#chatncir

     Tossing the yoyo aroud one of his legs, she yanked on the string and braced herself for the fall as she pulled her opponent’s leg out form under him. It had the desired effect, with a startled cry, the massive villain fell like a tree, throwing his arms out as he tried to regain his balance, and ultimately failing as he crashed to the ground.

     But he still hadn’t let go of her foot.

     Not until he was beyond the point of recovery, did one of his flaing motions caused the hand gripping her ankle to twist it at a painfully unnatural angle before releasing the heroine altogether. Ladybug’s inital cry of pain was replaced with one of surprise as she was sent rolling across the gravel. She was disoriented, but she knew she had to get back on her feet before he did if she wanted to keep her momentum going.

     But the moment she tried to put weight on her left foot, burning hot pain lanced through the limb, and she collapsed on the ground with a yelp of pain. She couldn’t see the damage underneath her armor, but she was willing to bet that her ankle was at least sprained. Not good. She looked back towards the felled villian, but he was already back on his feet and charging towards her, a look of malicious glee on his face at his prone quarry.

     He never reached Ladybug, though, a flash of silver from over her head shot out and hit Lutteur square in the chest and sent him flying backwards into a parked car with enough force to total it. She can fix that. Later.

     “Chat Noir!” She called in relief as he black clad partner finally came into her line of sight.

     “Sorry I’m late, my lady,” he said, trademark grin missing as he took in her dishevaled state and the way her hand moved gentle circles on her injury in an attempt to soothe the pain. “What happened? Can you stand?” She shook her head.

     “I think my ankle’s sprained,” she admitted. It wasn’t like it was a secret she was practically immobile right now. “I was careless, I let him get to close and–behind you!” He didn’t need to be told twice, whipping around with his staff gripped tight in both hands and their opponent tried to bring his clasped fists down on Chat’s head. With Chat still kneeling on the ground, he had better support to make up for the strength difference Lutteur had over him.

     Not letting the brief opportunity slip away, Ladybug once again wrapped her yoyo around the wrestler’s leg to pull his legs out from under him. The tactic worked, and as soon as teh weight let up, Chat thrust his staff forward into the enemy’s stomach, once again sending him rolling across the ground. She didn’t even have time to say anything before Chat was gathering Ladybug into his arms and taking off, leaping easily across cars and lower hanging balconies as he moved to get Ladybug to higer ground and away from the immediate danger. Not once did his grip on her falter.

     When he finally set her down, on a nearby rooftop, she gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks for showing up when you did. I was in a pretty tight spot.”

     “I should’ve been there sooner,” came the displeased reply, green eyes slitted and dangerous as he looked back in the direction they knew Lutter would be persuing them from at any time. She sighed, before resting a hand on his cheek and pulling his gaze back to her.

     “As far as I’m concerned, you were there when I needed you most. Which is right on time.” She smiled gently when his expression softened. Satisfied, she continued “Now, I’m pretty sure his akuma is in his belt buckle–”

     “Leave it to me, my lady,” he said cutting her off and rising from his crouched position at her side and stretching, easy grin returning to his face. “Smash the buckle, bring the butterfly to you, day’s saved and ankle’s fixed. Right?”

     “No, not right. He’s too tough to take on alone. We need to use this time to come up with a plan.”

     “You’re already injured. You can’t fight like this,” he insisted. Ladybug gave him a withering look.

     “I may not be able to fight but we can still come up with a plan where I can help. I’m injured, not an invalid.” Chat winced at the harsh tone, but still didn’t seem entirely convinced. She knew she’d only get in the way in a straight on fight, but she could still provide support. “Nothing can go wrong from here on out as long as we work together,” she added. Maybe that was a lofty assumption, but she was still certain there wasn’t anything they couldn’t overcome–well, nothing that her Miraculous Cure couldn’t amend–twisted ankle or no.

     “You trust my judgement, right?” Ladybug asked.

     “Of course,” Chat answered without hesitance.

     “Then let’s figure out a proper way to win this fight, together.” Chat looked from her injured ankle, to the sound of Lutter’s rampage steadily making it’s way to them, and rested on Ladybug’s determined eyes. He sighed, but a smile was on his face as he nodded his agreement.