In Love, Always

Chapter 4

Chat Noir's Point of view:

Chat Noir watched from the shadows as Howler whispered to himself, seemingly in a daze. A haze of purple tinted his face. Chat waited for the akuma to snap out of it and eat the large chunk of meat in front of him. It smelled delicious from here, Chat thought as he licked his jaws. Howler shouldn't be able to resist from where he was.

But then, Howler turned suddenly, growling and lashing out. Chat was so surprised by the sudden movement that he hissed quietly, not that Howler noticed. The akuma was busy scanning the room. His vision passed over Chat Noir, the hero's suit blending in with the shadows, but looked on.

Chat tried to quickly piece together the cause of the sudden suspicion. Howler had been happily chowing down on the meat a second ago. Any interference would have had to come from an outside source. That could only mean one person; Hawkmoth. The mastermind must have figured out Ladybug's plan and stopped the akuma before he was defeated. Chat glanced at Howler. Howler must be searching for him and his Lady right now, aware of the trap. Howler had looked over Chat Noir, but the hero knew that soon, his glare would land on his Lady's hiding place. Chat Noir crouched, preparing to spring. He would die before he let Howler reach the love of his life. He narrowed his eyes at the wolf villian and when he turned away from Chat and towards the counter, that was when Chat made his move.

Chat Noir sprang on the larger man, whose eyes widened in surprise as Chat's claws sank into him. Chat hooked his feet on Howler's back, digging them in and earning a howl. Chat struggled to stay on as the wolf tried to shake him off of him, growling. The room spun along with Howler, making both opponents dizzy. Chat was clawing his way up Howler's back when a hairy and clawed hand reached back and swiped at the cat, mostly missing him, but grazing his left cheek. Chat hissed was thrown off, still trying to scratch Howler's back. The villain grunted and turned sharply, both his arms shooting forward with the intent of finding Chat's right side. Chat realized with a start, Howler must remember how Chat had reacted when his arm got hit. Chat Noir scolded himself for letting his pain show so blatantly. He was a hero for heaven's sake, he should be able to handle a little pain.

Regardless, Chat knew that if he got hit now, it would damage his arm even more than before and it would hurt 10x worse. It would be a piece of cake for Howler to pounce on him and finish it. If he got hit now, he would be unable to protect his Lady. Chat leapt at the wall, claws scrambling as he ran across it, searching for a way to get to Howler without being intercepted. His feet skidded as he pushed off and leapt by Howler, landing behind the akuma, who was still dizzy from the spinning, and managed to leave long gashes on his chest with his claws. Chat took up a defensive stance from his position on the floor, hiding his injured arm behind him and out of reach of the akuma, who was trying to leap at Chat Noir. The wolf's saliva dripped from his fangs as they got closer to Chat, and consequently, bigger. The two opponents were about to make contact again when a red blur suddenly separated the two.

Chat's wide eyes traced the blur to where Ladybug was standing beside the fallen door, glaring. Her yoyo snapped back into her hand. The akuma fixed his eyes on her and the claws that had been stubbornly turned towards Chat Noir changed targets as they instead flew at the superior miraculous wielder, entranced by the colorful, new enemy. Ladybug wasted no time and leapt right back at him. The two met at their halfway and all Chat could see were blurs, gray and red, streaking across the room.

In a fast panic, Chat looked around the room, searching for something he could use to help Ladybug. His eyes settled on the large piece of meat still sitting on the ground. Chat Noir stumbled across the room to it and scooped it up in his arms. He looked up again at the fight and watched as Ladybug landed a punch on the wolf akuma's chest. She could hold her own, but Chat could not let her do everything by herself. He did his best to sneak up on Howler, dodging every other second as the duo continued their dance, back and forth. It was almost mesmerizing to watch as the streaks of red pulled back and struck hard, but Chat scolded himself and told himself that he had a job to do. He scrambled to the right and ducked under Howler's arm, which was swinging. Chat Noir jumped in front of the punch, taking it in his side at the same moment that he shoved the piece of meat into Howler's open jaws.