, not anticipating the damn cat would do something this reckless and in turn falls through the floor. Between the rumbling, she unexpectedly lets go of her grip of the miraculous which Marinette caught on.
"Marinette wait!" Chat calls out to her but she ignores it. Marinette dives straightforward for her miraculous and eventually gets her hands on it. She finally got her miraculous back but.
Seeing as she was so sure that she was to fall to her death, she made peace with herself and remained silent as she continued to fall. Tears leaving her closed eyelids as she was scared of what's about to happen.
Thinking that she was gonna die without regrets. There was one that keeps appearing in her mind. The one regret she has that lingers in her mind is that she will never get true closure between the relationship with her kitty.
Flashbacks of the many moments they spent together. The laughters, tears and talking they have done comes flooding back. This must be what they call an 'near death experience' when all the memories in her life are flashed right before your very eyes.
Moments of their times together hits like a photo album. Moving from one frame to another, every moment she could remember is when she was truly happy.
Feeling genuine joy and safety within his presence is a feeling she will never get to experience again.
Thinking it that way, it is truly terrifying.
"Marinette!" The bluenette hears a sudden call for her name. She didn't want to wish it, knowing that it was too good to be true, she refuse to hear what she heard but his voice still calls out to her.
"Princess! Grab my hand!" Marinette opens her eyes sees none other than Chat Noir diving straight for her, extending his arm for her to reach.
His emerald eyes meeting her oceanic ones, his hand draws in closer to her. Marinette sees this as an opportunity in life. The hand that struggles to reach hers symbolizes that he wants her to keep on living.
His hand was so close to her, all she had to do was reach for it. The drive to live and see through her life with no regrets is within her grasp and the one person she could count on from day one was her beloved kitty.
Chat Noir.
She extends her arm and reaches out for him. Once their fingertips touch. Chat makes a one last push and grabs hold of her right arms, pulling her up to his chest.
".....Chat?" Her voice breaks upon realization. "I got you princess" he reassures her. Marinette holds on tight to his chest as he dodges the falling debris. "You saved me kitty. Thank you" she repeated herself as she cried her heart out.
She thought she was forsure dead, in a hopeless situation, it was a scary thought to think her life was about to end so seeing him there every time she finds herself at the lowest point was a reminder to whom she truly treasures in her heart, the one person she can always count on and who truly cares for her life.
A literal hero in her eyes.
The prince who saves the princess.
Another somewhat longer story than usual but I had so much fun writing this one. I wanna know what your opinions about the story so far as it approaches its end. Was the journey lackluster and boring or eventful and fun to read?
Anyways. If you guys enjoy tonight's chapter, vote, like, add to reading list to stay updated when I publish another chapter and comment what you like or dislike and I'll be sure to take it to heart in improving myself as a writer.
On that note ladies and gentlemen, have a nice day/night. Ciao!