Miraculous Ladybug: The New Holders

Steel Peacock: Part Seventeen

"Where is she? You'd think she would've been the first one here." Chat Noir shielded his eyes and looked in the distance.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were waiting for Volpina at the arranged meeting spot. Both had arrived at relatively the same time, but Volpina hadn't shown up yet.

"She's probably just late." Ladybug shrugged. "I mean, it happens to us all."

"Yeah, but-" Chat paused to look at his staff's display. "Ten minutes? I think something happened to her."

Ladybug gave an exasperated sigh. "Chat, you're just being paranoid. I'm sure Volpina is fine."

"Oh, I wouldn't bet on that." A voice called out from the dark.

Something thudded on the ground nearby, revealing itself to be Volpina's unconscious form, blood trickling from both nostrils. Ladybug rushed over to her aid, while Chat scanned the area, trying to figure out who had done this.

The strange figure let a deranged laugh before disappearing into the night. Chat could tell she was gone, so he ran over to where Volpina lay.

"Hey, what's that?" Chat Noir's night vision allowed him to see something sticking out of Volpina's neck.

"What's what?" Ladybug couldn't see it in the dark.

Chat Noir carefully pulled out what seemed to be a dart out of Volpina's neck. He brought it closer to his face, and saw that his guess about it being a dart was spot on. He sniffed the tip, and immediately jerked away from the dart. He knew exactly what was on that dart, and now coursing through Volpina's bloodstream.

"What is it? What did you smell?" Ladybug asked worriedly.

"Hallucinogens." Chat Noir muttered grimly.

As if on cue, Volpina shot up and wobbled on to her feet. Ladybug saw her tail was puffed up and stiff, as if it was electrified. She moaned and rubbed her head. "I don't feel right..." When she opened her eyes, her pupils were almost as narrow as Chat Noir's slitted cat eyes.

Chat Noir stood up and approached Volpina slowly and carefully, gesturing for Ladybug to stay still where she was. "You're right, Volpina. You're not feeling right. Someone drugged you, and you're not well right now. Do you know where I can take you to feel better?" He spoke to her slowly and reassuringly, while still approaching her just as slowly as his soothing words came out of his mouth.

Volpina blinked several times before she stammered a response. "The-the Great Guardian can make me feel right again..." She stammered, still wobbling on her unstable feet. She almost fell over if it hadn't been for Chat Noir catching her and helping her.

He looked at Ladybug and mouthed words to her. Do you know what she means?

Ladybug nodded and held up her yoyo to signal him that she would send him the address.

Volpina gave Chat Noir a sickeningly sweet look, that just looked even creepier with her now dilated pupils. "You know, you're actually pretty cute, A-" Chat quickly clamped a hand over her mouth before she could give away his secret identity. "Mmph!"

Ladybug shot him a look of confusion, and Chat chuckled awkwardly.

"She-" Volpina tried to struggle out his firm grasp, but he stayed firm. "She knows our civilian identities." He stammered.

"Leggo of me! I have a boyfriend..!" Volpina kept trying to wiggle out of his grip.

Ladybug looked surprised. "Well, I'd better leave it to you, then. I'll send you the address to Master Fu's studio, and be sure to tell him to tell her to meet up with us when she comes around."

"Sure thing, My Lady." Chat nodded, and Ladybug used her yoyo to zip away. He took Volpina's arm and slung it over his shoulder. "Come on, we're taking you to someplace safe."

Volpina was too out of it to bother struggling out of his grasp this time. "But I don't wannaaa..." She whined.

"Yes, you do." Chat reminded, dragging her away. His staff beeped, and he pulled it out to see an address, presumably to this Great Guardian's studio.

A few steps later, and Volpina spoke again. "I don't feel right..." She whispered. Chat Noir noticed that she was burning up. Sweat beaded her forehead, and she swayed and stumbled over her feet.

"I know, V." Chat Noir told her in a soft voice. "I'm gonna help you."

Volpina whimpered. "I feel sick..." She suddenly went limp and almost collapsed, if Chat hadn't had her arm draped over his shoulder.

"Volpina?" Chat Noir asked urgently. He placed her on the ground and checked her pulse. Once he felt a slow, but steady beat pounding in her chest, Chat Noir gave a huge sigh of relief. She was still alive.

He picked her up again and used his staff to launch himself in the air and onto the nearby rooftops. Once Chat Noir was on the tiled roof, he didn't hesitate to run for the studio. Although Volpina had only fainted and was still alive, he didn't want to take chances with her condition.

In just three minutes later, Chat Noir was standing in front of a meditation studio. He opened the door and saw an old Chinese man meditating on a large mat on the wood floors. The man looked up.

"Greetings, Chat Noir." He said.

"Greetings, sir." Chat replied and walked aside. "Please, she was drugged. Can you help her?" He looked at Volpina for a moment, then returned his gaze to the old man.

"Of course." The man stood up. "Place her on the mat, if you will."

Chat did as he said. "Thank you."

"It is good to see you again, though... Adrian, was it?"

Chat let out a groan. "Oh, come on! What's the point of even having a secret identity anymore?"

Master Fu chuckled a bit and turned towards a table of herbs and medicines. "It seems fitting that I would know, seeing as I was the one who gifted you with that ring in the first place."

Chat Noir was at a loss for words. "Oh. Uh, yeah, you're right!" He swallowed hard. "Well, I should probably leave you to it. Oh and by the way, Ladybug wanted me to ask you if you could tell her when she's feeling better to meet up with us."

"Certainly, Chat Noir." He nodded while crushing and grinding some herbs into a paste.

"Goodbye, sir." Chat Noir gave a bow and then exited the studio and headed back to the Agreste mansion.

Master Fu began to apply some of the paste to her forehead and her broken nose.

"I'll soon have you feeling better, miss Alya."