Setting up the meeting took longer. I was still separated from the others, staying off the streets, because it might be a trap. They were all in uniform continually, evidently using various excuses to dodge their parents.

That isn't sustainable. Sooner or later they'll have to tell them. Hopefully after this is all done.

"Akuma act on the will of the individual," Master Fu had told me. "Originally, the butterfly miraculous empowered heroes—it's strength was in its flexibility, but after being misused for so long…"

"It can be used to control individuals." I frowned in my room.

"That is why Ladybug and Chat Noir shall be near you." Master Fu's voice grew worried. "But you, even without an Akuma, can be rather challenging."

I didn't deny it.

"But Akuma have their core desire—Ms. Bustier still wanted people to get along." Ladybug said

"And I want to get home," I said. "And I also know that a wish is more likely to see everyone die than it is for Hawkmoth to get what he wants and then send me home."

"True. Though we do not know the form the Akuma will take. There are tales of Akuma who created portals, which you could use—"

"Wait a minute," Carapace said. "A portal? How long? I mean, this is my hometown and you're talking about connecting it to Brockton Bay?"

In my room, I was glaring at the wall. My hometown isn't that bad.

"Don't worry," Rena said in a comforting tone. "Most of the Nazis were killed by Leviathan or the Slaughterhouse Nine."

I… Do not have an answer to that.

"I can close it if I can open it, or Ladybug can purify me," I told the others. "This isn't an attempt to move through—we need to communicate first. Nobody comes through."

"How are you going to talk?" Ladybug asked.

"I still have my cell phone," I said. "This long after the fight, they should have the town cleaned up." At least I hope so. "I can call Tattletale, my dad, or in the worst case, the Protectorate. I also have the armband we had for the fight." Which I really do not want to use.

Marinette wanted to, the moment she saw Hawkmoth in the large warehouse, punch him. Hard. Here was the man who had done so much to hurt Paris, to hurt her. She'd woken up in a cold sweat, remembering dreams of her laying on the ground, broken, while he bent down to take her earrings.

But hopefully, this would end without any fighting. They would have the miraculous back and Hawkmoth…

Would go free. It had made sense.

But it still rubbed her the wrong way. It seemed like such an anticlimactic ending to two years of fighting.

"Do you have it?" Skitter asked. She was in full uniform, her eerie expression and tone mirrored by the bugs that were clustered on the walls. The others were outside, ready to come in, but protected if Hawkmoth tried to pull something that only affected those on the inside.

"Yes." Hawkmoth put a packet down on the floor and stepped back. "That is the medical information about my associate, without their name, of course. If you can contact your associates, we can push it through a small portal."

"Of course." Skitter walked up and picked up the packet, looking at the USB taped to it. She read the information.

"Born June 1st, 1977." Skitter tilted her head. "Female."

Chat suddenly went rigid, then walked over to Skitter. "Let me look at it."

There was something… Tense about his voice. Marinette wondered if he noticed something. Skitter didn't seem to and Hawkmoth was standing, hands behind his back.

"Ready?" Skitter asked.

"Yes," Hawkmoth said. "I have never done this before, let alone with someone of your… Will. Focus on your desire to return home. That will direct the Akuma."

Hopefully, Marinette gripped her Yoyo. The Akuma fluttered towards Skitter.

Most Parisans, even if they knew it was supposedly to help, would have been fleeing in terror. Skitter stood like a statue, though the low roar of her swarms started to grow in intensity. It touched her, and her body shifted, the purple light rolling over it. What emerged was… Marinette shuddered. Her suit had become her exoskeleton, a golden beetle emblazoned on her helmet.

"Gatekeeper, I am Hawkmoth. Open your gateway." Marinette tensed. Chat seemed to be engrossed in the file and this was a terrible time for him to emulate the Chat Noir of their first few months.

Slowly, Gatekeeper raised her hand, pointed it at the air, and then she made a gesture.

"There's… Something different." Hawkmoth said.

"What?" Marinette asked, her eyes moving away from Skitter.

"I… I don't know. It's almost like there's something else in there with her."

Marinette spun around. "Skitter. Stop."

There was no answer. Slowly, as if it was struggling against some power, a line appeared in the air, tearing aside, letting late afternoon light start to shine, instead of the mid-morning light of Paris.

And then there were voices, not from her phone, but her armband.

"Echidna is moving north! She's found something, A… Fuck! There's an open portal!" The voice was young, a teenager, Marinette bet.

"This Chevalier. Did you create another portal without authorization?"

"Fuck no!"

"Stringbean down!" The chatter dissolved into panicked orders and counter orders.

How could—she's been here for over a month! How could it still be going on? "Gatek—Skitter!" Marinette said. "Close the portal, the fight is still going on—" There was no response for a moment.

"I—I'm having problems. Something… Something wants it to get bigger… I told it to go to Earth Bet, but it pulled our times…" Skitter said, her voice alien, reflected by thousands of insects. The gateway started to get larger.

"I—I can't stop her," Hawkmoth sounded strained. "Her will is too strong."

"Fuck." Marinette didn't usually curse a lot, but this—it was appropriate. "Chat, get ready to cataclysm whatever comes through if it's hostile. I'll—"

"It was Mom."

What? Marinette turned to see that Chat was still staring at the documents.

"Chat! Focus!"

"Mom's birthday was June 1st. She was born in 1977. Was her name Emilie Agreste?"

"What—"

"Was her name Emilie Agreste!" Chat snarled, sounding almost as inhuman as Skitter's bugs.

"No," Hawkmoth said. "No. This cannot be. Chat Noir, cease this at once." He sounded faint, like someone had just kicked him in the gut.

"Did you kidnap my mother!"

"Rena, Ryuko, everyone, get in here now!" Marinette shouted, not caring if her voice was sounding panicked, because the great plan was falling apart, there was a gateway growing in the middle of the room, Chat looked like he was about to attack Hawkmoth and…

Suddenly, there was a roar of fury, as the gate just seemed to shred, shooting up and out of the warehouse, sparks and bolts of energy setting parts of it on fire, and something, a hideous mountain of rotting flesh and tendrils, illuminated by an afternoon sun, came barreling through, followed by flying capes.

Outside, she could hear screams, even as the Akuma alerts started to blare, but this was no Akuma, this was something she brought…

"Fuck," Marinette repeated. Right now, it seemed appropriate.

"The paths are shifting," Contessa said as she ran down the corridor. Doctor Mother followed her.

Contessa never ran, not like this. Contessa didn't have to. The paths ensured she was usually in control.

"Which ones?" An endbringer, Scion or David could cause a path to shift, but—

"All of them." Contessa winced. "Come, we can regain control, or at least a way to influence things, but we need to move now, while we can. Door to Emilie Agreste."

"Dinah? Honey?"

"I'm fine, Mom." Dinah tried to keep from puking. Her parents didn't ask her questions that could trigger her power. It was another reason she was almost a hermit. People asked so many questions.

Like the one she'd just asked. The one that hadn't changed. Until today. The one that changed everything.

Chance of the worlds ending in the next six months:

98.01 percent.