Divided We Stand: Battle of the Miraculous

Luka?

"Marinette, are you absolutely sure?" Tikki asked.

"Yes." Marinette walked out of the train station, passing Adrien on her way out.

"Hi Adrien." Didn't Alya say he was sick? He didn't look sick.

Marinette didn't have time to wonder. She was in a hurry and scurried past him. Once she was sure no one could see her, Marinette transformed and made her way back to the school.

She found Luka roaming the halls to make sure all the students were safely hidden.

"Luka Couffaine, here is the miraculous of the snake, which grants the power of second chance. You will use it for the greater good and return it to me once we have defeated Hawkmoth." She held out a box with the snake miraculous in it.

"I don't understand." Luka hesitated to take the box. "You said no one who had ever used a miraculous except for Cat Noir will be able to help you again."

Ladybug sighed. "Yes, but you never revealed which miraculous I'd given you. Plus the quantum masking is supposed to confuse people so they won't recognize you."

Luka looked back to the classrooms and then back at her. "It must be a big emergency, if you need me."

Ladybug swallowed. "Yes. Cat Noir is... indisposed today. I can't defeat Chloe and the sentimonster by myself."

Luka took the box, snapping the bracelet on his wrist. "Hi Sasss."

The snake kwami bowed his head in greeting.

"Sasss, scales slither!" The kwami disappeared into the bracelet, transforming Luka into Viperion.

Ladybug gave him a small smile. "It's good to see you, Viperion."

"I wish you would tell me what's really wrong." Viperion stared at her with his ocean blue eyes. Luka had a way of making Marinette feel like he was looking into her soul.

She shook her head. He was Viperion, and she was Ladybug. She couldn't get distracted. Not now.

"Let's go."

The two headed back to the Eiffel Tower. By the time they got there, the sentimonster was gone and Hawkmoth had deakumatized Chloe.

"This is utterly ridiculous," Chloe said. "He just gave up. He said he couldn't possibly beat you." Chloe flipped her ponytail. "I mean, I didn't even get a chance to fight you." Then she stomped away.

"I don't understand," Ladybug said. She looked back to Viperion. "Why would Hawkmoth retreat?"

"I don't know." Viperion scanned the perimeter. "I don't think we're safe here, or that Hawkmoth's retreated."

"We should go somewhere you can detransform," she said.

"My mom's boat isn't far from here." Viperion held out a hand. "Come with me."

Once on board the boat, Viperion detransformed. "Sasss scales shed."

He handed the miraculous back to Ladybug. She took the box, reluctant to leave Luka's bedroom. She didn't want to face Cat Noir's betrayal.

"Can I play you a song, Ladybug?" Luka reached for his guitar and sat on the bed.

Ladybug smiled. Luka played songs for everyone. She loved that he was a musician, and she liked listening to his music.

"Everyone has a unique melody," he started.

Ladybug blushed a little. He'd already played a song for Marinette, a tune he thought fit her personality. She wondered what song Ladybug would have.

Yet, when Luka started to play, it was the same song he'd played for her—for Marinette.

"See, I like this song because of its hidden qualities. The things that you don't see unless you're really looking. Kind of like you, Marinette."

Ladybug took a step back. It wasn't possible for Luka to know. The quantum masking... "I don't know what you're talking about, Luka."

"Yes, you do. I already had my suspicions when you told me about being tired of your responsibilities. About how you could never be your true self. That's why I followed you at school today. I saw you transform."

"You're not supposed to know. No one is." She sat in a chair across from the bed.

"Will you detransform? I think it's easier if we talked as ourselves." Luka set his guitar to the side.

"Tikki, spots off."

"What are you doing, Marinette?" Tikki gave Luka a furtive glance.

"He already knew. There's no point in pretending anymore, Tikki."

Luka smiled at the kwami. "What's really going on?" He turned to Marinette. "We saw Cat Noir earlier. Why didn't he come help you?"

Marinette frowned. Her lip trembled. Finally, she told Luka what had happened the day before.

"I didn't think he would abandon me. I don't know where he is. Or, if he's helping Hawkmoth," she whispered.

"Why would he help Hawkmoth? It doesn't make any sense."

"He kept talking about how Hawkmoth was trying to help someone, and once he had, he would stop akumatizing people."

Luka pursed his lips. "This is weird, Marinette. How can you fight Cat Noir and Hawkmoth?"

"She can't," Tikki said. "I should go to the guardians. They'll know what to do."

"You don't know where to find them," Marinette pointed out. "None of us do."

"You can't take on all three villains by yourself though."

Marinette fingered the snake miraculous. "I'll figure something out. I have to put this back where it belongs."

Luka stopped her as she went to leave. "If you ever need my help—as Viperion or as Luka—I'm here for you."

She gave him a real smile this time. "I know." Marinette leaned to kiss Luka on the cheek.

When she got back to the locker at the train station, Marinette found the door ajar.

"That can't be good," Tikki said.

Marinette's heart fell. "No."

Three miraculouses were missing. The bee, the fox, and the dragon. "Cat Noir."

"No!" Tikki said. "It can't be."

"Chloe and Lila hate me. I don't know why Kagami might join them, but Cat is building an army of miraculous wielders."

The miracle box was no longer safe here, so Marinette took it back to her house. She wasn't sure where she would keep it, but until she found someplace Cat Noir would never find, she wanted it with her whenever possible.

"Marinette, you have to find someone else. Someone Hawkmoth doesn't know that can help you."

"I know." Marinette opened the drawer that held the snake miraculous. "I think I know who."