"No, no, no!" Marinette muttered to herself, running for the trap door leading into her room. "Tikki!" she exclaimed, "Luka or Adrien's about to get akumatized!"
"Oh no!" her little eyes widened in horror.
"Tikki, spots on!"
She rushed back out onto her balcony and witnessed the akuma taking over Luka.
"No..." she mumbled, covering her mouth. She watched him turn into a grotesque half-man, half-beast creature, covered in fur. He almost resembled a werewolf, but he lacked the ears, snout, and tail.
"AAAADRIEEEEN," Luka's bellowing voice was unrecognizable. It was way too deep and much, much too loud. It caused Ladybug to feel a chill run down her spine.
Luka started bounding towards Adrien, who was staring down the sidewalk in horror in response to his name being called, completely frozen in place as he saw what wa approaching him. Before he reached Adrien, he looked over at someone walking by. Adrien noticed that Luka's intense gaze caused the man to become one of his minions, overcome with envy and anger.
He started towards Adrien again, when Ladybug came swooping in to the rescue, dropping down between Luka and Adrien. "Luka!"
"I'm not Luka anymore, I'm Envicious!" he growled.
She looked back at Adrien, her yo-yo swinging in front of her defensively. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Don't let him look into your eyes long enough to hypnotize you," he warned her.
She glanced at Envicious momentarily, his familiar blue eyes were gone and replaced with glowing green eyes. She sighed. "Let's get you somewhere safe, okay?"
He nodded.
Ladybug needed a distraction to get Adrien out of there, but her options were limited.
Then suddenly, an idea struck her. She smiled to herself.
"The girl on the balcony!" she pointed, drawing Envicious's attention towards her balcony. She smirked, grabbed Adrien, and swung away before he could turn back around.
When they had reached a few blocks away, Ladybug took Adrien off of the rooftops and landed back onto the ground.
"Another akuma's after you?" she teased, though she looked a little too unsettled to be amused.
Adrien smiled sheepishly.
"So what happened?" she asked, glancing around anxiously for any signs of Envicious.
He sighed, looking down at his feet. "It's my fault he's akumatized. I got him upset. We got into an argument..."
Ladybug put her hand on his shoulder. "Could you tell me what it was about? It might help me figure out what to do."
Adrien looked slightly uncomfortable. "It's about his girlfriend. He asked me to stay away from her and I refused to. She's one of my best friends and... and I could never abandon her like that. I'm just sorry our problem is causing you so much trouble, Ladybug."
"...What?" she said softly, her brows furrowing. "He really asked you to stay away from her?"
He nodded, his eyes filled with sadness. "Anyway, what are you going to do?"
"I need to make sure you're somewhere safe. Hopefully Chat Noir gets here quickly so we can take care of it before things get out of hand and you get hurt. That kitty never seems to be here when you're in trouble, it seems," she mumbled that last bit, glancing around anxiously again, this time she was looking for her pun-loving partner.
Adrien laughed nervously. "Bad luck, I guess."
She brought him to the Grand Paris Hotel. It was close enough that she could protect him if Envicious managed to escape her. After making sure he was secure there, she left him alone in the hotel's lounge, with the promise that she'd bring everything back to normal.
He ran into one of the closets and transformed into Chat Noir, not wasting another second.
When he got outside, he found Ladybug standing in the middle of the street. She was watching him draw closer.
"M'lady," he greeted urgently, appearing by her side.
"Chat Noir!" she breathed in relief. "He's after Adrien, I brought him to the hotel to hide. We can't let Envicious get to him!"
"Trust me, he won't," Chat gave her a reassuring smile and a wink.
"You-!" Envicious boomed when he saw Chat Noir's close proximity to Ladybug, "Stay away from her!" he lunged towards Chat Noir, and knocked him, full-force against the building across the street.
"No!" Ladybug screamed, automatically running to him. "Are you okay, Kitty?" she cradled his head in her hands, her hand brushing his cheek gingerly.
"Y-Yeah, I'm pawsitively purrfect," he groaned as Ladybug helped him get to his feet. He took a moment to catch his breath. "Where's the akuma?"
Ladybug looked over towards Envicious, her eyes trying not to meet his, when she spotted it.
"There, the necklace he's wearing," she pointed. "That's where it is."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," her tone somber. Because I gave it to him.
Without warning, Chat Noir charged at the akuma, his baton aiming at him. He stopped Chat Noir in his tracks, grabbing his baton and yanking him forward.
"I'm going to make you feel everything that you've made me feel!"
Chat tried to worm his way out from Envicious's grasp, but he couldn't do it, and he couldn't avoid his glowing neon-green eyes.
Ladybug watched him yet again being taken from her by an akuma. What made it worse was it was her boyfriend hurting him... over her. The guilt and pain began to overwhelm her.
She heard Chat Noir chuckle and took a step back with fear. "You thought you'd turn me into one of your envious minions, right? Turn me into a green-eyed monster like you? Didn't know this cat is already riddled with jealousy, though," he smirked, breaking himself free from a surprised Envicious.
Her eyes lit up when she saw he wasn't lost to her.
"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug cried, using the few moments of distraction to her advantage.
A small boombox landed in her hands. She looked at it, then at Envicious. Knowing what to do, but not what to expect, she pressed play.
The guitar song Luka had given to Marinette echoed around the street, causing Envicious to whimper and drop to his knees. Chat Noir took this opportunity to rip the necklace from his neck and throw it to the ground, breaking it into pieces.
The dark akuma flew out and Ladybug wasted no time to get this akuma cleansed.
Ladybug and Chat Noir knelt in front of Luka, who was holding his head as he became himself again.
"Luka?" Chat Noir said gently. The first thing he saw was Ladybug and Chat Noir looking at him with concern. It was always Marinette and Adrien working together with such perfect sync to stop and comfort an akuma victim. The thought made him sigh, because no matter what he said or did, he could never have what Adrien did with her.
"I became an akuma, didn't I?" he asked, sounding defeated.
"It's okay, we took care of it. Don't worry," Ladybug assured him, picking up his now intact necklace and handed it back to him. "And don't be so hard on yourself, it happens to even the nicest of people."
"Thanks Ladybug," he took her hand, only for a moment, before letting her go. Chat Noir held out his hand for her to help her up and she took it without a second thought.
"Any time. I have to go now though," she held her hand to her ear, "see you, Kitty!"
Chat Noir watched her until she was out of sight. "I'm heading off as well. Later, Luka," he said, not giving Luka another glance before he was left alone in the street.
Adrien came back a minute later. "Luka! Wait up!" he called as he ran up to him. "I'm sorry."
Luka turned around. "No, I'm the one that should be sorry, Adrien. I should never have told you to stay away from her, that was wrong of me, and I'm sure Marinette wouldn't have liked hearing me say it. I just..." Luka turned away from him, the necklace Marinette had given him in his fist. "I realized that as much as I want to hold onto her, I'm not going to be the one she chooses in the end. I didn't know how to handle that, and I'm really sorry."
"What are you talking about? How do you know who she's going to choose in the end?" Adrien raised an eyebrow.
Luka gave him a crooked smile and patted him on the shoulder. "I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm exceptionally perceptive and can read feelings. I know who's in her heart."
Adrien blinked, looking befuddled. Luka chuckled at his expression. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure it all out later. I'd tell you about it now, but I don't think Marinette would appreciate that very much. She doesn't even know I know anything," he whispered the last line. Then he held his hand out in a fist.
"Friends?" Luka offered.
Adrien looked down at his fist with a smile and gave him a fist bump. "Friends."