So I know I said I'd be updating every other week for a while but I decided to get this one out to you today. I can't promise another one next week. It will depend on how much work I can get done (and if I keep getting called into work) but for now here's chapter 2. While there are a lot of moving parts I'm pretty happy with how this came out. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Tanuki the Hero?

Gabriel was ready to tear his home apart to get to his beloved. The rocks kept blocking his path as though they were mocking him. It took him way too long to get to Emilie's chamber and when he finally did arrive what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks.

She was fine but…how? He heard a noise coming from the other side of the room where her damaged life support system lay in ruin. He hurried over to see Varian pulling out and reattaching wires. It was a crude set up but the life support system was still functioning even after all that damage.

"Varian?" The boy only glanced up as he continued his wire work.

"Just a minute, I've almost…got it!" He exclaimed, wiping the sweat from his brow leaving a grease stain behind in its place. "This was just a rushed patch job but it should hold for a while. I rerouted some of the security systems to make sure Emilie's systems didn't get disrupted so you'll have to reinstall it later. You also might want to move her, if the rocks are still active anything on the lower floors is at risk to-" Gabriel cut him off by gathering the boy in his arms.

"Thank you." he said with tears forming in his eyes. "Thank you so much!" Varian was stunned. It was weird seeing Gabriel show this much affection and the fact that he was still dressed as Shadow Moth made this even more bizarre but he tentatively hugged back.

"It's-it's alright." Varian said awkwardly. "I got here pretty quickly, luckily the vents weren't blocked." Gabriel looked down at the boy seeing all the small scrapes and bruises he must have gotten as he raced to help his wife.

"You saved her." He said almost like a question. "After that threat earlier-"

"I meant what I said." Varian said, cutting him off. "But I don't want to see her hurt even if I was mad at you." He said with a sincere smile on his face. "I hope I can meet her soon but not like this." He gestured to the rocks littering the underground hideout.

"This is what they do, they destroy everything they touch, spreading destruction wherever they go and there's no way I know to stop them. I know we're villains but we don't have to be monsters." Varian pulled his goggles over his eyes ready to transform.

"I have to go find Ladybug to try and figure out how they escaped into this world. I'll be back when I have more information so for the time being please hold off on sending any Akumas. If not for me than for her."

He quickly transformed and raced out of the building, not giving the supervillain a chance to argue back. He sincerely hoped Shadow Moth would listen to him this time. He didn't want to follow through on his previous threat but he would if he had to.

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After what felt like hours Luka's family was finally given news about his condition. The doctor came out and everyone was immediately asking for them to share what he had learned.

"How is my boy doctor?" Anarka asked as Juleka held onto her for support. Jagged Stone stayed close but gave his former partner some space, also eager to hear the news.

"Well the good news is his vitals are stable for the most part but he's currently in a coma." All three of them gasped. "We can't be certain when he'll wake up and there is a chance, even though it's small, that he won't wake up at all." Juleka was tearing up again as her mother comforted her. Jagged put a hand on her shoulder before turning to the doctor.

"I got to the scene after Luka was already taken to the hospital, what exactly happened?" It was only now occurring to Juleka that her father didn't know very much.

"I-I don't know exactly what happened either." she explained. "The police officers were performing CPR and I saw that our houseboat was wrecked by the rocks." The doctor looked over his notes detailing the injuries of the teenager.

"He was definitely deprived of oxygen and we had to expel water from his lungs. What puzzles me are the burn marks and injuries on his back." Anarka was puzzled by this.

"Maybe the engine was hit by the rocks and exploded?" It seemed plausible enough.

"Whatever the case, hopefully he'll heal through the worst of the injuries while he's in a coma." The doctor offered. "We'll have a better idea of any long term effects once he wakes up. In the meantime if anyone would like to visit you can see him for a bit."

The family all nodded but as they headed into Luka's room Juleka paused as something occurred to her. Someone must have pulled Luka from the water. She thought it was the policeman but thinking back she realized that his clothes were dry.

So then who-Suddenly she remembered seeing a raccoon tail as she left with her Dad. But that couldn't be right. Tanuki was a villain, he wouldn't bother to help her brother…would he?

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Chat Noir had transformed back to Adrien Agreste after that disastrous cataclysm attempt. He needed a short break to tend to his injuries while Plagg refueled with some cheese. He was still surprised how much damage the shrapnel had caused. Sure he would get banged up from battles every now and then but for the most part he was protected by his suit. Those things just tour through it like paper. Ladybug was right, this was more than an Akuma attack.

He was pulled from his thoughts when his phone rang. Seeing it was his father he gulped and mentally prepared himself for a lifetime of grounding if he had been caught out of his room. He took a deep breath and put on his 'Perfect Son' persona.

"Yes Father?"

"Adrien, I don't know if you've seen the news or felt the Earth quakes but the city is being invaded by strange black rock. Are you still in your room?" Adrien thought for a moment thinking this might be a test but that was unlikely. If his father knew that wasn't true then he'd already be yelling at him.

"Yes sir, I felt the quakes but felt it was safer to stay in my room. Are you OK though, is everyone else OK?"

"Yes, everyone's fine. Although the basement and lower floors took some damage. We'll have to suffice for backup power for the time being."

"That's good." but then a thought occurred to him. "Is Varian OK?"

"Yes, he's fine. He woke up early to discuss a few things with me when the rocks came. Although his lab has a rather large rock jutting through the center and he's currently assessing the damage. I'll be sending him to his room once we're sure the stairs are clear and are safe to use."

"Wait, are you two stuck down there?" He was getting nervous, what if the rocks came again while they were still down below.

"No need to worry we'll be out soon enough. In the meantime stay in your room as long as it's not damaged." Adrien hoped it wasn't. That would be hard to explain later.

"Alright Father, be safe."

"You too son." After they hung up Adrien rubbed his arm where the rock shard had sliced through. He felt bad for lying even if he did it all the time. His Dad sounded genuinely worried. But he was a superhero and he had a job to do.

"Alright Plagg, let's get back to work." But the Kwami had paused eating his snack and was looking out at the city covered in black rocks. "Plagg, you OK?" The tiny black cat jumped realizing he was being called.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure, you barely touched your camembert." seeing the cheese still in his paws he quickly swallowed the rest.

"Alright, I'm refueled and ready for round two! Just ah…" He paused looking back at the rocks. "Just don't use your cataclysm on the rocks again. That felt…" it was like he was searching for a word for a feeling he couldn't describe. Adrien wasn't sure what to make of his friend's strange behavior but seeing how disastrous his first attempt was he readily agreed.

"Yeah it didn't work too well the first time but there's still people out there who need saving so…Plagg CLAWS OUT!"

He made his way back to Ladybug not noticing that while the tears in his suit had mended there was a stitched scar left behind in the fabric.

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Tanuki was making his way through the city in search of Ladybug. He needed to know how the rocks got here. Did she mess up again, was the old portal not fully closed or was this a new portal? And was there a way for him to get back to his Dad if that was the case?

But the further into the city he traveled the more damage he saw from the black rocks. He almost jumped onto a small apartment building but stopped himself when he saw it was on the verge of collapsing. He was about to backtrack when he heard a voice cry out.

"HELP!" He turned back and saw a family of three standing on the balcony trying to get someone's, anyone's attention. He then saw they weren't alone. Multiple people were hovering by their windows, the fire escape practically torn from the building unsafe for anyone to use.

More and more the building was leaning to the left threatening to collapse and bury the people below. But what could he do? He wanted to help but everytime he tried he just made the situation worse. He looked around hoping to spot Ladybug or Chat Noir coming to save everyone at the last minute but there was no one insight.

He thought about his Dad and even though he tried to stop the rocks before he just ended up hurting him. He thought of Luka and even though he got him out of the water the explosion burned and injured his back. He still wasn't sure if he was even OK or not and he was terrified to find out. But then there was Emile. She wasn't awake but she was still alive.

The memory of Shadow Moth hugging him and thanking him for saving her life filled him with a warmth he had been craving for so long. But could he do it again? What if he made another mistake? What if- A loud rumbling noise brought his attention back to the building which was leaning over more and more on the verge of breaking in two.

'No time!' he thought, using his Bag of Tricks to summon a large amount of polyurethane. He used the water and air element to make the material expand rapidly. With every ounce of control he had he formed it into a large hard foam slide which also kept the top half of the building in place while it hardened. This was a temporary fix but it was the best he could think of and at least bought him some time.

A few people realized they could use the slide to get down from their windows several stories in the air. The firefighter at the bottom quickly set out mats to catch them as they came down rapidly. Not everyone could reach though so Tanuki did his best to help everyone he could to the slide.

A lot of people were hesitant seeing him, which was understandable, he was a villain after all. But one by one he guided them to the escape slide, their fear of dying overriding their fear of the infamous supervillain. The only exception was this one woman who was so terrified she refused to get anywhere near him. Running out of time he apologized as he forcibly grabbed her and raced her to the slide with her screaming all the way down. Not seeing anyone else and knowing his time was about to expire he made his way to the ground.

He wasn't planning on sticking around but he happened to hear the building manager, who was doing a headcount, saying that Mrs. LaBeouf was still unaccounted for. But with the building coming down again the rescue workers were forced to abandon the area.

Both the building and Tanuki had little time left and Varian wasn't sure he'd have enough time to transform back, feed Ruddiger and transform again in time to save the last tenant. Having heard the apartment number he ran in and raced his way to her door. After breaking it open he saw why the older lady hadn't already escaped, she was in a wheelchair.

"Ma'am, I'm here to get you out!" He called out as she tried to focus on him.

"Who is that? Chat Noir?" Clearly her vision wasn't the best but after having to practically drag out the last woman Tanuki decided to roll with it.

"Ye-yeah, it's Chat Noir. I'm here to get you to safety." The old lady smiled.

"Such a nice young man you are. Your parents must be so proud." Varian was taken aback by this but shook his head remembering they had no time left. Besides, she thought she was talking to Chat Noir, not Tanuki. As the ceiling above them began to crack he picked her up and raced to the exit.

"Sorry if this is a little rough." She just smiled.

"No need for that Deary, just do what you need to do." They were out within seconds but the structure was quickly collapsing above them. Pushing himself to the limit he raced around it just before the building came down kicking up a cloud of dust all around them. He used his coat to shield himself and Mrs. LaBeouf from the choking debris until at last he spotted another rescue station. He quickly handed the woman off to them with just a few seconds left before he transformed.

The dust cloud had coated everything in a thick white layer so when the Lady thanked Chat Noir no one questioned it or took a closer look at his silhouette. He ducked into a sewer entrance just as he transformed back coughing from remnants of the debris cloud. Once he could catch his breath Ruddiger came out hovering in front of his face.

"You OK?" Varian nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. "That was very brave of you." Varian coughed again as he handed Ruddiger another apple treat from his pocket.

"I didn't really have time to think about it." Ruddiger ate his tart quickly before turning back to his boy.

"I know I'm not the one you want to hear it from but I am so proud of you." Varian paused and looked up at his friend with wide eyes. He quickly jumped up and brushed himself off.

"Yeah well, I still probably messed that up somehow. We'll hear on the news later that…" he glanced back and seeing Ruddiger with a frown on his face he relented. "But it's still nice to hear, especially from you." Ruddiger smiled sadly at him as Varian put his googles back on.

"We still need to find Ladybug, up for another round buddy." Ruddiger could see Varian was getting tired. He hadn't slept last night and this morning there had been one disaster after another. But as much as he wanted his boy to take a break Varian was right they needed to find Ladybug and get some answers. The rocks weren't going to wait for them to take a break.

"Yeah, let's go."

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After confirming his son was safe Gabriel called Nathalie to make sure she was safe as well. She was still in her room, it wasn't one of her good days. Despite that she seemed ready to try and get up to help. Gabriel insisted that she stay where she was. He had Gorilla with him helping to move Emilie and her life support systems out of the lower levels.

As they maneuvered her the best they could around the rocks Gabriel couldn't help thinking back to the conversation he and Varian had earlier that day.

'I know we're villains but we don't have to be monsters.'

For some reason that struck a chord within him. He was prepared to do whatever it took to bring his beloved back even if it cost him his life. But was that the legacy he wanted her to remember? It shouldn't matter, what was one more line crossed?

Then he looked back on his wife and her mangled life support system that the rock had torn through mercilessly. That feeling or terror and helplessness was still present even if the danger had now passed. He could be cruel, he knew but sending an Akuma out now would only inflict that same pain onto someone else.

"My sweet Emilie, Varian is right you wouldn't want me to cross that line." He said as they loaded up her chamber. "I still haven't given up on you but I must ask you to wait until the city is stable again. I will do this for you, as well as for Varian, Adrien and for the rest of our family."

Maybe it was his imagination but he could have sworn he saw her smile.

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At the heart of the Dark Kingdom Edmund the Mad King was furious. Somehow the power of the Moonstone opel had been stolen right out from under him leaving a worthless piece of rock in its place.

"How could this have happened?" he shouted, still inspecting the former resting place of the object that had been the bane of his existence his entire life. "It's been acting up for a while now and just a few months ago it started going crazy like something had attacked it or something was taken from it." It sounded strange even in his head but all his research from the past kings and queens made no mention of this type of behavior.

"Is it those travelers?" He knew from Hamuel that there was a group of people following the black rock to the castle and that Hector failed to stop them. "Had they somehow stolen the Moonstone's power without even setting foot in the castle? They defeated Hector and destroyed the great tree so clearly these people were not to be underestimated."

One thing was for sure, he needed to find them and interrogate them to find out what happened to the Moonstone. To do that though he would have to leave the castle and his home. Should he leave the powerless rock or take it with him? What if this was a trick by the Moonstone itself and it was trying to escape by pretending to be dormant?

He didn't want to do this but things have gotten too out of hand for him to contain alone. He took three rolls of parchment from the study and composed three letters one for each of the Brotherhood.

To Hector he apologized for asking for his assistance while he was still recovering but with the Moonstone's power missing he needed his most loyal Knight to help find it.

He hesitated to write to Adira. After she disobeyed his orders and was branded a traitor she had set off on her own to find a way to put an end to the Moonstone's power. It was possible she knew something so he granted her an audience with him and temporarily lifted her band.

The last one was the most difficult to write. Of all his fellow Brotherhood members Quirin was the only one who managed to settle down and have a peaceful life. Last he heard he was married and expecting his first child. How long ago was that? Living alone and isolated made it a little difficult to keep track of time. He hadn't heard from him since but sending messages into a forbidden kingdom was a difficult challenge so he didn't think much of it.

He wrote to his long time friend and told him he wished he didn't need to call him away from his family but his wisdom and guidance were needed.

He gave the three letters to Hamuel and watched as the black bird flew off to carry out his mission. Hopefully he'll be back soon with good news. In the meantime he went back to his vigil of guarding the now powerless stone. He knew it wasn't gone for good, the rocks were still everpresent. But he would find out what happened one way or another.

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As Tanuki searched the city looking for Ladybug he had to keep ducking and hiding from the other Miraculous holders who were out helping as many citizens as they could. He didn't see all of them, Viperion was noticeably absent.

He spotted Pegasus using his portals to get people out of buildings without damaging the structures. Carapace was helping to protect people from falling debris while Polymouse was using her multiple small bodies to search areas not easily accessible to locate missing people.

Many others were also out and about helping the evacuation. He didn't want to interfere with their work and didn't want to risk being captured and unmasked if any of the other holders didn't want him anywhere near Ladybug. Still he figured it was best to stay near the building that hadn't been evacuated yet, better odds of a hero showing up.

He was hanging around one such building, thankfully not on the verge of collapse, which was damaged but the evacuation was proceeding smoothly. That is until a fire broke out. Suddenly the calm evacuation turned into a panic with people running and shoving each other to escape. Tanuki cursed to himself as he jumped to the upper floors where the fire was now blocking the stairs and used his staff to open a water main quelling the fire.

With the exit unblocked he made to leave when he heard a shout.

"HELP!" A man had tried to climb out of his window when the fire started and used the fire escape but it was breaking off the side of the building with him on it. Tanuki swung around catching the man before he could fall and lowered him to the ground. With no one else currently in danger he made to resume his search until-

"Tanuki!" Finally he had found Ladybug. "What are you-" But the man he had just saved spoke up.

"Don't be mad, Miss Ladybug. He just saved me as well as a lot of my neighbors." Ladybug looked at him curiously.

"So the rumors are true?"

"Rumors?" He asked worried about what was getting around.

"Some citizen said that you saved a bunch of people from a collapsing building. What's your game Tanuki?" He shrugged. He wasn't here to defend himself, he was here for information.

"Just happened to be in the neighborhood."

"Is that really it?" He rolled his eyes dramatically.

"OK fine you caught me. This was all part of my master plan to-"

"DADDY!" He stopped when a child's voice rang out from the other side of the street. A little girl ran to the man Tanuki had just saved.

"Simone!" the little girl threw herself into his arms.

"Daddy I was so scared." she sniffed. "You were falling and…and…" she cried into his shirt as the mad rubbed circles on her back to comfort her.

"It's OK, Daddy's safe now, you're safe now. I'm not going anywhere." Ladybug glanced back at Tanuki and was surprised by what she saw. There was a look on his face as he watched the father and child reunite. It was a look of happiness and sadness but not one of plotting and scheming. The little girl looked up at the two holders and locked eyes with Tanuki.

"Thank you for saving my Daddy." Tanuki jolted as if in shock. Clearly not expecting the complement.

"Uh…yo-your welcome." The man took his daughter back to the safety zone leaving the two holders alone. Sighing Tanuki turned to Ladybug. "We've got to talk."

"I know." She held up a Lucky Charm of a small raccoon statue. "What's going on with these rocks, Tanuki?" Well clearly the Lucky charm thought he had the answers. He pointed to the roof of one of the stable buildings so they could talk without being interrupted. Once there Ladybug got straight to the point.

"OK we're alone. Now what's happening because I don't think this is an Akuma attack."

"It's not. These rocks are from my world." She stopped in her tracks clearly not expecting that answer.

"They're from…but how did they get here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. You haven't been letting the Kwamis-"

"Of course not!" she yelled back. "I've been trying to find a way for you to get home but never without a holder." he blinked.

"Yo-you have?"

"I promised, didn't I? But to answer your question, no I haven't opened any new portals."

"What about the original?" Ladybug paused. She had assumed the portal closed itself but she never really checked. Kaalki said it was small but deep. Deep enough for a rock invasion to slip through? She looked over Paris, her city, with the rocks radiating out and spreading as far as she could see.

"Is this my fault?" she asked as she observed the destruction all around her. "I never thought to check the old portal, is that where they got through?" Even though Ladybug was still technically his enemy he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. He knew what it was like to make a mistake and people getting hurt as a result.

"I can't say for sure." He said as she looked down at the Lucky Charm in her hand still unused.

"But it can't be a coincidence, not if you're both from the same world." She looked up at him with a pleading look in her eyes. "Please, how do we stop this?" He sighed and looked away.

"We can't."

"What do you mean we can't? How did they stop it in your world? If this is about my Miraculous-"

"This isn't about your Miraculous! When I left the rocks were still a problem. No one's been able to do anything about them." Ladybug looked back out at the city with her last hope in her hands.

"Miraculous LADYBUG!" She released the statue in the air and let its magic spread across the city only…nothing happened.

"What! No! Why didn't it work?" The rocks were all still there, the people still hurt and the ones who didn't make it… "Why didn't it work?" Tanuki stared at the distraught hero and clenched his fist.

"I…I was hoping it would." she turned to him, seeing another mixed expression on his face. It was one of shock, confusion and disappointment all rolled into one. If there was any doubt about his story there wasn't anymore.

"Just…what exactly are these things?" Tanuki hesitated but in the end felt it was better she knew.

"I don't know the whole story but I tried studying them when they invaded my village. They seemed to be linked to a legend about the sun and the moon. Two drops of magic that fell from the heavens to the Earth. First, the Sun Drop landed in my country and caused the land to flourish but there was another one that landed in a distant land which is where the black rocks originated from. They've spread chaos and destruction wherever they go with no way to stop them." Ladybug looked thoughtful.

"Maybe you can continue your research." she didn't notice his eyes getting wide with that suggestion. "Maybe be if we pool our resources we can-"

"I can't." he said quietly.

"But if we just-"

"I already tried and you know what happened? I MADE IT WORSE!" he screamed tears forming in his eyes at the memory. Ladybug was taken aback but an alert from her earrings told her she was going to change back soon.

"Tanuki, I know this must be upsetting seeing all this happen again but this is bigger than either of us can handle on our own. So please." Tanuki just looked away.

"I'm sorry…I can't help you." He glanced back with a guilty expression. "But you're right, this is bigger than either of us can handle. So I offer you a truce. As long as the rocks are active I will do nothing against you. This isn't the clean war I signed up for any longer." He went to the edge of the building ready to leave.

"Tanuki wait!"

"I've already asked Shadow Moth to do the same. We'll see if he complies."

"Don't-" but he had already left and she had changed back. Marinette was left stunned not knowing what to do next. But Tanuki could easily have discovered her identity just now and yet he just left. She believed he was telling the truth about the truce as well as the rocks but that also meant no one knew how to stop this new threat.

She looked back out at the city worried that this really was her fault and praying she didn't just doom her home.

Meanwhile near the epicenter of the invasion a single small rock poked its way out of the ground.

Not black like the others but crimson red…

To be continued…

Next time: After the chaos of the first day everyone learns about Luka. They've barely had time to lick their wounds when another threat comes from the rocks. And this one is truly terrifying.