#its seeing the dragons whip around and move so uncharacteristically fast and its the way the light dragon SCREAMS and AAAAHHHHHHHH

[schmabbald]

the ending of totk makes me want to ugly sob btw. not just because of the actual ending cutscenes but because of that final final boss. it's so swag it makes me want to scream and cry and break things

[thewritewolf]

Two For Two Chapter 18: Close Call

A team of four enemies might be a little too much for our heroes to handle... especially with the elemental powers each of them possess.

@ladynoirjuly2020

Enjoy!

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“Okay, Hawkmoth is definitely getting some extra power somehow,” Dragonbug said as she did her best to hold off what appeared to be a person made out of fire and a living whirlwind.

It was a frustrating combination - the whirlwind was scattering embers from the fire akuma, leading to a blaze that was slowly spreading across her city. A glance at the scene around her - all fire and smoke and heat haze - was enough to make her grateful once again for her miraculous cure. Soon enough, neither of them would be able to breath in this arena, let alone fight in it.

“Four akumas seems like an awful lot,” Snake Noir replied as he tried to stay ahead of two more enemies. “Do you think he’s been doing his homework? Or did he just find a new magic crystal or something in his cereal box?”

One of his opponents was similar to Stoneheart in that it looked like a person made out of boulders. The main differences were that this one was more the size of a large person rather than a giant, and it lacked a face. The other looked like a rolling tidal wave with a giant human face in the seafoam. As much as she would hope the water would cancel out the fire, it was doing a great job avoiding being helpful, instead constantly striving to slam into her partner.

“Only two of them are akumas,” Dragonbug corrected, using her yoyo shield to block a heat blast and getting a little singed anyway. “I think the earth and air ones are amoks.”

“Great, so Hawkbutt still has help. At least I feel better about this!” Snake Noir slammed his baton full force into the earth amok’s side, sending it flying into one of the burning buildings.

As glad as she was that they’d managed to get all the citizens out of the area before Hawkmoth’s crew arrived, she also recognized a losing fight when she saw one. And seeing the building collapse into a hellish blaze reminded her that they still had options.

“Chat, follow me!”

Latching onto an as-of-yet intact piece of masonry with her yoyo, Dragonbug pulled herself away with the wind roaring in her ears.

Or so she had thought, until she realized it wasn’t the usual wind whipping past her, but the living whirlwind assaulting her. She was being battered all around, her grip on her yoyo slipping as she held on for dear life.

It ended in an instant. There had to be something solid inside the air amok, otherwise Snake Noir’s baton extending into it at max speed would’ve done nothing. With a nod of appreciation at her partner, she pulled on her yoyo and they both got out of there.

A few streets over and they leapt through the windows of an abandoned office building.

“Over here!” Snake Noir grabbed her hand and pulled her into a bathroom. He let go of her and rushed into one of the stalls. She took the one next to his.

“Longg, Tikki! Divide!” Longg’s powers left her and for a moment, Ladybug stood in the bathroom stall. It didn’t last long before she called off that transformation as well. “Tikki, spots off.”

While the kwami looked up at her expectantly, she heard Chat go through the same process, less than a meter away from her.

“Sass, Plagg! Divide. Plagg, claws in.” Whoever it was behind his mask addressed her. “So, my lady. What’s the plan?”

“Well, the red potion for Tikki and Plagg, for sure. I'm not sure what else we should use, though.”

“‘Cause of all the fire, yeah, I figured.” There was a pause. “Wait, does that mean…?”

“Yes.” Marinette looked into her kwamis eyes and saw some surprise, but also steady resolve. “I think it’s time to use two potions at once.”

“Well,” Tikki said with some uncertainty. “You won’t have access to both at the same time, I think.”

“How would we use both then?” The boy who was Chat asked. “Is it wasted?”

“No…” Sass said. There was a hint of worry in his voice, but Marinette couldn’t figure out why. “You’d have to either turn off your primary miraculousss or redo the unification.”

“Sounds easy enough.” Marinette nodded. “Got it, Chat?”

“Y-yeah,” he said. Before she could wonder about his uncharacteristic nervousness, he pushed on. “So, second potion. What are you thinking?”

“Well… ideally we’ll be beating the fire akuma with the red potion.”

“It might be good to take out the water guy at the same time,” Chat added. “That way, we can put out some of the fires.”

“And if I’m right about them being the two akumas-”

“-which you no doubt are, knowing you-”

“-then that means we can focus on the mindless monsters afterwards. So maybe something that gives us some leeway. Flight again?”

“No orange?”

“If its true that Hawkmoth is copying the potions we use, then I’d like to keep that in the bag for now. I think we can manage with the others.”

“Spot on as usual, my lady. Ready to feed the kwamis and suit up?”

A smirk crossed her face. “Always.”

-----------

Snake Noir was working hard to keep the whirlwind and boulder monster at bay for his lady. Teaming up on the fire guy had ended up in disaster, but a quick reset and a change in strategy later and things were going a little better now. Even if he felt the loss of having more allies now more than ever.

Against his better judgement, he snuck a look over his shoulder toward Dragonbug while his opponents were still reeling from one of his attacks. Black covered her hands and feet, with bright flame markings ending the soot-like marks at her wrists and ankles. A scale pattern had replaced her usual suit texture, and gleamed like hot embers. He caught a look of determination as he saw through the blue tinted visor of her new helmet.

Then she swung her sword turned axe, its blunt side sweeping against the water monster and splashing the fire guy with a sizzling hiss. His attention was pulled back to his own fight just in time to dodge a rocky fist.

In comparison, his suit hadn’t changed all that much - instead of his smooth black leather, his suit almost looked like bronze. Tufts of tawny fur edged the cuffs of his gauntlets and boots, and a whole mane of it surrounded his head - a head which was now completely covered in something similar to a motorcycle helmet.

Which was topped with cat ears, naturally. A perfect match to the lion’s tail that had replaced his leather belt tail.

In this fight, the tail was less useful than the ears, which often gave him his only warning about when an attack was coming in. Sure, he didn’t need much help when it came to the rock monster since it telegraphed its attacks in what felt like hours ahead of time. But that wasn’t the one he was worried about.

No, what he had to listen for was the whistling wind that rapidly built to a howling gale as the air amok tried to slam into him. There was never much time to evade since it came so quickly, but the trade off was that it didn’t hit all that hard.

The problem was that the rock monster did pack a punch and being hit by the gale stunned him long enough for the boulder fist to wind up and hit him, something he’d figured out the hard way. Thank all the kwami for Second Chance or this battle might have been over already.

All that to say, this fight was on a razor’s edge but only for him. He was struggling to make any offensive moves, but then again, he didn’t really need to.

“Found you!”

The eager shout from his lady saw him look back just in time to see a splash of water reveal a necklace around the fire guy’s neck, buried in flame. But while she was busy rushing for that, he caught a glimpse of something in the water akuma as it took a moment to recover. Something weirdly shaped located at the core.

On the bare-looking akumas and amoks, odds were that it was the source of their power. He waited and listened, staring intently at the rock monster as he positioned himself just right.

The whistling started just where he thought it would, but even then he waited, tensing all his muscles, until the howling gale were nearly on him then-

He threw himself to the side with as fast as he could, at the very last possible second. The living whirlwind breezed past him to slam into the stone beast, staggering it back a step and stunning the wind as well. The two of them distracted briefly, he whipped around and ran.

As he approached, Dragonbug was making desperate grabs for the now freely dangling necklace, but the fire akuma was keeping just out of reach. The water akuma, trying to support its ally, was too focused on Dragonbug to notice him. At least until his baton was slicing through it. It connected with something solid which shattered satisfyingly.

The water creature began to shrink in on itself as it transformed back into a human. The sight of which must have surprised the fire akuma and uncertainty flickered in its flames. A moment of hesitation, but more than enough to give Dragonbug the upper hand as she lunged forward and yanked the necklace off it. A swift punch shattered it and the fires coating the person extinguished.

Two purifications later and two citizens in The Last Airbender cosplays stood blinking in bewilderment on the battlefield. Trusting Dragonbug to fix things, Snake Noir returned to the remaining amoks who were even now barreling down on them.

“Water Dragon!”

A sudden rain, like a tropical deluge, fell all around them. The fires were extinguished, leaving the area much colder and darker than before.

“Chat, come on! Get the civilians out and swap out!”

After blocking a swing from the rock monster and dodging the whirlwind, he nodded and scooped up one of the civilians. Dragonbug got the other and they escaped the area. The whirlwind seemed to be playing it safe now, since it didn’t chase after them.

The four of them landed on a rooftop, where they dropped off the civilians.

“I’m super sorry about all this,” the woman wearing a Water Tribe cosplay said. “I didn’t think an argument would be enough to cause… that.” She gestured toward the scorched section of the city, now dripping wet.

“Just an argument turned you into such powerful akumas?” Dragonbug’s eyebrows rose.

“Well, it was a pretty heated fight,” the man in a Fire Nation outfit said with a smirk. Snake Noir chuckled appreciatively.

“Any clue where the… control thing for those things are?” Snake Noir tapped his chin in thought. “It’ll probably be something tied to your fight.”

The man and woman glanced at each other, then patted themselves down.

“Uhh… Do you have that wood leaf?”

“The one painted to look slightly burned, like Aang had practiced firebending on it, right?” The woman shook her head. “No, I don’t. Do you have the glowy crystal, like from the cave of two lovers?”

“Nope,” the man replied, popping the ‘p’. He turned to the two heroes. “Looks like you’re after a crystal and a wooden leaf.”

Dragonbug tapped her chin. “I bet the leaf is lightweight, huh?”

“Oh for sure,” the woman said. “It kept getting blown away by the fan.”

“I see…” Dragonbug took out her yoyo and jumped up onto the roof ledge, Snake Noir following her lead. “Thanks for the help, you two!”

Snake Noir waved at them as he jumped off the roof after her. “Stay out of trouble!”

“I’ve got-” Dragonbug stopped when Snake Noir’s bracelet let out a shrill beep. “Take care of that first and meet me at the amoks. Just follow my lead and we should have this one in the bag.”

“I never doubted it for a second.” He gave a quick bow and dashed off.

----------------

“Perfect timing, Chat,” Dragonbug said as she engaged in an aerial duel with the living whirlwind and nimbly dodging the occasional thrown boulder from the rock monster.

Snake Noir’s emerald green wings carried him into a flanking position, no doubt intending to help her beat up on the wind amok. But she had different plans. It had taken her a while to figure out which piece of floating debris was the leaf in question, but once she saw it she had refused to take her eyes off of it. All she had to do was wait until-

Now!

“Wind dragon!’ A gust of wind, even stronger than her enemy but very short lived, blew straight at the leaf… and right into her partner.

Although he was surprised at the sudden attack, it all clicked for him once the leaf smacked him in the forehead. A quick punch shattered it and the winds finally died down around them.

The purification must have been the final straw for Hawkmoth and Mayura, since they retracted the feather from the rock monster’s amok after a moment of hesitation. The feather slipped from between the monster’s fingers, causing it to drop the crystal the cosplayers had mentioned. Despite its best attempts, the feather didn’t get away either and it too was purified.

“Lucky Charm!” A first place medal landed into her hands and a smirk crossed Dragonbug’s face. She immediately tossed it back into the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Dragonbug put her hands on her hips and watched with satisfaction while the city was mended before her very eyes. Snake Noir stepped up to her with a smile and a raised fist.

“May I interest you in a ‘pound it’ for a job well done?”

She pretended to consider it for a moment before nodding and returning the fist bump. “You may.”

[cyberneticlagomorph]

Leviathan

The next room is ankle deep in icy water. You can barely stand up now, the wards here are devastatingly strong, giving off a loud and irritating hum that puts your teeth on edge and leaves you tasting licorice. The Cheshire cat has to carry you in, your body throbs and your head spins from the wards, its a miracle that you're even still conscious. You sway on your paws when you finally stand, blood dripping from your nose to dot the body-numbingly cold water with faint stars. Its an effort to put one paw in front of the other, one that is only intensified by the water that constantly trips you up and slows your steps. The next seal is a glass orb full of brackish water set in a wall carved to look like a massive coiled serpent, the serpent seems to undulate and it's many scales glimmer darkly in the light of your skin, it watches you with it's seal-orb eye and smiles at you with it's carved teeth. You are expected.

Your muscles scream as you lift the Vorpal sword, you bring the blade down and break the seal with a satisfying crunch. Water pours from the broken orb, slowly at first like a dribbling faucet, then faster and faster until its a firehose of dark water that knocks you off your feet. The serpent-wall starts to crack and explodes in a torrent of cold. The water numbs your aching body and steals the breath from your lungs, the wards humming slowly fading as you sink like a stone into the welcoming blackness.

Something brushes against your feet and you force your eyes open. The water around you is an ugly bruised purple, shot through with slanted turquoise beams of light from whatever celestial body shone in the sky above. Below you is nothing but an endless watery darkness that devours every glint of scant light. Somehow you are still breathing despite being several feet below the waves, you have decided not to question any of this, for the sake of your own sanity. Something brushes against your feet again, you draw them in and look down to see a slithering wall of scales so big its mind-boggling, if you could scream you would. The Vorpal sword sings for you and you are suddenly very very afraid, the slithering something keeps moving, a never ending tube of black cutting through the water with all the ease of a knife through butter. Red light illuminates you from behind and you have to force yourself to turn around. Behind you is a giant red eye many times your size, it watches you with interest, you can see your frightened reflection in it's surface. Teeth flash dangerously close in the dark.

The beast pours itself into your mind, gentler than the previous Royals, "Far from your Warren, aren't we little rabbit?" the creature coos in a voice as cold and empty as the ocean around you, a sudden wave of dread chills you more than the water ever could. You don't respond, you're petrified, and even if you weren't you aren't sure how or what to say. The serpent chuckles, slowly swimming around you in lazy predatory circles, "I am the Leviathan, you have slain my siblings one by one, and they have killed you little by little. You bear the mark of my sister's favor at your throat, a gift she does not give lightly. Not even the first Alice won her favor, I am impressed little rabbit."

You touch the brand that encircles your neck and feel tiny thorns shifting just beneath your skin. A mark of the Red Queen's favor? A thousand questions flicker through your mind at a rapid pace, but you aren't sure how to answer any of them. The Leviathan senses your confusion and continues circling, great maw opening and closing, you see her gill slits flare rhythmically as she probes your mind with almost uncharacteristic gentleness. "You quest for the looking glass? How ambitious of you, my brother died protecting it from your kind you know. The Chronomancer will never let you take it," she stops circling and stares you head on, her skin coming to life with an uncountable number of livid red lights that run the length of her nigh endless body, "and neither will I!"

The Leviathan opens her mouth and all you see is darkness and teeth. She doesn't lunge for you like all the others, no why would she? A beast big enough to swallow an aircraft carrier whole has no need of such childish games, she starts to suck you in, the water rushing around you and pulling you towards that field of deadly teeth. Even if you could swim, the current is much too strong for you to fight, if you don't think of something fast you're going to be a bad vore joke waiting to happen. You open your chest portal and retrieve one if Hoka's dragon grenades, you let it go and watch the Leviathan swallow it. You detonate it immediately and watch the serpent gag and flail.

Your skin shivers and you become a starry squid, slick and agile in the water. Without a moments hesitation, you dart for the surface with the Leviathan close behind. You breach elegantly and throw yourself into another form, a black winged raven ready to claw it's way into the sky. The ocean beneath you boils as the Leviathan surfaces into the warm summer air, the length of her churns the water white with her angry writhing. Even this high up, you still cannot find her tail-end, its a mystery if she even has one at all. The nearby islands are grassy dots dwarfed by her size. Her head rushes up to greet you and you are met with the hot reek of her breath and the deafening crash of teeth on teeth as she misses by inches.

The Vorpal sword sings for blood, you fly higher and watch the serpent ready herself for another strike. Her voice slithers through your mind again,"Come now little rabbit, why fight me when you could just give in? If you kill me and go back to that chamber the wards will kill you, sap you of all your power and drive until you are crawling across the ground. Begging for death. Why suffer so? I can end it all quickly for you, let me help you."

You stare the serpent down, the Vorpal sword sings its snicker-snack song loud and clear, and then it begins to speak, "Leviathan, sister of the slain Jabberwocky, devourer of the innocent, Queen of Fairyland's great sea." calls the Vorpal sword, "for your crimes against Fairyland and her people, we find you guilty and sentence you to death." the Leviathan screams, gathering her coils around her, hate plain in her ruby red eyes.

"You cannot sentence me blade, you are neither judge nor jury, you are nothing more than a butcher's cleaver and I will relish in sending you to rust at the bottom of the sea!" howls the Leviathan, her words crushing your thoughts like empty pop cans beneath heavy boots. She strikes out, body whipping through the air towards you with mouth agape and teeth glistening with spit. You shudder back into human form, wrap both hands around your sword and drop from the sky. You bury the blade between the Leviathan's eyes and feel the world around you dissolve as she dies.