Scene 3 - Viperion in Battle
Luka sat on his bed, flipping through a magazine, but not really reading it. His mind was distracted by the growing worry he had building in his stomach. He laid back on his bed, closing his eyes and counting out a 12-bar rhythm. It was his own form of meditation, something he had adapted to try and control his emotions. He could not let anger and fear consume him, not while Papillombre was still at large. He would not let himself get akumatized for a third time.
As if the first two times were not embarrassing enough, now he needed to keep his mind safe more than ever. He knew the true identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir. He had always admired and respected Ladybug, and now that he knew that she was also Marinette- his stomach did a twist as he remembered the heartbreak. He could not let Marinette down.
So he sat patiently, counting out rhythms, listening to the faint sounds of the Akuma battle happening in the center of town. He needed to be ready if Ladybug needed to call on Viperon. Although, Luka wasn't sure if Marinette wanted to see him right now, even in superhero form. The friendship they had forged post-break-up was tenuous at best, and Luka could tell she still felt a little uncomfortable around him.
He considered trying to get her attention when she had come by to give his sister the tiger miraculous this afternoon, but he wasn't really supposed to know about that. Not that it had been hard to figure out, when their parents had been akumatized a few weeks ago and Ladybug disappeared with Juleka and reappeared with Purple Tigress, but Luka knew how seriously Ladybug took the secret identity stuff, and he didn't want to stress her out more.
Reducing Ladybug's stress was the excuse Luka gave himself for not disclosing that he knew her and Chat Noir's identities. He knew that wasn't the total truth, but what was another lie on top of all the others he was telling?
Luka was awakened from his self-commiserating train of thought by a quick tap on his port window. The villain must be tougher than he thought, because there was Ladybug, holding his miraculous.
"Luka, I'm sorry to call on you again so soon, but we need all hands-on deck for this one," she said, out of breath.
Luka wasted no time, transforming immediately, and responded as Viperion.
"I'm always here for you Ladybug."
Viperion was running across the rooftops, hopping over chimney walls and loose tiles. He was flanked by Pégase and Carapace. One block over, Ladybug was running the same with Ryuko and two other female heroes by her side. Viperon looked around again, where was Chat Noir?
As they approached the plaza, he spotted his sister with King Monkey and the mouse superhero that he had forgotten the name of. Still no Chat Noir.
"Where do you think Chat Noir is?" Carapace huffed out, still sprinting.
"You mean you haven't seen him either?" Viperion asked, startled as he almost lost his pace.
"Nah dude, and I was the first one Ladybug grabbed. She said he hadn't shown up yet, but I thought he would by now."
What was Adrien doing? Why wasn't he tracking that an akuma was active? Had something happened to him? Was he in trouble?
Viperion felt a familiar twist of anxiety in his stomach as he watched the villain Pognak blast another dozen civilians with his laser, and suck them back up into his vault as golden coins.
Maybe Chat Noir is here, he thought. Maybe he's already a coin in the vault.
He shook that thought away. If there was one thing he knew about Bob Roth, it was that he was a braggart. If he had already captured Chat Noir he would have made it known, if only to rub it in Ladybug's face.
But he wouldn't have known if he captured him as Adrien. The little voice in his head said.
Viperon watched as Ryuko unleashed a brutal lightning attack on the golden vault surrounding Pognak, which would have leveled a herd of elephants, but was no more than an annoyance to the akumatized villain.
"Pégase, use your power now!" Ladybug called. Pégase sprinted ahead of Vipereon and Carapace, but as he called on his power Voyage, the other two boys quickly passed him as he was met face first with a wall of coins. He was pushed several paces back, and spit out several gold coins from his mouth.
Viperion tried not to think about the fact that all those coins were Parisians…
"I can't teleport in, there's no more room!" Pégase exclaimed.
They could really use a cataclysm about now. Viperion considered trying to sneak off to find Andrien, but he wouldn't even know where to look for him. They weren't close friends, and rarely spoke outside of the few band meetings Mr. Agrest allowed his son to attend on Luka's family boat.
Marinette would know Adriens schedule. He thought. This just made him more upset, because not only was it out of the question for him to ask Ladybug about Adrien Agrests schedule in the middle of a battle, but it also reminded him that no matter how much he cared about Marinette, Adrien would always come first to her.
Viperion watched as Ladybug vaulted down to street level and called upon her Lucky Charm. A swarm of magical ladybugs welled in the air, forming a bigger cloud than he'd ever seen them make for a lucky charm. Suddenly there was a full sized, red and black-spotted firetruck falling back from her yo-yo. What were they going to do with that?
He watched as Ladybug quickly scanned the scene. He had never noticed until recently, but the way she solved her lucky charm was very… Marinette. The quick ingenuity and forethought she demonstrated was one of the most impressive things he had ever seen, and he understood why Chat Noir had fallen for her the very first day they met.
He cursed in his head. How could Adrien not see the same things in Marinette? How could he go around all day, in the same class with her at school, and not see how amazing she was? If Luka couldn't be with Marinette, he wanted her to be happy, and it frustrated him to no end to watch the two of them dance around each other, too blinded by their secret identities to realize they were in love.
"Pégase, you drive!" Ladybug shouted in their direction. "Viperion and Carapace on top. Protect Vesperia!" She ordered.
The boys quickly moved to their assigned positions as Ladybug gave the rest of the team their instructions. Then she whipped around, throwing her magical yo-yo 100 meters to wrap around the floating golden vault, securing it in midair with her strength alone.
The mouse hero jumped up behind her, springing off of the tension of the yo-yo string and splitting into hundreds of tiny versions of herself. The vault hummed as it's lasers whipped around, trying to hit every tiny mouse. While Pognak was distracted, Juleka - no, Purple Tigress - and a pink hero he didn't recognize tossed Vesperia into the air like a gymnast. She glided through the air towards the villain as Carapace called on his protection power to shield her from the lasers until the moment before she landed on the vault, stunning it with her stinging powers.
Viperion watched in awe. It was like listening to a symphony where all the melodies and harmonies were coming together. Every instrument had their own part, but they all came together to create a beautiful piece of music. And all of it, conducted by Marinette. The Ladybug miraculous really brought out her confidence, but the ability to synchronize discordant melodies was something he had always admired in Marinette. Even without the suit, she was miraculous.
"Viperion, try all possible combinations!" Ladybug instructed. Pégase backed the fire truck up to the stunned Pognak vault, and as Viperion climbed the latter he saw the keypad Ladybug was referencing. He activated his power and began to type.
Best to do this algorithmically, he thought. Start at zero and work my way up.
0000. Error. Second chance.
0001. Error. Second chance.
0002. Error. Second chance.
0003. Error. Second chance.
This was going to take a while.
0012. Error. Second chance.
0013. Error. Second chance.
0014. Error. Second chance.
It took about three seconds per attempt, which meant if he had to try all ten-thousand combinations, he would be at this for more than eight hours.
0025. Error. Second chance.
0026. Error. Second chance.
0027. Error. Second chance.
0028. Error. Second chance.
Eight hours was nothing, he knew. He had spoken with Adrien once about his time with the snake miraculous, before Luka had known Adrien was Chat Noir, of course. Adrien had spent months in the 5-minute loop fighting Desperada. Luka had never been in one that long, and never wanted to be. He hadn't understood at the time why Adrien had been so determined to be the one to save Ladybug, but he knew now. He had wanted Ladybug to fall in love with him as his civilian identity, since he had not had much luck wooing her as Chat Noir.
0065. Error. Second chance.
0066. Error. Second chance.
A dark thought crossed Viperion's mind. What if he tried the same thing? It hadn't worked for Adrien, but Luka considered himself a bit more romantic than Adrien Agrest. Maybe he could succeed where Adrien failed, maybe he could win Marinette's heart with the snake miraculous?
0081. Error. Second chance.
Viperion tried to push the notion from his mind. It wasn't honest, and he was already hiding enough from Ladybug as it was. The irony was not lost on him, that he had started the argument that ended their relationship over keeping secrets, and now he was keeping more than ever. The secret Marinette had been keeping from him was that she was the Savior of Paris. How egotistical of him to think he deserved to be told, to think she was trying to hurt him by keeping things from him. He didn't deserve Marinette, and he was fooling himself if he thought otherwise.
0094. Error. Second chance.
He never should have lied to her about knowing their identities.
0093. Error. Second chance.
He should tell her that he knows.
0094. Error. Second chance.
No, that would only upset her more. She would blame herself.
0095. Error. Second chance.
The way he found out in the fight against Exaceur, it was against Ladybug's will.
0096. Error. Second chance.
He was no better as Viperion than he was as Vérité.
0097. Error. Second chance.
What should he do? Whether he tells her or not, he's hurting her either way.
0098. Error. Second chance.
I suppose I have eight more hours to mull it over, he thought to himself.
0099. Accepted.
Vipereon stared in shock for a moment. He heard the locking mechanism shift, and he spun the large wheel on the front of the vault.
"Jackpot! Only took a hundred tries!" He called down to his team, as coins poured from the vault door.
Ladybug expertly tossed her yo-yo into the growing pile, pulling out a special coin, larger than the others. She broke it over her knee, releasing the akuma, and quickly purifying it. The golden vault dissolved, along with all the magically created coins, revealing a still sobbing Bob Roth, on his hands and knees. Viperion didn't want to admit how much he liked seeing that man in particular lose a fight, especially since he had been the cause of Viperion's own first akumitiazation.
Papillon was the cause of your akumitiazaiton, he reminded himself. It did him no good to victim-blame, though he would hardly call Bob Roth a victim.
"Well played!" Ladybug cheered for them as all ten heroes came together for a celebratory fist-bumb.
"One last thing, Purple Tigress, I may need your help to toss my lucky charm this time."
"We'll all toss it!" King Monkey insisted.
The team split up around the spotted-truck, tossing it as high as they could, which was only about 3 meters off the ground. Luckly, Juleka's power of Fury was able to propel the charm much higher, well above the rooftops where it exploded into streams of magical ladybugs, dancing around Paris and restoring the damage from the battle.
Luka's heart swelled with pride for his sister. She had really been struggling this year with her mental health, and Luka had only made things worse by digging up painful emotions about their absentee father. But Marinette had helped Juleka come out of her shell and be herself again, both in school and now, as a superhero.
"Thanks team!" Ladybug said. "I couldn't have done this without you all here today. I'll meet you each back at your individual rondez-vous points and collect your miraculouses. Make sure you use the evasion tactics I taught you so none of you are followed."
There were a few concerned glances, but no-one made mention of the team member who was not there today. They all started to go their separate ways, but before Viperon could go, there was a hand on his wrist.
He turned to see Ladybug's firm hand on his arm. Could she feel his pulse increase? Could she see the blush on his face? Vipereon had no reason to be nervous around Ladybug. He normally wasn't even flustered to be around Marinette, even now.
"Except for you, Viperon," Ladybug said. "Meet at our secondary point, I'll come to you last. We need to talk."
Right, that's why he was nervous.
