Last resort
Ladybug was now on her knees, holding her face. She wasn’t looking at either Luka or Adrien.
“How… how did I not see it sooner? I heard you speak! I told myself I’d never forget your voice and yet—“
“I slightly lower it as Viperion.” Luka replied, his voice now a slightly higher octave, but still deep and silky.
“IT DOESN’T MATTER!” Ladybug screamed. “I should’ve known your voice when I heard it! But— h-how did you know I was—“
“I’ve always known.” Luka interrupted. “From the moment Ladybug made her debut. I know you when I see you. Chat Noir took me a bit longer to figure out, but I still came to the conclusion quickly.” Luka crouched down, sitting on the floor. However, he was a safe distance from Ladybug. Adrien followed, sitting next to Luka.
“This can’t be possible! The Luka I knew would never turn to this!” Ladybug insisted.
“I’m not the Luka you knew. Much as happened to me since then. Once I forced you out of my life, things went downhill really fast. Things that had nothing to do with you.”
“What could have possibly happened that would lead someone with such a kind soul to a life of crime and murder?! And I don’t believe you! I was horrible to you! This is definitely all my fault!”
“Shortly after we parted ways, my dad returned to my life. Turns out he was Jagged Stone. Insisted he was ready to be there for us. I didn’t believe that. But things were fine until he let it slip to Bob Roth that he had two talented kids. Bob wanted to sign us to his label, especially me so he could make loads of money off us. I took Juleka and stormed off to go talk to my dad. But Bob wasn’t happy with this. He followed us and ran us off the road. Juleka is now permanently paralyzed from the waist down, wheelchair bound for life. Bob wasn’t done with his revenge for denying him. He sent Hayden Allard after us. Hayden quickly killed our mom, and said Juleka was dead too if I didn’t keep quiet. So I did. Up until he contacted us again. Saying he knew I was Viperion and that he had plans to go after Juleka. So he had to go too.”
Ladybug stared at the floor as she listened to Luka speak. “So you killed Hayden Allard…”
“Gabriel Agreste was my doing too.” Luka added. “Thought I’d do Adrien a favor. That was at the start of our friendship too.”
“To think the answer was right under our noses…” Ladybug’s shaky voice spoke. “So what if things were bad with your dad… I was bad to you first! I was horrible to you when we dated! I never told you the truth about anything!”
“D-dating?” Adrien asked. “You two dated? Luka, you didn’t mention that.”
“When we were teenagers.” Luka confirmed. “For a few years. I thought Marinette was lovely. She was the first person I ever fell in love with. But that love quickly faded as she did nothing but lie, snap at me, and push me out of her life. She wasn’t evil. Never has been. She just didn’t want to admit what was happening with her mom.”
“You—“ Ladybug began. “You know?”
“I learned on my own after we broke up. I had my suspicions. So I did some research. I was right.”
“What… happened with your mom, LB?” Adrien questioned.
“She was diagnosed with cancer.” Ladybug answered in a low voice. “I didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t want them to worry about me. So I never told anyone. Not even my boyfriend. I had so much between caring for my mom and helping with the bakery I just… I cracked under the pressure. I began to be mean. Snapping at Luka and getting mad at him for asking about me. Calling him stupid for not leaving me alone. I’d lie about where I was, what I was doing. He gave me one last chance before he broke things off to tell the truth. I refused.” Ladybug took a breath. “My mom died when I was 19. A few years after me and Luka cut contact. By then I had already began college. After my breakup with Luka, I decided I didn’t need to express my emotions anymore. Emotions are what hurt Luka. I didn’t want to hurt anyone else.”
“But Luka is so understanding! He would’ve helped you—“
“I know. I was such a wreck I just… I couldn’t handle it. I was horrible at interacting with people. I wasn’t ready for a relationship. I took one on when I couldn’t handle it and I hurt someone that didn’t deserve it. And now he’s turned to a life of crime…”
“Marinette, I only hurt people who have done something evil. Almost all the stores I’ve robbed are stores with owners that have done something bad. And I’ve never killed an innocent soul. If anyone innocent got hurt, I always made sure they got help.” Luka explained.
“Then why…” Ladybug looked up at Luka, tears now forming in her eyes behind her mask. “Why did you never come after me?” Her voice cracked as she spoke the words.
“What?” Luka asked with a gasp. “I never came after you because you aren’t evil, Marinette! You’re a bit selfish sometimes, but you aren’t evil. Sure, I’m mad at you for hurting me. But I would never hurt someone who lacks a truly evil melody.”
“You should’ve!” Ladybug cried. “You could’ve taken me out of my misery! Then I wouldn’t have to live to see my dad face the same fate as my mom!”
Shock came to both Luka and Adrien’s faces.
“Your dad died of cancer too?” Adrien asked.
“Not yet! But he’s going to! He said the doctors say he has 6 months at best!” Ladybug sobbed, throwing her hands over her face. “He tries his best to stay positive, but it’s just so hard for me! What kind of cruel fate is this? That I’m going to lose both of my parents to cancer! I don’t know which cosmic being has it out for me, but surely one of them does!”
Adrien tilted his head. He took a breath before pushing himself to stand. He took a few steps towards Ladybug, then sat next to her. Steadily, he wrapped his arms around her from the side.
The reaction from Ladybug wasn’t one of anger or reluctance. Instead, she turned towards Adrien, hugging him back.
“Kagami says I need to stop hiding my emotions! But showing my emotions is what hurt you, Luka!”
Luka shook his head. “That isn’t true, Marinette. What hurt me was your inability to deal with your emotions. But you’re older now. You’ve had time to grow. That doesn’t mean you had to just throw them away.” He insisted gently.
“How often do you talk to Kagami, Mari?” Adrien asked. “I know you’re friends. But I didn’t know she knew much about you.”
“She’s my girlfriend.” Ladybug revealed.
“Girlfriend?” Both men asked in unison.
“LB, when did you get a girlfriend?” Adrien asked.
“We started dating a few years ago. I met her when I was visiting my dad a few years back. I took a break and went to a nearby park where she happened to be. I thought it was funny she was a cop too. We stayed in touch ever since. Quickly fell for each other. But I’m surprised she’s willing to put up with me, honestly.” Ladybug sniffled after she spoke. “She’s just able to read me, I guess.”
“Well, I’m glad you have someone to talk to.” Adrien replied. “But I’m your friend too. You don’t have to be so cold all the time.”
“Cold is what gets the job done. But now… I don’t know if I can even call myself a cop anymore now that I know Viperion is Luka…” Ladybug inhaled deeply. “Because I don’t want to turn him in.”
“See?” Adrien exclaimed. “Luka isn’t evil. He just has a different version of justice than we’re taught to believe as a cop.”
Luka nodded. “I believe in helping lost souls. People who need it. I rob shops because Juleka can’t work and my job doesn’t pay a lot. We need the money. It just helps that who I steal from tend to be evil.”
Ladybug pulled back from Adrien. She removed her mask, using the back of her hand to wipe her eyes.
“How many other people know, Adrien? Obviously you’ve had help.”
“Chloe, Kim, and Alix.”
“Makes sense. Kim and Alix love drama, and Chloe was your childhood friend.” Ladybug put her mask back on. “Well. We’re officially all dead. If Lila finds out about this, we’re all going to prison. She doesn’t have a soft spot for anyone. Lila isn’t really a nice person herself, but she follows the law. She will stop at nothing to catch Viperion. And if she learns we’ve been aiding him in getting away, she’ll throw us all in prison for the rest of our lives.”
“So what do we do?” Adrien asked. “I was working with those three to throw out false leads. But Chloe is right when she says it won’t work forever.”
Ladybug turned to look at Luka. “Luka. Viperion hasn’t struck in a few weeks. You should keep it that way. You don’t have to continue this life of crime. Me and Adrien can help you. We’re both very financially stable. And not everyone that’s evil needs to die.”
“Justice won’t serve itself, Marinette.” Luka argued. “If I hadn’t killed Hayden, me and Jules could be in serious danger. And don’t even try to say you would do something about it. That man knew what he was doing. The only way to get rid of him was to kill him.”
“I… I can’t entirely argue with you there. But you don’t have to kill anyone else.”
“Luka, you said it yourself that anyone that had hurt you and Juleka in the past is dead now.” Adrien added. “You could stop. Make Viperion a thing of the past.”
“But… even if I do go completely dark, the cops are never going to stop looking for me. Your team may eventually drop my case, but someone else will pick it up. I’ve already solidified my fate by becoming Viperion in the first place. There’s no saving me now.” Luka looked at the ground.
“That isn’t true.” Adrien insisted. “If you don’t go out as Viperion anymore, you significantly lower your chances of being caught.”
“But there’s footage of me. Many of my crimes already documented. There’s no way to fully save me.”
“Maybe not. But it’s worth trying.” Adrien pushed himself to stand. “Mari, tell Kagami what you’ve learned. Not what Viperion’s identity is. But that I’ve been the one covering for him. That I’ve befriended him and have been helping him avoid getting caught. Kagami is a good person and she trusts you. I know she won’t say anything. We should tell Sabrina and Rose too. Let’s just try to keep his exact identity between us.”
Ladybug nodded. She stood up as well. “I should be on my way. You should too, Luka. Fix your costume back up. It’s too risky for either of us to have your contact. But if we really need to contact you, we’ll do so.”
Luka nodded. “I’m trusting the both of you. Marinette, we may have had some troubled history. And I’m mad at you, sure. But I don’t hate you. Please take care of yourself.”
Ladybug nodded. “You too, Luka. You too.”
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“You never mentioned how big your house was, Kagami.” Kim commented. The group of cops was in Kagami’s dining room.
“Adrien, why didn’t you tell us you were covering for Viperion sooner?” Rose asked. “We know you’re a good guy. If you decided you’re going to cover the most notorious criminal in all of France, you most certainly have a good reason!”
Sabrina nodded in agreement. “Yeah. It’s certainly odd, but we support you.”
“It’s not that easy for everyone. Kagami and Marinette are much more stubborn. They weren’t going to accept ‘well I fell in love with him’ as an answer.” Adrien retorted.
“He’s right.” Kagami agreed. “I’m going along with this because Marinette asked me to, and I trust her judgment.”
“What about you, Marinette?” Rose asked. “What’s made you go along with this? I didn’t think ever in a million years would you go soft on a criminal.”
Marinette had her hands folded in front of her. She was staring at the table. “I prefer not to comment. Just know I have my reasons. Trust me. My initial instinct was to beat Adrien’s ass and throw Viperion in jail once and for all. But things changed.”
“So we’re all officially in on it. Everyone in this unit, anyways.” Alix said. “What now? Lila doesn’t even know what the word mercy means. She’s a total vixen. If she finds out, all of us are going to prison. As Chloe said previously, this won’t last forever.”
“He agreed to stop going out as Viperion.” Adrien informed. “He’s going to let the persona die. Metaphorically.”
“That doesn’t mean we can stop looking for him. It may make him less of a priority. But he’s still robbed countless stores and committed several murders!” Kim exclaimed. “Lila still wants us to catch him.”
“He tried to stress that to us, actually.” Marinette responded. “But as Adrien pointed out, him not showing up as Viperion anymore makes things less risky for him. Luckily, his voice has never been caught on tape, so there’s nothing that can be done to analyze it digitally.”
“That’s good, but still. What do we do about Lila?” Alix asked. “Won’t she eventually catch onto the false leads?”
“It could absolutely be him that’s leading us astray.” Adrien said. “But we don’t have to give her false leads forever. Eventually, there’s only so much we can realistically find out with him being careful. Hopefully the case can just die out one day.”
“Not on Lila’s watch.” Kagami said with a shake of her head. “Lila is a stubborn bitch. And she’s decided to lock into this.”
“Trust me, Lila always gets what she wants in the end.” Marinette added. “I’ve known her long enough to learn that.”
The sudden sound of Adrien’s fist hitting the table caused everyone sitting at it to jump.
“Not this time. I made a promise to Viperion. He’s going to stay safe. I’m willing to go to prison to keep him safe.”
“Whoa, Adrien. I’m sure that’s not what he wants.” Chloe turned to look at Adrien.
“I know it isn’t. But he has a lot more to lose than I do. If I went to prison, it would be for obstruction of justice and only holds a sentence of a decade at most. He has so many counts of theft, breaking and entering, murder, and a few other things that it would leave him locked up for life.” Adrien explained. “I’d be out eventually. He’d rot in there.”
“We still haven’t answered Alix’s question.” Rose said with a frown. “What do we do about Lila?”
“What we can do. We keep this charade up for as long as possible.” Adrien answered. “In the meantime, we get better at it. We use our skill sets to our advantage.”
“Are you sure this will work, Adrien?” Chloe asked.
“It’ll work as long as it can.”
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It was a week later. Adrien had remained in contact with Viperion, who had kept his promise of not making any public appearances or committing any crimes.
The group of cops minus Ladybug all currently resided in the main room of the station.
Alix was sitting at the middle table with Kim, Chloe, and Rose. She put a playing card down onto the table.
“UNO!” Alix cheered.
“What?! No fair!” Kim exclaimed. “You always get UNO first you must be cheating!”
Alix stuck her tongue out. “Have you considered that maybe you just suck at this game?”
“I know I do. I’m a bit rusty. I haven’t played UNO in quite some time.” Rose gave a gentle laugh.
A ‘buzz’ sound could be heard coming from the two front doors.
Ladybug had her keycard in her hand, entering the room. But she wasn’t alone. Behind her was a very angry looking Lila.
“Wha—“ Alix began upon looking up at the two.
Lila shoved her way past Ladybug, marching over to the table, which she slammed her hand down onto.
“You morons aren’t getting paid to sit here and play Go Fish! You’re supposed to be doing your fucking jobs!” Lila hissed.
“Actually we’re playing UNO—“ Kim was quickly interrupted by the shock of watching Lila swipe her hand across the table, knocking the decks and stacks of cards onto the floor.
“Does it look like I give a shit what game you’re playing?! You’re not supposed to be doing it at all! Why isn’t Viperion’s head on my doorstep yet?”
“Because we’re supposed to capture him, not kill him.” Chat remarked.
“Oh, don’t get smart with me you mangy cat!” Lila hissed. “It’s been nearly two months! All the leads you’ve gotten have gone nowhere! You’re supposed to be competent at your jobs! But you’ve done nothing but sit here and be complete bafoons! I’m done with chances. I’m handing this case to another department.”
“Wait, you can’t do that!” Chat exclaimed suddenly.
Lila fixated her livid gaze on Chat. “And why is that?” Ice etched her tone.
Chat was unable to prevent panic from forming on his face underneath his mask. “Uh— because this is a big case for us! Me and Ladybug are praised for what we do! If anyone can catch him it’s us—“
“Then why haven’t you done it yet?!” Lila slammed her other hand down onto the table. “If you were capable of catching him, you would’ve done it by now.” She paused.
Chat watched as the cold gaze of his superior looked him up and down.
He was shaking. Possibly sweating. Panic painted his face.
Lila brought both her hands to herself. The room had entered an uncomfortable silence. Lila took a step forward, walking over to the chair that Chat resided in. She looked down at him.
“Why are you so nervous, Kitty?”
The question caught him off guard. “B-Because you’re my superior and you’re yelling at me? Why else would I be nervous? It’s important to me that I’m able to do my job.”
“Your voice is shaking. Your body is trembling. Fear lays in your eyes behind your contacts.” Lila observed aloud. “You know, for the fact that I’ve always been good at finding people’s weaknesses, I’m surprised I was stupid enough to fall for these lies for so long. You’re lying to me. All of you are. And it has to do with Viperion. It’s not that you can’t catch him. It’s that you don’t want to. Is that it?”
They were officially done for. Shocked gazes all rested on Lila.
Chat shook his head frantically. “No! I-I can assure you that’s not—“
“Don’t try and tell me I’m wrong. Something has been going on right under my nose. I haven’t put together all the pieces yet. But something is telling me that… you gained sympathy for him.” Lila accused, a finger pointed directly at Chat. “You specifically, Adrien. You just managed to rope everyone else here into your little rodeo. I’m honestly shocked you got Marinette on your side. She’s cold, hard-headed. Something must have happened to sway her. Something personal. At the very least, you two critters know who he is. And he’s someone you know.”
Ladybug remained silent. She didn’t speak a word.
Chat swallowed, attempting to rid himself of the knot in his throat.
“You’re done for. Each and every one of you. I’m throwing you all in prison. But there’s a chance I could go nice on you, Adrien, Marinette. Tell me who he is, and I’ll advocate for you. Lighten your sentences.”
“No.” Ladybug’s firm voice spoke.
Lila turned her whole body to face Ladybug.
“What, you scared, bug? Whoever this is must have thawed your ice cold heart. You always tried to act like you were so nice when you were younger. But I knew the truth. Every time you were with that boyfriend of yours, he looked miserable. I can’t recall his name. Clearly you broke his heart because you’re such an awful person. I can’t imagine who you’d have sympathy for—“ Lila paused, a mischievous smile creasing her lips. “Oh my god.” She said quietly. “That’s who it is. It’s your boyfriend from when you were a teenager. You were so awful to him that his heart was corrupted. He turned into a no-good criminal because of the hurt he endured from you.” Lila laughed, her gaze fixated on an angry looking Ladybug. “That’s why you went soft on him. He must have known who you were. In an attempt at mercy, he revealed himself to you. And it worked. Pathetic. He’s only using you, Marinette. He claims he’s misunderstood. Bullshit! Truly good people don’t deal with their problems like this. His heart is rotten, there’s no saving him now. You feel like his fate is your fault, so that’s why you’re trying to protect him. Well, it is. This is your fault. Because you’re such an evil bitch that refuses to face the consequences of her actions. Your little high school sweetheart is evil now. Honestly, I’m shocked he never came after you, seeing as you’re the one who hurt him. It won’t be hard to find his name. All I need to do is track down someone who knew you. Or hell, just look through the high school yearbook. I remember what he looked like. That punk with the pathetic music—“
A gunshot could be heard.
Lila was cut off, a bullet hitting her square in the back. She turned her head around slowly, quickly finding Chat holding a gun aimed at her.
“What—“
“Stop talking about them that way.” Chat growled, his voice low. “Marinette nor Viperion are evil. They’re both good people. I can’t say the same for you.”
“Y-You—“ Lila stuttered out. “You’re g-going to hell for sure.”
“I can deal with hell. I was never going to Heaven.”
Three more gunshots rang out. Two hit her back, one hit her head. With this, Lila’s body collapsed to the floor.
The stare of every person in the room was directed at Adrien. Not a word was uttered for several minutes.
After what felt like an eternity, Chloe’s voice broke the silence.
“Adrien… what did you just do?”
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