The Criminal's Princess

Chapter 41

A bright glow surrounded Lady Slytherin as the five-minute countdown of the Snake Miraculous reached its limit. Tikki and Sass divided and Ladybug stood beside Chat Noir with the kwami of the Snake Miraculous floating close to her head.

The kwami looked too exhausted to transform Ladybug once again so Ladybug took out a macaroon from her yoyo and fed the kwami, her eyes never leaving the Miracle Box sitting on top of Luka's open palms.

Queen Bee decided to risk it all and took a step forward. But she froze when Luka's hand closed around the Miraculous of the Dragon. Queen Bee held her hands in front of her chest and slowly backed up. Luka smiled and removed his hand from the Miraculous.

"Luka..." Warned Ladybug.

"Uh-uh, Ladybug. You don't want to make the wrong move now, do you? Without the power of Second Chance, there's nothing you can do, is there?" Mocked Luka, turning the Miracle Box in his hands.

Ladybug glanced at Sass but the kwami had barely recovered. There was no way the kwami could lend his power to Ladybug once again. Using Second Chance might have been their only chance at restoring everything but without Sass at his full potential, using the Miraculous was impossible.

Queen Bee glanced worriedly at Ladybug but she was too immersed in her thoughts to realise that the others were waiting for her to come up with a plan.

"What's wrong, Little Bug? Out of ideas?" Asked Luka, the smirk on his face widening.

Ladybug looked up from the ground and stared coldly at Luka but her eyes widened when she saw a figure walk out of the shadows and stand beside Luka.

Confused expressions surfaced on the heroes' faces as they looked at each other. Queen Bee gasped and looked to her left trying to find the man she had attacked with the venom from her spinning top.

"Hawk... Moth...?" Whispered Queen Bee taking a step back.

Ladybug's head turned towards Queen Bee and her eyes hardened as she realised that they hadn't captured Hawk Moth. As soon as Queen Bee had transformed, the paralysing power of the venom had worn off.

Now Hawk Moth, or rather the person behind the mask of the villain, stood beside Luka carefully eyeing the Miracle Box.

Ladybug's heart twisted as she stared at the enemies. She didn't have the power to stop them without causing irreparable damage to the universe. With the Miracle Box in their possession, they could easily abuse the power of the Miraculous and there were many other Miraculous inside the box that Ladybug hadn't fully studied about.

She had no idea of the amount of destruction that would befall them if the Miraculous were used at the same time. And she had no intention of finding out.

"Luka! Hand over the Miracle Box right now! You have no idea how dangerous it is!" Yelled Ladybug trying her best to keep Luka distracted while she came up with a plan.

"Why should I, Ladybug? And that's exactly why I'm using it. You will understand just what I'm capable of!"

Ladybug was tempted to use her Lucky Charm but trying to make hasty decisions never did her any good. They might be in a difficult situation but using up her powers wasn't going to help her get rid of the villains.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Ladybug saw Rena Rouge's shoulders slump. Her eyes closed as she breathed out, letting out a sigh admitting defeat. The world was at risk as long as the Miracle Box was in the possession of the villains and Rena Rouge was willing to make an exchange.

"No!" Shouted Ladybug when Rena Rouge's hand closed around her necklace.

"Yes!" Smirked Luka tightening his grip on the Box.

Luka was never going to surrender that easily. Especially when all he was going to get was the Miraculous of Illusions. He needed the Miraculous of Creation and Destruction and Ladybug knew that as soon as Rena Rouge walked up to Luka, he'd capture her and use her against them.

Ladybug reached out and gripped Rena's shoulder, making her freeze in her tracks. The Mistress of Illusions turned around.

Ladybug was shocked to see the look of defeat in the girl's eyes as she stared past Ladybug. Carapace nodded and pulled Rena Rouge into a hug knowing that she needed him.

Ladybug glanced at Sass who was still struggling to keep himself balanced in midair. It was pretty obvious the kwami was too tired as he hadn't been used in a long time just like Tikki.

Without the advantage of being able to manipulate time, Ladybug's only hope was the Lucky Charm. She gripped onto her yoyo and gritted her teeth but before she could call on her superpower, Chat Noir intervened and placed his hand on top of Ladybug's hand.

He held her yoyo in his hand knowing that they wouldn't stand a chance against Luka and the man beside him if they tried to use the wrong move.

They couldn't risk it. They couldn't play around when the fate of the world rested in their hands. One wrong move and Luka might try to use the combined power of the Miraculous.

No. They weren't going to take that risk.

"Chat..." Ladybug tried to say but her voice came out as a strangled whisper.

She didn't want to accept defeat. She couldn't.

Ladybug's head turned to the side when she heard the leaves rustling behind her. She lifted her head trying to probate her for what was to come but she found it harder to keep herself under control.

Her mind screamed at her telling her that she had failed. The line repeated itself in her brain and Ladybug could barely keep the tears in.

She forced her head to lift as her eyes met the pair of brown eyes standing right in front of her.

"Master...?"

Master Fu hobbled forward clutching onto his cane as he tried to add little to no weight on his injured leg.

But the old guardian froze when he spotted the man in front of him.

"Lucas...?"

A/N: CLIFFHANGER!!!!

AGAIN!!!

Yeah...

So u guys remember Lucas, right?

I mentioned him in the first few chapters!

Honestly, even I don't remember what his deal was...

He's the guy Master Fu gave the Moth Miraculous to, okay?

Just wanted to put that out there.