Ch 6
The mid-evening sun slowly lost its strength and started to return to its bed for the day. Somewhere in the city of Paris, a couple were discussing their plans for the close future.
Nino and Alya stepped towards the man's car after looking at the third flat that day.
"Babe, it's sweet that you were planning to move in with me but did you really think I would move into a flat without a tub?", Alya said.
Nino blushed and recalled how he'd asked Alya to move in with him minuets before she did. He hurried to stand next to the driver seat's door before Alya to get to it. It had been an unspoken rule that Alya would never be allowed to drive a car, motorcycle, scooter or any transport at all. Who knew when something weird would happen and the brunette woman would get the urge to start filming?
After three close calls and one unfortunate trip into the Seine, with a bicycle driven by a very safety hazardous Alya (poor Juleka had her bike stolen for the fifth time in her life that day), Nino had sworn to himself he would never let Alya at the helm ever again, lest she take them both to a hospital or worse, an early grave.
"Also, I want to drive.", Alya said, causing Nino to almost faint on the spot before regaining his senses.
"No. Just no, I want to live, babe.", Nino hopped into the driver's seat, ready to guard it with his life.
"That was once Nin-"
"Thrice! And you succeeded once.", Nino sighed with his forehead pressed to the steering wheel.
"You can't hold this against me forever. Plus, I was the one that recorded Hawkmoth's last public appearance!"
"And we cycled right into the Seine because of it!"
"Why didn't you jump off?"
'Oh hell no, I wasn't leaving you. It took me forever to make you stop seeing me as a brother and a man instead.", Nino sucked in a panicked breath the moment the last word left his mouth and clamped up.
"Nino.", Alya's voice was soft and sweet.
Nino sweated heavily, ready to drive off without his girlfriend, when a shadow fell over them. The two looked up as one.
It took a few seconds for Nino to understand what he was seeing against the darkening blue sky. The figure in blue almost blended into the sunset visage above, making it hard for the couple to fully comprehend what was in their sights. Then a familiar black figure ran off behind it, jumping across the wide gap between two buildings with easy grace. While Nino sat and gaped he heard the hard taps of shoes hitting the road followed by the sound of his car door unlocking and them slamming shut.
"..ino. NINO!", Alya's frantic voice pulled him out of his thoughts like a blaring horn. She continued to shake him, "Follow those supers!"
"On it.", Nino came to his senses as his girlfriend rolled down the window to poke out her head. "For the love of god, Alya, keep all your body parts inside the car!"
"Forget that, Nino. Follow!"
"I got it, but no poking your head out of the window.", Nonetheless, Nino didn't wait for her response, knowing it wouldn't be of any use. She'd jump out of the window if it meant she could get her scoop and he'd be forced to pull her back in. Ah, the things I do for love.
He revved the engine and tore off in pursuit of the quickly disappearing blue and black super traceurs*.
With the setting sun, sending the Parisian sky into blues it was hard to keep track of the rooftop runners that was blending into the sky like they was a part of it.
Nino threw out an apology to a terrified woman that was almost run down as Alya pushed him to take a sharp right. As the two of them moved into a narrow alley, the bespectacled man tried his best to focus on the road and making sure his girlfriend's body parts were inside the vehicle at all times, leaving himself vulnerable to Alya in regards to navigation.
Alya shouted directions, expletives and words of awe with every second, not even waiting for her body to catch a breath before jumping to another word. Nino wasn't quiet sure who she was talking to: herself, him or whoever would watch the video later, he supposed it didn't matter.
He forced himself to breath evenly as he turned into one more alley, grateful that it was wider than the previous one. He wasn't sure if the two jumping on the rooftops had heard him or Alya, but considering how easy it was to follow them he didn't think so and he wondered how. His car wasn't super old but it wasn't the latest model either. It was in fact quiet nosy in his opinion, he still loved it though. Were the two Miraculous holders so invested in each other that hadn't noticed?
Nino was sure that the both of them were Miraculous holders, having been one (even if for a short time). Using the Turtle Miraculous had given him a weird attachment to its magic. He could notice the way the two traceurs had something different about them, something that he couldn't explain through science, but through magic.
He didn't bother to look at the two miraculous holders, preferring to keep both eyes on the road instead. Alya suddenly gripped his arm and jerked it to make him to go right at the next junction and he bit back a complaint. Forget backseat driving, shotgun driving was not okay either.
He yelped when he noticed how small the new alleyway was and promptly hit the brakes, his car was definitely not going to fit that path. Alya got off the car and began to run down the narrow alleyway while Nino looked behind to see the main street. He quickly reversed and parked his car. Unlike his girlfriend, Nino gave a once over to his surroundings to make sure his car wasn't blocking anything important before locking his car and hurrying to catch up to his girlfriend.
'Sigh…why is my day going like this? I just wanted to eat, play video games with Kim and Jean and then sleep.'
Nino breathed as he neared the end of the third alleyway, catching a glimpse of an impatient Alya motioning him to hurry before turning around the bend and disappearing.
When he caught up to her, she was standing in front of a dead end.
"Lost 'em.", she furiously.
"You'll get them next time, babe."
"It was Chat Noir and some other Miraculous holder."
"I know."
Alya stopped looking at the wall in front of her and instead turned to Nino. There was disappointment in her eyes, overshadowed by determination.
"There's trouble in Paris, Nino. I can feel it."
Maybe it was because she said it with such conviction, or maybe it was because he also felt it in his heart, Nino believed her words with no doubts.
"Yes, I-"
He was interrupted by the sound of both their phones ringing with akuma alert messages. The couple swiftly pulled out their phones and investigated the disturbance.
Nino ignored the map and pulled up a video to see a familiar figure in red fighting against a man in blue. Suddenly, another figure in black and purple appeared behind Ladybug and tried to hit her with a weapon. The video immediately cut off from that point. Nino looked at the map with a red circle drawn above a familiar street, the location of the Akuma battle.
He glanced up in synchronization with Alya, whose eyes sparkled. Without a word the both of them quickly ran out of the alleyway and to his parked car. There was footage to catch.
mlbmlbmlb
Luka Couffaine was not having a good day. Maybe it was the late night project completion that didn't allow him to get wink of sleep, the tough day at his University or the super long walk to his mother's house only to be disturbed by an Akuma attack. Alright no, it wasn't an Akuma attack- it was an attack by villains that wielded Miraculouses. How did he know this fact? Maybe it had something to do with the reasoning that he once himself wielded two Miraculouses, not at the same time, but well it was still two Miraculouses. The Snake and the fox.
The black-haired man side-stepped a fallen piece of debris and distanced himself from the battle. He really should have run away like everyone else, but it didn't seem as though Ladybug would be able to handle the two villains she was up against on her own. Luka knew that he couldn't help Ladybug in any way, he didn't have any powers and the little Karate he knew wouldn't be helpful, but he couldn't leave her all alone either. His instincts were against it.
He grit his teeth and watched the battle unfold, his fingers tightly gripping his phone. The bright screen of the akuma alert app paled his fingers.
Ladybug spun her yoyo around and tried to hit her opponents. The Villain in deep blue gracefully side-stepped while his partner in silver and purple used her cane to knock away the yoyo.
The blue villain had a very serene tune, if not too repetitive. It was calm and quiet, but sometimes (for a couple of seconds) would turn rapid and loud. The purple villainess had a song that beat at a frenzied tempo. It seemed too ecstatic and moody, never really staying at a certain chord, changing at a moment's notice. Luka wished for his guitar or any instrument to confirm the soul songs. He found it hard to convert songs of the soul into words. Understanding it was even harder without an instrument.
Luka realised that the two villains were the wielders of the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculous but no matter how hard he stared they didn't look like Mayura and Hawkmoth. That could only mean that the wielders were new.
'Shouldn't Ladybug be able to handle them with ease? She's the veteran here.'
Luka was a bit taken aback by how the Peacock Miraculous holder was handling himself against Ladybug. It almost seemed as though he was the one defeating her. Luka sucked in a breath when the Butterfly villain appeared behind Ladybug and swung her cane at the heroine. Ladybug jumped over it in a backflip before kicking the villainess in her face.
The musician would be lying if he said it didn't make him smile. But it seemed that was all the good luck the heroine was getting that day, the next few seconds should have been too fast for Luka to see, not with the speed at which everything happened or the blue sky. But somehow he could notice every detail, like a memory was repeating itself to make one reality.
The Peacock villain flicked his wrist quickly and a row of glinting small blades flung out of the feathered folds. They glinted in the lamp lights and speedily moved towards their target. Ladybug dodged most of them and stepped out of their way with two stuck deep into her forearm. As little rivulets spilled out and she groaned, a shadow fell upon her. The next second, a cane connected with her head and she fell to the ground.
Luka roared with anger and stepped out of the shadows of the building, ready to do something, anything. But what could he do? He didn't have powers. All he knew was a little martial arts and if Ladybug couldn't handle the villains did he even stand a chance? He had just stepped into the lamp lights, the eyes of Ladybug and the Peacock villain on him when baton swung out of the darkness and smacked away the cane aimed for the red and black heroine.
"Milady! Are you okay?", Chat Noir said and helped said lady stand up.
Luka noticed the other figure behind the black cat hero. The few lamps didn't give him enough light to see the figure properly but he deduced it was a blue and black female Miraculous holder.
She flung her blade at the Peacock Miraculous holder. The Peacock Miraculous holder jumped away. Luka was surprised to see a chain joined to the blade and looked back towards the newest Miraculous holder in blue, trying to listen to her soul song. He was surprised by a Black figure coming up to him.
"Keep an eye on her. Don't let her back into the fight.", Chat Noir said as he handed over Ladybug to the surprised musician.
"Ah…right.", Luka said with a nod. He gripped Ladybug tightly, but not painfully.
The lady in red grumbled under her breath and gave Chat what should have been a glare but was dampened because of her haze from the attack to her not letting her keep eyes open.
Luka retreated into the shadows as Chat Noir bounded back into the battle. Luka allowed Ladybug's shorter frame to lean against him. A small part of him hoped she didn't find his grip on her offensive or dangerous, after all as calm as he tried to be Luka Couffaine could be equally anxious. Juleka often laughed at him for managing to be so calm in front of people. If they didn't catch him by surprise they almost never saw him nervous.
The larger part of his brain was more focused to two things: making sure she didn't lose consciousness and keeping an eye on the battle.
Luka had learnt to be a lot of things with an adventurous mother and a younger sister. Being the family doctor for most non-critical things was one of them. He knew bumped heads could cause a concussion and though the chances of coma were low if someone fell asleep, they were still there. And even if that didn't happen an unconscious Ladybug could also be a problem.
"Could you tell me who these people are?", he murmured to Ladybug, trying to keep her mind active.
"Two new Miraculous holders, we don't really know them.", Ladybug said and shuffled slightly. Her response was a bit slow but at least adrenaline was keeping her from sleeping.
Luka watched as Chat Noir beat the Butterfly villainess to a corner. His eyes then wandered to the two blue fighters on the other side. There seemed to be a conversation going on between them.
"What about your friend? Safe to tell me about her?", he asked.
"I don't know. Chat brought her along. He brought along Nino and Alya too it seems.", Ladybug nodded against his shirt and he traced her gaze to look to the far side of the street to see two figures.
'Wait she can see that?'
He was startled when Ladybug moved away from and brought out her yoyo.
"You aren't thinking of joining the battle are you?", Luka asked worriedly. He watched the heroine, ready to stop her before she hurt herself worse.
"In a sense…"
"What? No. You could have a concussion right now! And Chat Noir told-"
Luka stopped when Ladybug sent him a glare, this time it was not dulled by her hazy eyes.
"Chat isn't the boss of me.", she huffed and brought up her yoyo. "Lucky charm!"
Her power worked and a small packet of cornflower powder dropped into her hands. Luka watched as she bit her lip and glanced around, her eyes darting and taking in every detail.
Then her eyes widened and she glanced at Chat Noir and his blue partner. They worked together to try and hit the two villains.
"Chat!", Ladybug exclaimed, "Catalclysm this!"
She prepared herself and then threw the packet to her partner. Chat Noir called upon his power and grabbed the packet, noticing what it was in the split second it took to destroy it and then flung out his hand in an arc. The powder content spread out into a cloud and covered both the villains. The two of them scrambled out of the powder cloud, coughing, and Chat with the girl beside him launched a series of attacks, the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculisy holders were too winded and distracted by their coughing to concentrate on the fighting.
"I'll be coming to brief you on everything soon. We will need you in this fight.", Ladybug suddenly said to Luka. He turned and gazed into her eyes- they were a familiar blue, and he knew that he knew them from somewhere. He knew that he knew her, but he couldn't quiet place his finger on it.
"Okay.", He said without processing her words, just staring into her blue-bell eyes, a weird feeling of warmth flickering in his chest. He couldn't understand it.
He was pulled out of his reverie when a loud shriek resounded in the streets. His eyes flickered to the two villains. The Butterfly villain was being pulled away by her partner in crime, even though their teamwork was lacking and their tunes were too discordant to really be called partners. She shrieked once again before conceding and then the two of them disappeared.
A few people broke into an applause and Luka was surprised to find some people had actually stayed and watched the fight. Or maybe this was their district and they were worried for it.
Chat Noir turned to ask the female in blue for a fist bump only to find her going away as well.
"Hey wait!", he said and ran towards her.
"I may have helped you this once, but I doubt it will happen again. Please keep what we talked about earlier in mind.", the female said in a quiet voice and disappeared into the darkness.
Ladybug left Luka's side to join a standstill Chat Noir. The black-haired man watched a brunette drag along a man and make her way to the hero duo. It was Alya and Nino, he realised.
Alya started to frantically ask Ladybug questions. Luka applauded the heroine for keeping calm and instead requesting the amateur journalist to wait, stating she would talk to her later. He couldn't see Alya but assuming by the silence, he deduced she must have agreed.
Ladybug suddenly flung up her hand and chanted "Miraculous Ladybug."
The world was suddenly surrounded by ladybugs. Ladybugs that softly covered all destruction and harm and turned it to normal. Luka felt their touch linger and opened his eyes when all he felt was the warm breeze of summer.
The few people still gather looked at their houses and shops, which were back to they were before, and thanked the red and black heroine. She waved to them and turned away to leave, her arm briefly touching Chat Noir's shoulder.
Then for split second, she looked to where Luka was in the shadows and gave him a slight nod. Ladybug quickly said bug out and left the scene along with her partner.
Luka Couffaine silently ambled along. He brought out his phone to see quiet a few many messages and calls from his mother and sister. Luckily he had kept it in 'Do- Not- Disturb' mode the entire time.
He picked up the next call that came with dread and stood in silence as his sister rained down a torrent of expletives on him.
He cut the call once she was done and gave the moon a dirty look, as though it was the cause of his problems.
Luka Couffaine was not having a good day. Maybe it was the late night project completion that didn't allow him to get wink of sleep, the tough day at his University or the super long walk to his mother's house. Okay no, it wasn't any of those, it was definitely the Supervillain attack.
A/N: I eat reviews for breakfast, so send some over! Sorry for the two week wait.
Tan Legend
over and out~