Chapter Text
If Marinette thought her ears were ringing bad, then Chat—with his hearing that was even more enhanced than her own—must feel like his ears were practically falling off. A quick glance at him proved her correct; while she was pressing her hands to her head, Chat had curled up into a ball on the floor, practically trembling in a display that was very unlike him. Marinette instantly ripped off her gloves, fashioning them into a quick muffler and cushioning chat’s ears. He was able to look up at her gratefully, and gave her a weak smile.
Turning around, with one hand still on Chat’s shoulder, Marinette tried to see through the dust and shattered glass, squinting her eyes and straining her enhanced vision to the end of its rope. The noise had thankfully stopped, or it was so quiet that her damaged ears could no longer pick it up.
After about a minuet, when the dust had cleared the tiniest bit, Chat had been able to sit up beside her, with her gloves over his head. Both of their outfits had torn, with Marinette’s pompadour roll having fallen, and she allowed herself the tiniest laugh as she thought about all the work she’d have to do to repair them.
That was when she heard the first, faint, chords of a guitar in the dim, dusty room.
They were familiar chords, especially to a hard-rock aficionado such as herself, she realised that she knew exactly what they were. Shoot to Thrill. AC/DC.
Chat seemed to recognise them as well, as he was finally able to unwrap her gloves with a wince, and look at her with confusion
“What?—“ he began to ask, but he stopped abruptly, staring at something behind her, and when Marinette turned to look, her breath caught in her throat.
A giant, silver guitar pick was slowly floating through the barely visible gaping hole in the wall, and standing proudly on top was a figure clad in green, reptile-skin esque material that grew lighter down his middle. His boots were black and sturdy, the guitar floating at his side blue and green, and a malicious, twisted grin on his normally so placid face. His hair was long, unruly, and a neon, ombre blue that almost seemed to truly glow.
“Luka,” both she and Chat whispered at the same time, turning to each other with grim looks. Also known as Viperion, was the unsaid implication.
It had been two weeks, but it looked like Hawk Moth was back on the warpath.
She could feel her lungs contracting, but a nudge from Chat managed to stave off the panic attack. She turned to him, but he wasn’t looking at her, he was staring at the Akumatized Luka with outright confusion.
“What?” she whispered, mentally thanking the pile of rubble that obscured them from view. Chat narrowed his eyes, peering closer.
“Is it just me, or does he look… uncannily close to Guitar Villain?” Marinette blinked.
“Jagged Stone’s akumatized form?” She looked a little closer, and… Chat was right. The similarities were uncanny. Luka’s hair was the same style, the only difference being the blue in place of purple, and his suit—while more streamlined—was incredibly similar. Even his guitar was clearly taking inspiration from Jagged’s. “Oh my Kwami, you’re right.” She breathed, just as confused as he obviously was.
As soon as she thought this couldn’t get any more nostalgic or confusing, a giant roar pierced through the hall, and a dragon followed behind Luka. It was blue and green, with speakers embedded throughout its scales and wings, while its horns were radio antennae.
“If I had a nickel for every time an akuma had a dragon…” Chat whispered, and Marinette nodded mutely.
The dust had mostly cleared from the air, so she and Chat were finally able to see the damage, and it was bad. Part of the ceiling had caved in from the aftershocks, and a fair portion of the columns were gone, fallen to the floor. Civilians were down all over the place, either blasted to their feet by the initial blow or pinned down by the fallen columns or other rubble. Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette could see Zoé helping the Mayor to his feet while Chloé hopped from foot to foot nearby, Nadja being freed from a column by two of her crew, and Clara Nightingale supporting a woman with a crushed foot as they fled, while holding her child’s hand.
Juleka was standing, having obviously realized who exactly this was, and looking horrified at the development. One hand was raised to cover her mouth, and the silken bottom of her black dress was rustling in the wind that was now free to flow through the hall that had, until moments before, been the site of a party.
“AGRESTE!” Luka shouted, and Chat tensed, a very confused look appearing on his face before the Akuma spoke again. “GABRIEL AGRESTE? WHERE ARE YOU!” Chat’s face relaxed momentarily, before morphing into shock, and then melancholy. Marinette nudged him gently, a silent are you ok? And he nodded his head, a smile spreading on his face.
That was when Marinette realized. Luka’s disappearance at the gala earlier, Gabriel’s involvement in both his hiring and, apparently, his akumatization.
“Gabriel Agreste must have fired him.” She hissed to Chat, who’s eyes widened.
“Right, he was in charge of music tonight, wasn’t he? And fa-Agreste hired him?” Marinette nodded, and that melancholy look returned to Chat’s face.
“What’s she doing?” hissed Chat suddenly, and Marinette followed his gaze to where Juleka had started to slowly walk towards her brother, mouth moving with words they couldn’t hear. Luka laughed only a few seconds after she began speaking
“Luka is gone, Second Act is all who remains! The better singer to come after the first!” that was a very confusing phrase, but before either of the heroes had time to process, Juleka was speaking again, too quiet for her to hear, but Chat was whispering in her ear.
“She’s saying something about how this isn’t him, and asking what happened”
Luka—or Second Act, laughed again, that twisted smile returning. “Oh sis, I really didn’t want to tell you until I was sure, but if you insist… He leaned in towards her, and after a few seconds, Juleka gasped and her eyes went wide, while Second Act grinned. “Don’t you worry, nothing’s gonna happen to you, just them. Juleka reached out, but Second Act had already turned away, floating back to the dragon.
A telepathy mask floated above his visage for a brief second, but that was more than enough time to realise that this was unlike either Hawk Moth’s or Mayura’s. It was indigo instead of blue or purple, and had the overall shape of Hawk Moth’s, but with the addition of curved spikes familiar from Mayura’s.
“Yes, Shadow Moth,” he said as the mask floated away, and he floated higher, oblivious to the shocked looks exchanged between Marinette and Chat. “Listen!” he called to the room, before sweeping his hand in a horizontal arc. Something shifted, and before they knew it, a blast of high pitched sonic force had knocked everyone in the room to their feet once more, with the sole exception of Juleka. “You have nothing to fear, I simply need to… speak with Gabriel Agreste, and Jagged Stone.” It was that last name that made everything yet more confusing, especially given Second Act’s similarities to Jagged’s own akumatized form that Chat had pointed out.
“I promise, nobody will be hurt as long as I get my ask.” He smiled, but it was unsettling, vicious. “However—“ he continued. “if I am not presented with these two men, as well as Ladybug and Chat Noir, in one hour…”. He arced his hand through the air as his dragon roared, and a gaping slash was formed in one of the few remaining walls. “Then Paris will fall to my whims, and I will take great joy in seeing that happen.”
Chat quietly swore, and Marinette definitely agreed. If the small exhibition they’d seen was correct, then Second Act was easily one of the most powerful Akuma’s they’d ever faced, definitely on the level of Style Queen. The other thing was just how different this Akuma was from Silencer. Luka in that form had retained much of his original characteristics, he was a rather gentle and indirect akuma, not one to threaten lives. Second Act was very, very different.
He left through the roof after that, leaving a shellshocked room. Marinette turned to chat immediately. There was… a lot to unpack there, but one thing was pressing on her most of all.
“Shadowmoth?” she said, voice a little trembly. Chat looked at her sadly.
“M’lady, I think…”. He trailed off, but she already knew what he was going to say. The name, the dragon, the telepathy mask that was such a perfect mesh of Hawk Moth’s and Mayura’s.
“He can unify miraculouses.” she finished for him. “He’s got the peacock—Duusu—active too.”
The two of them quickly slipped out of their outfits (Marinette had made sure to make that as easy as possible, just in case of an emergency like this) and darted out from behind the rubble, drawing relieved sighs from several people.
“Everyone, please evacuate this space. Get to your homes if you can, and if you are able, hide in a basement. Chat and I will take care of this, but we need you to get to safety.” Those still present hurried out as Chat and she walked up to Juleka, who, thus far, had made no effort to leave. She hurried up to meet them half-way, fiddling with her bracelet, and a stricken look on her face.
“What happened?” Chat asked as they reached each other, and Juleka took a deep breath, steadying her trembling form before she answered in a quiet mumble.
“Luka, he— he wasn’t just akumatized because Agreste Senior fired him.” She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts while Marinette and Chat exchanged a look. They were right about one thing, at least. “He… was upset before that, but Luka doesn’t get akumatizably angry that easily. He—he said…” she paused, swallowing. “He said he had found out who our dad is.”
Marinette sucked in a breath. She knew how sore of a topic that was for the Couffaine twins, and that while Juleka certainly harboured resentment towards the man who abandoned her and her brother, Luka took it to a whole other level that was most unlike how he usually was.
“And that didn’t push him over?” Chat asked softly, obviously aware of Juleka’s state at the moment. She shook her head.
“No, he kept it together until that ass fired him, and replaced him with our dad.” Marinette blanked.
“I’m sorry, what?” she said, holding up a hand. “Why would Agreste replace Luka with your dad? He couldn’t possibly know if you two didn’t—“
“Well, that’s the thing.” Juleka mumbled. “It made perfect sense.” Marinette and Chat looked at each other in confusion. Prices were beginning to come together in Marinette’s mind, but no, no that was crazy…
“Juleka, who is he?” Asked Chat kindly. “Can you tell us?” Juleka nodded.
“Yeah. Its— It’s Jagged. Stone.”
Chat’s jaw dropped as Marinette nearly fainted.
“Well—“ she said, giggling weakly. “That explains a few things,” and that it did. ‘Second Act,’ the better than the original—proving he was better than his father, for whom he had been passed over, in his mind for the second time. Luka’s resentment towards his father, the Guitar Villain-esque costume, and his addition of Jagged Stone to his list of demands.
“Do you think he knows? Jagged?” Chat asked, and to Marinette’s surprise, Juleka shook her head.
“No, I don’t.” She mumbled. “I’ve never been quite as mad as Luka, but I didn’t like my dad either. He abandoned us before we were born. But, I’ve met Jagged, a couple times actually—a friend of mine knows him—and he doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would abandon his kids. I just… don’t think he knew.” She finished with a sigh, and it was clear just how many conflicting and complicated emotions were coming up for her.
If Marinette was in civilian mode right now, she would’ve hugged her, but she had to settle for a comforting hand on Juleka’s shoulder and a mental promise to hug her the next time she could.
“Thank you, Juleka.” she said with a smile. “You live on a houseboat, right?” Juleka nodded. “Well, I think you might be just about the safest person in the city right now, but it might not be a bad idea to stick around here, maybe go into the mayors office, it looks relatively untouched.”
Juleka nodded. “Just… save him. Please.” She muttered, quiet and worried. It broke Marinette’s heart, especially knowing that she was the reason this had happened to Luka. But, she put on a smile anyway.
“It’s what we do,” she said, before swinging away with Chat at her side.