Chapter Text
Lila Rossi left the Dupeng Cheng bakery feeling pretty clever. Her pocket was weighted with the butterfly charm she had stolen from Marinette’s room. She patted her pocket, feeling certain she could get a good amount of cash for it from the pawn shop she prefered. Different products danced in her mind as she thought about what to buy with her dirty money. Some new boots, perhaps? The season was changing, spring right around the corner.
Yes, she decided, a pair of stylish new boots would be the perfect treat for herself after all the awful trials she had had to endure these past few mon-
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“ Tiki I just don’t understand that girl!” Marinette huffed in frustration, dropping solidly into her desk chair. “Why in the world would she come here to try to apologize of all things, and expect me to believe her, after everything she has done!” The red kawmi sat on the desk with a thoughtful expression.
“I don’t know Marinette. Lila always seems to have another angle. Are you sure that was all she was here for?” Marinette’s eyes widened at the kwami’s observation. Taking a quick look around her room, she didn’t see anything out of place. Her booby trapped diary box was untouched, none of her clothes looked disturbed, the miracle box on her desk was-
SCREEECH CRUNCH!
“What the?!” Marinette jumped at the sound.
“That came from outside!” Tiki gasped in alarm.
“An akuma?” The black haired girl asked.
“Only one way to find out.” Tiki replied. Marinette raced to the ladder that led to her rooftop balcony. She leaned over the railing, taking in the shouting people below.
It wasn’t an akuma attack.
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“...Wolfram Berger stands trial today for attempted vehicular manslaughter against Lila Rossi, better known to some as Volpina, three months ago. Ms. Rossi remains in a coma in an undisclosed hospital. Ladybug and Chatnoir are standing as witnesses today against Mr. Berger’s chronic harassment of Ms. Rossi as well as two of her classmates, Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Marc Anciel, who will also be testifying today-”
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Ladybug punched the brick chimney hard enough to leave an imprint of her fist. The trial earlier today had ended with the jury declaring Mr. Berger not guilty. The defense had argued that Mr. Berger had simply lost control of his car and that the fact that Lila had been the victim was merely a coincidence. Chat Noir and Paon were off the side with troubled looks of their own.
“I can’t believe that jury! Four weeks of community service? Not guilty? That awful man could have killed Lila! I might not be her biggest fan but…” Ladybug trailed off with a frustrated growl.
“The court system is not as straightforward as tv likes to make it dear.” Paon sighed. “If Miss Rossi had actually died the verdict may have been more severe, but she is still alive if only through life support.” The peacock hero rubbed her arms, unhappy with the verdict.
“I don’t know.” Chat noir added, “Berger has a lot of followers. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them managed to sneak onto the jury. I noticed quite a few of them giving Marc and Nathaniel the stink eye, not to mention us.”
One would think that Hawkmoth being gone for nearly six months now would weaken the Office of Akuma Affairs anti-akuma and anti-hero platforms. The lack of new material didn’t phase the group who were happy to make up new situations to blame on the heroes or skew old ones. Paon especially came under fire often due to Mayura’s past actions, being an easy target due to her public identity. People were unable or unwilling to separate her from her temporary replacement. Being Hawkmoth’s wife hardly helped either.
“I hate to say it Ladybug, but we have bigger concerns than Mr. Berger walking free. It has been three months and we still haven't found the butterfly miraculous.” Paon gently reminded the steaming hero. Their group, which extended beyond the three on the rooftop, had searched Lila’s belongings and home extensively with no luck. Ladybug had been certain the girl had taken the miraculous having been alone in her room just a day before the jewel had been discovered missing, but it was starting to look like that may not be the case. Lila had been hit with Berger’s car as soon as she left the bakery. The girl would have had no time to hide the miraculous anywhere. Similar searches of Berger’s home and possessions had also been fruitless. The current running theory was one of the many bystanders that day had picked up the broach. The lack of new akumas suggested whomever had discovered it had not been compatible, kwami didn’t show themselves to just anyone, but it was only a matter of time before someone compatible did come along. The miraculous were magic like that, inevitably gravitating towards wielders.
Ladybug groaned. “Yeah, anti-hero sentiment is higher than it has ever been. You would think people would be happy for peace, not calling us useless because we can’t stop every mugging and petty crime.”
“Almost makes you wish Hawkmoth was back.” Chat Noir chuckled. Distantly, an explosion boomed. “uhhh…” The black cat hesitated.
“Let’s move!” Paon commanded, already racing across the rooftops.
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“Please tell me that is not an akuma. Chaton, if that is an akuma I will personally make your life miserable for the next week.” Ladybug threatened.
“If that’s an akuma, I don’t think you’ll have to work too hard to accomplish that.” Chatnoir gulped, taking in the scene. A girl in a multi colored dress was frolicing in the street below, watering people she managed to catch with a watering pail. People who came into contact with water from the pail began to sprout flowers all over their body, older victims looking to have become plants entirely.
“ If that is an akuma, the akuma is likely in the watering can.” Paon commented. “She doesn’t look too dangerous.” The peacock wielder leapt to street level without further ado to confront the akuma.
“Paon wait-dammit.” Ladybug muttered. Paon had become active after Hawkmoth had already been defeated. Despite being the eldest hero, she had never actually faced an akuma before and was making a rookie mistake. Akuma were never as simple as they looked. Ladybug exchanged looks with Chatnoir. She could see he was conflicted. Instinct was telling him to leap to his mother’s side and support her. Training was reminding him that hanging back and watching was the wiser choice.
“Go to her Chat, I’ll hang back to watch for tricks.” Chatnoir nodded and joined Paon, who was trying to knock the watering can from the akuma’s hands with her knives. The akuma laughed as she batted the knives away like pesky flies.
“You showed up! Goody! Let me take care of you!” The akuma chirped, gleefully dancing closer to Paon. “Everything will be so much easier once you’re a plant! You’ll be happier!”
“I like sunlight as much as the next cat, but I’m not too crazy about water.” Chatnoir quipped, using his baton to try and trip the akuma. The action was in vain. Even the combined efforts of Paon and Chanoir were not enough to make the akuma’s ballerina like grace falter. Further from the battle, Ladybug approached one of the flower covered victims.
“Hold on, I’ll get you out!” The man did not respond at first, his eyes glazed and listless. When Ladybug began to try and tear the vines from his body, he began to scream in pain. Shocked, the heroine recoiled.
“HEY!” The akuma screamed. “Don’t hurt my plants you naughty bug!” The akuma darted towards Ladybug, free hand outstretched. Jumping backwards, Ladybug felt a small trill of alarm as the movement felt sluggish. Moments before the akuma could pour water on her, Chatnoir kicked her away.
“You okay Ladybug?”
“Be careful, Chat, Paon, I think the plants are giving off some sort of sedative.” Ladybug winced, holding her head. “Harming the plants seems to also harm the host, don’t touch anyone.”
“Good little bugs should HELP plants!” The akuma fumed. “Bad bugs will be pruned away by the Gardener.” The akuma attacked with a flurry of graceful kicks and wide sprays of her water. Ladybug and Chatnoir put up their shields to deflect the water, while Paon hung back and attacked from range with her knives.
“We need to pull back, one touch of that water and it’s game over!” Chatnoir said after a particularly close call.
“We need some way to prevent her from pouring water.” Ladybug added, movements slower than she would have liked. Gardener’s supply of water seemed infinite, and dodging the growing puddles around them was becoming harder.
“If only we could find someone unaffected by her powers, I could create a senti-monster. Where are all the civilians? This is a busy street…” Paon groused.
“Parisians are pretty good at getting out of spitting range of these fights by now. The police have probably set up barricades to prevent people from coming this way.”
“It might be time for a Lucky Charm!” Cried out Ladybug, her yoyo toss taking more effort than it should have due to her lingering sluggishness. A chromatic pocket knife fell into her hands. The hilt was ladybug spotted, but the blade simmered in rainbow colors.
“Looks like it’s time to cut ties with the Gardener.” Chatnoir quipped, using his baton to catapult a nearby trash can at the Gardener. Ladybug huffed at the pun as her eyes darted around the area trying to come up with a plan. Other than the Gardener’s watering pail, nothing else stood out to her. Nothing except...Paon. Ladybug cast an eye around the plant strewn street again. A few of the plants still had twitching human limbs sticking out of them. Perhaps someone still had enough consciousness to produce a sentimonster...the Lucky Charm was never wrong. She had to trust it.
“Paon! Are you sure you can’t feel any strong desires?” The street was getting pretty flooded, the heroes had taken to jumping from cartop, to street stall top, to try and avoid the water. On one hand, it kept them dry. On the other this severely limited their maneuverability. Paon closed her eyes and concentrated.
“There is...one...but I’ll need a moment to focus!” The peacock hero threw another of her feather-knives at the akuma, only for it to clatter uselessly onto the street as the agile girl danced and twirled away.
“Right, let’s give Paon some breathing room kitty. Hit the street!”
“You got it Ladybug. Cataclysm!” Dark energy crackled across the flooded street, causing it to heave and crumble in on itself. Chunks of the asphalt shuddered as their supports eroded, falling into the sewers below. The Gardener stumbled, all of her attention diverted to staying on her feet during the mini earthquake.
Meanwhile, Paon whispered to the blue feather in her hand before sending it on its journey with a blown kiss. The feather didn’t go as far as Ladybug thought it would, fluttering down to land on a twisted pile of flowers and thorns. An image bubbled and coalesced into reality, settling into the kneeling figure of…
“ Penknight?! ”