The akuma was relentless.

Ladybug's heart flipped as the rooftop below her feet began to crumble, turning into a slew of muddy rocks and boulders. Beside her, Chat Noir yelped out as he lost his footing. She reached out to grab his tail just in time.

Without stopping to think further, Ladybug threw out her yo-yo to the nearest lamp post, swinging both her and Chat to safety just in time.

Or so she thought.

Too late she realised the akuma must have zapped the lamp too. The once taught string of her yo-yo slackened. Her and Chat fell to the ground with separate shrieks.

Before they hit the pavement, Chat wrapped himself around her, placing a hand behind her head to protect it from the impact. Ladybug closed her eyes, felt the sudden smack of concrete rattle her bones, before the pair of them rolled gently to a stop.

"Well My Lady," Chat grunted from below her, winking, "seems you're stuck between a rock and a hard place."

"Seriously?!" she cried, pulling him to his feet and flicking his nose.

"I saw an op-purr-tunity and took it," he replied, wiggling his nose.

"Not your fe-linest moment Kitty," she shot back as they ran for cover, ducking and dodging falling boulders as they did so. They leapt a few streets away from the akuma, hiding behind a large dumpster in order to come up with a plan.

The Akuma, whom they'd nicknamed Landslide, was particularly nasty. Neither Ladybug nor Chat had been able to verbally engage with him so his motivations remained vague. But some akumas were like that, angry and hurting, dedicated to causing as much chaos as possible. They were usually the most dangerous ones and Landslide was no exception.

"We have to concentrate on keeping the akuma contained," Ladybug huffed, eyebrows knotting together in a frown.

"And getting as many people out of the area as possible," Chat agreed. Luckily they'd managed to evacuate most people from the buildings, and force them to head for safety. Chat had been the distraction whilst Ladybug warned others and Alya, being the ever present blogger, had spread the word over the internet. Unfortunately there were still a few stragglers, those interested in seeing the superheroes fighting with their own two eyes, and others who were simply panicking and not thinking things through.

From a few streets down, Landslide let our a roar which caused them both to jump. Ladybug grabbed Chat and pulled him down to the ground where they hid, waiting, hoping…

"Dio! He sounds rather grumpy no?"

Ladybug glanced up to see Volpino hanging from a window box by his bushy tail. Once he realised they'd noticed him, he dropped down to the floor to join them, crouching down to their level. His ears flattened against his head so that they wouldn't stick out from the top of the dumpster and give them away. Impressive, Ladybug thought, that he'd leaned how to control his extra appendages so quickly. Chat had taken months to be able to control his tail, and it still had a life of its own…

…Or did it?

That pesky cat.

"Forgive me for intruding," Volpino interrupted her train of thoughts, "Nathanael and I were nearby when I saw the akuma attack. We ran away and, once I made sure he was safe, I managed to lose him so I could find you-" he ran a worried hand through his hair- "the akuma seems rather viscious so if you two need help, I'm willing and able though it is not my- ahh- my time yet. So to speak."

Ladybug mulled their options over, placing her fingers on her chin. On the one hand it was nothing her and Chat couldn't handle, and Volpino hadn't been announced to the press yet so this was sure to cause a media frezy. On the other hand there were people in very real danger. Any extra hands would be useful and the media were going to go crazy over a new hero regardless. Headline stories meant nothing over the safety of the people they were in charge of protecting.

She glanced over at Chat, who nodded solemnly. He seemed to be sharing the same thoughts as her.

"Ok," she complied, ushering him closer. Volpino beamed, ears perked as he hurried towards them, though he quickly forced them down again.

"You have powers of illusion right?" Chat asked looking at the flute residing on Volpino's hip. "That'll be pretty handy actually!"

For a moment, Volpino's smile faltered.

"Should I try… distracting the akuma with some illusions?" he supplied, grinning once more. Neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir noticed the tightness in his jaw, the faint knit of his brow.

"Hmm, it would be good if you distracted him with illusions, then Chat could attack to keep the akuma from straying and causing more damage. I could fall back and use the time to figure out where the akuma is and then Lucky Charm it," Ladybug replied as another roar echoed through the streets, making them flinch. "Can you two stall him?"

"Can do, My Lady," Chat bowed.

"It looks like the villain is intent on causing distruction to buildings and objects rather than people. Perhaps I should create things which will grab his attention?" Volpino suggested and the three leapt up from where Volpino had appeared. The fox in question already had his flute staff out ready.

Crounching on the rooftop gave them a good vantage point of Landslide marching down the street. It was strange. He looked like an ordinary man dressed like an over-exaggerated version of an explorer- yet every step he made sounded and felt like a hundred stampeding elephants. The three of them watched as the akumatised man zapped everything from mailboxes, to cars and road signs. He made no move to destroy any more buildings.

Ladybug's mind worked a mile a minute, connecting the dots. With Landslide's back to them, she couldn't see what he was using to attack others but was sure it must be where the akuma resided. They'd been right with their plan to get closer.

"He's not attacking anything living!" Chat gasped. "Not even trees. Man, talk about Green Peace!"

"Maybe Landslide's attacks don't work on anything living," Ladybug replied, ignoring Chat's pun and instead turning to her right, where Volpino was. "If you get as close as you can, use the trees as a shield."

"It'd be my pleasure, coccinella," Volpino smirked, vaulted over the roof, and hurried into the fray. There were still people running around, screaming at the top of their lungs. A few stopped to stare when they saw him, curious that this strange new person had appeared when the two usual superheroes were nowhere to be found, and Volpino put his fingers to his lips to signify he was not to be noticed at that point in time.

Using her stealthiest moves, Ladybug crawled and leapt across the rooftops, making sure Landslide didn't spot her. From her peripheral vision she saw Chat jumping forwards, tailing curling, as he twisted into the shadows behind a street corner. It was there he'd lie in wait, ready for Volpino's distraction.

Volpino concentrated, hands shaking as he brought the flute to his lips and focused on creating something small. A car perhaps? He could create the illusion of a small car, like a smart car or a beetle. He could do that.

His hearbeat thrummed in his ears, his breath quivered as he blew into the flute, picturing the car in his minds eye, willing himself to create, create, create…

Along with a raspy melody, a small whisp of orange smoke blew out of the end of his flute, creating the vague shadowey image of a car, before it disappeared on the wind.

Volpino tried again. Thought of something smaller. A bicycle would do.

The same thing happened.

A roadsign then?

For the third time, Volpino brought the flute to his lips and tried to picture something tiny. Surely a roadsign wasn't beyond his capabilities? Surely!

But, alas, the more he tried the less it worked.

He growled, holding his flute staff in a vice-like grip. Why couldn't he do this? Why was he failing?

Volpino was so concerned with his powers that he didn't sense trouble until Landslide was right before him. The faint grunt, the heavy footsteps, shook him to the core and he slowly tilted his chin, ears and tail drooping…

It was the first time he'd seen a possessed person up close, seen the faint glow of purple, the signs of their internal manipulation. The soul behind Landslide's eyes was unreachable, the faint glisten of them was like a layer of impenetrable glass. Volpino had never seen eyes like it, so dark and cruel. It was like staring straight into the eyes of Hawkmoth himself, and it was then that Volpino truly understood how puppetlike his victims were, how they could have no recollection of what had occurred.

With one swipe of his hand, Hawkmoth was able to strip the humanity from any person who dared feel enough, dared hope enough, dared hurt enough. That, more than anything, terrified him the most.

Because anyone could be a victim to this. To be human was to be prey.

Volpino froze, held captive by that sickly purple glow, by that terrifyingly un-humanlike gaze.

Without warning, Landslide swiped, striking Volpino's side and sending him flying across the street. With the sickening crunch of metal, Volpino struck the roof of a car and rolled into a heap on the pavement below.

"Volpino!"

Chat launched forwards, using his staff to swipe at Landslide.

Whilst Chat fought, Volpino tried to stop his brain rattling in his mind, but the clanging of the steel baton against whatever Landslide's weapon was did nothing to help him in that regard. He groaned, rolling onto his back, and tried to sit up.

"Are you ok?"

Volpino's heart sank when he turned to see who'd called him so worriedly.

"Nathanael?! What- what are you doing here?" he leapt to his feet, ignoring the neauseating swoop which he felt, unsure whether it was due to the presence of the man before him or the physical blow he'd just be dealt. It didn't matter. Nathanael was there, and all of his worst fears were coming true. None of his illusions worked, he was a liability to Ladybug and Chat Noir, and now his boyfriend was in harms way.

"I'm looking for Louis," Nathanael cried, huffing breathlessly. He was shaking from head to toe, his eyes were watery and his lips trembled. But none of that mattered to Volpino. For once he felt entirely selfish in his fears, owned them without a care for anything else. "I lost him! I can't find him anywhere, please if you see him-"

"I promise I will look after him but you have to leave right now," Volpino interrupted, voice harried. He reached up to Nathanael's hair, gently brushing it to one side without thinking. "Please? Get somewhere safe first. I need to- to help Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Nathanael stared into Volpino's eyes, that same piercing stare he'd given him the night before. But Volpino could not find himself to be stirred by it. Just this once, just this once he would ignore Nathanael's feelings. Just this once. It would be ok wouldn't it?

"Please?" he begged, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can't do this if I know you're in danger."

"Volpino!" Ladybug was yelling, beckoning him over. Volpino glanced over his shoulder and then back at Nathanael, who'd turned very pale, and remained deadly silent.

"Go," Volpino said, lightly pushing him away. "Go. Now."

Trusting that Nathanael would heed his words, Volpino hurled himself over the ruined car and back into the fray, just in time to catch Chat Noir as he was thrown back by a kick from Landslide.

"We're in a rocky situation to be sure," Chat groaned, thanking Volpino as he righted himself and Ladybug sent Landslide flying with her own revenge-kick. "LB, have you figured out where the akuma is?"

"I'm sure it's the pickaxe he was using to fight with you. It's what he uses to transform objects to rubble," Ladybug replied before looking at Volpino, face a mixture of worry and caution. "Hey, what happened back there?"

Volpino glanced at his weapon, feeling utterly helpless, like a spare thumb.

"I can't make illusions, it's just not working for me," he admitted as Landslide pulled himself from the ground and the three got into a fighting stance. "I've been doubting my abilities too much and now I am a liability."

"You can do it," Chat encouraged, "you just have to believe you can. You just need-"

"LOOK OUT!" Ladybug cried.

The three of them ducked out of the way of Landslide's attack just in time. A purple beam shot over their heads, ruffling their hair, sending chills up their spines…

It struck a building at the end of the street.

Ladybug's heart stopped as the building turned to rubble before their eyes, window panes became pebbles which flew and struck the screaming pedestrians as they ran for their lives. Balconies became boulders, crashing down and demolishing everything in their path. Bricks became mud, and dirt.

Then the building began to collapse. Most people ran free as the dust cloud picked up.

But one person wasn't so lucky.

Chat was the first to react. As Volpino and Ladybug stared in horror, he ran forwards, leaping onto Nathanael, covering him with his body.

The pair disappeared under a slurry of rocks and mud.

"CHAT!"

"NATHANAEL!"

Ladybug collapsed to the ground, her mind turning blank, the street disappeared before her eyes, the world, the whole universe was gone in the blink of an eye. All she could see was Chat disappearing over and over and over again.

She couldn't breathe.

This wasn't happening.

This wasn't happening.

Volpino grabbed her hand, yanking her out of the way of another attack. Instincts were guiding him as he punched Landslide in the face and dragged Ladybug towards the collapsed building. He worked like a robot, denying what he'd just seen. Because Nathanael was running to safety. He was safe. He had to be safe. He couldn't not be safe. That wasn't an option.

But then he reached the immovable mountain of dirt and rocks, and the fact that Nathanael was underneath them smacked him with more force than all the blows landed to him thus far.

He dropped to his knees, frantically pulling the rocks and mud aside with his fingers, not caring how deranged he looked as he cried out for Nathanael, voice breaking, digging deeper and deeper. The longer he dug, the longer he was unable to find him, the more frenzied he became.

Seeing Volpino so despairing snapped Ladybug out of her own shock, and she threw her yoyo up into the to call for a Lucky Charm, dodging another attack from Landslide in the process.

"A mirror," she mumbled, looking at the rectangular object, roughly twice the size of her hand. She focused on ways to use it. Because Chat would be ok. He had to be. He would be- if she had anything to say about it.

Landslide pointed his pickaxe at the building next to the one which had just collapsed, the one which Ladybug was currently standing over. He sent another bolt of purple light towards the wall closest.

Ignoring how utterly sick with worry she truly was, Ladybug jumped in the way of the light, using the mirror as a shield to deflect the attack. Aiming the reflective surface towards the pickaxe, she hoped it would strike the object and release the purple butterfly…

She held her breath…

It landed across the street, hitting a car and immediately turning it to rubble.

Ladybug cursed, dropping back to the ground and running forwards with a battle cry. Every muscle in her body propelled her forwards. Landslide aimed his pickaxe at the ground beneath her.

She jumped. Before Landslide's attack could build up any sort of power, Ladybug's shoulder smashed straight into his chest. A terrible crunching sound filled the air as he crashed to the ground.

A powerful jolt of black light rippled through the air, distracting Ladybug from the currently immobilised Landslide, and she turned just in time to see Volpino falling backwards. The mass of mud and dirt covering Nathanael and Chat began to change, began to darken.

Ladybug clenched her hand to her chest. Her right hand dangled limply, loosely clutching the mirror by her side.

Come on Chat, come on…

All at once a mighty blast of air almost knocked Ladybug off her feet. Picking her arms up to shield herself, her eyes widened and her heart jumped in hope as the boulders began to disintegrate before her. Then, quite suddenly, they all vanished, disappearing as though they'd never been there to begin with.

Right where he'd disappeared, Chat sat on his knees, dirty and scowling, with his arm raised in the claw-like motion symbolic of his signature move.

In his other arm, he cradled Nathanael.

"N- Nathanael!"

Volpino rushed forwards, gently taking Nathanael away from Chat Noir. Wrapping his arms around him protectively, but not too tightly, he searched all over for scars or signs of injury. His jaw dropped when he found none.

"You're not hurt? You're ok?!" Volpino gasped, almost laughed through sheer relief. Despite this, he couldn't seem to believe Nathanael was truly ok, and had to brush his fingers against his cheek, just to be sure.

Nathanael gazed up at him, eyes round and glossy. His hair was a mess, he was covered in all manner of mud and dust, but he was alive. He was alive, and breathing, and so very beautiful that-

"LADYBUG LOOK OUT!"

Chat Noir's cry shook Volpino out of his reverie and he glanced up just in time to see Ladybug dodge a punch sent her way from Landslide. The mirror she'd been holding clattered to the floor.

Chat rushed up to help her, baton already out, but it was too late. Before either of them could stop him, Landslide pointed his pickaxe at the mirror and blasted it to smithereens. Only little stones remained.

As Chat duelled with Landslide once more, and Ladybug clutched her hair, trying to figure out a solution in less than five minutes without aid of her Lucky Charm, Volpino's jaw tightened. He looked down at Nathanael once more, and then to the surrounding destruction which the akuma had wrought. Time seemed to stand still as he took this all in, as he breathed in the chaos.

And suddenly, something clicked.

"I am needed out there," he said, his voice low and deep.

"I know. So hurry. Go," Nathanael replied, parroting Volpino's previous words to him. "I'll be ok. Do your thing."

Volpino smiled, pulling Nathanael to his feet, his lips brushing against the redheads knuckles. They did not exchange goodbyes. They didn't need to.

When Volpino ran to Ladybug's side, she instantly grabbed his arm and tugged him towards her.

"Volpino I know you're finding it hard to conjure illusions right now and that's ok, you can hang back and try again whilst I try to see if- maybe I can conjure another Lucky Charm seeing as the last one broke? I don't know if it'll work but we don't have much time," she huffed, both frustrated and at her wits end. Her brow was sweaty, hair sticking to her forehead, and she swiped it aside angrily.

"I can do it," Volpino explained hurriedly, aware of the limited time frame they had now that Chat and Ladybug had used their special attack. "But I have err, a special attack? Is that what you call it? I have that."

"And you can do it?" Ladybug grabbed his arm, squeezed it with more power than she probably realised.

"At first I wasn't sure but-" Volpino tilted his chin up, fixing her with a grave stare- "I'm ready now. I know I can do it. Now. The attack isn't as powerful as yours, and it doesn't last very long at all. But I know I can at least try."

Ladybug bobbed her head in understanding, stepping backwards to give Volpino space.

There wasn't time to breathe, to control himself or go into the attack with a level head. When Volpino closed his eyes, bringing both hands to the charm around his neck, the heart which beat below it was still thumping wildly. His hands were still shaking, his body was still a mix of fire and ice, waging war in his gut.

"FOX POPULI!"

Chat Noir sent a kick to Landslide's knees, trying to topple him as the two wrestled for the pickaxe. The beeping of his miraculous reminded him they only had minutes to spare.

And then a voice floated through the air, quiet yet demanding, and somehow otherworldly. It pierced Chat's soul and his cat ears automatically flattened against his head. The voice didn't quite sound human.

When he looked up, Chat almost shrieked at the sight of Landslide- his eyes glowed, pupils and iris completely vanished, replaced instead with a bright orange hue.

Volpino stood by Ladybug's side, his eyes glowing the same colour as the villains. His whole being seemed lighter, almost possessed, as if Louis had disappeared completely.

Chat shuddered.

"Landslide!" Volpino was saying, "listen to me, I know you want nothing more than to end this. I know you want to be free of this curse. Drop your weapon. Let us free you. Let us free you, you don't have to hurt anymore…"

The air itself seemed to tighten, frozen with anticipation as they waited to see if Volpino's move had worked.

A flash of purple sparked behind Landslide's eyes and, for the faintest of seconds, both he and Volpino flinched. Chat wondered if that was Hawkmoth trying to regain control of Landslide's mind…

But there would be time for such questions later. Chat gripped his baton, ready, waiting for the moment to pounce.

Just as Volpino's eyes returned back to normal, Landslide dropped the pickaxe. Volpino stumbled, dazed, but neither Ladybug nor Chat had time to check up on him.

"Chat now!" Ladybug yelled, using her yoyo to wrap around the weapon and pull it close, smashing it to pieces. Meanwhile, Chat tackled Landslide to the floor, causing the ground to quake. The akumatised victim struggled to break free of Chat's hold, but Chat was immovable.

It was with a sigh of relief that Ladybug released the newly cleansed white butterfly into the sky. Throwing her empty hand up, she cried out for the Miraculous Cure and, all at once, things returned to normal.

Chat helped the newly freed man to his feet as the poor victim stared around in befuddlement. The police wasted no time at all in collecting him, and a counsellor was on hand to help him process what he'd been through (a new initiative thought up by Ladybug and Chat, for which the mayor had of course taken credit).

"Man, talk about rock and roll!" Chat cried, jogging back to Ladybug and Volpino's side. He beamed at Volpino. "You did great! That move was freaky as hell, but it was crazy awesome too!"

He was almost knocked over as Volpino threw his arms around him. Ladybug stayed remarkably silent, not even commenting on his pun.

"Thank you," Volpino replied, burying his head into the crook of Chat's neck. "You saved Nathanael. You could have been hurt or worse, but you still saved him."

"Ah no worries," Chat replied, flustered but returning Volpino's hug. "It's what teammates do, right Ladybug?"

The spotted heroine was still staring at her feet, fingers in her hair, when Chat released Volpino and padded over to her, face a picture of worry.

"Hey love bug? Don't worry, I'm ok and we did it! We beat him!" He held up his fist for their signature celebration. "Pound it?"

It was only when Ladybug looked at his fist, and then up at him, that Chat saw the tears in her eyes. The beeps reminded them they had perhaps a minute to spare. His heart leapt into his throat.

And then, without thinking of the consequences, without thinking of the press surrounding them, or the police watching; without thinking of their new teammate or their miraculous, Ladybug shook her head, pushed Chat's fist aside, and kissed him.