Hunting And Hiding

While hunting down Akuma wasn't particularly anything new for the superhero duo, they normally went out looking for Akuma before they knew they even existed when out on patrol. Out and about, trying to prevent the damage before the damage even happened. This marked the first time they were actively searching the city for any signs of Spite, but he had basically erased himself from the city. No news, no crimes, no nothing that could be traced to the knife wielding villain. The upside to this was that Spite also wasn't anywhere to be found close to Marinette's home. Chat Noir had, every night, hung around the area for longer than was required to make sure that Spite wasn't anywhere around. No sign of him.

That was at least one good thing about this mess.

One would think that a man who wore bandages around his face like a Mummy, and was carrying enough knives on his person to choke a Basking Shark to death, would stand out in public, but no one seemed to have seen him, or indeed, even know that this particular Akuma had ever existed. Surly they should know about something like this? A villain who could damage and corrupt the very Links themselves?... No, the average citizen knew next to nothing about Links, and telling them now could cause them to go into a wild frenzy and panic.

The only logical conclusion the two heroes could come up with was that Spite was able to hide in a civilian form. This hadn't happened before. Whenever a person had been Akumatized previously, they had been unable to return to their civilian forms without being defeated, and the Akumatized object being destroyed, as well as the Akuma being purified.

If Akuma could now hide in their regular civilian alter-egos, then that added a whole new level of complexity to the whole Hawkmoth issue.

Ladybug sighed. She knew that this was her fault. But she couldn't focus on that right now. She had to focus on helping find Spite. That was the only way to make things right again.

Chat Noir - Adrien - Had told her he didn't blame her, but she knew he was lying. Who else there to blame? It had been her - Her actions, her decisions, her call to let Spite go. She was the one... The one who had caused all of this. Her choice and her call, and now, she knew she had to use all the various skills and abilities that she had to put things right.

That was the only way to fix all of this.

The two of them leaped from another rooftop above a busy street, before grinding to a halt on their heels. This marked a point in which they were going to survey the current area for any signals of Spite, Akuma, or anything that would require their attention. They did this every five or so miles that they travelled across.

Chat had been totally focused on finding Spite. The lack of progress frustrated him to no end, but he never once contemplated giving up. He knew how important that it was that they found Spite. "Another sector basically clean..."

"You... Think we'll ever find him?" Ladybug asked, looking out across the ancient French city. Roughly ten million people inhabited the capital of the country. The odds of finding this villain were literally a staggering ten-million to one. It wasn't unreasonable to think they'd never see him again.

"We'll find him." Chat assured her. "We'll find him. And we'll break him. And then we can stop worrying about him."

"I'm... Really regretting letting him go..."

"You did what you thought was best, LB." Chat told her softly.

"There's a difference..." Ladybug said, dejectedly. "There's a difference... Between doing what you think is right, and doing what right..."

"Lack of confidence doesn't suit you, my lady." Chat said, still looking out at the city. He hand covered his eyes, blocking out the sun so he could see, like a sun shield. "So what if you screwed up? As I recall, the first day I met you, I broke a football post, instead of the actual opponent in front of us with my Cataclysm."

The young heroine couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the memory she had of him during their first encounter. The memory that started all of this. All of these adventures with Chat Noir - With Adrien - That all led to these moments. The moments that she loved. The moments that she had enjoyed, even when she didn't know who Chat Noir was. Those moments... They were a large part of her life now.

"From your perspective, letting Spite go was the right call. From mine, it was the wrong one. You didn't want to risk everyone being like that forever. And Spite, weirdly, kept his word. I call that a win-win."

"But... Now he can do that to other people."

"That's what we're out here to stop, isn't it?" turning to face her, Chat smiled. "Don't let one mistake throw you off, Mari."

She smiled warmly. Even as Chat Noir, he had always given her good advice when she had needed it. when she had been too overconfident, too arrogant, even for her own good, it had always been Chat Noir who brought her back down to earth, wheather she liked it or not. Adrien had always been there for her, whether either of them had known it or not.

It was just the pep talk she needed.

And then she punched him in the arm. "Code-names."

Chat grabbed the arm he had been punched on and smirked, rubbing his new light wound. "Good to have you back, LB."

It had been a long, and very unsuccessful hunt for Spite. No area in Paris even seemed remotely close to where the villain was. There was no sign of him. Like he never existed.

The reds and oranges in the evening sky bled together, to create a water-colors-like collage of bright colors, that only the black shadows of the buildings interrupted. Not an uncommon sight for Ladybug or Chat Noir. But still, it always captivated both of them with the beauty of it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ladybug said, commenting on the sunset around them to Chat, as both of them stopped atop yet another tall building, overlooking the Champ de Mars.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you, my lady."

"You never miss a chance to flirt, do you?"

"Nope." Chat said through his toothy grin. "That's not going to change any time soon."

"They might start working if you play your cards right." Ladybug told him with a flirtatious tone, leaning against him as they watched the colors bleed.

It would have been a perfect moment.

It also could have very easily been their last moments if Chat Noir's reflexes didn't surpass those of Spites.

One second, he wasn't there, and the next, Chat's baton was deflecting the knife wielding villain's butcher's knife, barely an inch away from his face. Spite's grin was there once more. He had been planning this.

"Just when I thought you were all tuckered out." Spite said with a chuckle to his voice, pushing away and skidding backwards to get some distance between him and the two heroes. "I suppose I shouldn't underestimate your stamina..." 

For a brief moment, Ladybug hadn't been aware of what was happening, due to her own reflexes being a bit slower than Spite's and the cat heroes, but now she was up to speed, spinning her yo-yo at high speeds, ready to engage in some brutal combat. this time, she wouldn't let him get away. Not like he had last time. 

"Have I not been a good boy?" Spite questioned, feigning injury by clutching his chest. "Didn't I hold up our agreement? Everyone went back to normal, did they not?"

"I don't recall ever saying that you could go be free ." Ladybug told him sternly, already looking for a weakness in the villain's stance. There wasn't any. Spite was a walking pin-cushion, with so many weapons that any attempt to exploit any weakness was countered by more knives.

"Oh? A classic white lie?" Spite chuckled again, showing more of his teeth. "Telling the villain what they want to hear so that you can exploit them? And here I thought you were better than that, Ladybug..." Craning his neck, and making sure the two heroes could hear the cracks his bones made, the villain cracked a full Cheshire grin. "That's just what I love to see!"

With that, Spite charged once more, this time, specifically at Ladybug, due to her general defensive lacking capabilities. While she had a strong, magical yo-yo, this worked poorly in close quarters. Chat's baton was a good short-range weapon, easily capable of blocking knife lunges and attacks from Spite. Ladybug's yo-yo wouldn't work well with those distances.

Leaping backwards, Ladybug tossed her yo-yo at him, aiming to grab his arm and restrain him somewhat. Spite moved too quickly though, and dodged the attack, and a swing from Chat Noir's baton, before he leaped up at the retreating hero. With another throw, Ladybug this time managed to wrap up Spite in her yo-yo's tough cord, and threw him to the ground, slamming him with force and without hesitation. This was the first real hit either her of Chat Noir had got against Spite.

It didn't hold him for long though. Spite was out again in an instant, and then, tossed a huge hail-storm of knifes and other sharp objects at the young heroes, whom managed to block of deflect them. A few hit, but their suits protected them from pain or serious injury. There were hundreds, if not thousands of these weapons being thrown at them, making Ladybug wonder, had these come from some sort of ether? Was this another one of his powers? Weapon summoning?

Landing again, Spite was gone, once again. Nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd he go?" Chat asked, looking around desperately, with a scowl on his face. "Get back here!"

How was he disappearing? Was that yet another one of his powers?... Or was he just really good at hiding and disappearing as a natural ability? Did his outfit help him conceal himself into the darkness?... His cape would do wonders for that.

Chat Noir was clearly angry. He had been more focused on catching this maniac than Ladybug seemed to be. He skidded around the area, searching the place carefully, trying to make sure he hadn't missed a single thing. He punched a wall after a fruitless search. "Damn!..."

"I think he ran." Ladybug sighed. Yet another chance encounter with him, gone, scattered to the winds. She wanted to scream in her frustration. How stupid had she been, to take her eyes off him, for even a second? "Chat..."

"!" Chat suddenly yelled, running towards her.

She only really figured out why he had begun to do this when she saw a darkness covered blade piercing her abdomen. There wasn't any blood. There wasn't even any real pain. But Ladybug knew - Marinette knew - That she had been stabbed. The mere knowledge of this caused her some psychosomatic pain in her gut. Nowhere near the level of pain a real stab wound would cause, but to her, it felt real enough.

Her eyes shot wide open, and her breathing stopped.

Holy crap, this hurt.

What was happening to her? Her vision began to blur, and she couldn't breathe. Had the suit failed? Was she going to suffer the full effect of a knife inside her gut?

It hurt...

Holy crap, it hurt...

"You thought I ran?..." Spite asked, whispering into Ladybug's ear. He smiled and giggled to himself. " mistake."