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Juleka's P.O.V

I could feel every muscle in my body go ridged, paralyzing me on my spot.

I grew slightly chilly from the blood draining, probably making the shade of my pale skin turn a ghostly shade paler. My stomach churned in nausea. I could only hear white noise fill my ears.

Was this what being petrified in fear was like?

I could quite literally do nothing but stare at the giant creature terrorizing the poor section without mercy. I even watched the heroes run into battle. I truly wish I had their guts and bravery. Then, maybe I would not have wasted so many years wasting away in my hidden haven.

Ladybug was currently helping a man trapped in a tentacle, moving towards one of the monster's mouths. The assassin tossed her sword to Ladybug, who used it. The man was released and fell along with the part of the tentacle he was trapped in. Ladybug rescued him.

Yet, my attention was on the cut-off tentacle lying on the ground. Could I use that to make a tracking potion?

No, that would not track Hawkmoth. It is a part of the creature, therefore tracking it instead of the villain.

There really was nothing I could do to the creature either. Only the witch, who can control the monster, or the miraculous has the power to do anything to it. One of many weird magic rules but still one nonetheless.

I would need some object that belongs to Hawkmoth. Something that he (or she) owns unless someone else takes ownership of said item.

I nearly had a heart attack when Gabriel came into my view. The white noise seemed to clear as he talked.

"...to get out of here, now!" he yelled, pushing me out of the way of some flying debris. This startled me enough to jump and return my ability to move.

I nodded my head in understanding.

The three of us evacuated the premises. Some people bumped into me in their haste to escape. All these less fortunate people have to watch their homes be destroyed again and have no power to stop it. The only thing they can do now is run away.

   What have these civilians ever done to deserve such treatment?

   What would Master Fu think of me running away from protecting his people?

   My run slowed all the way down to a stop. Whoever was running behind me knocked us both down before continuing to speed away. I sat on the ground thoughtfully, tuning out the background noise.

   I glanced over my shoulder at the creature. The heroes were doing everything they could to rescue anyone captured. Vesperia had her power activated and flew right at the enemy only to be smacked away by a tentacle. I heard someone's shout of worry for the bee hero.

   "What are you doing?!"

   My attention was brought to Gabriel, who surprisingly returned for me, "We must flee!"

   I looked down at my hands.

   What am I doing?

   My hands clenched into fists. I steeled my nerves and stood to my feet.

   "No, I must help," I said, looking at the creature for any ideas on how I could help. If Hawkmoth is controlling that creature, it must have some energy source I could use to track the villain.

"You cannot help anyone if you are dead. We need to find a safer area first," Gabriel protested. I shook my head in denial.

"No, you can go find a place to hide but I must be nearby. I may have an idea," I told him.

Gabriel's eyes widen before looking at the scene before him. He seemed to come to a decision, grabbing the gun from its halter and loading it.

"What are you doing?" I questioned him, nervously glancing between him and the gun in his hands.

Was everything he said a lie? Is he going to kill me? And whatever happened to his assassin? Did she run off or was she going to jump me from behind?

"If you have an idea in starting to stop all this madness, I will assist you by protecting you," he offered, cocking the weapon. I narrowed my eyes at the man, taking the smallest of steps back. I do not trust his intentions were truly faithful and he seemed to notice that.

"If I really wanted you dead, I had many chances to do so," Gabriel said, "Now, would you be so kind in sharing your thoughts? I would like to know if I am running into danger and protecting you for good reason."

I still do not trust him...but it would be nice to have someone watching my back. The only other witch who would be good at doing this plan was Rose. Yet, I have not spoken with or seen her in weeks. I do hope she is okay.

But she is not here now. I am. I must do this and stop procrastinating.

I released a sigh before giving him my answer.

"Very well. Let us go."

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Chat Noir's P.O.V

   I have searched the entire creature's body for where the Akuma could be harbored but there have been no tell-tale signs of its location.

   The only place left to look was...within the creature just like that snail villain. Except the creature's body was made of human flesh instead of slime that could melt a person in seconds.

   Bunnyx's powers do not seem to be working at the moment. I tried calling Pegasus to see if he could teleport Ladybug and me into the monster. But he has yet to respond nor do I know where he is. So, the only way we could enter was into one of its mouths without being chewed to death.

   I freed another civilian from the creature's tentacle, using the training sword from my room. After placing the civilian on the ground, I was going to find Ladybug only to spot her helping another civilian.

   She raised her sword, to cut off the tentacle, unknowing of another tentacle approaching her from behind.

   "LADYBUG! LOOK OUT!" I shouted at her. I used my baton to vault towards her as quickly as possible. Ladybug heeded my warning but did not move quickly enough.

   The tentacle wrapped around her, making her lose her sword and let it fall. Ladybug struggled to get free as the creature drew her closer to one of its mouths. I raised my blade. I sliced the limbs that trapped both her and the civilian that she was trying to help. Polymouse was ready below and caught the civilian.

   I turned to see how my partner was doing only to notice that the tentacle I sliced off was regenerating back to normal. This creature could regrow its limbs?!

Ladybug landed on a different tentacle beneath, struggling for a moment to keep her balance. Another tentacle shot at her, making it the thing that lost her balance as she attempted to dodge the limb.

She fell over but managed to grab at the tentacle she stood on but could not do much except dangle. The tentacle whipped around, trying to get Ladybug off.

I quickly pounced from limb to limb until arriving just in time to catch Ladybug in my arms. It was just before she flew off to who knows where in Paris. She truly is a lucky woman.

"Thank you, Kitty," Ladybug said, gratefully after I placed her back on the ground.

"My pleasure," I responded. That was when Ladybug gave me a certain look I knew all too well. She had an idea of how to stop the creature.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" she asked.

   "I have a feeling that I do know but humor me anyway," I said.

   "The Akuma has to be within the beast but...I do not know. This Akuma is...strange," she tried to explain.

"What do you mean by "strange?" I asked. Ladybug pursed her lips before giving her response.

"Are we even sure this is an Akuma?"

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Juleka's P.O.V

I snatched one of the dismembered tentacles from the ground before running back under cover.

"What are you doing?" Gabriel questioned. I set the tentacle down and speedily set up everything I had on me.

"I am going to run some tests to figure out what we are dealing with. I can sense that this is no ordinary Akuma. There is something more wicked behind this creature than any Akuma," I explained, mixing potions.

"I do not understand how you can sense something that does not follow the criteria of the five senses," Gabriel said.

"Witches have six senses," I answered.

"Every being gives off their own personal pulse of energy. The weakest are ordinary humans or animals. The strong ones are those with magic, depending on the varying levels of power someone or something has. But this thing we are dealing with, it has multiple pulses."

"What is so wrong with that?" Gabriel asked.

"It is impossible to have as many pulses as this creature has, let alone two," I replied, mixing the serum until it changed into a bubbling blue liquid.

"How many does it have?" he questioned. I could see a bit of sweat forming on his forehead but it was probably not as bad as the layer on my skin.

"If I counted right, I believe there are nine," I answered, eerily before holding up my potion.

"Now, no more questions. This will give me an energy boost for five minutes but I need to focus. Hopefully, this will help us figure out what or who we are all dealing with."

   I gulped down the potion and felt it immediately take effect. An aurora of light blue made my body glow. I grabbed the tentacle and focused on the multiple pulses coming off of it, trying to decipher what pulse was which.

   I immediately recognized the Akuma's pulse. There was another somewhat similar to the Akuma's reading but different. There are six pulses that are the same, seemingly humans with borrowed power similar to the miraculous heroes.

   Then, there was the last one.

   I scrunched my eyebrows at this pulse. I know this signature but it is connected to two other pulses. Connected with the tentacle in my grasp. I dove deeper to seek the truth until I found what I searched for.

What was revealed was not pleasant.

My stomach churned when the feeling of chilling evil swept over me, sending shivers down my spine. Fear struck all my nerves' chords like playing a haunting melody.

   "Juleka! Snap out of it!" Gabriel called out to me, breaking me out of my focus. I gasped, throwing the tentacle away before vomiting on the floor. My body trembled but it was not from the energy potion, the effects having already worn off.

"What happened?" Gabriel asked, "What did you find out?"

I looked at him in terror and steadied my breathing to answer him.

"It is her," I said.

"I know for certain it is Dae Sphinx."

Gabriel and I jumped when my familiar appeared out of thin air. As alert and on-edge Gabriel was, it made himmore jumpy. He aimed his weapon at my familiar.

"No! Do not shoot! He is with me!" I hurriedly spoke. My familiar seemed unfazed by the threat before scratching a message in the dirt. My heart sank after reading it.

Rose is in danger.

This was a tough decision. As much as I wanted to save Rose, I needed to be here to help out with this battle. Many lives are at stake. I am the only witch here.

But Rose...

"Well, thera ya are," Lady Olympia appeared from around the corner, using a walking stick as her guide. Gabriel immediately pointed his gun at Olympia but I stopped him from doing anything drastic.

"Lady Olympia, what are you doing here? You should be getting to safety," I scolded my old teacher.

She scoffed, "And miss all da fun? Nah! 'Sides, you outta be somewhere else. I can handle dis for ya. I gotta bone tah pick with dat, slimy slug."

"But-"

"Shush you! Go! No time arguing!" Lady Olympia ordered, pointing her walking stick out into the poor section. I knew I could not argue with her and just accepted this chance to save Rose.

"Very well...thank you," I said with gratitude before having my familiar guide me to Rose.

"Do not worry, Rose. I am coming to save you," I thought, determined. I cast a speed spell before zipping as fast as a horse to Rose's location.

I just hope I am not making a mistake.

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Rena Rouge's P.O.V

   "Mirage!" I called upon my power.

   I made a cage around the creature to make it think it was trapped. Yet, it saw through my illusion and continued with its rampage. I grit my teeth in frustration, wondering how we are going to defeat this monstrosity.

   "Carapace, do you think you can trap this thing with your shield?" I asked.

   "Not for too long," he responded, "The bigger the shield, the more energy it uses on me. Plus, the creature fighting to break free would make it more difficult."

   "What happened to Vesperia? She can paralyze it," I asked him, using an axe I found to free a civilian. Carapace caught the civilians and let them escape.

   "I think she is decommissioned. She was hit pretty bad," he answered. I growled before our communication option alerted us of a call from Ladybug.

   "Everyone," Ladybug started, "Chat Noir and I think we know how to stop the creature. We need you guys to keep doing what you have been doing. Hopefully, this matter will end."

   "And just how are you both going to do that?" I questioned.

   "No time to explain but I will later," Ladybug promised before ending the call.

   I did not get a chance to process what Ladybug and Chat Noir could possibly be planning. A scream cut off my thoughts, making me return to protecting the poor people of Paris.

   I trusted that they knew what they were doing and that knowledge gives me hope for a brighter future.

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Ladybug's P.O.V

   "Are you ready?" I asked Chat.

   "If you mean ready to be swallowed by a grotesque monster? Absolutely not. But if you are the one leading, I will follow you in any way," he said, bumping my arm.

   I know it is not the time but the flips in my stomach could not help commencing. A warmth brushed my cheeks as I smiled at him.

   "Well then...let us see if you can keep up, Kitty," I teased. I went to grab my yoyo with my left hand only the freeze when feeling someone holding my right. I glanced over at Chat, who kept his gaze forward.

I squeezed his hand, staring down at the creature.

"Together?" he asked. Just before I could answer, a tentacle began to coil around the both of us. Taking in a deep breath, I let determination and resolve take control of me.

"Together," I confirmed.

The tentacle grabbed us and lifted us off the rooftop. The creature brought us closer to one of its many mouths.

I could feel my heart rapidly pounding against my chest. My instincts were telling me to free myself and run as fast as I could. The only thing keeping me anchored here was Chat Noir. I do not think I would be able to do this alone.

   I was resisting closing my eyes. I knew once we entered its mouth, we would need to act hastily so as to not get chewed to death.

   "Once you are able to free your arms, make sure you hold onto me. I can vault us down its throat before it can get a chance to close its mouth," Chat explained.

   "Alright," I agreed, quickly doing so after the tentacle dropped us into its mouth. Chat Noir grabbed his baton and tightly wrapped an arm around my waist.

   "Hang on!" he warned. He extended his baton, using a tooth to push us past the tongue and down the throat of the beast. Through the terrible stench and slimy feel, I did not let go of Chat Noir. Losing each other would be dangerous. We cannot afford to separate at any cost.

   Then, we were suddenly falling and landed on a soft floor. I opened my eyes, wishing that this was all a nightmare only to be disappointed. Chat and I stood up, both of us drenched in saliva and a horrid smell.

   I tried to ignore the gross feeling and refocus on our mission.

   I thought we would have fallen into the stomach and possibly melted to death. Yet, that does not seem to be so. We were in some sort of muscled room. The entirety of it was a pink color and gave off a glow to see. There were two paths to choose from straight ahead.

   This was not good. Who knows what will be at the end of each direction or if we would be able to return here to choose different if we so do please.

   I did not want to use my Lucky Charm quite yet. We may face something that may need my power if an emergency comes along.

   "Which way do we go?" Chat Noir asked.

   I bit the bottom of my lip. I checked my yoyo to see if I could summon one of the other rebels to join us. Unfortunately, the communication option was not working.

   As much as I do not want to separate, we might have to.

I sighed, frowning at Chat Noir. He seemed to understand by just looking at me that the circumstances were not in our favor.

This...could be the last time I see him if things go astray. I do not want to have any regrets if this is the last time I see him.

"Chat-"

Before I could speak anymore, Chat Noir's cat ears perked up before pushing me away. A body fell in front of us causing my heart to stop, thinking it was a dead one.

I was able to breathe again when seeing the body started to move. That was until realizing who the person was, making this much worse.

Mother.

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