This has been written based off of the Oblivo episode description & the one spoiler screenshot.
If you want to remain completely spoiler free, I suggest reading this after the episode has come out.
Originally I thought this would be a one-shot, but considering I still have time before the episode is released, and this would be a pretty long one-shot, I made the decision to split it up into chapters and finish this up on the 17th. Please make sure you subscribe to this fic if you're interested, as I may release more than one chapter in a day!
Ladybug and Chat Noir were once again up against one of Hawk Moth's victims. This time, the akuma villain was a man that possessed the power to take away one's memories.
They could only imagine what this man had been through to be granted such a power by Hawk Moth, but here they were, trying the best they could to dodge his attacks.
"I will not rest until I wipe everyone's memories clean!" Oblivio shouted, along with an evil cackle. "Starting with the only people in this city who have the power to stop me."
The superheroes anxiously hid out of sight. "Chat, we can't let that happen. Once our memories are erased, if we can't remember how to fight, what to do… We won't even know we're supposed to stop him!" Ladybug started to panic.
"Don't worry, m'lady," Chat confidently stood in a fighting position. "Memories or not, he will not be getting his hands on our Miraculous."
Ladybug looked him over, taking in his body language. Then a confident smile played on her lips. She agreed with a nod.
Chat was usually right about these sorts of things, and he was her confidence booster. She wasn't about to start doubting him now.
When they tried to take action against Oblivio again, all it took was one second of hesitation on Ladybug's part. Just one to make her vulnerable. She had been looking around, trying to figure out a plan to stop him. The only problem was that the timing was all wrong. Chat Noir's distraction wasn't enough to give her enough time.
"Watch out!" she heard Chat cry fiercely as he dove towards her. Before she could react to his warning, she saw him coming at her out the corner of her eye and Oblivio's power coming straight for her, an open target.
As Oblivio's power struck her, Chat was already tackling her to the ground, taking the brunt of the hit.
A moment later, Ladybug was lying on her back, her mind a completely blank slate.
"What? Where am I?" she asked when she spotted the boy sprawled out awkwardly on her lap. "And who are you?!" she scooted herself away from him quickly, scrambling to her feet.
"Me? I was going to ask you the same thing!" Chat replied, leaping off the ground in an instant. Then he got a good look at her and smirked. "Are you trying to be a superhero or something?"
"Like you're one to talk," she pointed to him. "Nice ears by the way, kitty cat," she teased.
Chat Noir's clawed hands flew to the top of his head, his green cat eyes going wide when he felt the two leather ears atop his head. "Wh- why am I a cat?"
She giggled and shrugged. Then she looked down at the red suit with black spots everywhere that she was currently wearing. "I guess I'm a… ladybug then?"
"Why are we dressed up as superheroes?" he wondered aloud, realizing the girl wouldn't be able to answer him, but he couldn't help himself from voicing it anyway. Then Chat Noir checked out his surroundings for the first time. They were on top of a high building, but he had no idea where it was. Actually, nothing he saw rang a bell at all.
"...And how are we going to get down from here?"
"You're not," a clear, steady voice spoke. The two teens jumped and turned quickly to the source. A man in a very strange supervillain suit and mask with a pink glowing butterfly pattern floating in front of his face stood a few meters away. He made no effort to get close to the superheroes.
"Don't worry Hawk Moth, they don't even remember who they are. They're no threat here. I'll come back to bring you their Miraculous once I've taken care of everybody else," he said to what seemed to them to be thin air before the strange man left them completely alone.
As if everything wasn't already overwhelming enough for the two obliviated heroes, a sudden light started to glow around the both of them and a weird sensation ran down their bodies. Once it was over, and the light had stopped, the teenagers looked down at their hands, alarmed, until they saw their own flesh that had been covered by a skin-tight magical suit.
Their eyes slowly drifted upwards to get a glimpse at one another. Their gaze greeted by someone they thought was a complete stranger to them, the sight of their reveal registering nothing. No fear, concern, or worry. No joy or relief. Absolutely nothing.
Yet, they knew the other was feeling the same way about this new development: confused and uncertain. Even though they had no recollection at all about the stranger's identity, and had no answers to any of their multitude of questions, they at least had their situation in common.
"Look, since you'll be using Miraculous Ladybug to fix everything, we're just going to catch you up to speed together," a small, raspy voice said next to Adrien's head. He turned sharply to find a small cat was floating there.
"Ahh!" he jumped. "You...you can talk?" Adrien asked in surprise. He started poking the little cat.
"Oh not again," Plagg groaned. "I need you to go over there next to the girl, okay? We'll explain everything to the two of you."
"We?"
"Just go," the Kwami urged impatiently.
Marinette, meanwhile, was pretty spooked by Tikki. She tried to explain that she was a friend of hers, and unlike the first time Tikki had to calm her down, this time those words and her gentle tone was all it took for her to settle down. Marinette didn't know why she was okay with what was going on, but she was. Even if nothing was making any sense.
Marinette eyed the blond boy across from her and saw he also had a floating creature next to him. That too made her feel a little better. She watched him approach, and stood by her in silence. Tikki and Plagg hovered at eye level.
"Normally, we wouldn't approve of this, but given the circumstances, we're willing to risk it," said Tikki with a sigh.
"Approve of what?" asked Adrien.
Plagg and Tikki exchanged a look. "First, let's start from the basics. You two don't remember anything at all, do you?"
The kids blinked. "Nuh-uh," they shook their heads.
"Alright. You," Plagg began, pointing at Adrien. "You're Adrien Agreste. And you're Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You go to school together, in the same class. And you're friends."
"Okay," they said to show that they were listening and understood.
"You're also Ladybug and Chat Noir, Paris's superhero duo. You use your Miraculous to fight the akumas Hawk Moth sends out," Tikki continued. "The Miraculous are your jewels that allow you to transform, with our help." Tikki went up to Adrien first and pointed to his ring, then over to Marinette and gestured at her earrings.
"Akumas are dark butterflies Hawk Moth, the villain, uses to transform people into supervillains, like Oblivio, to try and steal your Miraculous for his own gain. You must never let him get ahold of them!" warned Plagg sternly. "You have to protect them."
"This sounds unreal. Us? Superheroes?" Marinette questioned with a raised eyebrow and a denying laugh.
"Uh, Marinette…?" Adrien questioned quietly, looking at Plagg. He nodded. "Right. Marinette's right. We can't be superheroes."
"But you are!" insisted Tikki. "We'll prove it to you. Marinette, take out your phone."
She did as her Kwami asked of her. Tikki pulled up footage that was filmed just a few minutes prior to their accident. "See? This was filmed today."
"Chat Noir!" Ladybug had cried.
"Don't worry, m'lady, I've got it!" he winked at her and could be seen pole-vaulting off-screen. The camera remained on Ladybug. She desperately was looking around, trying to figure out just what to do. They watched Chat Noir come back into the picture and shout, "Watch out!"
He moved faster than either thought possible and brought Ladybug down to the ground. But both had been hit by Oblivio's power. The clip ended there.
"...We really are superheroes," Marinette covered her mouth with her hand. "But I don't feel like a superhero…"
Adrien's eyes remained glued to the screen. "Can I ask something?"
"Sure," Tikki replied, floating in between the kids.
"Ladybug… Do I… do I like her?"
Both Kwami's remained silent. Plagg rolled his eyes.
"Here we go," he muttered. "Can I please tell him?" Plagg drawled in a whiny tone. "He's been driving me crazy for so long. Even if this is erased and they don't remember it, I need this." The cat Kwami had his paws together in a begging motion.
Tikki glanced at Marinette who just stood there, looking at the screen, absolutely confused. "Okay Plagg...go ahead."
He snickered. "Yes Adrien, you never stop talking about her. And if I'm going to be honest with you, it sometimes makes me feel sick how sweet you talk. Bleh, just thinking about it makes me want to have some cheese to calm my stomach."
Adrien's eyes darted to the girl standing next to him, his hand impulsively going to the back of his neck.
"What about me? Do I like him, too?" Marinette wanted to know.
"Well…" Tikki's high-pitched voice hesitant. If for some reason they happened to remember after everything was all said and done, she hoped Marinette would forgive her for telling one of her biggest secrets. She swallowed. "Yes, yes you do."
Marinette and Adrien stood there kind of awkwardly as they absorbed this information.
"The reason we're telling you this is because we need you two to gain your trust for each other back. Or well, some of it at least. You have to work together to defeat Oblivio, or you'll never get your memories back, and neither will Paris," continued Tikki.
"Did we know each other's identities before?" Adrien asked.
The Kwamis shook their heads. "You're not supposed to know for each other's safety, but we didn't have a choice today. That means you can't call each other by your civilian names as your superhero selves, or vice versa. Hawk Moth may overhear and put yourselves, your friends, and your families in danger to get to your Miraculous. Once you two defeat Oblivio and Ladybug uses her Miraculous Ladybug, everything should go back to normal, and neither of you will remember anything that happened after you got struck by Oblivio's power."
Marinette's phone beeped. A news report had been posted on the Ladyblog. She sidestepped, closing the distance between the two, making the screen visible for Adrien to view.
Oblivio was erasing memories right and left. Adrien and Tikki stared at the screen in shock, while the sight gave Marinette even more determination.
"If what you two have told us is true… then I'd like to get my memories back so I can remember you, Adrien," she smiled brightly at him. "I have this really uncomfortable feeling that keeps nagging at me when I look at you, like I'm supposed to remember you, but I just can't." Her smile turned into a look of distress, her hands clenched over her chest.
"Me too, Marinette."
"You should probably get going soon, Oblivio said he was going to come back," Plagg pushed.
Tikki floated in front of them again. "But first, you'll have to transform again. You need to learn three things: how to transform, how to use your power of destruction, and how to detransform."
Plagg and Tikki caught both up to speed on everything they needed to know about both of their powers, even how to use their weapons to get around. Once they were done, Marinette and Adrien transformed into Ladybug and Chat Noir together, both in awe at seeing what a transformation looked like. They took the weapons they were told about in their hands, taking a deep breath.
"Are you ready?" Ladybug asked him.
"I am. Are you?" wondered Chat. For some reason, he felt the need to ask.
"I'm ready."
This was based off of a theory I had for the episode and posted it on tumblr. Given it's positive response and some asking for this to be made into a fanfiction, I decided to go along and just write it. c:
Please follow me on tumblr at toujoursmiraculous
I'd also love to hear what you have to say about this fic. I read every review I get, your words help inspire me to keep writing!