Author's Note: I've teamed up with ChubbyUnicornMama to tag team #MariChatMay2019. This chapter - for May 10 - is my fifth contribution to this project and gives me my first opportunity to send poor Chat into an alternate universe. Watch as he teams up with an oddly familiar Lady Dupain to thwart a thief lurking at Versailles… -epcot97

I was no stranger to being thrown into an alternate reality; more than one akuma had messed with the space-time continuum, including one nasty episode where I had to relive my early days as superhero. But as I pressed myself into the cold stone behind an archway, I was forced to admit I might be a little over my head this time.

My first clue that I was no longer at Versailles, at least the Versailles Iremembered, was the gas-fed wall sconces that were attempting – and failing – to dispel the evening gloom from the hallway I was in. Mere moments earlier, I'd been in this very space battling an akuma with Ladybug; though still period-looking, the sconces had LED bulbs now.

We'd not battled it long enough to name it; in fact, I'd tried to intercept a bolt of something nefarious it had shot a Ladybug only to discover my baton couldn't deflect it. It hit me and a moment later, I was standing in this darkened hallway, spinning my baton and realizing I wasn't in Paris any more.

At least, my Paris.

I heard voices coming toward me and scanned for some way to stay concealed. The light didn't extend to the vaulted ceiling, so I leapt up and used my claws to cling to the plaster upside down, and held my breath.

Two women were moving toward me, engrossed in conversation. One was fairly tall, with ravenesque hair and deep blue eyes, the other was darker in complexion with rich brown hair. Both were wearing flowing dresses with wasp-waists and hats that I'd only seen in fashion museums. Raven Hair had a pearl necklace and similar looking earrings; her companion was wearing a necklace with a pendant that matched her orange and white dress.

My masked eyes widened. If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn it was the Fox Miraculous.

The taller of the two was speaking. "Where will the drop happen?" she asked.

"Out in the gardens, milady," her companion said. "If we hurry, we should be able to contain the situation."

Raven Hair looked worried as she passed below me. "And no word yet from Lord –"

"No, milady."

Despite their dresses, the ladies picked up the pace and hurried down the hallway. I flipped around the archway, dropped down into my cat-crouch and then quietly loped behind them. Something about their conversation led me to believe I might be helpful, so I decided to stay close.

At an intersection in the hallway, the two unexpectedly parted, with Raven Hair going the wrong way. The exit to the gardens was to the right; she'd gone left. I also knew that Fox Hair would be able to double back and come in behind me. Despite my stealth, I'd somehow lost the element of surprise.

I kept in my crouch, and then bounded up to the ceiling again, clinging to the side of an unlit chandelier and waited. As anticipated, Fox Hair appeared in the hallway I'd been running down. I smiled. I'd learned a few things from Ladybug over the years.

The smile was quickly wiped off my face, though; a moment too late, I heard the telltale ziiing!of a certain yo-yo. I leapt from my hiding place, intending to evade the missile, but despite my cat reflexes, it was countered immediately. I felt the business end wrap itself around my torso.

"It's me, Ladybug!" I cried as I was yanked out of the air, mid-leap, and crashed to the marble.

I hit hard, the wind knocked out of me; I started to try and disentangle myself from the cord and failed to hear Fox Hair behind me. She brought the business end of something down on my blond mane and the world blacked out.

When the world returned, I found myself on a period perfect four poster bed, complete with canopy. My head was pounding and the world swam a bit as I pressed myself up into a seated position. The room was dark, but my night vision saw Raven Hair sitting on an overstuffed armchair in the corner.

"You're awake," she said, the voice oddly familiar.

"Yeah," I said, rubbing the back of my head with a paw. "You didn't have to clobber me," I added, turning to Fox Hair. She was quietly stationed to one side of the bed. "I'm purrfectly safe."

I saw her glance to Raven Hair. "He sure sounds like him, Lady Dupain," she said.

Lady Dupain?

Raven hair stood and moved closer. "But the costume is wrong," she said.

"I think you're confusing me with someone else," I suggested helpfully.

"Maybe," Raven Hair replied. "But you're a Miraculous Holder and I need your help."

My masked eyes widened. "How can you know that—"

"You're wearing the Cat Miraculous," Lady Dupain pointed out. "Lord Noir wears the same ring as you, and he's currently missing." She stood next to me. "I don't know where you came from, but clearly you're here because we need you."

The resemblance to Marinette was striking, as if she'd been a courtesan during the Victorian era. Her dress evoked the colors I'd seen her in daily; her hair had been expertly braided and sat atop her head in a bun. I knew it wasn't myMarinette, but something in my DNA told me I needed to help her. "All right," I said, sliding to the edge of the bed. "Fill me in."

"I have an… item," she started, after glancing to Fox Hair, "and it was stolen from my chambers earlier this week. I've discovered enemies of the state have a spy here at the palace attempting to spirit it away, and become aware that they will attempt to pass it on to their contact tonight. Your untimely arrival has delayed us in taking up positions to stop them."

I heard most of what she said, but her deep blue eyes were exactly like Marinette's, and her hair, despite the way it had been done up, still framed her nearly perfect face the way I'd seen it daily for years. It wasn't hard for me to follow my heart on this one. "What do you need me to do?" I asked.

"Our original plan involved Lord Noir protecting Lady—" Fox Hair started.

"Me," Lady Dupain said quickly, interrupting Fox Hair. "Mistress Cesaire, thank you, you may go."

"Milady!" Fox Hair said. "I won't leave your side."

Lady Dupain looked at me. "I'll be fine," she said, smiling. "I think… what is your name?"

"Chat Noir," I replied, taking her hand in my paw and kissing it, "at your service, milady."

"Chat Noir," she continued, "will be able to handle it from here. Go find Master Lahiffe and meet us in the gardens at quarter to the hour."

Fox Hair curtsied. "As you wish, milady," she said, glaring at me as she left the room.

"Alya is quite protective," Lady Dupain said, smiling. "As is Lord Noir." She touched one of my feline ears. "His are a bit different, but the two of you have very similar styles."

"Thanks, I think."

She continued. "We'll leave shortly for the gardens. With your night vision, you should be able to quickly track our prey—"

"Interesting choice of words, milady," I said.

"—as well as who they are passing the info on to. I need to capture both of them." Lady Dupain looked at me intensely. "I don't really know you, but in some respects, I feel like I've known you all my life. I know without asking that I can trust you."

I nodded. "You can, Princess," I said automatically.

That brought a smile to her face. "Lord Chat calls me that all the time."

"He has good taste." I stood, ignoring the wave of vertigo brought on by the lump from Mistress Cesaire. "Show me the way."

It was a moonless night, perfect for passing on illicit goods. Lady Dupain and I entered the far side of the hedge garden; my feline ears quickly picked up the placement of Mistress Cesaire and Master Lahiffe, who'd cleverly taken positions on possible exits from the space. Lady Dupain was holding a lantern, which illuminated the lower portion of her face in a most gothic fashion.

"If we are correct, they will try for the swap at the north end. It's the most secluded location, and the furthest from the palace."

"Got it." I looked at her for a moment. "If it comes down to reclaiming the item or destroying it…?"

"It must never fall into the wrong hands," she said.

"Understood." I turned to go, but she grabbed my arm.

"Chat," she said softly. "Be careful."

I smiled. "Always, Princess."

I turned again and leapt off into the night, moving quickly through the hedges toward what we thought would be the rendezvous point. Halfway to it, I picked up the crunch of boots upon the gravel walkway and silently dropped into a crouch, allowing my feline ears to track the source.

There.

I stealthily trotted behind the hedge, keeping pace with the footsteps. Whoever it was, they were definitely heading for the spot we'd identified.

Boots crunching on gravel from the opposite direction reached me, and I knew we were about to have the meet-and-greet. I quietly leapt on top of the hedge, balancing carefully on what I could, and waited.

A woman rounded the hedge carrying a small lantern, a shawl draped across her head. She looked up in my direction but apparently didn't see me and kept on walking. I had tried not to gasp: she looked exactly like Nathalie.

I waited. Nathalie-lookalike paused at an opening in the hedge, and the other boots came closer. At length, a tall man with grey hair appeared wearing spectacles. He was the spitting image of my Father.

"Do you have it?" I heard him ask.

"Yes," Nathalie said, as she pulled a cloth-wrapped item from her small handbag. She held it in one palm and carefully unwrapped it.

My feline vision clearly saw the Moth Miraculous.

That is quite the item to have stolen, Princess,I thought. But it was all I needed to see.

Ignoring who appeared to be standing in front of me, I pulled out my baton and used it to spring from the hedge, landing next to Nathalie. Without waiting for them to register what was happening, I grabbed both the Moth Miraculous andher handbag for good measure, and quickly pole vaulted away from them and into the night. The spy and her handler had the good sense not to make a scene and attempted to scurry into the night to avoid detection – not that it did them any good. I was able to hear Alya and Nino intercepting them as I crossed back to where Lady Dupain was waiting.

I dropped down next to her in a crouch, and held out my paw. "You need better security, Princess, if this is what they stole."

Lady Dupain frowned. "I am aware of that now, Chat," she said tartly. "Believe me, it won't happen again."

"Good," I said, handing her the purse. "You might want to check that as well."

Her eyes widened but she dutifully opened the bag. An eyebrow went up as she removed the Peacock Miraculous from the interior. "I didn't realize this was missing as well," she said quietly. She looked at me. "How did you know?"

"Just a guess," I said, not wanting to tell her I'd long harbored suspicions about my Father's assistant. This little escapade wasn't helping my paranoia.

She knelt down in her dress and reached around me. "Thank you, Chat," she said, kissing me on the cheek. "I can't repay you in any way."

Somewhere in the back of my head, cinematic strains of romantic music had sprung to life. "Well, Princess," I started. "I have a thought—"

Lady Dupain pressed a finger to my lips. "You are so much like Lord Noir," she laughed.

"I'll take that as a compliment," I said around her finger, "I think."

She leaned in and replaced her finger with her lips, and kissed me deeply. My ears perked up and I found myself breathing a bit hard when she pulled away. "That'll work," I smiled.

"Now," she said, "let's see if we can't get you back home."

I frowned. "I'm not entirely sure how I got here in the first place," I said. "An akuma seems to have pushed me here—"

She nodded and started to unfasten something from her waist. "Then I suspect I can send you back," she said thoughtfully.

My masked eyes widened as I realized what she was pulling away from her gown. It was the Ladybug yo-yo, cleverly camouflaged within the taffeta folds of the dress. I understood now why I'd thought Ladybug had somehow met me in the corridor earlier; it had been Lady Dupain the entire time. There hadn't been the glow of transformation, either, before the yo-yo snagged me; I should have connected the dots then.

Lady Dupain caught my stare and smiled. "Magic is still very much a part of the Court at Versailles," she said, smiling. "There's no need for me to hide my identity." Her eyes flicked to my ears, and then she gently reached forward and ran a finger along the edge of my mask. "It seems that's not the case where you come from, sadly."

"It's not," I said.

"You look good with a mask," she smiled, wider. "I'll have to recommend that to Lord Noir. Though it will likely go straight to his head."

"Yes," I replied with a broad Chat grin.

She started to spin up her yo-yo. "Ready?"

I leaned in and kissed her one last time. "Now I am," I smiled as I pulled back. "Thanks for opening my eyes."

"To what?" she asked.

"Possibilities," I answered cryptically.

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Your Lady Dupain is in for trouble when you get back, isn't she?"

"First I have to get her to admit she's Lady Dupain," I laughed. "But yes."

"Good luck with that," she said, then tossed her yo-yo into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The ladybug helpers burst into life and swarmed down from the sky, surrounding me with their red-white luminescence. I felt the barest of electrical thrills through my costume, and then the world exploded in a flash of light.

Once the stars had faded from my vision, I found myself standing on the Bakery rooftop patio. Marinette was just beside me, a hand on my shoulder. "Chat? Are you okay?"

"Yes, milady," I said without thinking.

"You quite literally just popped into being," she said, a bit awed. "Where were you? I… heard… you were fighting an akuma with Ladybug at Versailles and went missing this afternoon."

"What time is it?" I asked.

"2317," she said.

That meant I'd been… elsewhere… for more than six hours. Wild.

I turned toward Marinette. "I'm not entirely sure where or when I was," I said, my eyes sparkling, "but it was something of an education." I pulled her into a hug. "And I'm very happy to be back with you, bugaboo," I added, slightly emphasizing my endearment.

Her eyes narrowed at me. "I think you are mistaking me for someone else, Chat," she said. "I usually go by 'princess.'"

"Of course, milady," I nodded sagely.

Marinette looked at me thoughtfully. "I don't know what you thinkyou know," she started, "but you might want to walk that back a bit before you get into hot water, kitty," she said, slightly emphasizing Ladybug's normal endearment for me.

"At the risk of completely destroying your metaphor, that ship has already sailed… Ladybug."

Marinette groaned and dropped her head into my chest. "Incorrigible," she muttered. "What am I going to do with you, kitty?"

"Love me," I said simply.