the next holders//mlb fanfiction

16//Renard

"Ladybug, come with me. Don't let the villain follow you." Plagg says, he went to see Adrien and Marinette, who gave him the fox miraculous. He has to give it to Ladybug, who has to give it to someone she trusts will do the right thing.

After telling Ladybug that Lady Noire is sick and explaining the rules of the miraculous as fast as he can, Ladybug takes the necklace and leaves to find Louis. She knows he's responsible and caring, he'll be a perfect fit for a miraculous.

It takes longer than Ladybug expected to find Louis, but she's happy to see that Louis is alone. He's hidden in the locker room.

"Ladybug? What are you doing here? Aren't you and Lady Noire supposed to defeat the akuma?" Louis asks as soon as he sees the hero of Paris walk inside.

"Lady Noire can't make it today, that's why I need your help this one time." Louis doesn't respond. "Louis Dupain-Cheng, I present to you the miraculous of the fox, which grants the power of illusion. I trust you'll do the right thing with it. After the fight, you'll return the miraculous to me, do you accept?"

"Of course I want to, but are you sure I'm fit for this? I'm sure someone else is better-suited than I am."

"I'm certain."

Louis nods and takes the miraculous. He puts the necklace on and Trixx appears, she explains the rules and Louis transforms into Renard, the new Fox hero.

They go outside to see that El has been busy using her powers. She's made copies of the hat she's wearing and put them on the heads of random bystanders. Everyone who wears that hat seems like they're living their worst nightmare. People are screaming, crying and grabbing their heads with their hands, begging for it to stop.

"We have to hurry, I'm sure the akuma is in her hat." Renard nods. He's glad he allowed Miles to talk about Ladybug, Lady Noire and everything concerning them to him. He understands how this should work now. He'll bring Miles some cake later to thank him.

"And my power is to create an illusion, correct?" Renard asks, Ladybug nods.

"Yes, you can activate it by saying 'Mirage'. But you have to be careful, because you only have one shot and-"

"There you are, I've been searching for you. And you've brought a friend? How nice of you." El interrupts, her voice creeps Ladybug out. She isn't sure whether she's able to fight her.

"Renard, make sure she doesn't put that hat on your head." Ladybug says, Renard nods. He figured that much already, but he assumes Ladybug tells him because he's new to all of this.

El jumps towards Ladybug and Renard to attack them, they're just in time to avoid her attack, but she does punch a hole in the wall of the building behind them.
Ladybug feels completely paralysed.

"She's stronger than any of the villains I've faced before. Are you okay, Renard?" Ladybug says, while running from El.

"I'm fine. If you keep worrying about me, you won't be able to fight at your full strength. I promise I'll be fine." Renard says. Ladybug knows he's right, so she doesn't complain.

"I think it's time for my lucky charm."

A parachute falls down.

"What's that for?" Renard asks.

"I have to find a way to use this to defeat the villain. Let's go a bit higher, I don't think I'll be able to use a parachute if we're on the ground."

Renard and Ladybug find their way up a random roof and it doesn't take long until El finds them.

"You won't be able to run anywhere. So we can do this the easy or the hard way, give me your miraculous." El says threateningly, walking towards the two heroes with a grin on her face.

"Never!" Ladybug and Renard shout in unison.

"The hard way it is." El mumbles, her grin turns bigger, it creeps Ladybug out.

"Renard, I have a plan."

After explaining, Renard and Ladybug start running away from El. As suspected, El follows them. They start running faster, trying to ditch El, even if it's for a little while. They manage to lose El for a few seconds, but that's enough time. Renard creates a fake Ladybug illusion while the real Ladybug hides behind a chimney on the same roof. El catches up.

"I got you now." She says, running towards them. She tries to grab the fake Ladybug's earrings and pushes Renard off the building in the meantime. Renard, however, manages to hold onto the edge of the building so he doesn't fall 3 floors down.

El is too late to realise the Ladybug is a fake and the real Ladybug sneaks up from behind, takes the hat and destroys it, releasing the akuma. She purifies it. "So long, papillon."

She then takes the parachute she got from her lucky charm. She doesn't understand why she didn't have to use it, but it doesn't really matter as she managed to defeat the akuma and save El. She throws the parachute in the air, shouting "miraculous ladybug" and everything gets restored.

Ladybug hides behind the chimney again, it's been five minutes since she called upon her lucky charm. She quickly feeds Tikki before transforming again to help El and return the Fox miraculous.

She assumes Renard has left already due to the fact that he was about to transform back too. She'll return his miraculous after helping El.

"You were akumatised, are you okay now? Do you need my help getting down?" Ladybug asks, holding out her hand. El takes it, standing up. They both stare at each other for longer than necessary, then El starts to panic once she realises what has happened.

El is panicked, she doesn't remember anything that happened after breaking down in front of Autumn. If she really got akumatized, did Ladybug save her by herself? El looks at her left hand, she gets panicked again, her ring isn't there. Did her akumatized form give it to Hawkmoth? That'd be a disaster! Should she tell Ladybug? No, she can't tell Ladybug, she can't reveal her identity.

"I understand that you're feeling confused, most akumatised victims feel like that. Make sure to go home and rest up, you'll feel fine tomorrow." Ladybug says, which wakes El from her thoughts.

"Thanks, I'll do that."

Ladybug helps El get down, but when she's just about to leave for the school to retreat Louis' miraculous, assuming that's where he is, she sees a crowd gathered around the side of the building on which they've just fought. People seem to be panicked, everyone is shouting without listening to anyone else. "He's unconscious." "He's bleeding!" "Someone, call an ambulance!"

El and Ladybug make their way through the crowd to see a familiar person lying unconscious on the ground. Ladybug feels paralysed and unable to move until a hand on her shoulder wakes her. It's from El, El wears the same expression though.

"What happened to him?" She asks, Ladybug doesn't answer.

"He fell down that building, we don't know how he got up there." A random bystander says, Ladybug feels wrecked in guilt. The thought that Renard was in trouble never crossed her mind, she thought he left on his own.

"I'll get him to the hospital." Ladybug says, picking him up and leaving for the hospital like she said.

How could she let this happen? Her lucky charm, the parachute, it was to help Renard, why didn't she notice? She was supposed to be responsible for him. 'If you keep worrying about me, you won't be able to fight at your full strength. I promise I'll be fine.' He lied, she can't forgive herself for believing that lie. A tear rolls down her cheek, "I'm sorry, Louis."