Ascension

Chapter 9- Guidance

Scarabella and Vesperia hid in the sewer system. Their hearts raced to an extreme high extent as they heard the sobbing and walking of Misfits puppets above them. The sounds the puppets made went through the pith and bone of them, giving them shivers. After a short time the puppets were not heard any longer and both of them calmed a bit down.

"This was way too close" Vesperia stated not looking at Scarabella and continued "What are we doing now Scarabella?" Vesperia's eyes trailed from the door she was watching to Scarabella which was completely slumped down in front of her and tried not to cry.

Vesperia started to shake out of her pity but Scarabella simply bursted into tears and said "I am not good enough for this. I never was good enough for any of the other heroes. Cat Noir hated me for being a backup of Ladybug and now Misfit got Viperon and Cat Noir... We do not have a Cataclysm anymore nor a Second Chance." Vesperia hugged her to comfort her.

Scarabella was completely confused about the hug of her but started to feel better through it. Vesperia quietly said "You were scared right? I was also extremely scared you know... This feeling in this room which was filled by pity and sorrow, guilt, tears and moaning for loved ones was too much for me. I didn't know what to do or where to start. I was unable to move in this kind of atmosphere"

Vesperia sat down close to Scarabella and continued "Let's make a new plan. We can do it right?" Scarabella looked at her and said "You believe in me... us?". Vesperia simply smiled. This smile was enough to stop the tears of Scarabella. Scarabella said in a kind but still not confident voice "Please wait here I need to feed Tikki, Ladybugs Kwami, as I am running out of time."

With these words Scarabella moved behind a row of lockers and de-transformed by the words "Tikki spots off". Tikki flew out completely exhausted, landed on her hands and looked at Alya. "She does have more powers right?" Tikki asked worriedly and Alya answered "Yes, she does have more powers..." Alya stopped mid sentence and Tikki looked questioning at her. Vesperia said from behind the lockers "She is able to control the people she hit."

"What do you mean with 'she can control the people she hits'? Tikki asked with an even more worried face now. Alya took a deep breath "You remember when I said she can cast bolts and when she hits a person this person appears to be in his/her own world?" Tikki nodded and Alya continued "We saw a person on the street which appeared to be sleep walking but when we entered her lair there were many people in it doing what she commanded by a simple finger movement"

Tikki asked, with a tremor in her voice, while eating a macaroon "Did... Whom did we lose to Misfit?". Vesperia said with a sad voice "Cat Noir and Viperion". Alya added "We lost with this the ability of the Second Chance and our destructive power". Tikki said with an extremely serious voice "Ok, that is a worst case scenario but we still have some options." Alya and Vesperia hissed completely confused in unitone "What do you mean we are not out of options?"

Tikki laughed a bit "Think about it. Bunnix did not show up so far right? This means we are not out of options and we are still in the correct timeline. Let's take a rest and all three talk about it" With this all three started to discuss the options. Tikki explained which other Miraculous are available and added "Ox, Goat, Dog and Rooster do not currently have any holder. I would say these are out."

Alya exclaimed confusedly at this point to Tikki "Why should we exclude them? Tell us what their powers are?" Vesperia couldn't follow at this point and asked "Why are you so interested in those four? Shouldn't we get a plan and start?" Alya said calmly "We engaged Misfit the last time directly without taking everything into account. I will not make the same error twice. It is no use if we lose this time again."

Tikki looked questioning at Alya "You know the guardian does not give the Miraculous to anybody she has just met. You got an idea?" Alya looked at Tikki and moved her head from left to right and said "Not yet. It depends on the powers they can give and I may give one out." Tikki crossed her arms with a serious expression "you need to be extremely careful with this, understood?"

Alya nodded and said with confidence "Yes understood Ma'am". Tikki laughed, "I may be a million years old but never call me Ma'am again. You two should follow my word closely because we will not have the time to go through it once more. The longer Misfit is there the harder it will be to stop her." At those words Tikki started to explain the powers of the 4 Miraculous which do not have a holder right now.

"The Ox is providing to the holder a heavy defense and strength. When it is using the "battle roar" it buffs the whole group but the heavy defense and strength come with a price. The holder does have a slower reaction due to the missing agility. Misfit will outmatch this Miraculous in no time." Tikki explained. Alya and Vesperia both nodded and added "another lost Miraculous is no option too"

Tikki continued "The Goat is the perfect pair for the Ox. It is able to taunt the enemy with its "complain" and to ensure the enemy is attacking him. This is paired with good dodging skill. Unfortunately this Miraculous is coming without much physical strength. That is why the Ox skill is the perfect addition to it." Vesperia was curious "but when we had an Ox and a Goat holder wouldn't this mean we could ensure that Misfit and her puppets would attack them?" Alya simply said "I think they will be outnumbered in no time. Both of them work if there is only one or two enemies but we are talking here about Misfit and hundreds of her puppets."

"Next is the dog, right?" said Vesperia. Tikki nodded "The Dog Miraculous is like a real dog, a good companion in every situation. If "howl" is used it strengthens the trust between the Miraculous holders in a fight and it also increases the endurance of the group but this comes with a disadvantage." Alya looked at Tikki with a confused look. "If the group is not fully trusting each other before "Howl" will kind of 'backfire'..." Vesperia with extreme caution and worried voice "Backfire? How?" Tikki continued "This is the downside if the group is mentally not powerful enough or the trust is missing the Dog holder may change sides or will use themselves as a shield for the greater good"

Alya said with a negative tone in her voice, nearly crying "Ladybug and Cat Noir are trusting each other with their lives. If they use the Dog as an addition they will become even stronger. So why did they never use it?" Tikki was shaking her head "You are right. They trust each other until death but there is a problem. Why should the guardian give out a Miraculous only to boost the two heroes? If HawkMoth would have noticed he would have tried to get it. That is why it is barely used. Again in the wrong hands it will cause more harm than use."

"Last but not least the Rooster" Tikki started as Alya interrupted her "Tikki I think we can stop here. The first three are useless against Misfit and her puppets and so will also be the Rooster". "Let Tikki ex..." Vesperia started but was shut down with three easy words "Tikki spots on". Vesperia stood up and moved to Scarabella looking at her with a confused look and said "Why did you do this? You could have let Tikki explain what the Rooster can do!"

Scarabella smiled and said "You know the Ox, Goat and Dog are useless against Misfit. You saw her powers, the Rooster would not make any kind of impact on it! Come on let's move and when we are there we will observe and look for a weak spot and create a plan"

Vesperia, still uncomfortable, nodded and agreed with Scarabella. Both of them get carefully out of the locker room and the sewer system. They directly jumped to the roof top and made their way back to the TVi studios. "Looks like Misfit is still in the tower. Floor 30 it was right?" Scarabella asked Vesperia to ensure herself. "As the security cameras are still offline it does not make sense to enter the building directly?" Vesperia asked and received a nod from Scarabella.

Scarabella looked at the small hand mirror and thought to herself "I still don't know what I should do with this. Maybe reflect a bolt and send it back to her?" Vesperia said "Look there is a news helicopter, maybe they can give us a lift to the 30. Floor and we can look in and get some information?" Scarabell agreed and both waved the helicopter down and explained the situation to the traffic reporter and pilot.

Both agreed to help them with the camera system and flight. The reporter even explained that the camera system does have a thermal and night view. The only return was a signature of Scarabella and Vesperia and then approached 30st floor.