*Adrien*

---

"GAH!!"

Oof. I landed on top of the roof below me. Volpina had me in her grasp; my kidnapper now holding her shin in pain from when I gathered up my strength to strike a painful blow. I looked around me. She hurt her. She hurt Ladybug. And now, I don't know where she is. But I did know Volpina was going to get back on her feet soon.

I acted fast. Thankfully, the building I was on wasn't too big. And a wooden ladder was conveniently propped up against the side of the house. What a coincidence. But of course I didn't need that ladder. I was Chat Noir! A little building can't stop me from rescuing my partner. Even if I didn't know her very well. I ran as quickly as I could to a dark alley way where no one could find me.

"Plagg?"

*Groan* "What do you want now?" Plagg whined.

I didn't have time for this! I called him into my ring before he could protest. And in less than a minute, I was standing face to face with the vixen villain in my hero suit. She was still in the same place. Yet no longer laying on the roof, clutching her leg.

"WELL... If it isn't Chat Noir!" She cooed.

I wasn't going to waste another moment. "Where is she Volpina?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean." She flirted.

"Ladybug.." I started.

"Oh! She's on that roof!" She claimed pointing to a building. I had no idea why she told me this so easily. I made sure she led me to the building. That way, I wouldn't have to worry so much about an attack from the back.

"She's here." Volpina said as she turned towards me.

I looked around. My frown deepening as I saw no evidence of my partner. I managed to hold back my anger and frustration. Is this a joke? My mind questioned.

"Volpina.. She's not here." I explained slowly. Making sure to be as patient as possible. I grew confused as I saw the vixens face grow confused and then worried. She turned and looked everywhere. We both grew anxious and started searching around the building for clues or proof that Ladybug was around somewhere. Nothing.

"Salut Chat Noir et Volpina!" A new voice rang.

At the voice, my breath hitched and I quickly turned towards the source. Volpina did the same.

"Hahaha! Looking for your dear bug? You'll never find her!" The woman cackled.

"Who are you?" Volpina almost whispered.

"I am the ultimate super villain!" The akuma started. "Lady Mouche!" She yelled giving a model pose. Her outfit was a very dark purple, almost black, and the chest of the suit was colored a shiny blue-green. She wore long triangular-shaped translucent wings attached to her back and had a glasses with the eyes covered in tiny cones (like a fly's). Why this akuma had resembled a fly? I had no clue.

I was stripped from my thoughts when Volpina let out a growl and lunged towards the fly.

"Ah-ah-ah! That's a bad little fox you are!" Lady Mouche laughed mockingly. She then opened her mouth and released a green goo that had Volpina stuck to the rooftop. Despite her struggling, the vixen could not manage to escape.

"Haha! I thought foxes were supposed to be sly." Mouche scoffed. She slowly walked over to where Volpina was stuck to the floor and touched the green illuminating goo. The vixen let out a scream as she struggled to free herself. Each attempt failing and draining more and more energy. The trapped girl's body glowed as Lady Mouche's suit began to sprout green-blue colored armor plates on her back and small lumps of the armored plates down to the bottom of her chest. Which looked like ripples of water that gave the illusion of a necklace. A crown of the same color (which wasn't really a crown since it looked like the top of an eggshell as a hat) appeared on her head and two antennas sprouted out. By the time Volpina's body had disappeared, Lady Mouche's suit had reached its final stage.

"FINALLY!" She rejoiced, making a show of shooting her arms in the air and take a big breathe of satisfaction. Being too scared to move, I stayed quiet but I stood in a stance which gave the impression that I could move at any second.

"Chat Noir~" Mouche began. "Do you know what I had to go through?"

I only stared; no word daring to escape my lips.

"I thought so~" she cleared her throat. "When I first received my akuma.. I wasn't as powerful as others may start out as. A stupid akuma design really. I started out as a larvae. I was stuck in a white cocoon until some stupid, on their part, kids broke my cocoon. Before they got away, BAM! I hit them with my goo! And I transformed into an... even larger larvae." She wore a frown. "But! After I trapped more innocent victims, and wormed my way to touch them, I finally became a fly! With the help of that fox girl, and a bunch of other people, I grew into my final form!"

My brows furrowed. "Let's not forget why I'm here. Where is she? Where is Ladybug?!" I raised my voice.

She looked confused only for her frown to turn into a cackling grin. "Oh! Her~?" HAhaha. "She's in good hands little kitten."

I knew I wouldn't be able to crack her. So I had to break her using her akuma.

"So~. Lady Mouche. Um. Why were you akumatised?" *facepalm* As if asking her directly would work. But I felt desperate, hopeless even, to find my partner and save my kingdom.

"Akumatised? Oh! Well, you see, my husband... Never Mind! I don't care about him!" She threw her gaze to the side while crossing her arms.

"Did he do something?" Well duh! Obviously! She's akumatised because of something he did. I really was not thinking. "Sorry." Time to take on a little therapy. Chat Noir Ph.D.!

"Lady Mouche. Your husband. He really can't be a good person if he put you through this pain."

"PAIN!? This is torture!" She screamed. Tears started to form in her eyes. "That backstabbing cheater!"

"Listen. Let's talk.." I began.

"No! I don't care for him. I don't want to talk about it!"

"Obviously you care for him! Why can't he see that? He doesn't deserve you or your kindness!"

Her eyes grew wide. "You're absolutely right! Can you believe he was, and probably is at the the moment, galavanting with other women. And when I asked him about it, he called me obnoxious as a housefly! How dare I be compared to a fly!"

"Girl! You leave him! And leave the akuma! Your only bringing yourself more trouble."

"Y-you're right. I.. Here." She took off something around her ankle and handed it to me. "It's an anklet my dear friend gave to me once. My akuma is in there. Please. Help me."

I nodded. "But first. I need you to take me to Ladybug."

She still looked hurt from her situation. But nevertheless, she nodded.

She led me out of the town and far into a Forrest. As she flew and I jumped from tree to tree, I could see the castle growing smaller and smaller behind us. Eventually, I had to light a fire since she couldn't see in the dark and the night air was growing colder by the minute. I was grateful for my survival classes, because of that, I'd managed to light a fairly large fire. I wanted to continue on our quest, but Lady Mouche had fallen asleep and her inability to see in the dark would be no help.

Tiredness.

It tugged at my eyes. Begging them to close. Sometimes, my head would fall back and I would jerk awake from the sudden movement. But I felt uncomfortable. There could be an attack at any moment. The fire had burned itself out at this point and the air resumed a comfortable chill. My best bet was to sleep in a tree. I wondered if I should move my new.. acquaintance.. into a tree as well. I knew it would be rude to let her stay on the ground in danger. But would it be weird if I pulled her up to sleep on a tree? My choice was made once I realized she could fall off a branch. Instead, I made sure she had some cover by making a wall of some tree logs and sticks around her; I was somewhat thankful for her dark suit. I made myself comfortable on a tree branch high from the ground. The trees in the Forrest being tall pines. My eyes quickly closed and a warm darkness took over me.

-----

"Wake up cat boy!" A cheerful voice rang.

My eyes slowly flitted open. Immediately closing from the sudden bright light that blinded my pupils.

"Are you ready to eat?"

At the word eat, my nose registered the familiar, delicious smell radiating from a plate.

"I hope you like eggs, bacon, and croissants!

"Did you get that from the forest?" I gaped, confused. "And how did I end up on the ground?"

"Oh! Goodness no! I'm not that talented. While you were sleeping, I flew into town and got the croissants from a bakery and made the bacon and eggs at my house." Lady Mouche quickly explained. "To explain why you're on the ground- I pulled you down so it would be easier to wake you up once I came back. Y'know having my arms full of plates and forks."

"Oh. Well, thank you." I gave a thankful smile as she handed me my plate.

Just looking at the food made my stomach growl. Everything on my plate still warm and looking fresh-made. The eggs were scrambled and and the browned potatoes cut into triangular shapes. The warm, light brown croissant making my mouth water. *giggle* In an instant, I was snapped out of my daze.

"Oh, sorry. You were just staring at your food with a silly smile." The girl giggled.

"Sorry, it just really looks good."

We finished our breakfast in silence. It had crossed my mind that the food could be deadly, but I decided to give my trust. Once we were finished, Lady Mouche hid the plates and silverware in a log next to a tree. Then, we continued our journey to save Ladybug.

The dead silence was awkward and I longed for one of us to find something to say. I was still curious about her story, but I thought it better to leave that alone.

"Hey! Why don't we play a game?"

"Which one?"

"Mm.. Truth or dare! No. Ooh! Twenty questions!"

"What's that? I've never played it."

"Twenty questions? It's simple. My friends and I always play it. The rules are: you can only ask the other person twenty questions. And to spice it up, whoever asks more than 20 questions owes the other person a favor! A favor per extra question of course!"

"Hmm. Okay. I'll go first!" I decided. I thought about some questions I'd ask. Of course I'd ask questions that concern me. I would like to know who I'm at least traveling with and putting my trust in. "Okay. What's your real name?"

"Real name? It's Amorie. But my friends call me Rory; I'd prefer if you called me Amorie though."

"Okay Amorie. How old are you?"

"Getting personal there cat. Anyways it's 25. You've had two questions. My turn!"

And we kept asking questions until she owed 5 favors and I owed 1. Many of her questions I couldn't answer; she had asked who I was under the mask, my age and other thing like that. We had formed a slight bond of friendship, but I still couldn't release anything that could unveil my identity. Before long, we reached a wooden cabin that looked slightly abandoned.

"Here we are! She's in there." Amorie pointed to the door. Her cheerful expression never faltered which gave me the impression she really had wanted to help me.

I opened the door and a shock rose within me.

"Ladybug?!"

---

*Ladybug*

It was hard. I had to admit. But I did it! I had managed to trick the man who tied me up into letting me go. It was embarrassing, really, I pretended I was going into labor and that I needed to get out of the chair in order to deliver my baby. Again! It was the first thing that popped into my mind!

Anyways! The man fell for it (I have no idea how) and I got released and fled. But not before knocking the man out. I nicely put him in the chair, and because I was feeling good, I hadn't tied him up.

"Ladybug!" A masculine voice filled my ears.

"Chat?" I whispered. I turned around and found no one in my sight.

What if I'm hallucinating? Could Chat really be here? Was he looking for me?

I had to try. Mustering up the strength I had in me, I yelled back, "Chat!"

"Ladybug?"

I turned to see my partner running towards me. Before I could register what was happening, I was pulled into a warm embrace.

"I thought I lost you." Chat whispered. I could hear all his emotions in his voice: hurt, worry, rejoice, relief. It filled me with happiness to be safe in someone's arms.

"Um." A small voice interrupted our celebratory hug.

My eyes shot open to see a woman standing awkwardly behind Chat. A thousand thoughts filled my head suddenly who was she? Is she an akuma? Wait! If she's an akuma, why is she not attacking? She looks safe. What?

Chat released me and he quickly explained the situation once he had seen my confusion.

"Ladybug! This is my friend Lady Mouche or uh Amorie." He smiled introducing us both. "She helped me find you."

"Oh yes! Your partner saved me from hurting more people. I'm an akuma."

"But why hasn't Hawkmoth taken your powers away? It seems you have no desire to follow his commands." I blurted out. A bit rude but I wasn't too fond of another um, hero? showing up all of a sudden.

*Lady Mouche*

"Oh yes that..."

I couldn't tell them. What would they do to me if I did?

A male voice rang in my head Hawkmoth.

"Shh. No one must know" it said.

-----

🎃