"[Y/N]," Ladybug yelled, "Stay behind Chat and I! We'll protect you!"

"You got a plan, Milady?" Chat asked, gripping his staff.

"Keep [Y/N] safe, get out of here in one piece!" A spear whistled over her head and she pushed me to the ground. "Stay down!" She ordered, planting herself in front of me and twirling her yo-yo until it became a red blur in front of her.

"Uh, if you know my real name, which – remind me again how you did that?"

"We did a little research based on your Agent name." Chat said, taking position next to Ladybug.

"Okay, not sure how I feel about that, but if you did any research then you know I have field experience!" Neither superhero moved from their position in front of me. "Uh guys? I know how to fight! I can help!"

"You're not in your Sphinx form, you could be hurt." Ladybug pointed out.

"May I also point out that we just discovered the biggest cheat code in this whole body stealing experience? And that is that I have a say in what happens here too now?"

The hoard was closer now, a nightmarish crowd of ancient warriors screaming at the top of their lungs.

"And I can say things like...I wish there was a giant, fifty-foot wall protecting us?"

On command, an ancient-looking wall rose up out of the ground, surrounding us and blocking our view of the ghostly army. I heard a few small thumps and curses from the other side – there was a good chance that some of the soldiers hadn't been able to stop and had run straight into the wall.

"She's got a good point, Milady." Chat said, helping me to my feet. Ladybug looked unconvinced.

"It's still too dangerous for her without her Sphinx form." She said, crossing her arms.

"Well, at least this wall gives us a few minutes to plan a way to defeat her...alter-ego?" Chat shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure what you would call this Sphinx that's trying to take over her body."

"Call her evil! Cuz that's what she is!" I retort.

"Regardless, Chat is right, we should think up a plan now that we have this opportunity." Ladybug interjected. "Chat Noir, why don't you peek over the wall and see what the Sphinx's army is doing?"

"As you wish, milady." Chat replied with a sweeping bow. He leapt up, claws digging into the brick and mortar, carefully scaling the wall until he got to the top and lifted his head so he could peer over. An instant later he ducked as an arrow zipped by, narrowly missing one of his ears.

"Yeow! That was close!" He yelped, leaping down. "I almost got a new type of ear piercing. I know I'm a trendsetter but I'm not sure I could pull that look off."

"Chat be serious." Ladybug scolded. "What did you see up there?"

"It hurts my feelings you're not a little more concerned about my n-ARROW escape, My Lady." Chat joked, rubbing his ear. Ladybug rolled her eyes and put her head in her hand.

"Chat!"

"Alright, alright," Chat conceded. "But one of these days you're going to laugh at my clever puns."

"Chat!"

"Alright! They're just kinda standing around, looking baffled." He wrinkled his nose scornfully. "I guess they didn't have a plan beyond charging and screaming."

A heavy THUD shook the wall, causing us all to jump. Chat's tail stood on end in alarm.

"What was that?" Ladybug's eyes looked huge behind her mask.

"Umm..." Chat's voice sounded higher than usual. "They stopped standing around and got a battering ram?"

Another thud reverberated on the stone and a chink of light could be seen through the gap in the wall. I couldn't resist a peek.

"That looks like a wreaking ball. Am I looking at this right? Is that a wreaking ball?" I asked incredulously. Chat tackled me out of the way as the heavy ball and chain came swinging at the wall for a third time, causing small chunks of brick to shower down on us. I tried not to think about how Adrian was the one hidden in that leather suit, or the fact he felt like he was all solid muscle. Besides, he only had eyes for one person, and she was currently protecting us both from large chunks of masonry by using her yo-yo as a shield to deflect the flying rock.

Focus [Y/N], I reminded myself.

"Again, you guys don't have to protect me." I protested, wriggling out from under Chat. "I'm the one who can do things like wish you both had armor that is indestructible and also light as a feather?"

At my words, sparkles of red and green light appeared around Ladybug and Chat Noir, covering them from head to toe. In seconds, they were both outfitted in an armor that looked similar to something I had seen on one of Adrian's video games.

"Check me out," Chat said, twisting left and right to admire his new outfit. "I look like one cool cat." His eyes brightened as his caught sight of Ladybug. "Though I'd have to take second place to Milady, here." He added with a purr.

"Down kitty," Ladybug said, opening and closing her new gauntlets. She looked excited when twin miniature hand cannons unfolded from her wrists, adding a new level of danger to her costume. "Thanks [Y/N], I can do some serious damage with this."

"Hold your applause until the end, please." I said, "I'm giving myself an upgrade too. You said I was vulnerable without my Sphinx form, well let's test that theory." I concentrated and gold sparkles swam around me, coating my body in a golden brown armor that was similar in color to my fur. Wings unfurled from my back, I gave them a testing flap, lifting myself effortlessly a few inches off the ground before settling back down. "Well? Think I can join the team now?"

Chat and Ladybug shared a look.

"Well, alright." Ladybug agreed reluctantly. "But you have to be careful and stay behind us."

"And we want a pair of wings." Chat added. I raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think I didn't give you a pair already?"

Chat eyed his shoulders skeptically.

"Then why don't I have any?"

"Well, you have to activate them." I explained, keeping my face as serious as possible. "Try shimmying your shoulders."

"Like this?" Chat asked, moving his shoulders slightly. I shook my head, looking exasperated.

"No, you have to put more effort into it than that."

Chat moved his shoulders more vigorously, checking his back for any progress. I scratched my head, trying to look as baffled as possible.

"Weird, that should've worked. Maybe shimmy your shoulders in a circle and shout 'Arriba!' "

"Arrib-" Chat started to say then stopped as he noticed Ladybug snickering behind her hand. "Wait!" He jabbed a finger at me, looking annoyed. "You're messing with me, aren't you?" I sighed, disappointed.

"Drat, I was trying to milk that for as long as possible."

SMASH!! A sizeable chunk of wall was knocked out of place and I ducked as a barrage of arrows sang through the hole. "On second thought," I snapped my fingers and red and green wings unfurled behind Chat and Ladybug. "We should probably stop messing around."

As a single unit we leapt into the air, just as the first wave of warriors charged through the wall, howling and shaking their weapons above their heads.

I clenched my gauntlets and was pleased when a row of two-inch curved daggers, the same size and shape as my claws, slid out.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir," I said, looking to my friends flanking me on either side. "Shall we see what this armor can do?"

Chat Noir took out his staff and gave it an experimental twirl. He looked like Christmas had come early when he pressed a button and two curved blades shot out of the top and bottom of the staff. A second button caused a mace head – a round ball with spikes to replace the blades. He swung the new weapon, getting the feel of it.

"Agent Sphinx, I couldn't have said it better myself."

As one we soared into the air, seconds before the soldiers rushed through the hole the wreaking ball created. They looked around at the empty area, confused, then one by one they noticed us hovering overhead and started pointing and shouting.

"Well, I guess a sneak attack is out of the question now," I commented, as more and more soldiers looked toward the sky. One or two fitted arrows onto their bowstrings and fired upwards. Both times the arrows missed us by a good fifty feet.

"Is that the best they can do?" Chat asked, not looking impressed.

"No, that is. Look out!!" Ladybug shouted, pushing us out of the way. A cannonball whistled past, narrowly missing us.

Below, the hoards were already loading another cannonball, some seemed to be shouting encouragements.

"I think they deserve a taste of their own medicine." Chat decided, swinging his new mace. He wielded it in the air like a baseball bat, and as the second cannonball flew towards us, he swung.

Bong!

The cannonball arced away, smashing into a dozen soldiers below.

"Rats," Chat complained, "I was aiming for the cannon." He shook out his shoulders to loosen them and swung again as the next cannonball sped towards him.

Bong! Crash!

The third cannonball was right on target, flattening the cannon below like tin foil.

"Good shot!" Ladybug said, impressed. Chat bowed with a flourish, no mean feat for someone hovering in mid-air.

"Thank you, my lady." He said, blowing her a kiss.

A flicker of movement caught my eye.

"Don't relax now guys, I see five more cannons being loaded."

Chat and Ladybug both looked down.

"Can't a guy catch a catnap before he has to work again?" Chat complained.

"You get those three," I told Chat, pointing. "Ladybug and I will handle the rest." Ladybug nodded in agreement.

"Yes Ma'am," Chat said with a wink.

"That's 'Agent' to you, kitty." I retorted. I turned to Ladybug. "Tuck your wings in close when you dive, you'll get more speed," I advised her.

"Got it," Ladybug said, diving.

I followed suit a second after, snatching up an unwitting soldier and lifting him into the air. When I was over the cannon, I dropped him, the ensuing chaos causing the cannonball to be fired forward into the ranks in front.

I looked over to see how Ladybug was doing and laughed.

She had thrown her yo-yo so the string wrapped around the nozzle of the cannon and pulled up, a second before it fired. As a result the cannonball had been fired straight up into the air, and then had fallen straight down again, squashing the cannon like a soda can.

Bong! Bong! Bong!

I looked up at the sound and saw Chat Noir dispatching the last three cannon balls, sending them speeding back to where they came from with his new mace. He caught me watching and saluted cheekily.

"ENOUGH." The single word rolled across the sky like thunder and Sphinx's snarling face materialized in the clouds. "I am growing tired of your weak, ineffective attempts to defeat me!"

"I'm growing tired of you saying that over and over like a broken record!" I retorted. "Can't you think of something a little more original?"

"Well, now that you know how to fight back, I imagine it's an even playing field." Ladybug mused. "It's probably draining her energy even more than when you were just defying her."

"Ha! You think I feel your feeble attacks?" Sphinx jeered, but her image wavered.

"Milady is right," Chat said, swooping down to join us. He raised his voice so Sphinx could hear him. "Cat's out of the bag now, furface! You're getting weaker by the second, why don't you give up?"

"Never! I'll never give in to you!" Sphinx howled.

"It's nice hearing someone else say that." I reflected.

"Well, you're on the winning team now," Chat said, clapping me on the shoulder. "Get used to it.

There was a flash of lightning, and the army of ghostly warriors disappeared, leaving the desert empty and desolate.

"Looks like she's trying to save energy," Ladybug commented. "If only I could use my Lucky Charm, we would have a better chance of defeating her."

"Not to mention my Cataclysm." Chat added glumly.

"Remind me again why you can't do that? I think I missed the memo."

"When we were in the real world," Ladybug explained. "Our kwami's were linked to us body and mind. But this is the dream world, which means our transformations are held together by our mind or "ka" – our spirit- only."

"And it's not a very secure link either." Chat said, "apparently it wouldn't take much to break us apart and Master Fu said there's a chance our spirits could be corrupted or we might not be able to merge again..."

As he said that, his body seemed to ripple slightly, go in and out of focus.

"Breath Chat, everything is going to work out," Ladybug soothed, reaching out to squeeze his hand. Chat nodded, taking a few deep breaths. He solidified and the rippling stopped.

"Thanks my lady." He said, opening his eyes.

"No problem kitty," Ladybug said. She tried to pull her hand free but Chat gripped it firmly.

"uh Chat...I need my hand." Ladybug pointed out.

"But holding your hand is what keeps me calm, Bugaboo." Chat teased.

"Stop calling me bugaboo!"

"Should I give you two a minute?" I asked.

"We're not together, we're just friends," Ladybug retorted, yanking her hand free. Chat Noir's ears drooped slightly.

Sphinx suddenly materialized in front of us. Before any of us could react she had grabbed Chat Noir by his bell, a razor sharp claw an inch from his throat.

"You." Sphinx said, looking at him intently. "I know you from somewhere."

Hello my lovelies, it is your ever-loving, but somewhat exhausted authoress finally putting an end to this dry spell! (Seems especially apt that on the day I finished writing this epic, the sky decided to give us some rain as well :) ) I hope you enjoy these last chapters as much as I did writing them, so buckle up, and keep reading!