AN: Things might or might not get a little angsty for a chapter or three now...
. o O o .
Chapter 17: Reasons To Worry
"Ooohhh, Tikki, what am I supposed to do?"
Marinette still stood on her balcony, hands, curled into tight fists, pressing against her eyes. She still couldn't grasp what had come over her; she'd nearly kissed Chat Noir—again! If it weren't for that stupid pigeon providing a suitable distraction…
"But nothing happened," Tikki tried to console her. "If you really don't want to be with him, then just be more careful from now on, and you're good."
If you really don't want to be with him…
That was the problem, though, wasn't it? A part of her wanted to be with him, too. For Chat Noir and Luka and her to just… be all together, be happy within their tight little group relationship. And with every day, this part of her seemed to grow stronger.
With a sinking heart, Marinette shook her head. "No, Tikki. It's not that easy. After today and what happened the other day, I'm not sure I can hold back forever, no matter how hard I try. But that's not even the problem." She unclenched her hands, unseeingly gazing at her finger in front of the blinking city lights. "I… I have to tell Luka. At least about what just happened, and maybe about how I feel about Chat, too. I owe him that honesty. But when I do that, he'll try to get me and Chat together; I'm sure of it. And what am I supposed to say then? It's not as if I could tell him the whole truth. That I'm Ladybug, and that nobody must know my identity, least of all Chat Noir, but that I couldn't be with him while hiding this truth from him and…"
She broke off with a choked sob. Why did everything in her life always had to be so complicated?
With a soft cooing sound, Tikki flew closer and pressed her short arms against Marinette's shoulder, her version of a hug. "Maybe there's another solution," she eventually murmured, her tiny voice quiet, hesitant. "Maybe it can be easy once you've found the right way."
Marinette laughed humourlessly. "And what would that be? Am I supposed to ignore the roles and reveal my identity? Because aside from that, I don't see how any of this can work out."
Pressing her eyes and lips shut, Marinette tried to ward off the thoughts that followed inevitably. If she couldn't make this work, then… Then she would have to end it. Not even staying with Luka was possible when all these complicated strings kept entangling so profoundly. If only her heart would stop feeling all these complicated emotions.
"Or maybe—"
Whatever Tikki wanted to say got interrupted as Sass suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Marinette! Marinette," he hissed, hectically flying left and right. "Come downstairs, quickly!"
Marinette couldn't remember to have ever seen the snake Kwami so anxious; he was usually the calmest and most composed of all the Kwamis.
"What happened?" she asked, even as she already climbed down the ladder to her room.
"An attack," Trixx explained, eying Sass with confusion. "An Akuma, just a couple of minutes ago. Buy I—"
"Here! Come, Marinette," Sass called from near her computer. "See for yourself."
The screen showed the stream of a news report, many destroyed houses, cars, and trees. Clara Contard explained what happened; a short outburst of unheard-of violence and destruction, then suddenly nothing anymore. Some people claimed to have seen Chat Noir, which was a relief. At least he was already around, fighting the akumatised victim. Except that apparently nobody knew where they were now. Well, she would find them. She could always track her partner down, after all.
Then a detail from the stream caught her eye, and she froze. Was that…?
She hurried closer, skipping back to watch that clip again, a recording from a random pedestrian.
It was Luka! He was only visible for a second or two, but she was sure it was him. He was there, in the middle of all the destruction, running between the ruins of houses and streets.
And Chat was already fighting the supervillain. He wouldn't be able to get their boyfriend to safety.
"Okay, let's go. But before I can help Chat, I need to check on something. Tikki, Spots On!"
. o O o .
When Ladybug arrived at the destruction site, it took her a few minutes until she found him—minutes of near-panicked fear, of countless 'What if's going through her mind, of her worries almost driving her insane. What if one of the collapsing buildings had hit him? What if he was injured? What if…
"Ladybug!"
Her heart leaped in her chest as she heard his voice. Turning, she spotted Luka standing in the middle of a road, blocked by cars and boulders, and frantically waving at her. One leap and she was at his side.
"Are you hurt?" In a hurry, she looked him over, but aside from dust and dirt all over his clothes, she couldn't spot anything unusual.
"No, I'm all right. But Chat Noir needs your help."
Ladybug nodded. "I'll go looking for him next. I just wanted to make sure you—" Remembering that she couldn't be Marinette right now, she gestured at the ruins around them. "I mean, nobody got injured by the destruction Chat's Cataclysm caused. It's a wonder nothing else happened, right?" she added with a forced laugh.
But Luka wasn't in a joking mood, as it seemed. In fact, she'd rarely seen him as tense as he was now, biting his lip and ringing his hands.
"That wasn't Chat Noir," he said. "Or… not really, at least."
Ladybug cocked her head. "That sounds ominous. You've seen what happened here?"
Luka nodded. "Yeah. It was… strange. There was a second Chat Noir. What you see here is not the result of one Cataclysm, but of their fight."
"Another Chat Noir?" Dread filled her, making her snap back to the here here now. Luka was safe, so Marinette's civilian problems hat to wait for later. Instead, she now had to worry for her partner "What happened? Tell me everything!"
"I was here when it started. Just walking by on my way home."
Yeah, purely by coincident, Ladybug thought to herself but let it slide. It was a good thing Luka kept his relationship with Chat hidden, even though with her it was unnecessary.
"I saw Chat Noir as he… carried people to safety. And then the other one showed up. He said something about finally having lured Chat Noir out, or something, then he attacked."
Ladybug frowned. "That sounds as if he'd been waiting for Chat specifically. As if…" Her eyes grew wide. Frantically, she grabbed Luka's arm. "That other Chat Noir. What did he look like? I mean, did he look exactly like Chat Noir? Or was there some difference?"
Please, please, please, she begged quietly. If HawkMoth had sent a sentimonster or even Cameleon again to try and impersonate Chat to spy on her… that was something she could deal with. These senti-people always had flaws, and she was sure she would recognise a cheep copy of her friend if she was careful. The alternative, though…
"Now that you mention it," Luka said after a brief pause, thoughtfully. "There was something. The other one always had something in his mouth. A toothpick, or something like that?"
"A lollipop stick."
"Yes! That's what it was, with those colourful stripes. How did you know?"
Ladybug's free hand balled into a fist. "Copycat."
There was confusion on Luka's face, confusion and worries. Of course, she chided herself. Luka was so observant; he must have noticed her tension. And now was even more worried for his boyfriend—and rightfully so! She had no time to lose if her suspicious were true, but still, Luka deserved answers.
"We fought him before," she explained, fast and clipped. "He has some weird crush on me and holds a grudge against Chat because he thinks we're a couple. No wonder he specifically wanted to fight Chat. I wonder what set him off, though."
Luka grew pale, his hands, curled into fists at his side, were trembling. "He said he'd make Chat Noir pay, right before he carried him away."
"He carried him away?"
Luka bobbed his head. "They fought hard, but eventually, that Copycat hit Chat Noir with his Cataclysm, then threw him over his shoulder and jumped away."
Biting her lip, she looked to the roofs around them. "That's…not good. But luckily, the Cataclysm doesn't kill living beings, so Chat should have recovered by now. And if Copycat used his Cataclysm already, he most likely transformed back by now anyway. So I just need to—"
"But he used his Cataclysm multiple times."
Ladybug's head jerked up at Luka's words. "What?"
Luka nodded, frantically. "This Copycat had no limit for how often he could use his Cataclysm. That's why everything is destroyed here and how he managed to beat Chat Noir in the first place."
"Shit!" Ladybug cursed unashamedly. "So his powers are stronger than the last time. I should have guessed."
She took out her Yo-Yo, ready to jump away. If Copycat held Chat captive with these enhanced powers, intent on making him pay… No, she didn't want to think about that. She had to focus, had to save her partner, her friend, her—
"Wait!" Luka blurted out. "Let me help you!"
When she turned, she saw the same fear in Luka's eyes that was eating at her own heart, too. Throwing all caution into the wind, she took Luka's hand, squeezing him reassuringly.
"I get that you're worried. And thanks for the offer, but a fight between superheros and supervillains is too dangerous for anyone else to get involved in. I promise to get him back, okay? But you have to promise to stay safe until then."
She didn't wait for his reaction, spinning her Yo-Yo to pull herself up to the closest roof. But before she could leap away, Luka grabbed her arm, knocking her swirling weapon off balance.
"No, you don't understand," Luka implored, his eyes burning with sincerity as she looked back at him. "I can help you! Because I…"
He trailed off, biting his lip as he lowered his gaze. There was some inner battle visible on his face, in his eyes, one that seemed important even though she didn't understand why. A moment later, he nodded though, a decision made.
"Because I am Viperion."
. o O o .
I apologise if this chapter isn't quite on par with the previous ones. I and my entire family fell ill with a nasty cold, and making room for the dearly-needed breaks to write is not easy with three ill kids around.
Aaaanyway...
This chapter turned a lot tenser than I'd originally anticipated. But that suits the current arc, so... ️
And now she knows... that surely won't distract her at all...
