''You two again?'' Commented Chat Noir to a pair of soldiers that were guarding the door to Gabriel Agreste's room at the hospital.
Marinette would have paid more attention to her boyfriend's little chat with the two men, but her mind was elsewhere. After her 'little conference' where she gave her most precious secret to the world for free, her Ladybug confidence decided to go to sleep for a bit and Marinette was left alone with her insecurities again. She did her best not to show it much as Synclair offered to take the group to the hospital, where they would see the extent of the damage Gianna did on Gabriel, Nathalie and Luka. But inside she was shaking.
She followed Adrien inside the room and was a bit surprised at the famous designer being awake, considering who he confronted without a miraculous. But then the man started telling his side of things.
''I'm sorry, Marinette' Said the man looking straight at her.
''What? You got us Luka back! Not to mention the box'' She tried to sound cheery about the good news, but knowing the state the snake hero was in, it was hard.
''I told Gianna your identity, in a futile attempt at saving Nathalie from her power…'' The sad tone the man spoke in reminded Marinette of how he looked after Chat Noir broke his connection with his wife. Lonely and quiet, but without that energy drawn from desperation that Hawkmoth had.
''I…'' She wanted to comfort him, but she would be lying. And they probably knew it, both Adrien and his father. She shook her head lightly. She tried thinking of something polite to say, at the very least, but Gabriel stopped her.
''You don't need to forgive me for this, Marinette. We might have gotten some good out of my… capture, but the loss of your parents, Viperion and.. And Nathalie are not worth it. I'm sorry''
The former villain was rarely this earnest and his voice broke a bit when he mentioned Nathalie, and so Marinette didn't feel too bad when her eyes watered up. She just nodded and cleared her face with her sleeve, deciding that she wasn't ready to talk yet.
''Father, did you learn anything else from Gianna Rossi?'' Asked Adrien, in a much needed change of topic.
''I told Carapace all I learnt and he said you already know most of it'' The man thought for a second, then continued. ''She provokes anger to herself by thinking about her daughter, and that powers her up somehow''
''Wrath is her fuel'' Commented Marinette, her voice firm again.
''And revenge is her only goal, I don't think she would be content with just… breaking… all of us. But if we fight her head on she might as well…'' Said Gabriel. Then his eyes went wide. ''The bunny girl! I forgot to mention that to your friend. The bunny miraculous user, a woman, helped me escape by distracting Lady Vendetta.''
''Bunnyx is here?!'' Both Adrien and Marinette exclaimed at the same time.
In that very moment, the door to the room opened and an alarmed nurse entered, followed by a curious looking Carapace and Rena Rouge.
''Please don't yell at the hospital'' The woman said that with a lot less authority one would expect from a worried nurse, and she kept looking between her patient and Marinette. Oh, right. Everyone knew her identity now…
''Sorry'' She apologized, but the woman turned into a completely difference person once she started working on her patient.
''How is he?'' Asked Adrien, a mix of worry and acceptance in his voice. They all knew what Gianna's powers did.
''Well if he stopped trying to move so much he would be much better'' The woman was completely avoiding the question, which was almost like an answer.
Marinette cringed inside. She didn't have to be a doctor to know, just by looking at the man's damaged limbs, that he would not walk again unless a miracle happened. Good thing is that they were working on one.
''As I was saying'' Said Gabriel, ignoring the nurse and the pity stares completely. ''Bunnyx helped me, but she only did so as a distraction. Something was wrong with her, both Gianna and I could see her, but I also saw her phasing through the box when she tried to take it, like a ghost'' The ex-villain sounded more concerned about that than about his own legs, Marinette noted, not really knowing what to think about that. Was his faith in them fixing things so great, or was it that he just really didn't care that he might never stand again?
The heroine shook her head and mentally scolded herself, she was thinking about the wrong thing!
''Where is she now? Did you see her after you teleported out?'' She asked.
''No''
Well that was frustrating
Ever since that night at the gala, when Adrien left for almost a year and Bunnyx stopped her from going after him, she wondered what the 'big plan' was regarding the time heroine. The older version of Alix already explained to her once that her powers were not to be used lightly, and she only really intervened when something major was at play. The girl found some comfort in knowing all this time that she was on the right path, even after failing so much, just because Bunnyx hadn't showed herself yet to correct it… but what if there was another reason?
The frustrating part was that only the time heroine could explain, and Marinette had absolutely no idea how to contact her. Her only clue was her own Lucky Charm giving her a watch, but she was pretty sure that meant it was 'time' to give Alix, the present one, her miraculous… was there a connection between these two things? Or was she overthinking it?
''There's smoke coming out of your ears, my lady'' Adrien commented, and Marinette realized how awkward it must have been for them to wait for her to say something.
''We need to make a reunion'' She said.
''Already planned, two hours from now, remember?'' Adrien reminded her.
''Yeah, except not everyone that has to be there has been invited''
...
Antoine almost jumped from the scare that entering the tiny apartment and seeing the old guardian standing there in the dark gave him. Master Fu had headed earlier to his home, not wanting to go to the hospital, and Antoine would have done the same except he had to attend to... the other business. He sighed after his heart recovered its normal pulsation speed. He knew what the man wanted.
''Lets take this chance of us being alone for you to tell me everything, how does that sound?'' The elderly man spoke, reflecting the same truth Antoine had in his head: This was long coming.
''Well then'' He simply said, sat down in one of the sofas and waited for the guardian to do the same. ''Where do you want me to start?'' He said mostly as a joke. He knew what he had to say, it just wasn't something he wanted to say out loud. Not yet.
''You're a spy'' Declared the master.
''We already established that, yes'' He let the rest of the phrase go unsaid, he had already explained that, ultimately, he was working for them. With them. That was not a lie.
''But you are hiding something important. I might not be the best guardian out there, not even close, but I have enough experience to tell from your kwami's expression that you are leaving important things out on purpose'' Master Fu sounded calm, kind of like a teacher lecturing a problematic student he was fond of at the same time. It was weird, sensing those feelings from a man who was so mad at him the other night, not to mention they barely knew each other. ''I want to know those things''
''You can't tell Ladybug''
''Interesting''
''What?''
''That you mention Ladybug, not the others'' Master Fu was scratching his goatee now, a tiny smile on his face. He didn't need his powers to know that Master Fu was amused.
''Well, same thing, you can't tell anybody'' He just said Ladybug because, well.. she was the last one that had to know about his little plan.
''Tell me''
...
Alix was not prepared for a call from Marinette the same Saturday her classmate revealed herself to the world as the Hero of Paris. It was off putting, one because she hadn't heard much from the girl ever since Adrien 'went away' and two, because her mind supplied her immediately with what the call was for even before the girl on the other side of the line said anything.
She was told by her future self that she would wield a miraculous one day, after all.
Apparently, today was the day. Or so was she quickly assuming. She stared down at her precious clock while she listened to the heroine's invitation to a meeting at Chloe's hotel.
As soon as she hung out, she sighed loudly.
''You need to know some things before you go there, mini me'' Said a voice from behind the skater girl, startling her.
She let out a screech she was absolutely not proud of, thankfully the only other witness was herself. Secret safe. Still weird, though.
''Can't you knock?!''
''What's the fun in that? Love scaring myself!'' Said the bunny hero, full costume on and… transparent?
Alix was about to ask what was going on with her when the heroine just shushed her, then opened a portal, went in, and indicated for her to follow.
''Woah'' She said once she was inside the 'portal zone'
''We like to call it the rabbit hole'' Her older self snickered, like she was joking with something only she would understand. Well, it was just a question of time and she would understand it too, Alix supposed. She shrugged.
''Alright, what's going on?''
''A lot''
''Well yeah, Ladybug is Marinette! and she just called me to-'' She started explaining, but a finger on her mouth stopped her.
''Shh, I already know, remember?''
She nodded.
''A lot is happening. At the same time. On different times, everywhere. But most importantly, here'' There was a cryptic hue to her voice as she said that, like she was trying to tell her that she would know everything she meant with that. And judging by the situation, it was soon.
''Lets make this fast, since I already know what you're thinking let me do the talking, ok? This is important''
''Just one question''
''That's part of the story, mini-me'' She answered, and Alix had to process it a bit to realize that she was answering her question before she even said it.
''Long story short, Ha!'' She congratulated herself a lot from that little 'joke'... Was she destined to become a little bit hunginged, just like this?. ''Hey this is nothing, we are doing good considering…ANYWAYS, as I was saying, Long story Short story. You will become the owner of the time miraculous, the second one that is, snake boy is our soul brother''
''uhh''
''You are very excited about accepting your role, there is something about it that screams at you 'I was born for this', right?'' She nodded, trying to keep up with herself. ''But you must know, here and now, that there is a reason for that watch being on our family for generations''
Just the implications of that sentence gave Alix chills, but she continued listening.
''It's not that complicated really'' Bunnyx lifted a finger and made a pause. ''One''
''One?''
''There can only be one of us, at the same time, that is'' The heroine snorted again. Was just the word 'time' funny for her? that was kind of lame…
But what did she mean by that? There two of them right now..
''There can only be two 'Bunnyx' at the same time, that's what I mean, mini-me''
Alix decided to keep shut, as her older self obviously already knew what she was thinking, and what she was confused about. So she just waited for more answers.
''Good choice'' Bunnyx then sat on the eerie white floor of the 'rabbit hole', so Alix did the same. ''You know how there's a 'catch' for every miraculous out there, how none of them are all powerful and all that?. Like how Ladybug's Lucky Charm is never a straight answer to her problems, or how Pegasus portals only go one way, or Carapace's shield can be broken from the inside pretty easily-''
''Woah, I didn't know any of that, actually''
''Yeah, well, I'm telling you, every single miraculous has a 'weakness', if you want to call it like that, and ours is no exception''
''What is Chat Noir's weakness?'' She asked, curiosity winning her over.
''Eh, he told me once about it, but you will have to earn that one yourself. I will teach you many things before we can never see each other again, well, not exactly, but you know what I mean… Anyways, I will teach you a lot, like A LOT. But I won't spoil your life for you.''
This became a lot more intimidating all of a sudden, and Alix was starting to doubt if she wanted this job after all..
''Good, you're still doubting. That's good''
''Huh..''
''This power… this responsibility'' Another snicker. ''Will change you, Mini-me, but we are the chosen one for this for a reason'' The woman did a gesture that Alix interpreted as 'That's all I'll say about this'. Spoiler alert, basically. Alright.
''It's very potent, the little bunny, but also has a weakness, like I said before, there can't be two bunnyx on the same time frame. That means, you can't go through the portals that go to a time where 'Bunnyx' is active''
Alix took the little pause her older self gave her to look around. They were surrounded by portals, and she could already tell that one portal could go to many places.. or times, by the way they were flickering and changing constantly.
''Wait, if I can't go where there is already a hero-me… Then that means I can't go to many time frames at all, does it?''
''Yes and no''
''what does that-''
''Sh. It means that we are the only one, mini-me. We are THE Bunnyx. We are the guardian of time, we keep it clean and in order as much as we can, and we are only one person, with a normal life span, too''
''Oh… So you know when we are going to-?''
''Yes, and you won't resist the curiosity either, so I'm not gonna stop you'' The bunny heroine was dead serious now, probably recalling that 'information'. Alix wanted to promise herself that she wouldnt look, but the implication that, no matter what, she would, was clear. She knew herself.
''Then how do you help in battle?''
''Oh we can port in and out of the rabbit hole many times in the same time frame. You'll learn how to do it, but we usually don't help in direct battles anyways'' She shook her hand like it was no big deal. ''All we can do when it comes to the 'Bunny' times, as I like to call our weird life, is watch. We can watch the past and the future, and warn our friends if there's an irregularity''
''How do you know when something is irregular?'' That was a heavily loaded question, Alix knew. How do you even begin to judge what has to happen, and what doesn't?
''That's what I'm here for, on the last day we can talk'' There was a sad, soft smile on her older self's face, and Alix felt her face doing the same.
''I'm here to tell you, that you will know, that you have to trust your instincts and you'll do the right thing… and that if you don't, you can go back in time and try again!'' Then she laughed, and laughed and laughed.
God, she was crazy, but now she knew why!.
''How- how many times had we had this conversation?'' She was horrified to know the answer, but too curious to stop.
''You don't want to know''
''B-but you said we have a normal life span-''
''Outside the rabbit hole, when in your own present, yep. Normal person with a life, surprisingly''
The younger Alix felt like her head was going to explode. Seriously, how was her older self not even crazier, if she understood correctly what she just did?!
''There's a reason I'm the one here, and not grandma Alix'' Another self joke, except this time younger Alix snickered too, mostly out of nervousness, though.
''The important thing, is that you'll be fine'' Older Alix put her arms on younger Alix's shoulders, and she flinched a little at the contact.
''I thought you were transparent?, Saw you phasing throu-''
''Not here. That reality too unstable for me right now, but it's ok''
There was a heaviness, now, to the fact that someone that knew the future… ALL OF IT told her ''it's ok''. That that someone was her. Will be her. Tonight.
''So we will never talk like this again?''
''Sure you will! with reversed roles, though''
More headache.
''More importantly, I'm here to tell you that you must experiment and learn as much as possible once you get your kwami''
''Kwa-'' Interrupted again.
''Yes, this is a delicate time. Not just because of you, but because of the enemy Ladybug and her team are facing right now. Sin miraculous are no joke…''
''But if you are not intervening, it means it will go well, no?''
And there it was again, that cryptic smile. The one that meant ''you'll know… in time''
Godamnit this job was already hard to process, and she wasn't even 'in' yet.
...
Alix came out of a portal to her room, the clock on her hands indicating that not even a minute had passed since Marinette's call. But for her it felt like hours. Or maybe days? She couldn't tell, since not even her magical clock worked inside the portal zo- Rabbit Hole.
She snickered, not tired in the slightest, and prepared to head out to a very special meeting.