A Snap in Time

Chapter 28 (Luka)

The screaming sounds around him echoed in his ears as he gasped for breath. It seemed for the first time in a long time his eyes had opened to reality, and that reality was looking down at him all dressed in yellow.

His mind attempted to clear, to allow him to feel total control again. Control what wasn't fluttering in and out.

At some points he knew exactly what he was doing. He could function like a normal person, someone who could put their thoughts into actions, then there were the other times, the times where he felt nothing more than a stranger in his own body.

He'd been stuck watching that day. Watching as he was jealous and possessive, watching as he treated Marinette in a way he would never dream of, yet every time he tried to come to the surface and stop the toxic behaviour he was pushed back, made to be nothing more than an observer.

He was overpowered by whatever this 'darkness' was.

He wanted to cry out to Lee Fu and tell him he was sorry. He wanted to apologise to Marinette and explain he had no control over these emotions. He watched as she went from the fun loving Marinette he knew to a quivering disaster he'd never consider her being. It hurt to watch, it hurt for him to see her shrivel against what she'd usually stand up for.

When Chat Noir had appeared, she became herself, well the closest she could be in this strange environment, yet he hadn't seen anything remotely related to Adrien. No billboards, no commercials, no Adrien Agreste. It was like he didn't exist. But Chat Noir was there, he had to.

As Marinette had broken up with him, he couldn't help but cheer for her. Whoever this 'Luka' was, was a butthead and he hated the guy that shared his face, that had power over his body.

Marinette had walked past him and out of the bakery and he watched her go, the feelings of intense anger working its way through his body. He tried his hardest to suppress them, to control a feeling of rage that he'd never thought possible, but then he'd seen it and knew there was no hope. The black butterfly headed towards him, his shell accepting it willingly.

He fought against it with every breath he took, battling something stronger than him, something that had more power, more aggression, and as his body was surrounded in black and purple bubbles he managed to make one last move. A move that he would always be proud of ... he'd ripped the bracelet from his wrist and threw it away. He threw it with all his might, making sure the Miraculous was away from this unworth vessel.

As the cold metal ripped from his body, his soul was ripped from its host and finally he could breathe again. He could breathe, but damn it hurt.

He looked down from where he was lying, the screaming continuing around him in sharp guttural noises. The sound of gut-wrenching pain. Pain that only the murder of a loved one could produce. The sound of a heartbreaking, never to be pieced together again.

"Luka? Oh thank god!" He was swept into the arms of a woman, removing one voice from the sound of continuous pain.

He looked in front of him and saw Zoè, her eyes red rimmed under the confines of her mask, her transformation still on her body. He looked around noticing the rest of the team either consoling each other, or watching the devastating scene in front of him.

He tried to sit up, leaning on Zoè for additional support, for the leverage to bring up to an upright position. The room spun around him, finally settling on the sight in front of him making him sick to his stomach. He watched as Carapace, who he now knew was Nino, cradling the blooded body of Rena Furtive wild, unhinged screams leaving his throat as he rocked her against his body, every now and then placing his lips to her forehead and muttering sweet nothings in her ear. Nino was stroking her hair back off her face with such tenderness it made his heart scream. Declarations of love leaving his lips between the both beautiful and devastating displays of affection.

A secondary scream sounded around the room pulling his attention to its owner. This time the vision in front of him made him wretch and remove whatever sat in his stomach. He watched Ladybug, Marinette, lay her head upon a chest screaming and sobbing as she mourned the life of the one she loved because, unlike Alya, there was no doubt in his mind that it was Adrien's dead body laying underneath her. She pounded against him with her fists; begging him to come back to her, telling him how much she hated him, how much she loved him, how she couldn't live on without him.

His heartbroke, no not just broke, it shattered. He loved Marinette still, she was his first love after all, but he'd long since made peace with being nothing more than friends. He looked at Zoè, seeing the tears stream down her face, before he turned to Kagami. The others had all detransformed leaving only himself, Zoè and the other core Miraculous' still in use. Her face showed regret, and devastation just as the others had.

Attempting to move his arm, he realised there was something wrong with his body. It wasn't responding the way it should. Moving his achy muscles around a little, he left Zoè's safety and pulled himself across the floor in the direction of Marinette. He heard the gasps of the other heroes as he moved slowly across the floor, slowly to Ladybug's side.

"Ladybug," his voice was hoarse, almost as though it hadn't been used in quite a while. She didn't move, just continued her berating of Chat Noir alongside the love for Adrien Agreste, he was wondering if she was struggling with piecing it together that both had gone. Both of the boys who worshipped the ground she walked on no longer here in this world.

"Ladybug," she pounded his chest again, cursing the CPR training she'd received at school because it 'didn't work'. He wasn't coming back.

"Marinette!" She turned her head sharply and looked at him, whatever was left in his heart was demolished due to the lost and broken look she gave him. There was nothing left there. No love, no hope ... no life.

"Luka?" She asked unsure, obviously not caring that the others heard. "Luka?" She asked again, trying to get to her feet. Standing up, she stumbled back down onto her knees in front of him, pain shooting through his body as she connected hers to his. "Luka? I thought ... I thought ... I -"

He 'shh'd' her, rocking her slowly against his body, fighting the need to bite on something and calm his pain. "I'm here," he said softly, knowing that he wasn't the one she wanted here. Knowing that she would gladly swap him for someone else, but trying to console her as much as he could regardless of his intense pain.

They stayed hugging for a while, giving him a chance to think about where he'd been, about what just happened. Lifting her off his chest where she'd fallen, he held her shoulders and looked through her eyes and into the emptiness of her soul.

Luka was alive.

Luka had broken out, which only meant one thing -

"He's alive, Marinette. Adrien's alive, but he needs to free himself from the darkness."