This is it everyone, the end of the final battle. I'll have more to say next time but for now lets get right to it.

Content warning: Blood, impalement, self sacrificial behavior, violence, guilt and more.

Chapter 33

The Final battle Part 2

Luka cursed himself for freezing up when he saw the gold rock shoot up and impale Varian through the chest. It took his brain several precious seconds to realize he might not be too late. He grabbed his bracelet and set the timer back.

"Second chance!" The timer had almost been at the end but thankfully it still worked but five minutes was a long time in the heat of battle. The timer was almost up when he found Varian again. He was running to check on Chat Noir and he was going to get hit again.

Out of time he did the only thing he could think of in that moment, he pushed Varian out of the way.

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Varian didn't know what happened at first. He was running to check on Chat Noir when something knocked him off his feat. That's when he heard the screaming. He looked up and to his horror he saw Luka impaled on a golden rock.

"LUKA!" He leapt up wanting to pull the rock out but…that might kill him faster. "Oh God what-" and then it clicked. "You…you used your Miraculous didn't you?" Luka smiled, which would normally fill his heart with joy but there was a finality in that smile. Now it only brought him dread.

"It's…It's OK Varian…" He said coughing up blood. Varian's hemophobia was making him dizzy but he couldn't pass out! NOT NOW!

"Yo-your Second Chance! Hurry up and-"

"It's..it's alright…" Luka was fading fast and the snake on his bracelet was almost back to its starting possession.

This could be happening! Varian thought frantically. He couldn't lose anyone else, he could lose someone else that he loved! Without thinking Varian grabbed Luka's wrist and set the snake back himself.

"SECOND CHANCE!"

Varian blinked at the battle going on around him. It felt like something important just happened but…what was it? He went back to what he was doing but couldn't shake the feeling there was something he needed to do.

After helping Jalil and following Chat Noir who was clearly hurt worse than he was admitting he felt this inexplicable urge to dig deep within himself. He knew he had little power left but he knew he needed it now. Pushing himself to the brink he finally felt it. It was a rock aimed directly at him. He pushed it back so hard that it crumbled upon impact and at that moment Luka was there looking confused but relieved. Varian suddenly remembered both outcomes to this scenario and grabbed the other boy by his uniform.

"You idiot, what the hell did you think you were doing!" Luka looked irritatingly calm.

"You were in trouble, I had to save you." This only made Varian madder.

"You think I want to see you killed in my place! Why the hell would you do that!?"

"Because I love you." A moment later the adrenaline lowered enough for his brain to realize what his mouth had just said. "I…I mean…" but he said it and Varian heard it. The second chance was over and Viperion transformed back into Luka. There was no going back. Varian had a similar moment when his brain finally allowed him to process what Luka had just said to him.

"So wait, you …you mean that?" Luka smiled and that warm feeling was back.

"Sorry, this wasn't how I wanted to tell you." Varian was wondering just what he should say back when another rock barley missed them.

"HEY! Get your head in the game!" Edmund shouted as Chat Noir looked surprised and Vari looked mildly disturbed. Well, the Luka in his world was evil so that was understandable. "The battlefield is no place for romance!" They both blushed.

"He-he's right." Varian said, his hair barely flashing anymore. "We-we should take care of this first. Go feed your Kwami, we're going to need you." Luka nodded, spotting a safe place to transform.

"OK, I'll see you when this is over." As he ran off Varian reached out his hand as if to say something but the words wouldn't form on his lips. Deciding to focus on the battle instead he made his way over to Chat Noir. He tried really hard no to think about the fact that Luka had just confessed his love for him and he failed to answer.

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Zhan Tiri cursed as she missed the Moon child. His power was keeping her rocks at bay but she could sense whatever temporary power he was using was fading. It was the perfect chance to strike but somehow he still managed to evade it.

She looked down at all the little ants which should have been squashed by now. They were stubborn indeed. She had had her fun but it was time to end this.

"Wither and decay

End this destiny."

With the full Power of the Moonstone she unleashed a blanket of decay and within moments everyone was becoming weaker. Everyone except Cassandra and Varian.

"Break these earthly chains

And set this spirit free."

With her Miraculous protecting her from the Moonstone's power Cassandra ran towards the demon who summoned a rock wall around herself. What little power Varian had left was not enough to make the tree size rocks descend. Unfortunately Luka hadn't had enough time to reset his second chance either so they were all in big trouble.

"The spirit free."

A pained gasp caught Varian's attention. Chat Noir was on the ground clutching his arm writhing in pain, more so than the others. Varian rushed over and knelt beside him.

"Chat Noir, what's-" As his hand hovered over his arm he felt it. There was something inside his arm. It was small but it was causing a lot of damage especially with the decay incantation destroying everything around them. With just a fraction of his powers left he pulled out what looked like a tiny black rock splitter from deep within his arm.

Chat Noir immediately sighed in relief but with the decay incantation still spreading the relief was short lived.

Just as Varian feared he and Cassandra would be the last people standing, a voice rang out through the air.

"Reversion!" In an instant everyone affected by the decay incantation was back to normal and Zhan Tiri screamed, feeling the effects of the decay incantation on herself.

Varian looked up and recognized Marc as Reverser. This was honestly the best Akuma Gabriel could have picked for this fight and the others realized this as well. Hector and the other Varians were acting as guards to keep him in play in case the demon tried to pull that again.

Zhan Tiri quickly ended the spell but was utterly frustrated at the persistence of these foolish mortals. She needed to finish this quickly.

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Hawk Moth sighed in relief as his third Akuma was proving to be very useful. He admitted it was much harder to find a willing person to be Akumatized but Marc had a strong urge to put an end to the demon who hurt his partner and to protect others from her as well. In the end he was the perfect candidate. There was only…one other voice that was louder in his head.

"Hey! Shadow Moth, Akumatize me already!" and she wouldn't shut up. "If Ladybug is giving out Miraculous like candy then I want to be an Akuma even more powerful than them combined! Gimmie!" Chloé Bourgeois would be a force to be reckoned with that was for sure but at this point he didn't trust her not to steal the Miraculous for herself even if he told her not to.

His hands were still hurting from destroying the Mind Trap Stone earlier and now this brat was giving him a headache on top of that. But he would endure if it gave everyone else a chance at victory.

"I know you can hear me! I've seen your gross butterflies all over the place and I want one NOW!"

He supposed this was karma coming back to bite him.

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!"

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Ever since he transformed Eugene was still trying to find a power that worked for him and he was becoming very frustrated. This was supposed to be one of the most powerful magical objects in this world but for some reason he couldn't make it work.

"Seriously I think this thing is broken or something. It won't give me the power to destroy this thing or create illusions or…I don't know, the power to make it rain cupcakes." He waved his hand in jest but all of the sudden it actually started to rain cupcakes.

"Hey it worked!" Lance exclaimed, grabbing a few big ones out of the air as they fell.

"And how does that help us?!" Vee screamed from position guarding Reverser. He was so done with this Eugene.

"You're right, that was a terrible power." He waved his hand again and the cupcakes stopped falling.

"Aw." said Lance, disappointed with an arm full of the extra large sweats.

"Lance, don't eat those. I have no idea where they came from." With that little bit of success Eugene's energy was renewed. "OK so cupcake summoning is a power apparently, what else can I do?"

"That's useful!" Hector screamed back.

"That's useful." Eugene agreed begrudgingly. After several more failed attempts he asked for the power to make things fly. He shot a beam of light making some rocks fly up into the air. "Ha! Something useful!" Unfortunately he got a little too trigger happy and accidentally hit Adira who had been scaling the rock wall trying to sneak up on Zhan Tiri.

"Fish Skin, you idiot!" she exclaimed until she realized she wasn't just floating and she could actually fly under her own power. "I take that back." She brandished her new rock sword, one she fashioned out of one of the ones Chat Noir broke, and charged at the demon aiming for her neck. Zhan Tiri swatted at her but Adira dodged and came around, managing to slice off part of her right horn.

Zhan Tiri roared in pain. With Adira successfully managing to hurt the demon, many of the others joined in. Cassandra was now hurling broken gold rocks at her, Rapunzel had created a bow and arrow with her powers and was attacking from a distance. Heck even Lance was hurling cupcakes at her.

Zhan Tiri didn't even bother to block those, too preoccupied with the flying swordswoman. Before Adira could land another blow however the demon grabbed her out of the air nearly crushing her in the process.

"Playtime's over." She said in a low voice as she squeezed. Adira gasped as she felt the air being forced out of her lungs as her ribs cracked.

Watching from below Viperion was about to use his second chance when out of nowhere Lance exclaimed,

"You're right Zhan Tiri! It's time to put your toys away." No one knew what he was up to until he pulled out a cupcake, one that had been smashed after throwing it at Zhan Tiri…and pulled out his Miraculous ball.

"Fetch." and suddenly the Moonstone and the Sundrop both appeared in his hand.

Zhan Titi couldn't believe that had just happened. She released Adira who managed the float to the ground where Edmund helped her to safety. Sure enough both the Sundrop and the Moonstone were gone and her powers were fading fast. Somehow that fool had managed to hide his Miraculous ball in one of those stupid cupcakes and had hit the stones while she was distracted.

This couldn't be happening! A millennium's worth of planning was not going to be ruined by a petty thief and a blasted cupcake!

"You insolent little cur!" Lance's look of triumph quickly turned to fear as Zhan Tiri was barreling right towards him. Luckily for him Cassandra, Ladybug, and Eugene all intercepted the demon. Seeing he was carrying some hot merchandise Lance decided it was best to return them to their rightful owners and make himself less of a target.

"Rapunzel! Varian!" He said throwing the celestial objects to them. Rapunzel was reunited with the Sundrop feeling the warm energy she's known all her life. Even though it was only a short time she missed it terribly. Perhaps that was why she was drawn to the rocks in the first place. It was a burden she happily reclaimed.

For Varian there was some initial hesitation. Taking this back was accepting his fate and he'd have no choice but to return to his home world and the Dark Kingdom so as not to be a danger to anyone else. But taking it also meant an end to Zhan Tiri and they could finally start fixing things.

He looked back at his brother Adrien, his friends, relatives and Luka. With a sad smile he claimed the Moonstone and finally became whole.

It was hard to describe what he felt when he took the Moonstone into him fully. It was almost like…never being able to see properly and putting on glasses for the first time, everything was now so clear. He could feel it in the Moonstone too. It had been longing to be whole for so long and Varian felt like there had been something missing in him and was now complete. This is what it meant to be the Moon Child.

As the two of them readjusted to their new/old powers Zhan Tiri was screaming and thrashing, ready to tear them apart to get the stones back if she had too but it was too late for that. The eclipse had passed and not even death could give the demon back what she had lost. But she was so angry she'd settle for that anyway. She threw off the ones holding her down and charged at Rapunzel and Varian.

On instinct Varian trapped her in a rock cage she was unable to break free from. He then turned to Rapunzel.

"Ready to end this?" She whipped her long hair at the demon tying her up within her cage.

"More than ready." The two concentrated their powers together.

"Power of the Sun,"

"Crescent high above,"

And took away all of Zhan Tiri's powers leaving her a shriveled up old woman.

The battle was over.

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With the battle won the clean up began and the wounded were being tended to. As Varian approached one of the rocks to make it decent he felt the urge to touch it without his gloves. It was something he almost never did, he was always self conscious of his scars but this was something he felt he had to do.

Slowly he reached out and grabbed the rock and it was like he could see and feel every one of them. The black, the red, the gold, even the molecules that made up the amber were now all at his fingertips and under his control.

He took a deep breath and willed them, all of them away. The other heroes watched in awe as slowly every rock receded, shrunk and disappeared. Not just on the battlefield either. Under the light of the full moon every rock retreated from the city from the biggest ones that took down buildings to the smallest shards like the one that had been tormenting Chat Noir.

The citizens who had yet to escape the city came out to watch the miracle that was happening. After months of fear, hope was now blossoming in the hearts of the Parisians.

As Ladybug watched this she called upon her Lucky Charm and once again it was a flower. She was confused since it wasn't needed to defeat Zhan Tiri but seeing the rocks vanish after so long she finally understood what it was trying to tell her.

"Rapunzel!" She cried out running towards the princess. "Do you still remember the healing incantation?" Rapunzel nodded confused.

"Yes, but when I severed my connection to the Sundrop I lost that part of my power." Ladybug held up the flower for her to see. It was the same type that once held the power of the Sundrop.

"I've got an idea. Will you help me?" Rapunzel proceeded to wrap her hair around Ladybug and together they began to sing.

"Flower gleam and glow,

Let your power shine,

Make the clock reverse,

Bring back what once was mine,

Before their eyes golden energy started flowing into the Lucky Charm. Ladybugs' pigtails extended as they wrapped themselves around Rapunzel straightening the connection.

"Heal what has been hurt,

Change the fates' design,

Save what has been lost

Bring back what once was mine,

Varian, who had finished clearing each and every rock, looked on, understanding what they were trying to do. Hope blossomed in his heart as the flower grew brighter.

"What once was mine."

Now at full power Ladybug did what she did at the end of every battle.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" she shouted releasing the Sun power infused Lucky Charm and everyone watched in amazement as the magical item flew through the city fixing everything it had been unable to fix for so long. From the tiniest of injuries to the massive buildings everything was back to normal the way it had been before the black rocks invaded. The Parigiens who had just watched one miracle when the black rocks disappeared were treated to another as their beloved city was restored to its original beauty.

Sadly not everything was back the way it was. The people who died during the tragedy had already passed through the veil and were gone. Those who lost limbs were not restored either. So Cassandra was left with a healed body but no left hand. She was OK with that, that hand had been dying after her exposure to the decay incantation and after everything she had done in the name of the mad king this was the least she could offer.

Xavier, Marc and Jalil were all brought back to where they came from with the Akuma leaving Marc voluntarily. Marc was thrilled to see Nathaniel with his parents awake and fully healed. He never thought he'd be grateful towards Hawk Moth.

Jalil had scared the hell out of Alix when he disappeared from the hospital only to reappear when the Lucky Charm put everything back in order. His Father was also worried, fearing he had disappeared again. Alix then promised him that whatever happens because of his actions he would always be her brother and they would get through this as a family. He was always a man seeking hidden truths but it seems he missed the biggest one right under his nose. His family loved him.

Xavier made a memorial for Beatrix in the pack, one he was sure the city would take down but until then her memory would be honored. Also flooded with pigeons.

Ladybug, Rapunzel and Varian were all a bit drained after using so much power but the end result was more than worth it. The villain was defeated, the nightmare was over and everyone had made it out alive. There was nothing else to-

"Rapunzel!" cried the shrill voice of King Frederic.

Well, there were still a few things they still needed to deal with.

To be continued…

Zhan Tiri may be defeated but what to do with King Frederic? Was the dimensional barrier still in danger of collapsing? How will everyone get home and what will become of Varian now that the battle is over?