This is nuts, I thought. I'd only been in Paris two days and I'd already had four encounters with superhuman creatures. Hawkmoth had mentioned that Chat Noir and Ladybug created villains on a regular basis in order to claim glory, I guess he wasn't kidding.

The spider-woman-thing smiled at us and scuttled closer, though it did not improve her appearance. She looked like a half-woman half arachnid that had gotten into a paintball fight, then gone to a tie-dye party, as her face, hair and body were covered in bright splotches of color.

"Faire attention!" Marinette shouted and shoved me down, out of the way. A strand of silk, the size of a giant rope slammed into the wall above our heads.

"Look out!" The phone echoed in English. The Spider-insect-thing seemed distracted for a second, looking around for the other voice, then she scuttled towards us, making a clicking sound as she spoke.

"Don't be afraid of the Matriarch, my darlings." The phone translated. "Just let me wrap you in my webs and I will use my powers to make you part of my Cluster. The Matriarch will take care of you and everyone in Paris."

We both jumped back as another silk rope shot out at us.

"Eww!" Marinette said, pulling at her foot. A small glob of web covered her foot, anchoring it to the floor. The Matriarch was getting closer, I grabbed a book lying on the floor and threw it at her. It bounced off her chest and she scuttled back a pace.

"Is that any way to treat your loving mother?"

I took the extra moment to yank at Marinette's arm in an attempt to free her, but she didn't budge.

"Sorry, Mother Dearest," I grunted as I picked up another book and threw it, "But I'm not interested in joining the family business."

The Matriarch was approaching from a different side now, leaving the door open and unblocked.

Marinette shoved at me, pointing towards the door.

"No way I'm leaving you behind," I said firmly.

I hurled a globe that was lying a few feet away and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling as hard as I could. The webbing stretched slightly, but didn't give. The Matriarch was closing in fast now. I looked around desperately for more ammo to throw, than Marinette shoved me behind her and threw out her arms, shielding me. What is it with this girl trying to protect me? I wondered.

I darted out from behind her and waved my arms.

"Hey! Matriarch! Get me first! Catch me!"

Matriarch scuttled in my direction and I tensed, ready to dodge.

Suddenly a familiar staff shot past my shoulder and slammed into The Matriarch, pinning her to the wall as she squealed and struggled.

"Looked like you needed a paw there," says a welcome voice from behind me, and I see Chat Noir holding his staff like a lance, using all his strength to pinion The Matriarch to the wall. I can't help but smile slightly.

"Never thought I'd be happy to see you." I say.

He grunts as The Matriarch continues to struggle furiously.

"Hurry!" He orders, "I can't hold her forever!"

I dig through my bag, pulling out my student ID.

"Umm, you might need something a little sharp-" Chat starts to say, then stops as the diamond edge slices easily through the webbing on Marinette's foot.

"Qu'est-ce que c'est ? » Marinette asks, sounding amazed.

I stuff the card back in my pocket, where I can reach it easily.

"No time," I say, pulling her with me toward the door. Marinette hesitates, looking back at Chat Noir.

"Go! I'll be right behind you!" he says, voice sounding a little strained. I yank harder, pulling Marinette after me.

"Come on! We have to get out of here!"

We're almost to the door when I hear a crackling noise and look up. One of the cocoon things we'd seen when we walked in bursts open and a strange-looking spider person with a red baseball cap bursts out, dropping to the ground in front of us.

"Nino?" Marinette gasps. Nino the spider mutant hisses, reaching out with one of his eight arms to grab us. Behind me, I hear two more cracking sounds as two of our former classmates divest themselves of their webbing. They scuttle forward to surround us on all sides.

"Well, this can't get any worse," I mutter to myself.

A second later Chat Noir shoots past my head, hitting the wall with a thud. He slides down, momentarily stunned and the Matriarch scuttles forward to rejoin her 'kids'.

"Okay, scratch that," I amend myself. "Now it's worse."

The spider thing that was once Nino shoots out a strand of web, and I duck slightly.

"Ha! Missed!" I yell.

The webbing sticks to Chat's foot and Marinette and I have to dive forward and grab him before he is dragged away.

"Hang onto something! I'll cut you free!" I say, digging for my card. Chat Noir obeys, digging his claws into the floor. A spider girl in a pink dress shoots out another web, catching Marinette around the waist.

"No!" I yell, as Nino Spider and the girl in pink pull together, whipping Marinette into the air before I can grab her. She screams as she arcs through the air, landing on some webbing several yards away. The Matriarch quickly scuttles towards her, making clicking noise.

"Good work my darlings. Another one for the ranks."

I slice through the webbing on Chat's foot and stagger up, swinging my school bag and running towards the three that are covering a struggling Marinette in webbing.

"Let her go, you freaks!" I scream. Nino shoots a strand of webbing at me and I block it with my bag. Unfortunately it sticks, and Nino yanks the bag out of my hands.

I grab a yard stick that is lying on the ground, break it over his head. He hisses, and I punch him in the nose to shut him up. He staggers back slightly and I push past him impatiently. I halt as the girl in pink jumps in front of me.

"Look out!" Chat yells, and I hear a 'thwack' and screech sound from behind me. Chat Noir uses his staff to vault in front of me, spinning it until it becomes a blur in front of us. The girl in pink backs off slightly, hissing.

"What are you doing? I've got this!" I say, annoyed.

"Oh yeah?" he retorts and stops the spinning long enough to whack another kid in green wearing glasses.

"Nin-I mean, that kid behind you was getting up and almost had you webbed! Stay behind me, I'm getting you somewhere safe!"

"I'm not leaving without Marinette! Besides, I can take care of myself!" I insist stubbornly. I lash out at the girl in pink who is trying to sneak up behind us. The back kick knocks her back a few paces and she staggers. I sweep her legs out from under her and she goes down on her back, legs kicking frantically. Chat Noir glances at me curiously.

"Where did you learn that?" He asks.

One of the Hellions while I was hanging around C.L.A.W. HQ, I think to myself.

"It's just something you pick up." I evade. I spot movement over my shoulder. "Look out!" I yell. Chat spins his stick until it's horizontal and knocks the legs of the kid in green out from under him. He holds up a hand for a high-five.

"Nice teamwork." He says with a smile. I hesitate and then touch my hand to his. His fingers are longer than mine, and the claws look vicious, but his hand is warm.

Suddenly The Matriarch's webbing wraps around our wrists, binding them together. We both dig in our heels as she pulls with all her strength.

"I've got this!" I grunt, reaching for my card. The last couple cuts have really gummed up the edge so I have to hack at the rope.

"Get them, my children!" Matriarch screeches. The girl in pink and the guy in green are still struggling to get off their backs.

The last few strands are parting, the two spider-things are getting to their feet. Just as they shoot out their webs, the card slices through the last of the web rope, the sudden loss in tension making Chat Noir and I fall backwards. Consequentially, the webbing from the two spider mutants miss us and hit each other, tangling themselves up simultaneously. They hiss at each other, pulling at the webbing covering both of them and getting even more entangled.

"Stop that!" Matriarch hisses, scuttling forward to assist. She starts tearing at the webbing with the two claws on her legs.

Chat in the confusion pulls me toward the door. Unfortunately now it's completely covered in webbing.

"Quick!" He whispers, "use that card to get us out of here."

I pull it out, start hacking at the webbing. It's slow going and after twenty seconds I've made a hole that a mouse would have problems getting through.

There is a crackling noise and another spider-hybrid starts to emerge. Chat yanks me behind the desk. We huddle there, shoulder to shoulder in the dark.

"Where are they? Find them you idiots!" The Matriarch screeches.

"Alright, we need to get this thing off us," Chat whispers, holding up our bound arms. "Where's your card?"

"I don't have it!" I whisper.

"What do you mean you don't have it?" He whispers in alarm.

"It got stuck in the webbing when I was cutting a way out!" I whisper back. Chat Noir's ears droop.

"Alright, I have one thing I can do to get us out. Just stay with me and be ready to run when I say so."

"No." I snap. Chat glares at me, green eyes flashing only a few inches away from mine.

"In case you didn't notice, we don't have a lot of options. I need to get you out of here and keep these akumatized people secured until Ladybug can get here to help."

"Can't do anything without Ladybug, can you?" I taunt him. Chat flushes, irritated. He holds up his free clawed-hand.

"Look Chéri, you're still new here so you don't know how things work. I've got only one way, one move to destroy the akuma Hawkmoth has created, but unless Ladybug is here to contain it and remove the evil, things could get a whole lot worse. So I have to wait. Does that make me the weaker link? Yes, in that regard I am a lousy superhero. But I can still get you to safety and keep these things contained, so that's what I'm going to do!"

We glare at each other again, but with less of the fire we had before. Chat Noir actually looks somewhat vulnerable, and I feel a slight twinge of pity after hearing him confess to being the weaker member of the team. I could understand that. I might only be a solo act but there were times when I felt like Sphinx and I were treated like two separate people. Agents and citizens alike treated Sphinx with a certain amount of awe and respect. [Y/N] was practically invisible in comparison.

"Alright, I'm sorry, that was out of line," I admit. "But you keep thinking you need to protect me and take me to safety and you don't seem to get I can help if you'd let me!"

"You're not a superhero." Chat Noir mutters. I hesitate. I could tell him, it would be easier to fight off these things with Sphinx's strength and other skills.

"Actually-" I start to say, then the spider-thing-that-used-to-be-Nino sticks his head around the desk. I lash out with my foot but he pulls back quickly.

"Looks like they found our hiding place." I say, as the sound of more clicking comes closer. "Look, we just need to get to the door, then we'll use whatever we can to cut a way out." Chat Noir nods, looking worried. I grip the hand that's bound to mine and squeeze it slightly. "Teamwork, right? We'll hold until your girlfriend Ladybug gets here." Chat Noir blushes slightly.

"She's not my girlfriend." He mutters, looking embarrassed.

"Yes, but you wish she was." I tease.

Suddenly there is a zipping sound and a squeal, then the clicking near us stops. Chat Noir and I peek over the desk.

Ladybug has her yo-yo wrapped around the struggling Matriarch. She looks in our direction.

"Vas-tu aider?" she asks. Chat Noir grins and smiles at me.

"Looks like the cavalry has arrived." I reply.

** AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hello my readers, thank you for being patient with me! And for hopefully not throwing tomatoes at this latest cliffhanger... (I'll just be hiding behind this shield just in case.) Not only was I plagued with a serious case of writers block, but I was working my freelance job as a:

A. Rodeo Clown

B. Camera Operator

C. Singer

(I'll let you figure out which one it is.) 

I'd like to send a special thank you to my readers, EmpireKun, WriterForFun, NandaMdu, WolfLoverr, ConstantTea, Mandisany and Bone283. You make me want to write more chapters, regardless of how tired I am and how much work I have to do. Please don't hate me for taking a little time to write and make the next chapter truly epic.

Last note for this chapter, what's your favorite ice cream? At the moment, I am enjoying cookie dough, but I also like mint chip.