Chapter Text
Luka knows what he needs to do, at least he thinks he does. He pulls out two pieces of paper from his notebook. He pulls out a pen and he looks at the clock as he writes. Juleka comes looking for him in about five minutes. Marinette would be home in about fifteen minutes, give or take. Adrien would be home in about half an hour and then there for about ten minutes before leaving for his shoot where Marinette will meet him.
He can cut out a lot of time if he goes to the shoot. Marinette and Adrien will both hear about it then, at least they should. They will come for them and then he can tell them what he knows and let them decide what action to take.
He folds the papers before tucking them away. He takes a breath. This is it. One last time.
He idly wonders if after this is done he will remember what he has learned in all these past attempts. He isn’t sure since Akumas work differently every time and the idea of lucky charm is to reverse the damage that has been done. Either way, though he is set.
He leaps out into the skyline. He travels to the photo shoot location. And he pulls the folded papers out and looks at them. The only thing left to do is wait. And he doesn’t have to wait too long with the guardians of Paris as they are always quick to help the moment they realize they are needed. He admires them trying to balance their lives and being a hero and knowing who they are he is all the more impressed.
He hears them land, “Might I assume you are the one looking to cause trouble today?” Cat Noir asks.
Luka turns around. “Depends on whether or not you’ll hear me out.” He holds out the two pieces of paper to their respective owner. “My power is second chance and I think there are some things you should know. These papers are simply to prove that I do actually have second chance. They both hold one of your secrets that I learned and used against you in previous attempts.”
Cat Noir and Ladybug look at each other before hesitantly walking forward and grabbing the paper.
“What are you doing, King Cobra?” Hawkmoth asks but Luka decides to ignore him. It doesn’t matter what happens to his powers anymore he isn’t going to go back again.
Cat Noir opens the paper first while ladybug watches. Luka watches Adrien’s face drop. He looks back up at Luka and then back down at his paper. He swallows. “Cat Noir what does it say?”
“I think you should read yours, M'lady.” He says as he crumples the paper in his fist to hide the evidence.
Ladybug opens hers reading it with scrutiny and carefully before she looks up between Luka and Cat Noir. “Where are you going with this?”
Luka pulls off his bracelet. “I’ve done this enough and I don't want to be a villain anymore.” He runs his finger over the Akumatized item, “And I have information that you might be able to use because I’m certain I know the identity of Hawkmoth.”
“Wait how?”
“You do?” they ask simultaneously.
“I do and I found out through a lot of trial and error and connecting suspicious dots.” He holds out the bracelet, “If you want the information it’s yours, Ladybug, just say the word.” She takes the bracelet. And Luka feels the pull of the Akuma. He feels his emotions swell. Except they aren’t his. He pulls the bracelet back and he backs away. This isn’t right. This isn’t what he wants. “King Cobra, enough, I thought we made a deal.” His emotions swirl and twist inside of him manipulated from that first moment he accepted the power.
He needed it. He needed to follow through on his promise to Hawkmoth.
“The deal?” He asks, not quite feeling like himself, not quite real.
“You promised me the miraculous and I said I’d give you the powers of second chance.” Right he did promise, didn’t he? He was given so many second chances which is what he wanted. He wanted them to protect Marinette. He looks up at Ladybug who is speaking, screaming as she holds Cat Noir back. He looks at the black energy around his hand. Cataclysm, he notes and he feels threatened. But Ladybug is protecting him. Marinette is protecting him. He listens to the things around him. “You can fight this Luka.” She says, “you don’t have to listen to him.”
“King Cobra.”
“No.” He hisses.
“No?”
“I’ve, I’ve had enough.” Luka drops the bracelet, taking a few stumbling steps as his emotions overwhelm and battle in his mind.
Luka sees purple bubble out of the bracelet, sees the same purple bubbles well up on his skin pulling away the tainted powers and the costume. He sees Ladybug grab the butterfly as it flies away freeing it of its purpose. And Luka is left exhausted and drained.
Ladybug kneels next to him, “Do you remember?”
Luka thinks for a second, “I do.”
Ladybug looks at Cat Noir. They share a concerned look and Luka knows it is because he is a liability to their secrets.
Luka looks at Cat Noir, and his still energized black fist. “You might want to refresh your powers Cat Noir.” Luka offers.
Cat Noir looks down at his hand before nodding and moving away to do that. Luka collapses to the ground, his time without sleep finally catching up to him. Ladybug helps him sit.
“I’m sorry Luka,” Marinette says, hanging her head. “This is my fault.”
Luka smiles, “Ladybug you have nothing to apologize for.” Luka says, “And even if you did.” Luka cuts her off before she can try to argue, “I’d still say you have nothing to apologize for because the person who broke my heart was following theirs. I can’t fault someone for something as pure as that, not when I did the same.”
“You truly are something special Luka. They are a fool for not appreciating it.”
“Love makes fools of all of us.”
Marinette laughs. “I guess so.” a beat of silence passes. “So you know everyone’s identities?”
“Yeah.”
“And Hawkmoth doesn’t know?”
“Not anymore. He forgot every time I tried again, the way everyone did.”
“And you know his identity.”
“I do albeit with a little less certainty than everyone else since I didn't directly see it the way I did with the heroes.”
“But you're sure?”
“As sure as I could ever be?”
“What did I miss M’lady?” Cat Noir asks walking up.
“Nothing important yet.”
“I was just explaining a little bit of how I know everyone’s identity.”
“And now that Cat Noir is here. Luka who is Hawkmoth.”
Luka looks at Cat Noir, “you may not like this but I’m almost certain that Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste.”
Adrien searches Luka’s eyes, “You’re kidding right?”
“We do need you to be certain about this Luka.”
“I’m sorry but there is no doubt in my mind.”
And Luka can see the exact second Adrien breaks. “M’lady are we actually going to believe him? What if he’s mistaken?”
“He knew who we are Cat Noir, we have no reason to doubt him.” Ladybug says and Luka grabs Adrien’s hand.
“Perhaps it’s time you share this secret with each other.” Luka offers the advice freely, no malice behind it. No ulterior motive. Just advice.
They look at it and Ladybug looks at the piece of paper in her hand before looking at Cat Noir. She looks to Luka. “I guess now that you know the secret is already at risk, sharing it now wouldn’t do any more harm and it would probably help.” She holds out the paper to Cat Noir. He pulls out his own paper from his pocket.
“And assuming Hawkmoth can be defeated you both will be at less risk and have less at risk,” Luka adds on. He really hopes they will be able to take down the villain and put an end to this. If he can be the last person to ever be Akumatized he would be a happy person. And Marinette would be even happier. They trade slips of paper and Luka waits for them to realize that they have been chasing after each other for months, thinking the other was just out of reach.
“You, It’s you.” They both say. They share a soft chuckle and a few laughs.
“All this time you’ve been flirting with me.” Ladybug laughs.
“And to think I was the boy you liked all this time.” Luka feels his heart stutter but he smiles all the same. What they have is special, a love that has lasted months, a melody composed of perfect harmonies and resolving dissonances. The melody has highs and lows and carries an intimacy that can only be shared between those who have seen the best and worst of a person and decide still to love them. It’s a love that transcends logic because logic fails to capture the element of the heart that makes love so special.
Luka doesn’t have that, not yet, and if he tried to have it he would be ruining a perfect melody, cutting short this song in a way that would leave both its musicians broken.
Luka doesn’t have it, but he hopes he will and he hopes Marinette will be there for him when he does. He hopes that she will be there until he does helping him along, and reminding him happiness isn’t linear. He may love her still because one simply does not let go of love but he will learn to. He will learn to let go. He will learn for them.
“So are we going to stand here laughing about all the times you overlooked each other and how ironic it is now or are we going to finish this once and for all so that you can get back to living your lives?” Luka asks, pulling them away from this moment. They lose the chuckles. But Luka notices they don’t quite lose the fuzzy bliss from the revelation.
“Right, Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste.” Cat Noir says and Luka catches Marinette sending a look to Cat Noir that spoke of regret. “What now?”
“Now I think you call in help. Why should there be any question about whether or not this ends today?” Luka says.
“Alright,” Ladybug says. “I’ll be back.” And she swings off. When she returns she hands Cat Noir Queen Bee’s miraculous. Cat Noir hops off into the sky.
Luka is about to turn and go home. He isn’t sure there is anything else he can help the heroes with when Ladybug grabs his arm, pulling him out of the open, and places a bracelet in his hand. Well, two actually the first is the one she made him, that until recently held the Akuma, the second is the miraculous of the snake. She smiles at him, “I think you know how to use this power better than anyone now. What do you say to helping us out this time around?” He smiles and puts both bracelets on.
“Sass, Let’s slither.” and the power feels so similar if not softer and safer. Less jaded edges and less tension. Instead of trying to manipulate his emotions, they rest together side by side. He forgot what the real power felt like. He prefers it.
She then hands him Carapace’s miraculous, “I think you know who this belongs to. Meet back here when you’ve finished.”
“I’m sorry Ladybug. For everything I did. For risking all of your safety.”
She places a hand on his shoulder, “Lu- Viperion, It’s all forgotten and on top of that you made it right again by helping us.
Luka, now Viperion, nodded before ladybug took off to give the fox miraculous to Alya. Viperion was quick to follow pulling knowledge and finding Nino within seconds.
“Nino, I believe you know what to do with this,” Luka said presenting the miraculous.
“Uhm, I, Isn’t ladybug the one who does this.”
“It’s complicated,” Viperion ends up saying because what was he supposed to say, ‘yeah I was Akumatized up until a few minutes ago and now know everyone’s identity, including Hawkmoth and we are going to put a stop to this today once and for all.’ that frankly would raise more question than it was worth. “But Ladybug is gathering everyone to take down Hawkmoth.”
“Wait today? When did she learn his identity?” Nino asks, grabbing the bracelet and putting it on the strangeness of the situation forgotten.
“Today.”
Nino looks at him, “then we’ve no time to waste, Wayzz shell on.” and Luka gets to watch another hero transform before him and it’s so much more inspiring when he was on the same side as them.
“Let’s go.” they leap over rooftops and end up back where they had started. Cat Noir looks at them as he and Ladybug both arrive landing.
“The whole gang is here.” Rena Rouge says. “So what’s the plan?”
Ladybug walks them through the plan occasionally asking Viperion what he thinks and when he gives advice the others not aware of his previous situation are left confused.
And then they move. With an efficiency that Viperion had seen time and time again, except this time he was a part of it. “Viperion you take the lead. If things go wrong you know what to do.” Viperion nods, “everyone else, follow his lead he’ll be giving out advice based on knowledge we won’t remember.”
“Ugh, why do I have to listen to this snake. I’m Queen Bee.” Chloe says.
“Queen Bee, It won’t be orders, it will be advice that could make you all the more heroic.”
“Like you have anything to offer, you haven’t been a hero nearly as long as I have if anything you should be listening to me.”
“Queen Bee It’s-” Ladybug starts but Luka cuts her off with a laugh.
“You’re right, I don’t have nearly the same amount of skill as you do, but if you’ll let me, I'll do my best to help you look amazing.”
“Well when you put it like that, I guess you may be useful after all.” Queen Bee flicks her hair and goes to look towards the horizon.
“You handled that really well.” Cat Noir leans in to whisper to him.
Luka laughs, “I guess it helps that I’ve seen her best.”
“Really.”
Viperion nods, as he remembers the girl who was willing to fight for Adrien even without her powers available to her. “It’s just a matter of giving her the right motivation.”
Cat Noir smiles, “I hope I get to see it someday.”
“I do too, but maybe it can wait until after today.”
“Right.” And then they all move on arriving at Agreste Manor.
“We ready?” Ladybug asks.
“Uh Ladybug, this is Agreste Manor.”
“And Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste,” Ladybug says.
“Ladybug I don’t mean to doubt you but are you sure on this one?” Rena Rouge asks. They all stare at the building. Luka knows that if he is wrong on some strange chance that it will be a scandal. And he can’t let Ladybug face that.
“It’s my information and I’m certain it has to be him,” Luka tells them. They all give each other skeptical looks.
“I trust him, we are moving in and we are ending this today.” Ladybug says, “No more Akumas, no more Hawkmoth, no more victims, no more emotional manipulation.” She takes a stand, a commander of the highest caliber, a leader in every sense of the word. She stood on the edge of the roof. Cat Noir shrugs and moves to stand beside her.
He places a hand on her shoulder, “I’d follow you anywhere M’Lady.”
“Thanks Kitty.” She says placing a hand on top of Cat Noir’s. Luka goes to stand next to Cat Noir.
“Let’s do this.”
The others step forward as well. Rena Rouge standing next to Ladybug, Carapace next to her, and Queen be taking up the other end.
“If we are going to end this let’s do it.”
They move in and listen to Viperion’s directions. Gabriel Agreste meets them. And Viperion can feel the tension as Ladybug crafts a tale to see if they can draw out any sort of admission. Viperion stands and waits.
“So you see we are here to warn you and also to see if we can learn a thing or two about the most recent Akuma.”
“Why isn’t the alert running then?”
“Because we can't risk them hurting the hostage.”
“Who might that be.”
“Adrien was taken from the photo shoot.”
“What?”
“The villain showed up at the shoot and took Adrien. We arrived and thought we defeated the Akuma but it turns out it was just a ruse and they took Adrien and hid him away. We were hoping you might have some information.”
“Natalie.”
“Yes sir?”
“Where is Adrien.” She makes a few calls and shakes her head.
“No one has seen him since an Akuma showed up in the park.
“It isn’t an Akuma. Someone has kidnapped my son, you need to find him immediately.”
“Sir we can assure you there was an Akuma attack and your son has been missing since.”
Viperion takes a deep breath. He flicks his bracelet. He isn’t wrong but he needs to see it. “It wasn’t an Akuma Ladybug,” Gabriel says angrily. “My son is in Danger and you need to find him.”
“How can you be so sure it isn’t an Akuma?” Rena asks. “Viperion saw it with his own eyes,” Rena says gesturing to him.
He smiles as Hawkmoth turns his eyes to him. He stares back. “I did. The Akuma is still out there running around. And he has your son.”
“It isn’t an Akuma.” Hawkmoth Growls.
“Ugh, I’ve had enough of this. Someone just say he’s hawkmoth and let’s get on with this fight already.” Queen Bee demands stepping forward and falling into a fighting stance. Hawkmoth looks furious.
Ladybug had told them the Miraculous of the butterfly was a pin. “That is a ridiculous accusation. My son is missing and you accuse me of doing it?”
“Well that is assuming it is an Akuma attacking your son, but you seem fairly sure it is not. Of course, this is an incredibly easy thing to prove. Could you perhaps remove your ascot?”
“You come into my house…” Hawkmoth doesn’t get to finish that sentence as Queen Bee ever the eager Hero summons venom and Gabriel steps back.
“What makes you think it’s me?”
“Because you gave me the ability of second chance and there was one loop where you let some information slip and let’s just say I connected the dots.”
Hawkmoth laughs. “Alright if you want a fight. Nurroo, dark wings rise.”
He pulls his cane out and points it at them, and then chaos erupts. Luka rewinds and taps Ladybug's shoulder. She knows now that Luka has rewound once. She looks at him. “So?”
“It’s him.”
“Where?”
“Under his ascot.”
Gabriel moves and summons forth his miraculous. Another fight and Luka waits to see if he needs to rewind this time.
He does. He taps Ladybug's shoulder twice. Two rewinds. She moves immediately knowing there is no reason for him to have rewound a second time if a fight didn’t occur.
And this time Gabriel gets no warning. He is tangled in Ladybug’s yoyo. Natalie makes some protests, declaring she will hire a lawyer. How she will sue, how this is illegal. But it doesn’t matter when Ladybug walks up to Gabriel Agreste. “His ascot,” Luka says.
She rips it off revealing a purple gem and she pulls it off. The butterfly miraculous.
She hands it to Cat Noir. Rena Rouge please contact the authorities and let them know we finally captured Hawkmoth.
And that’s it. That’s the end. Natalie was arrested for aid and abetting. The house was searched and the miraculous of the peacock was recovered as well.
“So it really feels like we weren’t needed for this one Ladybug.” Carapace says surveying the area.
“Better to be over-prepared than underprepared. And I think there is one last thing I want to do.” Ladybug says turning to all of them. “We won and I have all of you to thank for that. I think we should celebrate, relax.”
“What did you have in mind M’Lady?” Cat Noir asks.
“Let’s do this on the rooftops.” Ladybug says and they follow.
They end up on a rooftop with no one around. “So…?” Rena Rouge asks.
Ladybug smiles and turns away. “Lucky charm.” A picnic basket falls into her hands and she sets it out and they enjoy a small party with cake and laughter and recounting all the heroes' successes.
“I don’t think Paris could have asked for better heroes.” Luka finally says. “I’m glad I could be a part of it even if this is the last time.”
“Last time what do you mean last time?” Queen Bee asks.
“Well, we aren’t exactly needed anymore now that Hawkmoth has been defeated,” Luka tells them and the mood is soured a little.
“Actually about that. When I went to go get the miraculous from the guardian for this I told him what was happening and asked if Hawkmoth was defeated if maybe we could change how we handle the miraculous.” Ladybug says. She looks at all of them, “and you all can hold on to your miraculous after this as long as I get a special promise that all miraculous holders are suppose to give before they receive a miraculous ensuring you will use your miraculous for good.”
“I think we are all done with villainy for a while.” Carapace says.
“And more heroes means being able to cover for others and sharing the load,” Rena adds looking at Carapace
“It would also give me a chance to prove I’m a better hero than all of you.” Queen Bee says.
Everyone laughs, “I think I can get behind a little friendly rivalry, who can save Paris the most.” Luka says moving his hand in the air as if displaying the name of the game in the air.
“I think Ladybug and Cat Noir have an unfair head start on that one,” Rena says laughing.
Ladybug’s earrings blink and flicker marking the end of her lucky charm. “Ladybug you need to leave.” Cat Noir tells her.
“Actually that was the second change. Since none of us can be Akumatized and turned against each other. There is no need to hide our identities from fellow heroes, the general populace still can’t know since it could lead to all sorts of issues but we’re in this together.” Ladybug says.
Ladybug’s earrings give out and Tikki appears in her hands exhausted revealing Marinette.
“Dupain-Cheng?” Chloe says.
“She isn’t the only one you know.” Cat Noir. “Plagg claws in.” and in his place sits Adrien handing Plagg some cheese as ladybug feeds Tikki a cookie.
“Sass, scales rest.”
“Trixx, let’s rest.”
“Wayzz, shell off.”
“Pollen, buzz off,” they say one by one and then they all look around.
“I can’t believe I got stuck with a bunch of losers for heroes.” Queen Bee says.
“Oh come on Chloe, Just think you are one of the few people who know the true identities of Paris's heroes.”
“Well, when you put it like that.”
Everyone laughs and it’s good. They joke about all Marinette and Adrien's dumb excuses to go save Paris. They share ideas for excuses in the future. And Chloe joins, after seeing Adrien at his finest, in promising to help where she can. Luka remembers seeing the potential for an amazing hero in Chloe, a better person. He sees that person now. She has a long way to go but she’ll make it there.
Adrien and Marinette finally get together after they learn that they have loved each other since day one and everyone pokes fun of that for a while and they laugh along because this whole situation is silly.
It’s good and Luka has never seen Marinette more at ease, more happy than he did in that one moment.
They sit on that roof for ages, talking until the sun goes down. They promise to protect and serve the city, to protect the identities of their fellow heroes and themselves. And they leave happier, more complete people than when they gathered there today.
Luka is left with Marinette on that roof. “Thank you, Luka, for bringing this all to an end. And thank you for helping me with anything I could ever need.”
“You deserve it.”
“You deserve it too,” she says solemnly. “Why is life unfair, you shouldn’t be hurting like this you are such a good guy.”
“Marinette. It’s okay I’ll find someone someday. Until then promise to be there for me, as a friend?”
She smiles, “Luka you are a priceless friend and whenever you need me I will do my best to help.” She pulls him into a hug. “I hope I can be a friend worthy of your kindness.”
“You always have been.” He says hugging her back.
She pulls away. And they sit there in silence for a little bit. “You know it’s weird, I have always been working towards what happened here today but I never really prepared for what to do after.”
Luka looks at the sky. “I think that’s a problem for tomorrow, it’s getting late.”
“Right. We have time now to figure it out.” She says standing up summoning her powers so that she can get home. She pulls him to his feet and he follows her lead, he has to go home too.
“Well I think we can start where you always have, there is a lot of Paris out there to protect.”
She laughs, “Right Right. I think that’s a good place to start.” she turns and prepares to leave. “See you around Viperion.”
“Til next time Ladybug.” and they both disappear to head home. When he gets home he talks with Juleka and mom and they all enjoy the evening, their thoughts free from fears of an Akuma, Luka would be the last.
The moon was full and bright, the stars perfectly clear in the night sky. The sun would be brighter in the morning.
The heroes had won. As they always had and always will.