Miraculous Team: Haute Couture - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Battle in Three Fronts

Smiling cruelly at the heroes, Haute Couture readied herself to tilt the game in her favour. The heroes would not even know what hit them. Snapping her fingers, her smile widened, as Ladybug and the others waited for something to happen… but it did not. Exchanging looks between the four, the heroes tried to understand what exactly happened, or was about to happen. Seconds went by, and still nothing. Growing more nervous as the seconds went by, Ladybug broke the wall of silence and asked:

“What happened?! What did you do?!”

“What did I do? Simple, I called for back-up…” -she smiled.

“What are you talking about?”

And then, the screams and yells went off the chart. Looking behind them, they saw something that amazed and terrified them. The people whom Haute Couture had given an upgrade on their outfit were seeing themselves in another predicament. The new clothes they were wearing turned into a sort of living goo, which started to cover them from head to toes, and turned them into multicoloured mannequins; but these looked like no ordinary mannequins. They had a menacing look and they were arms with all sorts of cutting objects; knives, scissors, knitting needles, and many other kinds. All of them, demanding for the taste of blood.

“What did you do to them?!” -Ladybug asked her.

“I simply give them another upgrade… one that will make sure you won’t wear those ugly outfits of yours, ever again, because you’ll be dead.” -Haute Couture told them in a low menacing tone.

“Turn them back, or else…” -Grizzly Bear told her.

“Or else, what, kid?!”

“You don’t want me to finish that sentence, lady!” -Grizzly Bear shot at her with a serious voice. It was bad enough she was causing all that ruckus, now she was turning innocent people into her own personal army, and that made the holder of the bear miraculous boil with anger.

“You heard him, turn them back!” -Volpina ordered her.

“I don’t think so… but I’m going to allow them to play with you.” -Haute Couture told them, as she cleared her voice and projected it. –“My darlings, teach these kids some manners!”

Hearing their mistress calling them, every last one of the people turned into mannequins started to run towards where Ladybug and her companions were, pointing their weapons.

“Hate to say it, but we’re in deep trouble.” -Louve Grise told her friends.

“You call this trouble? I call this passing time…” -Grizzly Bear said, clashing his’ brass knuckles against one another, making a distinct metal sound.

“Take them down as quickly as you can, and then, we’ll hit Haute Couture with everything we’ve got!” -Ladybug ordered them. –“Volpina, a couple of illusionary duplicates, please.”

“Consider them made.” -Volpina winked at her friend and leader, as she took the flute’s tip to her lips and played a little melody, creating the copies Ladybug had asked her to create.      

Not far from where Ladybug and the others were, Flamingo, Corbeau Noire, Queen Bee and Antelope were also having their own problems with the deadly mannequins. Not only they were making sure that innocent people would not get hurt by them, but they were also trying to stop them from touching those very same innocent people; fir they had found out that once people were touched by them, they would also turn into mannequins. Seeing that happening, the first thing that came to the minds of the four heroes was the same principle of a zombie bite in a horror movie. Luckily, their powers made them immune to their touch.

“Grab something we can use to tie them all up!” -Corbeau Noire said as, she used her shadow powers to hold the mannequins up in the air, where they would not hurt or infect anyone, if one could you use that term.

“I’m looking! I’m looking!” -Antelope said, as he dashed looking for a rope they could use.

“More of them at 3 o’clock!” -Flamingo said, as she somersaulted over a couple of chairs, landing a powerful kick on one of the infernal mannequins that was coning near Corbeau Noire.

“They’re too many for a simple rope… let’s see if I can secure them using something a little stronger.” -Queen Bee said.

Using her trompo, the bee hero created small tornadoes that began to shred the tent near them, and then pull them all into a single tornado. Focusing, she wrapped the mannequins in the tent’s shreds, making it impossible for them to move. Then, with one last gust of wind, she made them fly to where she knew, they would not bother them again.  

“Nice work!” -Antelope said.

“But here come more!” -Flamingo cried, as she used her power to duplicate herself.

“Hope you can use that trick again, because we’re far from ending this.” -Corbeau Noire told Queen Bee, as she used her shadow powers to make the ones she was holding in the air, to clash against the approaching ones.  

---------------------------

As this happened, a part of the team had no idea what was going on, as they were too high in the air, with the task they had in hands. That, and Amélie Dufayel kept complaining about being stuck in an energy sphere created by Jade Turtle to transport her to a safe location, along with Gabriel Agreste, whom Antelope had accidently knocked out, when saving him from Reptile. And the place they chose to keep them safe from Haute Couture was none other than the Eiffel Tower. Built in 1887 for the 1889 World Fair, the Eiffel Tower was named after Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built it. Standing 324 meters tall, it was one of the tallest structures in Paris, and the best-known symbol of the French capital. And now, it was the perfect place to hide Dufayel and Agreste from the prying eyes of the akuma created by Hawk Moth. They chose it because it was high and it was easy to defend, in case Haute Couture could find them.  

“Are you sure you can lift us all?” -Jade Turtle asked Dragonfly. The pink-haired girl was carrying the two spheres with Amélie Dufayel and Gabriel Agreste, as well as Arachnid, Chat Noir, Forest Doe and Jade Turtle, as they did their best not to drop. A fall from that height would be lethal, or the very least, extremely dangerous, even with their powers and enhanced abilities.  

“Please, if I have enough strength to hold a tanker truck way up in the air, then I think I can hold you guys.” -Dragonfly told them.

“But last time, you had help, remember?”

“I do remember it, but then again, you guys are a lightweight when compared to a tanker truck.” -she joked, as they approached their destination, the Eiffel Tower’s first level.

Dropping them on the first level, it did not take much for the people who were there to start gathering around where the spheres containing Amélie Dufayel and Gabriel Agreste were. Seeing this, Jade Turtle decided to take matter into his own hands and created a couple of shields to keep the people at bay, while Dragonfly asked the security guards and police officers that were on duty there, to escort them into the ground. They hoped Haute Couture would not come there, but in case she did, they did not want anyone getting hurt. Little by little, everyone exited the place, though there were many protests about it. The people who had bought the ticket to see the tower protested that they had not seen it fully and were refusing to get out before they did, while others wanted to stay close to Paris’ heroes and see them in action. Still, no matter how much they protested about it, they all ended up going down the stairs or the elevator, leaving Chat Noir and the others alone. It felt strange to them to have that whole place just for themselves. If they were not saving the day, they would appreciate having this unique opportunity to enjoy the tower and its magnificent view of the city. But, they had a job to do, and Amélie Dufayel was making sure they did not forget it, by continually screaming.

“Let me out, right now! I demand you let me out, right now!!!!” -she screamed.

“Miss, you’re perfectly safe in there.” -Dragonfly told her.

“I’ll tell you what I think it’s safe! Safe is catching the first plane out of this city and only come back, when you or the police catch her and put her behind bars!” -she told him. –“Now, get me out of here! The faster I get to the airport, the better!”

“Can you shut her up? She’s driving me crazy with this conversation of hers…” -Forest Doe whispered at her friends.

“Hold on.” -Jade Turtle told her, as he held his tonfas above his head and made a couple of moves with them. Then, suddenly, they stopped hearing Amélie’s complains.

“Finally, some peace and quiet.” -Dragonfly said, relieved.  

“What did you do?” -Forest Doe asked.

“I insulated her bubble. She can scream all she wants, that we won’t hear her.” -Jade Turtle joked.

While they did this to their guest, Chat Noir kept an eye on their other guest, his father, Gabriel. He had not come to his senses, and in Chat’s mind, that was a good thing. If Gabriel woke up right then, he would start worrying about having left him and the rest of the class back in the event, and Chat did not want him to worry. Seeing him with a slightly gloomed face, his best buddy decided to cheer him up.

“Don’t worry, he’s safe here.” -Jade Turtle told him.

“I know, but still, as long as Haute Couture is out there, he’ll be in danger. According to Amélie Dufayel, he’s the real reason why this whole thing started in the first place.” -Chat answered him.

“And you believe that nonsense? Come on, we already ascertained that that woman is clearly one of the loudest and meanest people in the world. No wonder Haute Couture wants her head on a silver plate. If I had someone who treated me the way our villain says she treated her, I would definitely want to chop her head with an axe.” -Jade Turtle joked about it.

“True…” -Chat chuckled. Only his best buddy could make him laugh like that.

“Uh, guys, I think we got another problem…” -Dragonfly told them, pointing out to what was going down on the floor. Looking down, they saw the madness that was taking place on the grass. On one side, there was the police who were trying to get everyone out of there in safety, while on the other, there were Queen Bee, Corbeau Noire, Flamingo and Antelope making use of their special powers to immobilize as many as those creatures as they could. Still, the mannequins’ number was going up quite fast and even with Corbeau’s shadow powers, at that rate, they were going to need an extra set of hands to keep them under control, while Ladybug and the others took care of Haute Couture. There was Panda Rouge, but he was busy himself with keeping the barrier he had created up and running. There was only one way out of that mess… someone had to go down there and help them.

“This is bad…” -Jade Turtle declared.

“So, this one doesn’t spit Akuma butterflies, but can create minions all the same…” -Forest Doe stated.

“As if things weren’t bad enough already.” -Chat Noir declared.

“I’m going to give the others a hand.” -Dragonfly told them, as got on the ledge and readied herself to jump from it.

“Wait, take me with you. I can help.” -Arachnid told her.

“No, you and the others stay here, in case those things decide to start climbing the tower looking for the two of them.” -Dragonfly told him. -“Keep your eyes peeled, and I’ll be back soon, okay?” -she said, as she plummeted from the ledge, springing her wings, before speeding through the air.

--------------------

Lying on the floor still unconscious, Reptile did not even imagine what was going on. Seeing him like that, Hawk Moth decided to wake him up. He needed his lieutenant to get back on action.

“Reptile… Reptile… Reptile! Wake up!” -Hawk Moth told him telepathically. –“Wake up, this instant!”

Hearing his master’s voice echoing inside his head, Reptile groggily opened his eyes. He felt his head several sizes bigger, and a nudging headache that felt getting worse every time he breath  

“M-Master? Is that you?” -Reptile asked with a groggy voice.

“Of course, it’s me, you imbecile!” –Hawk Moth yelled at him, making his head hurt. –“How could you let a bunch of kids to do that to you?!”

“F-Forgive me, master…”

Reptile had not finished talking, when a sudden jolt of energy cramped all his muscles, and made him scream in agony. This only happened for about three seconds, but to Reptile, it felt like three very long hours. Breathing heavily, and trying to ignore the excruciating pain he was in, he listened to what his master told him.  

“If you fail me again, trust me, when I say that this shock you received just now, will feel like a massage, when compared to what I have planned for you. Remember that.” -Hawk Moth warned him. The way he was talking to him, Reptile knew that the villain was not kidding.

“Y-Yes, master…” -Reptile answered.

“Now, use your strength to break those wires and do what you’re supposed to do! Go and help Haute Couture!” -Hawk Moth ordered him. –“And don’t fail me again!” -he yelled, as he broke telepathic link with Reptile, leaving him with an even nastier headache than before.

Cursing himself for his own mistake, Reptile knew he had to go back into action. Hawk Moth’s warning kept echoing in his head.

“Lousy, kids… Hawk Moth was right. I let my guard down, and they made a fool out of me! I’ll rip them to shreds! And I’ll start with that Antelope!” -he said, as he forced the wire that was holding both his hands and feet, snapping it. Though his whole body still hurt, his hatred for the teenagers was strong enough to make him forget about his pain momentarily.      

As he got up, one of the mannequins created by Haute Couture went by him, and he could not help but to smile.

“Looks like she got herself some back-up… good, that’ll give me time to go after that Antelope brat.” -she thought to himself.

----------------

Haute Couture’s mannequins were staring to become a pain in the neck for the heroes, as they tried to fight them and the villainess herself. Watching his companions fighting, Panda Rouge felt rather useless, just staying there controlling the barrier he had created. He had also created smaller barriers to keep the police officers that had arrived at the field safe, before he created the barrier to protect the civilians, but still, he would rather be by their side, fighting that crazy woman. He really wanted to join them, but the power needed to keep the barrier up and running, forced him to stand still, focusing on the task at hand.

“I can’t get out of here, but, I can’t just stay here and hope they can defeat her, when I can help them…” -Panda Rouge told himself.  –“I can’t move from here, but maybe I can give them something to help them fight Haute Couture.”  

Using his pencil, he began to sketch what many would call sentry robots to help their friends. Once again, his passion for science-fiction, robotics and comic books was helping him, by providing the necessary inspiration he needed to draw those machines. Unfortunately, like it happened when he was focused on his drawings, Panda did not hear the threat that sneaked upon him. When he finally heard the mannequin that was about to attack him, it was already too late… he was practically breathing on his neck. Turning around, he barely had the time to revert his pencil into its spear form, when the mannequin holding two pairs of scissors tried to stab him with them. Rolling down on the grass, Panda was able to punch it into submission. Still, though he was able to defeat it, the worse was done… he had lost his concentration, and the barrier he created disappeared, as well as the unfinished sentry drones he was drawing, when he was attacked.

“Oh, great… I’ve got to pull it up again, and fast!”

But it was too late, the barrier was gone and everyone that has been safe behind it until a few seconds ago, were now at the mercy of any of Haute Couture’s mannequin minions.

----------------------

With the barrier down, and the mannequin minions going after the crowd that had gathered to see what was going on, it was up to Panda Rouge and the police officers to try and do their best to keep them away from the civilians. The hero still tried to rise another barrier, but the mannequins made it impossible. Focusing himself, he tried to fight off as many of those diabolical creatures as he could. But, he was not alone. From afar, Forest Doe was using her bow and magical arrows to help him out a little. Even from where she was, her aim was still the best. Pin, her kwami had told her that one of his holders had been Robin Hood himself, and that she was just as good as he was back in his days.

At the same time, Queen Bee’s group was being helped by Dragonfly. Using her speed and agility, combined with the flying abilities of Queen Bee, Flamingo and Corbeau Noire, she was able to take down multiple mannequins, and then hold them in a makeshift cage that Antelope came up with in a couple of minutes. Still, no matter how many they managed to contain in that cage, or wrap like mummies, they were still too many for them to handle just by themselves. Their only hope to put a stop at them, was that Ladybug and the rest of the heroes that were fighting against Haute Couture, managed to take her down. Unfortunately, their battle against her was dragging itself longer than they had expected, and they were all beginning to show a few signs of tiredness.    

Being thrown into the ground by Haute Couture, Ladybug who was becoming exhausted herself at that point, took a few seconds longer to get up, so she could access what was happening at that moment.

“She’s really tough… maybe I should ask the others to help us out…” -the scarlet heroine thought to herself. –“But I can’t do that… they’re already giving everything they got to stop these zombie mannequins she created. If I tell them to come and help us, those mannequins could easily find other targets on the people that are watching us, especially now that the barrier is gone… what are we going to do?” -she thought.

Seeing her friend in the ground, Dragonfly signalled Flamingo that she was going to see if she was alright, and headed to her encounter, landing right in front of her.

“Are you alright?” -she asked Ladybug, while helping her getting back on her feet.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” -she said, trying not to show just how nervous and panicked she was, right then.

“Don’t worry, we can do this.” -Dragonfly told her, as if she knew she needed to hear that. –“Things are a little chaotic, but… WATCH OUT!!!” -she screamed, as she threw Ladybug to the ground.

The reason Dragonfly did this was because Haute Couture saw them both standing there, and threw a hail of needles at them, which nearly turned Dragonfly into a human porcupine. Feeling that what she did was absolutely disloyal and ignominious, Dragonfly threw her frisbee at the villainess, hitting her on the face, and making her bleed from a small cut on the cheek.

“Thanks...” -Ladybug told her, as she got up.  

“Don’t thank me, thank my frisbee and my aim.” -she joked about it.

“You’re going to regret that, little girl!” -Haute Couture roared, as she ran her fingers where the frisbee hit her, cleaning a small drop of blue blood.  

“You’ll have to catch me first, lady!” -Dragonfly said, as she flew into the air, circling Haute Couture from behind and throwing her frisbee at her, once more.

Having Dragonfly by their side was great, especially since she could fly, haute Couture could not touch her as easily as she did with the others. But, Ladybug knew they would have to find a way to defeat her without Dragonfly’s help. She was needed somewhere else, and fast. The mannequins were starting to attack the crowd that had gathered to see the battle, and Panda Rouge was in need of some assistance.

“Change of plans! Go and help Panda Rouge! We can’t have those things hurt anyone, and you’re the fastest of us. Go, and throw them either into the river, or throw them to where Queen Bee and the others are, understood?” -Ladybug ordered her.

“Got it. But, you be careful, okay? Remember, keep your head on the game!” -Dragonfly told her.

“I will.”

True to her word, Ladybug focused on the fight against Haute Couture, believing that she and her friends would be able to stop her. Coordinating them, she asked Volpina, Grizzly and Louve to combine their attacks, to counter her on all fronts. They could not let her even breathe for a second. Still, their battle was about to end abruptly, when one of the mannequins jumped over the heroes and informed its mistress about the location where Amélie Dufayel was. Haute Couture was tired of fighting the kids, and decided that before she killed them, she could take a break from it and destroy Amélie.  

“So, that’s where they are, huh?” -Haute Couture said. –“I’m quite sorry, but I’m afraid our playtime is over. I have a place I need to be.” -she smiled malevolently, thinking of what she was going to do to her former boss, once she grabbed her.