Love In War

POV of Outsider

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Master Fu threw the radio to the floor as the reporter kept talking about Hawkmoth's new reign towering over the night as the man in Gold stood tall and proud on the Eiffel Tower having captured Adrien Agreste. He clapped his hands to get the two superheroes out of their trance of guilt and worry, "well sitting here and worrying won't get us anywhere. We've been given a second chance to get the butterfly miraculous back and hopefully the peacock miraculous once Hawkmoth is taken care of."

"He's right." Marinette stood up and slapped her cheeks a bit to wake herself up, "we can't keep sitting around anymore, I'm sure Tikki is ready to go out too." At her words, the little kwami flew over in a heartbeat and hugged Marinette's cheek lovingly.

They looked back and Sir Noir who was a bit flabbergasted at how they both jumped back into the situation so quickly. Finding out Hawkmoth's identity is no small issue and shouldn't be taken lightly. But Sir Noir knows they both understand that.

Standing up, the three of them get together with Master Fu starting, "you'll need help facing off against Hawkmoth." He opens the miraculous box and lets them choose whatever they deem necessary.

From past fights, Marinette already knows some people in mind to take the Bee and Fox miraculous while Felix struggles. He thinks about how he already messed up with giving the dragon to Adrien and leaving him alone. Ladybug suddenly grabs the turtle and gives it to him with a wink. He smiles with determination but Master Fu stops him and gives him one more.

Looking down, it's the snake miraculous, "Master, I don't know who to give this to."

"You'll know." Master Fu sends him off with a wink then stops Ladybug before she can swing off with him, "I know I can trust you to do the right thing when the time comes. I chose you to become Ladybug for a reason, just as you told me you knew Chat Noir's identity, I hope you'll be able to do the right thing for the better of others again, even if it's not something you want to do." He didn't smile nor scowl but just tapped the back of her hand with a sad expression.

Ladybug nodded her head, "I always try to, Master." She jumped away without another word with the bee and fox miraculous in hand, she headed for Alya's house.

Jumping through the window, Alya and her sisters came out from the master bedroom, relieved to see her, "thank god it's just you Ladybug! I was worried that Street Fighter had found us." Her little sisters ran up to the superhero and gave her a big hug.

But when they noticed how dark it was they spoke up, "Ladybug! Ladybug! Have you defeated the bad guy yet? The sun is already down!"

At their question, Ladybug pulled Alya aside and handed her the miraculous, "I need this back when the fight is over. I have no time to explain everything now but this is it, this is where we end Hawmoth's reign of terror on this city." She pushed the box toward Alya who immediately accepted.

"Go back to your rooms and call mom. She should be back any second!" The little girls did as they were told and as they ran out, Alya said with determination radiating from her, "Trixx, let's pounce!" When the orange lights faded, Alya's heroic alter-ego, Rena Rouge appeared ready to fight what she thought was hopefully her last battle.

The two jumped away and raced atop the roofs in front of them. Rena questioned, "this doesn't lead us to the Eiffel Tower, where are we going?" She followed closely behind Ladybug only to see a smile shine across her face.

Looking up, the two of them reached the Bourgeois Hotel, answering Rena's previous question. Strutting in like she owned the place, Ladybug searched the ghost town high and low until the girl she was looking for ran straight up to Ladybug herself. She shrieked, "Oh~ Ladybug! I knew you'd come back for me!" She hugged her idle while ignoring the sly fox next to her and started rambling on about how she had locked herself in her room until she could be rescued.

But Ladybug cut her off, "Chloe Bourgeois the city of Paris needs your help in fighting against Hawkmoth. I'm offering you the Miraculous of the Bee to help protect Paris then to return it to me when the time has come. Do you accept this responsibility and the secret that comes with it?" She lifted up the box for Chloe to pick up but she just stares at it. "We don't have much time." Ladybug tried to nudge her on but Chloe just stared at it.

"What about Luka?"

Ladybug was shocked by the question and asked, "what about him?"

"Is he alright? Wasn't he akumatized?"

"Hawkmoth set him free, he should be fine by now."

Chloe slowly grabbed the case and whispered, "as long as he's alright now." She slipped the miraculous into her hair and said, "buzz on."

~~~

Sir Noir searched the streets for Nino before he finally found where he lived. Landing himself on the balcony of Nino's apartment, he whipped open the glass door to reveal Nino sitting on his couch playing video games while jamming out to music without a care in the world.

Sir Noir rolled his eyes before yanking off the headphones making the poor kid jump, "hey! Hey! Hey! What was that for?" Nino cranked his neck upwards to meet Sir Noir's deep-sea blue, feline eyes glaring back down at him. He gulped as he shivered under his domineering presence.

Pulling the small bok from his belt, Sir Noir squatted down to Nino's level and awkwardly handed it to him and said, "I need that back when we're done." He didn't wait to see Nino's reaction, for he still had the snake miraculous to give but no one in mind to give it to.

Stepping back out onto the balcony, Sir Noir waited for Carapace to be beside him before jumping up onto the roof again. The two ran side-by-side through the city as Sir Noir was lost in thought of what to do next. Nino slowed down and pointed to the almost empty streets exclaiming, "isn't that Luka? I wonder what he's doing out here alone so late at night." Without even knowing it, Nino had pointed out the only other person Felix had come in contact with since arriving in London.

With that same thought crossing Sir Noir's mind, he stopped and turned to Carapace, "you go look for Ladybug and the others. I'll catch up."

Nino chuckled, "alright. Oh, and nice cat pun bro!" Before Sir Noir could even understand what he meant, Carapace jumped away on a search for a lady dressed in red.

Meanwhile, Sir Noir stayed behind and watched Luka trudge down the street as if he'd been punched in the gut a few times over. At first, the cat didn't know if he should go back to Ladybug claiming he couldn't find anyone else but then knew better than to trick his lad- ahem...I mean his partner. Building up his slippery courage, he jumped down into the street making Luka glance up then scowl.

Whether the scowl was towards himself or Sir Noir didn't matter by now.

The two men were getting closer and closer in range of each other before Luka stopped and mumbled, "can you just let me go Chat Noir. I was akumatised, what more do you want me to say?" He turned his gaze down to his gloves.

"I want you to accept responsibility."

Luka didn't say anything nor did he look up. The guilt of that afternoon was seeping through his skin making it upsettingly obvious that he didn't mean for any of his emotions to go that far.

Sir Noir didn't move an inch, "just accept it."

Luka glanced up but immediately did a double-take at the city's hero standing in front of him with his arm stretched out holding an alien box towards him. He backed away but Sir Noir was quicker and tripped him using his staff.

"I'm asking you to help us stop this. You can redeem yourself instead of running from responsibility when it calls upon you." Sir Noir retracted his staff and put his hand out for Luka to grab.

But like a beaten puppy, he let his head drop instead of standing back up. He whispered, "I hurt a lot of people today. I was going to personally beat up Adrien again!" His blue hair covered his eyes as he spit out in anguish, "she'll never forgive me. How can I show myself in front of her ever again?!"

Sir Noir rolled his eyes and yanked Luka to his feet and asked as time ticked away, "do you want her to forgive you or are you fine with her being angry with you for the rest of your life because of the stupid decisions you continue to make?"

"What?"

"Marinette is too kind to blame you for doing something you had no control over. Hawkmoth used your own emotions against you and the city. But you can help stop him. You can show everyone you're not a villain." Sir Noir held the box out one more time, "just accept the responsibility. Whether it be for Paris or Marinette, we need you, Luka. Not Streetfighter."

Timidly, Luka grabbed the box and opened it to find a little snake kwami to greet him. With determination gleaming in both of their eyes, Luka shouted, "scales slither!"

With that, the two headed towards the tower in search of Ladybug and the others to hopefully end this once and for all.