Shattered

11) Vixen

Emma's POV
It had been a month since we had made it to the past, and we were finally figuring out Vixen's weaknesses.

As mom had predicted, her sheer hate for she and dad made her quite clumsy, show off-y, and unoriginal.

Most of her villains had promising powers, or could even change their powers mid battle, adapt to the situation they were in, but their master didn't have enough of an emotional leash on them to really do much damage.

As akumas got weaker and weirder, we knew that she was running out of ideas.

Lila Rossi was failing, and this time it wasn't because of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

She was becoming uncharacteristically unprepared and predictable... and this would be her down fall.

We knew that she was throwing in all her cards by this point, and we knew that she would confront us face to face.

And that is what we've been preparing for.

But still the question hangs unspoken... when?
- • - • - • - • - • - • -
Hugo's POV
"Ladybug and Chat Noir have done it again!" Nadja's voice echoed from the tv.

We've been staying in the Agreste mansion for the last few weeks, apparently dad said he could use the company, and it was certainly an upgrade from our hotel accommodations.

I mean, not to sound like "that spoiled rich kid", this was more of the level of comfort I was used to.

When you've been raised by two very successful and well know business people, you tend to enjoy some luxuries that not everyone can afford.

And I didn't realize just how much I had missed it.

"Hugo! Get over here!" I heard my sister yell from the other end of the hallway.

"What's up?" I questioned as I sprinted towards her.

"Did you just see that footage of the akuma attack a few minutes ago?"

"Well, yeah. Why?"

"Did you notice anything... weird"

If I knew my sister, she had something up her sleeve. Something anyone else would have missed in the footage. And let's just say I know my twin very well.

"Watch this," she said as she rewinded the video posted on the ladyblog just minutes before.

"No one will dare defy the Crusader!" Yelled the renaissance villain on the screen. His pale blue skin stood out against his gold and black armor, and his large and bulky stature reminded me a bit of Thanos.

Mom leaped at him, attempting to use her yo-yo to bind him. Unfortunately though, he flicked her away like she was an insect.

Alya's camera quickly flicked towards Ladybug and Chat as he sprinted over to check on his lady.

Though no viewer would understood the ulterior motive for her focus change, we knew she must be concerned for her best friend.

But in that moment, Emma slowed the footage.

"Just watch Crusader." She whispered. And I listened.

In the peripheral vision of the camera, something shifted. Though it only lasted for half a second, the slow motion captured the image just enough for us to understand what was going on.

The Crusader changed.

In the heat of the moment, his face looked pained, in agony, and his fists quickly clenched.

His blue skin, white hair, and pure white eyes shifted into a healthy tan, brunette hair, and a terrified expression on his face.

As quickly as it came, though, he shifted back to his akumatized state before anyone on the scene had a chance to notice.

At full speed, the odd occurrence would've taken less than a half second and impossible to identify.

But we did.

"Wh-what was that?!" I stuttered in surprise to the rarity.

"Let's just watch the rest first," Emma coolly explained. "Then we'll talk."

And with that my eyes focused back on the screen.

The only proof any of it had ever happened, though, was the stunned expression on the villain's face, as if he was a deer caught in the headlights, just as mom and dad jumped back into battle.

The rest of the fight was quite uneventful. Crusader's double edged sword gleamed silver as it struck down everything in his way.

Destructive, yes. Destructive as a cataclysm? No.

With the help of a pool noodle as a lucky charm, a complex plan that I couldn't explain to save my life, and a paw to the Sword holster on his waste, the akuma was released.

All that was left was a tan, brunette, and soft blue eyed boy, one left completely crushed after he lost a regional fencing tournament to none other than Adrien Agreste.

The heroes revealed to the public (due to Alya's unrelenting persistence for more interviews) that before Alya was able to make it to the scene, the teenager had been using super strength and agility, purely to up-one a certain blonde.

But that wasn't enough for him or for Vixen. They decided that he should be a warrior.

That didn't work either.

"What was that?!" I finally yelled, breaking the silence.

Only then I realized that apparently Louis had been watching too.

"That, brother, was Vixen losing control of her pet. Obviously she can't control two miraculous' at once, and in return her leash is falling off her dog."

"Pretty much." Emma agreed.

"What's going on? A new voice asked.

I turned around to see mom and dad casually soaring through the window and releasing their transformations mid air before walking towards us across the living room.

"This." My twin replied before showing the video clip to Adrien and Marinette.

"She's falling apart," Dad smiled, "that was the problem with her plan. She thought she could handle the butterfly and the fox. Of course she's too proud to admit it, but she can't control them!"

"She would rather fail because she overrated her abilities instead of taking one off and admitting she made a mistake." Mom added. "Now this is the Lila Rossi I'm used too."

"And whether she realizes it or not, she's doing our work for us."

All five of our spirits lifted as we began celebrating what would be an easy victory.

However, an unspoken fear lingered in the back of all of our minds.

My parents had learned from this villain before.

Lila Rossi would not go down without a fight.

Whether she lost in the end or not, this girl would have some other illusion or lie up her sleeve.

This was almost over, and she knew it.