The First Victim - Part Four

"Do you have a plan yet?" Cat Noir looked at Ladybug with a worried look.

"No, I can't figure out what to do!" Ladybug shook her head and focused on Eraser. He swung at them repeatedly with his staff. Hawkmoth targeted her and slowly led her away from Eraser. Hawkmoth wanted to fight Ladybug and get revenge on her.

This left Cat Noir to fend off Eraser and Pavona, who still refused to attack him. Pavona had been focusing on Eraser's staff. She noticed something peculiar about it. When Eraser swung at Cat Noir and missed, his staff touched a broken piece of the school wall and erased it. Pavona noticed how the eraser on his staff looked a little bit worn down. She gasped in realization. Of course! His staff was an eraser! Every time he touched an item and erased it, the eraser on the staff wore down.

"Ladybug!" she shouted, getting Ladybug's attention, "the eraser on his staff!"

Ladybug looked at the eraser and noticed its worn down look. She needed items for Eraser to touch and wear down his staff with.

Cat Noir still did not trust Pavona, so he interrupted Ladybug before she could conjure her lucky charm.

"Are you sure you know what to do?" he questioned, "After you use your lucky charm you have a few minutes before transforming back. What if she's trying to waste your time?" Cat Noir caught a glimpse of Pavona who gave him a look of disapproval.

Ladybug hesitated before continuing to fight with Hawkmoth. Cat Noir was right. They couldn't trust Pavona. Hawkmoth said it herself, Pavona was working with her. Why would the new Hawkmoth lie about that?

On the other hand, they needed to defeat Eraser.

Ladybug looked at Cat Noir and said, "I know what I'm doing. Don't worry." This wasn't completely true. Ladybug had an idea of what she needed to do, but not how or what she would use to do it.

She kicked at Hawkmoth hard enough to knock her back a few feet. "Lucky charm!" she shouted. Magic erupted from her yo-yo and rose up into the sky before revealing an item.

Hawkmoth turned to Eraser, "Get the book!"

Eraser jumped up and grabbed at the book, but was knocked down by Pavona. They landed on the ground and began to sit up, but Eraser touched his staff to Pavona's foot before she could move out of the way. He laughed with satisfaction, but turned to see an angry Hawkmoth. Ladybug had grabbed the book, and she and Cat Noir were now running away.

When the two were far enough away, they hid in a part of the school that was still standing.

"So, what do you plan to do with that?" Cat Noir raised an eyebrow and looked at the book.

"Eraser's staff works like a real pencil. Every time he erases someone or something, the eraser wears down," Ladybug explained.

"We just need to figure out a way to trick him into erasing enough items," Cat Noir nodded.

"Exactly." Ladybug looked around to make sure they weren't within Eraser and Hawkmoth's sight before running farther into the school.

"Wait, where does the book come in again?" Cat Noir wondered.

"Like you said, we need Eraser to erase enough items. Where do you find a lot of books?" Ladybug stopped and looked ahead. Cat Noir looked as well and realized they were standing in the middle of the school library.

"I get it," Cat Noir nodded his head. "What should I do?"

"Cataclysm the floor when I say. We need to lure Eraser to the middle of the room."

Eraser and Hawkmoth looked in every room they could find. Hawkmoth was still upset that Eraser had let the two get away.

"Argh!" She slammed a door shut and looked around, "Where did they go?"

"They'll have to come out sooner or later," Eraser said, knocking over a shelf, "Then I'll get them."

Hawkmoth rolled her eyes, "Why can't I release multiple Akumas at once? I could use the help."

Eraser gave her an irritated glance then looked at his staff.

Hawkmoth looked at it too and asked him, "You should draw the Peacock Miraculous! Then I could fuse it with the Butterfly Miraculous. Gabriel would be pleased to find out I recovered the Peacock Miraculous."

"That's what I was thinking!" he laughed. Eraser lifted his staff and began to draw a glowing outline. Just then, Hawkmoth interrupted him.

"Stop," she looked around, "I hear something!"

Eraser and Hawkmoth listened closely. There was noise coming from the library.

"Let's go!" Hawkmoth ordered. She and Eraser ran to the library to see a couple of books fall off a shelf and a blurred figure running away. Hawkmoth and Eraser split up and ran in different directions.

Eraser noticed more falling books and ran through the aisles of bookshelves. Hawkmoth caught a blur of red and smiled. Soon she would finally rid Paris of Ladybug.

The two were running through a maze and hitting dead ends. Ladybug and Cat Noir met on a ledge above the shelves and silently laughed.

"This really brings back old memories," Cat Noir sighed.

"Sure does, Kitty."

"I suppose we should wrap this up, though. I bet there's a whole crowd outside waiting to see me in my victory."

Ladybug rolled her eyes and smiled. The two nodded to each other and split up.

Hawkmoth backed up and looked to her side. She had lost Ladybug somewhere, and that angered her. She bumped into something and turned around with a gasp. Eraser did the same.

"Where are they?" Hawkmoth shook her head, "It's like they disappeared!"

Suddenly, the large bookshelf that stood behind them started to tip.

"What?" Hawkmoth looked at the bookshelf in shock and attempted to hold it up.

"Now!" Ladybug shouted. Hawkmoth looked around but didn't see anyone. She gasped as the ground began to shake. All the shelves surrounding the two villains fell on top of them.