Chapter Text
"Use your Lucky Charm before Antielle gets here," Chat urged.
Ladybug nodded. "Lucky Charm!" she cried, throwing her yoyo aloft. It burst into red sparkles and then a red, black-spotted ice cream scoop fell into her hands. She blinked at it for a moment, belatedly noticing but disregarding the twin baffled looks on Chat's and Queen Bee's faces, then looked around. A soft jingling sound caught her attention. She walked to the edge of the roof and peered over.
"Is that André the ice cream guy?" Queen Bee said in disbelief, having followed her.
"Yeah, it is. Okay, I know what to do," Ladybug said, eyes darting around and focusing in on first Chat, then Queen Bee, André's cart, and the scoop in her hands. "Queen Bee, I want you to hide. You have to be ready to sneak up on Antielle with your stinger. As soon as you take her down, grab her earrings, her hair ribbons, and her mask if you can get it off. We're not sure where the akumatized object is and we might only get one chance at this so we're going to have to be fast."
"Got it. You can count on me, Ladybug," Queen Bee said.
"I know I can," Ladybug said, surprised to realize that it was true. She thrust the ice cream scoop at Chat. "Go down there and borrow André's cart. Scoop as much ice cream on the ground as you can. Make it nice and sticky and slippery, and maybe even keep a few scoops to the side to throw at her. I'll be the bait that gets Antielle down there."
"You know, I much prefer it when our roles are reversed and I'm the bait," Chat said, but he turned to do as she'd asked. Ladybug watched them both go and then forced herself to turn away, scanning the horizon. It shouldn't have taken Antielle that long to crawl out of the dumpster. She had to be planning something. But what? Not knowing made Ladybug nervous. Antielle was by far the strongest akuma they had faced so far.
But it was little wonder. Lila had plenty to be angry about. Not only had the miraculous and her chance at fame been taken out from under her nose, Chloé had shown her that picture of Marinette and Adrien and Alya had been pressuring her about another interview. It was probably a good thing that Lila hadn't known that Marinette had suggested the interview, or Antielle would've been after her too. For that matter, it was frankly surprising that Antielle wasn't trying to kill Marinette - but then maybe Marinette was number three on her list...
'Okay, stop it. Thinking about someone trying to kill Marinette is freaking me out,' Chat thought.
'Sorry,' Ladybug thought, realizing that she was letting her mind get away from her. 'I just wish that Master Fu had been more careful about who he chose as Coccinelle. I'm sure Lila would've gotten akumatized eventually, maybe even today... but she wouldn't have become Antielle and so maybe she wouldn't have been such a problem. Those Anti Charms of hers pack a real punch.' She rubbed ruefully at her shoulder.
'I don't know what he was thinking. All I can think of is that Master Fu was desperate. He did say he hadn't had the chance to look at any candidates. Pretty sure he just picked the first person he came across that day. Plus, you know how good Lila is at lying,' Chat thought.
Ladybug did know, and she could easily imagine Master Fu being suckered in, like so many other adults at the school, by Lila's faux sweet nature. Still, that made it no less frustrating. She paced around the roof, wondering if they would be facing an akumatized Lynx next. She really hoped not. Antielle's Anti Charm was bad enough; Ladybug couldn't fathom what Cataclysm would be like in the hands of an akuma...
"Ladybug, look out!"
Queen Bee's warning came just in time. At the sound of it, Ladybug reacted instinctively and threw herself to the ground. Something passed over her head so close that she could feel it and hit the roof behind her. She pushed herself up and turned, eyes widening at the sight of an honest-to-god arrow. The tip was sunk several inches deep in the roof and the shaft was still quivering. Ladybug gulped and touched the top of her head, realizing that the arrow had come so close it had actually touched her hair.
"Damn," Antielle said, and Ladybug spun around to see that the akuma was standing behind her wearing a cruel smirk. "Just a little bit lower and we could've had Ladybug-shish-kabobs. What a shame. Guess I'll have to try again." She hefted the black, red-spotted crossbow she was holding.
"Because I'm really going to stand here and let you shoot me," Ladybug said sarcastically, backing up a step. It took everything she had to maintain her composure and not let her fear show on her face.
'Okay, ice cream is on the ground and Queen bee is hidden. We’re ready,' Chat thought.
"It would be nice if you did, but that's okay. I don't mind a hunt!" Antielle fired again and Ladybug dodged again, this time throwing herself off the roof. She threw her yoyo out and saw it connect with a tree branch -
And an arrow flew through the air and cut through the tree branch.
"Ladybug!" Chat's cry rang out as she hit the ground with a pained groan, having fallen a good three stories.
"Anti Charm!" Antielle cried as she landed several feet away from where the ice cream was - so much for that plan.
"Get up, Ladybug!" Queen Bee was suddenly there, grabbing Ladybug's arm and dragging her to her feet. Over Queen Bee's shoulder, Ladybug caught sight of Chat grappling with Antielle. He was using his baton and Antielle was now holding a black, red-spotted spear with a razor-sharp edge.
"I'm fine," Ladybug said shakily, gently pushing Queen Bee away. Her mind raced in search of another plan, but she was coming up blank. The smart thing to do would be to slip away, let her transformation run out, feed Tikki and regroup - she only had about three minutes left anyway. They would need a new Lucky Charm if they hoped to beat Antielle. But she didn't know if she could leave Chat...
"Go," Queen Bee said, putting a hand on Ladybug's arm and meeting Ladybug's gaze. "I'll help him. Just hurry."
"I'm counting on you," Ladybug told her; she put her hand over Queen Bee's and squeezed briefly before she ran, heading for the school. Behind her, Antielle let out a scream of rage that sent chills down her spine.
Ladybug rushed into the empty school and ducked into a classroom. "Spots off," she said.
Tikki appeared, looking worried. "Oh Marinette, I'm so sorry! I should've told you it was Lila when you asked!" she cried.
"It's okay, Tikki. You couldn't have known what would happen. But please, eat as fast as you can. Chat and Queen Bee need me," Marinette said, wincing as she crouched down. Her side really hurt from where she'd landed on the ground. She took a cookie from her purse and gave it to Tikki.
"Right," Tikki said, taking a huge bite of the cookie and chewing furiously.
Marinette closed her eyes for a moment, taking a few seconds to catch her breath and work through the pain from her side and her shoulder. There was a way to get to Antielle, just like there had been every other akuma they had faced. She just had to remain calm until Tikki had finished eating. Then she could transform and use whatever Lucky Charm she got, as well as Queen Bee's stinger, to get the akumatized object away from Antielle. Chat could Cataclysm it, Ladybug would purify the butterfly and cast the cure, and this would all be a bad memory. Right.
And then it went quiet outside.
‘Shit,’ Chat thought.
Marinette closed her eyes and tried not to cry as the reality of it all filled her head.
Antielle broke the silence by laughing and calling out, "Oh Laaaaaadyyyyybuuuuug. You should really come out."
"She's taunting you, Marinette. Don't listen," Tikki said between mouthfuls of cookie.
But Marinette had to look. She carefully turned around and slowly sat up until she could peek over the sill. Her eyes widened in utter horror at what she saw. Queen Bee was all wrapped up in Antielle's yoyo, tied to a tree - she was struggling to get free, but she couldn't. Blood was running down her face from a deep cut across her jaw. Antielle was standing in the middle of the yard, one strong arm wrapped around Chat's body. He was pinned against her, unable to move... because the tip of Antielle's spear was jammed up under his chin.
"Come out here, Ladybug," Antielle commanded, losing her humor. "Or I'll put shish kabob kitty on the menu tonight."