I can't say I'm happy with how this chapter turned out. It's late, it's short, and it feels off. But I don't have the time or energy to make it better—my family has still been partially ill until two days ago, and we're having a kids birthday party where I'm drowning in preparations. But it's also just a bridge chapter, so I guess that'll have to do.
A small warning though, this chapter might get slightly whumpy. Whoops.

. o O o .

Chapter 18: Quite A Mess

After checking Chat Noir's position on her bug-phone, Ladybug and Viperion rushed to the outer parts of Paris with frantic speed. Their goal was the site of an abandoned factory—because that always was where people brought their kidnapped victims. Maybe she would have laughed about how ridiculously stereotypical this was, if her mind was thoroughly set on other thoughts.

Viperion was Luka…

Ladybug wanted to kick herself—how had she not noticed before that her boyfriend was also her regular partner in battle? The hair, the voice, how he acted and behaved, what he said… it was so obvious. Of course, now that she knew, the covering magic of the Miraculous didn't work on her anymore and she could see Viperion as who he really was. But still… Shouldn't she have noticed?

And all the mental gymnastics she'd come up with to ignore the obvious truth, it was laughable. Of course, Chat wasn't suddenly dating two different people, and the evidence she'd fabricated—that Desperada must have captured Luka and he therefor couldn't be Viperion—had really only been a vague idea. No, Chat was only dating one person, and it was only by chance she happened to know about both angles of this relationship. Which she couldn't let show, either. Marinette wasn't supposed to know about Viperion's existence, let alone who he was or that he was dating Chat Noir, and Ladybug wasn't supposed to know who Luka was, either; certainly not her own boyfriend, too.

Her mind was spinning faster and faster the longer she thought about it all, not helped by the knowledge that she couldn't talk about it with anyone. And what was she supposed to do now? How could she act normal around Viperion and not worry about his safety when she'd been the one who put her boyfriend in danger in the first place? And how was she supposed to act around Luka now that she knew? He would notice her distress, yet she couldn't be honest with him. Again!

This was such a mess… Everything was falling apart around her, and there was nothing she could do.

It happened too quickly for her to react. Distracted as she blinked away a lonely tear, Ladybug miscalculated a jump, stumbling as she landed. Viperion was there in a heartbeat, catching her before she fell off the roof.

"Are you okay?"

He sounded anxious, tense. Distracted.

"Yeah, I'm good," she murmured. "Just… worried."

"Yeah, me too."

Ladybug ducked her head, avoiding looking at him. Her words hadn't been a lie, but she still felt bad for not being completely honest. Because she should be worried for Chat… when in truth she hadn't thought of him at all during the past minutes.

Her grip on Viperion's arm tightened. She would have liked to stay in his embrace for a little longer. Knowing these were Luka's arms around her gave her the usual feeling of serenity and comfort. The silent promise that everything would be all right, no matter how dark the circumstances.

But right now, those were misleading feelings at best. Chat Noir was in real danger, so she had to focus. Now was not the time to dwell on her mess of a love life.

"Let's get going," she said, standing up again. "We've got to get to Chat before Copycat hurts him too much."

. o O o .

Viperion's mind was a mess.

Over and over, the same scenes played through his mind. How Chat had told him to hide under the bridge. How Copycat had shown up and their terse conversation. It had sounded as if, in Copycat's opinion, Chat had done something horrible, something for which he deserved to get punished—though what exactly, he hadn't said. Then the fight. All the chaos and destruction. People running away in panic, such a turmoil. And then, Copycat had hit Chat with his Cataclysm.

Chat's pained scream!

Viperion shuddered. He'd never be able to forget this horrid sound. If only he could have done something. Help. Distract the villain, somehow. Fight. If he'd had his Miraculous…

But no. Viperion shook his head, chasing away those useless thoughts. The past was the past, unchangeable. He would just have to do better now that he could change things. He wouldn't let Chat get hurt again.

After a brief incident—he'd never seen Ladybug stumble before; she had to be anxiously worried, too—they quickly reached the place Ladybug's tracker had shown them. The place was in a good state, considering it was abandoned, which made their job easier. The destroyed side entrance was quite conspicuous.

The inside was a labyrinth of empty halls, dark stairways, and endless corridors. But even though searching through this maze would have cost them precious time… Viperion would have preferred that over the reality that awaited them—the echoes of Chat's pained noises leading their way, groans, arguing voices, the occasional outcry. He and Ladybug exchanged only one brief glance, then they hurried on. Through a door to their right, along a dark corridor, down a couple of stairs, and through a few more halls in between they followed the noises, his heart tearing with every new scream, until they reached another opening. There was no door anymore, movement and voices behind the opening, and if Ladybug hadn't held him back, he would have charged right in. Tackling Copycat against a wall, holding him by the neck, repaying him for what he'd—

"We need a plan," Ladybug mouthed, her eyes imploring him to be cautious as her hand tightened around his forearm. "If Copycat is strong enough to beat Chat, we have to be careful. And we don't even know where the Akuma is yet."

Reluctantly, Viperion nodded, his teeth gritted and hands balled into fists. He didn't want to wait, but she had a point. "So what do we do?"

Ladybug pressed her lips tight, then threw a quick glance into the other room. "I… I don't know. Not yet."

She sounded as desperate as Viperion felt—which strangely helped soothe his own nerves. He wasn't the only one worried for Chat, he reminded himself. Ladybug cared for him, too.

He watched her think, her brows furrowed, before she shook her head. "This will limit our time immensely, but it's the only way I can think of. I'll be right back."

She sneaked back the way they'd come from, around another corner. He couldn't hear her near-silent call for her Lucky Charm, but he saw the brief flash of red light, and only seconds later, she was back at his side.

"So?" he asked, eying the object in her hand. It seemed to be some kind of jewellery box, an ordinary one, thankfully. If it had been one for another Miraculous, telling her to get yet another hero to help them… Viperion wasn't sure whether he'd had the strength to wait that long. How this box could help them was beyond him, but he'd learned not to question Ladybug and her instincts. Her plans often baffled him—but they always worked.

With a tense expression, she opened the box, revealing a simple ring, a reddish-golden band with what looked like a black diamond embedded at the top. "I think I know what we have to do," she murmured. There was something strange about her, a sadness that didn't quite fit her words. "Let's just hope my acting skills are good enough to fool him."

. o O o .

Yep, another cliffhanger. But a smaller one, I think? Any ideas for what her plan might be?

I hope I can focus better on the next chapter. Sorry this one is a little off, but I thought it would be better to just get it out instead of endlessly trying to fix it.