Chapter Text
Promise of a Miracle Season 2: The Invasion
Chapter 1
History Repeating
Luka never thought it would end like this. Trapped in his own houseboat struggling for freedom as the water rose higher and higher. The rock pushing against his chest made it hard to breathe. Panic was setting in, making it even worse. He tried reaching for his phone but it was no use. The water was now reaching his chest and he realized no one was expected to come home for a few more hours. He wasn’t going to last that long.
Vaguely he wondered what these rocks even were, was this an Akuma attack? It could be but something didn’t feel right. An Akuma attack could be dangerous for sure but this just felt…consuming. Like these things weren’t being controlled by someone but instead they acted like a force of nature whose sole purpose was destruction. His thoughts ceased as a large wave invaded his room pushing the rest of the house and himself underwater.
He held his breath as long as he could hoping someone, anyone would come and save him. His lungs burned desperate for air until finally he was forced to take a breath inhaling nothing but water. He continued to struggle for another minute or two before everything started to fade. He was dying, he knew. He had accepted that reality when a grayish blurr broke through the window directly in front of him. It took his oxygen deprived brain a moment before he recognized the black and white striped ponytail identifying the blob as Tanuki, no, Varian.
He might have been trying to tell him something but his consciousness was fading fast. He managed a small smile knowing he had been right about the other boy. He hoped he’d be able to tell him that himself some-
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Varian raced to the docks as fast as he could trying to keep Luka’s houseboat insight as it started to sink. His heart was in his throat as he prayed Luka had made it out OK. He nearly screamed as a wave swept over the what little was left of the boat.
He dove in and smashed a window thankful for his extra strength only to be greeted by the sight of Luka trapped by the rocks against the far wall. He tried to signal to Luka to see if he was still alive. The other boy gave him a curious smile before going limp. Panicked Varian tried to break the rocks to free his friend only to curse himself when he remembered that was useless. Now he was in need of air but he didn’t want to leave. Finally he realized if he couldn’t break the rocks he could still break the wall but he would have to get to it from the other side.
Forcing himself to leave he quickly surfaced taking a large breath. He then used his bag of tricks to summon an artificial mussel. He then used both a fire and water element and fused it to the fake sea creature. He hoped this would work he hadn’t be able to use more that one element successfully before.
He took another deep breath and swam to the back of the wall where Luka was trapped. He attached the mussel to the wall and swam away as the color changed from blue to red
3…2…1 BOOM!
He dove back down, pleased to see his plan had worked. The wall was destroyed and Luka’s body was floating free. But as he got closer his eyes widened with shock…there was blood in the water. He grabbed Luka and pulled him up as quick as he could. When he broke the surface he realized not only was Luka not breathing but his back was covered in cuts and burns from his makeshift bomb.
Tanuki finally got him up onto the sidewalk unsure what to do next. He had read about CPR and how it can revive an unresponsive person but his mind was drawing a blank. He kept looking at those horrible wounds on his back knowing it was his fault. He kept trying to focus but there was an old and new way CPR was supposed to be done and he couldn’t remember which step he was supposed to omit. Panic was setting in when he heard sirens in the background and a police officer pulling up not far from them.
“HELP!!! PLEASE HELP!!!” Varian screamed as he reluctantly left Luka’s side. He ducked around a building peeking around to make sure his friend was being attended to. Thankfully the two officers saw Luka right away. One began CPR while the other called an ambulance. The wait felt agonizingly slow as he searched for some sign Luka would be alright.
“Luka! Oh God, LUKA!” He winched hearing Juleka who was normally so quiet scream as she arrived on the scene only to be held back by the second officer while his partner was still performing lifesaving measures.
“Miss we’re doing everything we can there’s an ambulance on the way but it was detoured by more of those black rocks sprouting up in the street. Do you know this person?” She nodded.
“His name is Luka Couffaine, he’s my brother. I thought this was an Akuma attack so I came home early…” she looked up only now noticing her home was gone. Debris littered the water where her family's houseboat was docked with only a few long black rocks in its place. “Wha…what happened?” Before the officer could respond Luka started coughing and vomiting up water. Varian breathed a sigh of relief, he was alive, thank goodness.
Luka’s Mother arrived at the scene just as the ambulance pulled up. Varian heard them listing off his injuries and assessing his condition and it made his stomach churn. The CPR had made the injuries on his back worse. Even from a distance he could see the burn marks and small pieces of debris still embedded in his back.
‘I hurt him.’
Juleka and her mother comforted each other as they loaded Luka up in the ambulance with an oxygen mask to help with his troubled breathing.
‘I hurt him!’
The drivers said there was only enough room for one family member. In a moment of unexpected forcefulness Juleka insisted her Mom go. She had already called her Dad and he would be coming to take her to the hospital. Her mom was hesitant at first but Luka needed her, he still wasn’t out of the woods yet.
‘I HURT HIM!!!’
He needed to leave, he needed to leave now!
One of the officers waited with Juleka until her father arrived. As she waited however she thought she saw a black and white striped tail disappearing around a building. Was that? But a moment later her Dad had arrived and she allowed herself to finally break down in his arms.
No one noticed a small envelope floating to the surface of the water, the wax seal making it more buoyant. Most of the ink had washed away but one world was still legible, “Juleka”
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Varian barely noticed when the five minutes were up and he changed back from Tanuki. Had all that really happened in just five minutes? He was wandering around the city in a daze as a very concerned Ruddiger tried to get his attention from the pocket of his hoodie. Luckily he always kept snacks in there but the Raccoon Kwami was more concerned about his boy.
“You got him out Varian.” he said in a whisper, not wanting the passers by to hear. “He’s alive because of you. You did what you had too.” Varian wasn’t so sure. In hindsight he thought of a dozen or so alternative ways he could have gotten the other boy out without injuring him. And how could he have forgotten how to do CPR? It was a simple procedure, why did he freeze up like that!?
“Varian, please you have to calm down!” It was getting hard to breathe. He kept thinking about how he continued to experiment with the black rocks even after his Dad told him not to. How even though he tried to get help his Dad still wound up hurt. It was his fault, his Dad and now Luka, it was all his fault.
He always hurts the people he cares about most.
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Ladybug and Chat Noir were both awakened by the news alerts of a potential Akuma attack. Marinatte was complaining how Shadow Moth was plotting too early for a Sunday morning when she transformed and made her way to the rooftops to see what was going on. What she did see was surprising. Hundreds of sharp black rocks had sprung up all over Paris in the early morning leaving many citizens trapped, injured or worse. What she didn’t see was an Akuma leading an attack. While that did strike her as odd, something about this felt off. Before she could think further on it her partner Chat Noir joined her on the roof.
“What are we looking at Milady?” Ladybug was still scanning the area trying to determine where to start. “Where’s the Akuma?” She shook her head.
“I don’t see one?” The black clade hero raised an eyebrow.
“Well how is Shadow Moth going to “take our Miraculous” if there’s no Akuma to take them?”
“I don’t know Kitty, something’s wrong here. Let’s just start rescuing as many people as we can. We’ll deal with the Akuma when we see them.” She used her yoyo as a grappling hook to get across town where an apartment building was on the verge of collapsing.
“Right behind you partner.” He followed thinking this would be just like any other Akuma attack and that everything would be fixed in time to return to the Paris Careers' expo in a few hours.
They were both in for a rude awakening.
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After almost suffering a panic attack, Ruddiger managed to calm Varian down enough to the point where he was breathing normally at least. They were hiding in a back alley away from the crowds so that Varian could gather his thoughts.
“Are you feeling better?” Ruddiger asked, wishing he had some water to give him.
“I’m…I’ll be OK.” Varian pulled himself to his feat and made his way out of the alley. Now that he wasn’t in full blown panic mode he was finally seeing the effects the rocks were having on the city. The streets were ripped up or blocked off all together, cars were impaled and many of the buildings were riddled with rocks, some even on the verge of collapse.
“Why is this happening, Ruddiger? I thought the rocks were following Rapunzel, what are they doing here? How did they even get here?” he petted the tiny raccoon nervously as the chaos was erupting all around him.
“I don’t know the answer to that but maybe Ladybug knows something.”
“You don’t think she did something stupid again like use a Kwami without a holder do you?”
“I doubt that but maybe the mishap that brought you here wasn’t fully fixed or reopened somehow?” Varian sighed, he needed answers and it seems his enemy was the only one who might know what happened. But as he pondered how to contact Ladybug he saw something that made him see red. It was an Akuma butterfly.
“Oh Hell NO!” Furious he raced and caught the offending insect before it could reach its intended host. “SHADOW MOTH! WHAT THE HELL!” Shadow Moth actually jumped not expecting Varian to intercept his newest Akuma.
“V-Varian? What does it look like I’m doing? I’m-”
“You’re taking advantage of people during a time of crisis!” He had been trying to block it out but the sounds of people shouting, crying and in distress were becoming deafening.
“This is no different than what we do everyday.”
“No, what we do is a big fancy show that gets cleaned up like nothing happened. This is dangerous magic from my world!”
“What?”
“Yes these are the things that destroyed my home and the reason my Dad is trapped. I don’t know how or why they’re here but this isn’t something to be played with or exploited. So please, give it a rest, a temporary truce if you will. Please!” There was a pause and for a moment Varian thought he had gotten through to Gabriel.
“As unfortunate as that is I can’t afford to waste this opportunity-”
“If you go through with this I’ll make you regret it!” Varian growled in a low threatening voice. Shadow Moth didn’t appreciate the threat. Varian could feel the control of the Akuma tightening, unlike when he had been Akumatized voluntarily but he wasn’t baking down.
“And what do you plan to do about it?” Shadow Moth threatened back but Varian just smiled.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“No, I’ll let you get your ill gotten wish and once you’re reunited with Emilie I’ll inform her HOW you made your wish come true.” He felt the Akuma’s control loosening a bit. “If she’s even a fraction of the women you’ve described I doubt she’d be very happy with you. But if you insist on going ahead there isn’t much I can do to stop you now is there?” He was gambling and he knew it. He knew Gabriel was willing to give up his life to bring his wife back so what Varian was threatening was pretty weak but he was still prepared to follow up on it.
“Get back to the manor, we’ll discuss this in person.” And with that the Akuma left Varian and was released from its cursed magic. Varian released a breath slumping over with relief. As much as he needed to talk to Ladybug, he would have to wait until he dealt with Shadow Moth. He needed a way to convince Gabriel not to send out any more Akuma’s than a simple threat. He’d only have until he got home to do so.
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Meanwhile at the Hospital Juleke had just arrived with her father Jagged Stone. He wouldn’t normally come through the front door due to him being stopped by his fans but right now the hospital was flooded with patients and worried friends and family members so most people weren’t paying him much attention. He didn’t mind it though, he just wanted to see if his son was alright. It took some time figuring out where he was but they found his mother Anarka in a waiting area near the surgical ward.
“Mom!” Juleka ran to her as Anarka embraced her daughter. “How is he?” Her mother sighed.
“He’s still in surgery I’m waiting to hear from the doctor.” Juleka frowned and glanced at the door hoping they’d hear some news soon. Jagged Stone cleared his throat awkwardly getting his former partner’s attention.
“Say Anarka, if you and Juleka don’t have a place to stay tonight I’ve got a room pre booked. You’d be welcome to stay as long as you need.” She just scowled back.
“We don’t need your charity.” He rolled his eyes annoyed.
“You just lost your home, it’s going to take time to get anything from the insurance claim. I’m just offering you and my daughter a place to stay while that’s being processed!”
“We’ll be fine on our own, I’ve already made plans.”
“Why are you being so stubborn about this?”
“ENOUGH!” Both parents paused hearing their usually quiet daughter shout. “Luka almost died today and you two can’t stop fighting each other long enough to…to…” she broke down in tears and her parents looked at each other with shame in their eyes. Silently they encircled their daughter putting their feud on hold for the sake of their children.
“I’m sorry Sweety,” Anarka said, rubbing Juleka’s back. She looked back up at her former partner. “She’s right, I shouldn’t be trying to pick a fight even if I am stressed. Thank you for the offer Jagged but we’ll be staying with a friend of mine who’s already helping me out.” Jagged nodded.
“It’s alright, it’s just that the hotel is right across the street from the hospital.” Anarka paused hearing this.
“Right across the street you said?” He nodded again.
“Yeah I figured you’d want to be close so it’d be easier to see Luka.” She thought for a moment before speaking again.
“I’d still like to stay with my friend, she’s been very supportive to me over the years but…she also lives out of town.” Juleka looked up at her mother with pleading eyes.
“Can’t we take Dad’s offer? I don’t want to be that far if Luka needs us.” Anarka looked between her daughter and her ex and relented.
“OK, I like the idea of being close to the hospital as well.” Juleka smiled, pleased that at least one stressful situation was out of the way. After that the family went back to waiting for news on Luka. They all kept staring at the door with both hope and dread in their hearts.
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Ladybug and Chat Noir were busy pulling trapped citizens out of homes and businesses and even though they had rescued a lot of people there was still no end in sight. After finding a very large rock blocking the only door to a shop, Chat Noir offered to use his powers to try and break the rock himself. Ladybug was still hesitant, there was still no Akuma in sight and they would have just five minutes before he transformed back. But this was taking too much time and there were still so many people trapped and injured they needed to get to.
“OK, just be careful.” she had a bad feeling about this. Chat Noir nodded as he tried to focus his powers.
“Got it. Everyone inside stand back!” He warned. “CATACLYSM!”
But that’s when everything went wrong. Instead of breaking apart like he wanted, only a small chunk was affected. It lit up blue for a brief second before exploding outwards sending shards of shrapnel directly at the two heroes. Chat Noir tried to block Ladybug from the onslaught, getting covered in small scratches as well a few larger gashes.
“Chat Noir! Ladybug exclaimed, shocked seeing her partner injured.
“I’m fine, Mlady,” Chat Noir said, ignoring the blood dripping from his arm. “Are you OK?” The shards were strong enough to piece his suits, something that almost never happened during battle. Ladybug then pointed to the rock he had just punched a hole through.
“Don’t worry about me look!” He watched in dismay as the rock glowed again and knitted itself back together.
“It…it didn’t…what are these things?” Ladybug looked at the rock more worried than before.
“I don’t know Kitty, but I’m not sure this is an Akuma attack anymore.”
“Then what is it?”
She didn’t have an answer for him.
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Varian made his way back to the Agreste manor as quickly as he could. A lot of areas were blocked off by the rocks and damaged buildings on the verge of collapse. Finally back at the manor he made a beeline for the elevator that would take him to the meeting room. He had a whole strategy planned out to convince Gabriel not to take advantage of the current disaster. He could only hope Gabriel would at least hear him out before-
CRASH! The entire elevator shook as the power went out and the emergency light started flashing. Varian fell to the floor as the elevator stopped not even halfway down. Ruddiger rushed out of his hiding place checking to see if his boy was alright.
“I’m fine but what happened?” His question was answered by an alert from his phone saying that the rocks had started popping up again. “Oh God.” he thought as he tried figuring out a way to get out of the elevator. The manor hadn’t been hit in the first wave but now it looks like the rocks were spreading. His thoughts were interrupted with another alert. This one for a vital system in the manor itself.
“Varian, over here!” Ruddiger pointed to the ceiling hatch and the boy was quick to climb up and out. He needed to get to that system before it was too late.
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Gabriel was getting impatient waiting for Varian to return home. He didn’t take kindly to being threatened and he fully intended to lay down the law before launching his newest Akuma.
He was knocked off his feet with a sudden jolt as his house shook. Before he could register what had happened an alert popped up on his phone. His eyes widened as he saw the video of Emilie’s life support system being pierced by a black with more popping up obscuring his view.
“Emilie!” He quickly discovered that the elevator wasn’t working so he raced down the stairs only to be blocked by a giant black rock obstructing his path. “Get out of my way!” He was forced to transform into Shadow Moth and break the walls in his own home to get around it only for another to block his path. He was growing increasingly worried seeing how long this was taking. Every moment that went by was another moment closer to the point of no return.
He wasn’t sure he could make it in time.
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In another world near the border to the Dark Kingdom Rapunzel and her friends were driving each other crazy having been cooped up in the caravan for days with all this nonstop rain. They were thankful Hookfoot had left with his brother Hookhand to join him on his musical tour. Surprisingly Shorty had decided to tag along as well so it was just Rapunzel, Eugene, Cassandra and Lance left to finish this journey.
“Hey guys!” Lance shouted as he looked out his window. “I think I see a house not too far from here. It looks pretty big wanna see if anyone will let us wait out the storm there?” Eugene joined him by the window.
“Hey you’re right but didn’t we pass that house like…a couple of times.” He could have sworn he’d seen a giant house shaped like a seashell several times only for it to vanish when he turned away for a moment. Cassandra was now looking at the window with a frown.
“I doubt that Fitzherbert, but I don’t think we should-”
“I’ll go see if they’ll put us up for the night.” Rapunzel said with a smile already halfway out the door.
“Rapunzel wait!” Cassandra shouted running after her. “That place looks suspicious-will you wait a moment!” Lance and Eugene shrugged but went after the girls eager to be out of the cramped caravan.
Mathews watched from his window delighted to see his prey was finally making their way into his web. He had done a lot of prep work but he was finally ready. He needed to get Rapunzel to the other world and now that she had the full scroll the plan could begin in earnest. His master is going to be so pleased with him. He smiled as he answered the door to the soaked travelers.
“Welcome to the House of Yesterday’s Tomorrow…”
To be continued…
Next time: It’s during times of crisis that people’s true colors are revealed. For better or for worse.