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Tim was in the midst of a crisis of conscience.

He had been secretly investigating Dick's mysterious friend for several months now. At first, like Batman, he had assumed that the woman was dangerous. He had spent several hours tracing the young woman's movements, listening to phone calls, reading text messages, and searching social networks, dating from the time she lived in Paris.

His conclusion? Marinette was a victim.

This woman had been harassed in middle school, was accused of a murder she didn't commit, and had to continue her role as a heroine despite the death of one of her parents and the rejection of the other. Tim could only sympathize with her, having experienced a painfully familiar situation.

The question that remained unanswered was what had become of her after these events.

Tim had a theory. He had discovered that Marinette had been adopted by Dr. Fate, so perhaps just as he had become Robin, she had become Fate's apprentice or at least partner. However, other questions arose. How had they met? Why had Fate never mentioned the young woman when he knew the League was looking for her? Why had she only recently reappeared? Had she taken revenge on her former persecutors by cursing them (what had happened to those who had been in contact with the jewels was just strange).

The only thing that was clear in Tim's mind was that the sudden appearance of the Court of Owls corresponded to the time when the Guardian had made her reappearance. This meant one thing to Tim, the Court was looking for her. The reasons were obvious to him. A person with such a source of power in their hands was an ideal target for people belonging to the Court of Owls, which had a serious god complex.

For the time being Tim had kept his investigation to himself. He didn't know what to do. Should he tell Batman? He should. Nevertheless, this Marinette was a friend of Dick's (He didn't believe for a second that Dick saw her just as a "friend", the only way his voice changed when he talked) or the way his eyes shone when he mentioned this girl told him that Dick was just in denial.

Tim had a bad feeling. He closed his eyes for a few moments to consider his options. If his hypothesis was correct, and that the Owl Court was after this Marinette, then that would explain why they had suddenly started attacking several towns. They were looking for her. Then they would have stopped once they had found their target. That would then mean that it was the "calm" before the storm. That girl was in danger, Dick was in danger... The town of Blüdhaven was in danger... At that point, it was even the whole universe that was in danger. Who knew what the Court of Owls would do once they got their hands on the Miraculous. What kind of wishes would they make?

He sighed softly.

Forgive me, Dick...

Although he would have to put up with the anger of Dick, the man he now considered as an older brother, there was far too much life at stake. This woman may not have been a bad person, but those who were looking for her were.

Tim picked up his phone and dialed a number he knew by heart. Just three rings later, the person answered.

"Bruce, I think I know where the Guardian of the Miraculous is."

-XxxX-

Marinette was sincerely shocked by the turn of events. Absolutely everything had happened extremely quickly.

She knew that since she had become the host of the Kwamis, the bluenette had become The Universal Balance.

The Eurasian was sure that this principle governed her life, but only HER life. It was not supposed to affect those around her!

Dick had lost everything in a single day.

Everything had gone so fast.

First the circus he had grown up in had been destroyed because of a terrorist attack. Someone had blown up a bomb during a performance. At the same time, his teammate Amy was shot in the middle of a patrol. It is impossible to know who the shooter was.

The building they lived in had exploded while they were both at work. Unfortunately, almost all the residents were dead. Marinette's café had also exploded but, being a magician, the young woman had gotten away without any problem.

She was the only one who got out.

All the others attacked that day lost their lives.

At the end of the day, when Dick went to the café, they both found themselves in front of the burning café. When Dick saw her, he took her in his arms and cracked completely.

Dick cried.

It broke her heart.

It's so unfair...

Marinette felt helpless. Even if she used her Miraculous Ladybug, it wouldn't bring back to life those who had been lost...

It's all my fault... Fate was right, I should have left.

Marinette saw the consequences of her selfishness.

Because she had chosen her own well-being, the one she loved more than anything else had lost everything. She felt fulfilled, so another person had to lose everything to keep the balance.

The days that followed were terrible.

Dick decided to hunt the criminals behind these incidents alone. Marinette tried to talk some sense into him, but it was in vain. The young man did not listen to her.

Nightwing, did anything. He took absolutely no care of himself and now he was hunting down the culprits of this carnage day and night. He was no longer himself.

The young woman tried to reason with him again, but he pushed her away. She tried to tell him that what had happened was not his fault, but the vigilante ignored her.

Then the worst happened.

One night, Marinette learned that Blockbuster was shot in the head. The news made the front page of the local newspaper and the main suspect was... Nightwing. At the same time, several Talons decided to attack her in her hotel room where she had been forced to stay because her coffee shop and Dick's apartment no longer existed.

To her surprise, Batman and Robin appeared out of nowhere to save her.

"Robin discovered your identity too. For now, he's keeping quiet, but it's only a matter of time before he spills the beans to Batman."

That's what Fate told her.

Marinette had actually never understood why Batman or even the Justice League was dangerous to her. But Fate was certain that she should stay away from them. The Eurasian had complete faith in Fate, so she had followed his advice and avoided the League like the plague, even though she knew they were actively seeking her out.

After that night, Marinette understood exactly why Fate did not want her involved with them.

Batman actually listened to her story and offered to "get her out of the way," giving him and the rest of the League time to take care of the Court of Owls. Marinette found herself isolated from everyone. She interacted only with a few League members: Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. She was watched 24 hours a day.

Wonder Woman told her that they were looking for a way to free her from the seal. Marinette knew perfectly well that this was impossible, and she tried to explain it, but no one seemed willing to listen to her. To make matters worse, she had no news of Dick. He had never come to see her.

After a whole month, seeing how everyone was acting around her, as if she was not a person but a dangerous weapon, Marinette understood what was going on.

It was the effects of the balance.

Dick was a lovely, caring person who was always looking out for her. What was happening to her was just a setback. No matter what she did, no one would listen to her, because they were all under the influence of the Balance. Most importantly, she realized that Dick probably didn't know where she was.

Did Dick know that she was still alive?

Every action caused a reaction.

It was The Law.

Using the Miraculous for personal gain always had negative effects. She had abused her powers more than once. To heal Nightwing, but also when she prevented events from happening, as in the case of Japan. Marinette had acted impulsively, she knew that Kagami was in Japan at that time. She and thousands of people would have died if the Tsunami ever happened. The bluenette could not bear this idea. She had also saved Robin's life... She had already rewritten reality several times to be able to recover the Miraculous that the Court of Owls had managed to steal.

It was only a matter of time before all of her actions combined would have disastrous negative consequences.

This was what Fate and Zatanna wanted to avoid. As for John, he was the kind of man who would let people make mistakes and teach them a lesson.

"Take responsibility for the consequences of your actions". That was probably the lesson John wanted her to learn.

Dick... Would you mind if I told you that, despite everything, I don't regret meeting you?

Marinette decided to intervene.

She loved Nightwing. She loved Dick.

More than anything else in this world...

Those few months spent at his side had been the happiest of her life for so long.

Marinette didn't care about the price she had to pay. She knew that she would not survive the blow the mark would inflict on her. Nevertheless, if her disappearance could allow her beloved to no longer suffer... If by this gesture, Dick could be saved... Then... If by this gesture, all these people could be saved... Then...

My life doesn't matter anymore. I've been unable to save the people I love... I've always been a walking disaster. Except this time it will be different. I won't let the people I love suffer like this in front of me anymore. I didn't save dad, I didn't save the guardians. But Dick... I will save him.

The young woman stopped time before anyone could do anything. She calmly walked out of the house she had lived in for the last thirty days.

She teleported to the Guardian Temple that had been destroyed. She stared at the building for a long time.

"Today, justice will be served for you, Guardians."

"I am not sure that the term "Justice" is the most appropriate one."

Marinette didn't look back. She already knew who was there. He often appeared in her dreams (or perhaps her nightmares). If he was there, it meant one thing: she had abused her powers and was on the verge of collapsing. When Marinette suffered because of the seal on her body, she regularly had hallucinations. Of her family, of her former friends... Of her first love...

"You knew this would happen."

"It wasn't hard to guess, my Lady."

At her side was the ghost of Adrien Agreste. The blond boy watched the Temple with her.

"It's time for you to take flight, my Lady, and learn to fight for what you want, instead of always mourning what you've lost and constantly lamenting your fate. Instead of always letting others decide for you, take responsibility for your choices."

Marinette knew perfectly well that she was having an hallucination. Adrien was dead. What was in front of her was only a representation of her own fear. The fear of facing her failures, the fear of facing her past, and even... the fear of happiness. Fear of moving forward.

"I won't run away anymore, Adrien... I promise you..."

The blond smiled, and like a vapor, the ghost disappeared completely, leaving the bluenette completely alone in the middle of the snow that covered the mountain, where the Temple of the Miraculous was built.

Once she was sure she was alone, the young woman closed her eyes. She concentrated on one power specifically. The power of temporal control that belonged to Fluff. Her seal began to burn horribly.

That was the warning.

What she was about to do was forbidden and the Kwamis were trying to stop her.

"Burrow!"

A gate opened in front of her.

Marinette entered it.

Once inside, the bluenette began to observe every magic screen in her burrow. It was necessary to understand the whole sequence of events that had led to the tragedy in which Dick had been plunged by her fault. It was with relief that she learned that it was not Dick who had killed Blockbuster (this guy had many enemies and a young woman in a spider's uniform did it). Nevertheless... the event that followed iced her blood.

Nightwing had been... by one of the assassins of the Court of Owls...

That's why no one told her anything, and why she had been kept away for so long... Everyone was afraid of her reaction when she learned the truth.

The Guardian swore to herself that this damned Court would suffer greatly!

A violent pain made her bow suddenly forward. She held her flank and clenched her teeth. Damn it... It hurt like hell... The bluenette knew it, her time was limited. The Kwamis were going to do everything so that she wouldn't brave the ban again. These poor creatures really deserved a better guardian than her.

However. Her decision was made.

She will endure the pain for him.

Now that she had all the pieces in hand, she would be able to change the course of events. However, it was impossible for her to change everything. She was going to have to choose with extreme precision which events could be changed and which could not.

The bluenette then saw several alternative realities, including one in which she had never encountered Nightwing. Her heart tightened when she saw that the vigilant had a girlfriend. The splendid young redheaded woman must have been the famous "Oracle". Looking at her story, the Guardian must have realized that this Barbara Gordon was a wonderful woman, very intelligent and an excellent fighter.

This woman... She could heal Dick's heart.

Alas, she couldn't avoid her meeting with Nightwing, it will require too much energy from her. But in her state, if she "had fun" trying to alter time without completing the process, the whole universe would be in danger of collapsing.

The result wasn't worth the risk.

Saving Blockbuster wouldn't make much of a difference. This guy was definitely a pain in the ass. Making him disappear would be a solution. The problem was that this vermin was necessary for Nightwing to become more mature... Because yeah, this aspect had to be taken into account as well. Covering up the vigilante would serve no purpose, some trials, no matter how hard they were, would forge a man's character.

The pain was beginning to become unbearable. Blood was running down her leg. Her clothes were soaked with blood.

Marinette chose to change only two events:

1/ Avoid Amy's death.

2/ Prevent the building where Dick lived and the circus from exploding.

The young woman concentrated. She joined her two hands.

"I summon the power of the Miraculous. Creation, Destruction, Transmission, Protection, Illusion, Submission, Emotion, Multiplication, Teleportation, Intuition, Jubilation, Evolution, Perfection, Determination, Abnegation, Rebellion, Passion, Innovation, Fraternization".

A magic circle appeared under her feet. It was in the shape of a Lotus, the emblem of the Guardians. Marinette felt like a strong heat. When she opened her eyes, she could see that she was now wearing a suit with characteristics of all miraculous. Her hair had turned white and was styled in a very long braid. She had completely transparent wings.

She had become the Miraculous Goddess.

Marinette began to completely rewrite the two events she had chosen.

For the first event, Amy's death, Marinette simply made the shooter miss his target. She could have stopped the shooter completely, however, leaving him alive would later allow Batman, Nightwing, and Robin to trace the events all the way back to the Court of Owls.

For the second event, the destruction of the circus, the young woman neutralized the villain before he did any damage. To do so, she used the capacity of invisibility provided by the enchantment of Daizzi, the Kwami of the Pig. Then thanks to the dragon's lightning, she made the guy lose consciousness. She then called the police. Unlike the first time, the show was interrupted by the arrival of the police and not because of the explosion.

For the building, the bluenette teleported herself thirty minutes before the explosion, then caused the fire alarms to go off. She used her ability to control flames to create a fire on the roof of the building. The residents rushed outside. Marinette made sure that the firefighters were hindered by traffic by taking control of the drivers. The building exploded, surprising everyone on the spot. In the distance, she saw Nightwing approaching the building at full speed.

The young woman smiled.

She could have chosen to prevent the explosion, but... Dick really had to learn how to hide his identity better. Perhaps fear would be enough to make him think.

The pain had now become unbearable. Marinette would soon pass out. The young woman teleported herself into the café and found herself face to face with her doppelganger. In less than a minute, the place she was in would explode. The other Marinette looked at her first in shock.

Then smiled.

"I see... So you're the one who is disrupting the flow of time."

"Yes. I am you and you are me."

"Ahaha... I'm talking to myself... I sincerely thought I had seen everything."

"…"

"Why did I choose to use the Miraculous Fusion?"

"For Dick."

The smile of the Marinette of the past widens.

"Why does that not surprise me?"

The Marinette of the "future" suddenly collapsed. She started spitting blood. The Marinette of the "present" rushed at her. As soon as she touched her, the two Marinettes merged and became one person. Her body shook uncontrollably. She could feel cold sweats. Even so, the bluenette gathered her last strength to create a shield.

Then suddenly, there was an explosion.

Being completely exhausted, her shield disappeared. She was in the middle of the flames, unable to move.

It was ironic, really.

Dying burned alive.

Exactly like her father a few years earlier.

It was a punishment fit for her.

The punishment she deserved for failing her duty all those years.

In her mind, the images of her meeting with Dick were looped over and over.

I have done my best to make you happy... Even if it means I have to erase myself from your life...

A smile formed on her lips as everything fell apart on her. Only, her body was so sore, that nothing affected her anymore. It was simple, she no longer felt anything.

Her vision grew darker.

I love you Dick...

-XxxX-

Dick felt like he was living in a nightmare.

When he saw his building explode, the young man thought he had lost everything. Only, to his relief, everyone was outside the building. And they all seemed extremely confused...

So has he.

The building had exploded a few minutes after he left the place. Logically, no one should have had time to get out. No one seemed to understand what had just happened...

So how?

The police quickly arrived on the field.

Nightwing then realized that Margot Marceau, one of the sisters of the Double Dare duo was in the area. He threw himself on her to ask for explanations. She simply told him that she had to blow up the building that had just exploded or her twin sister would be killed. It was a man calling himself "Talon" who ordered her to do so. Then the woman made a comment while smiling sarcastically.

"Are you really sure it's a good idea to be with me handsome? This building was not the only one on the Big Boss's list."

The young man's heart missed a beat.

Marinette!

He left Margot on the spot after tying her up tightly. His motorcycle had been caught in the explosion; the only option left to him was to run. The café was about ten minutes' walk from his building.

Nightwing was desperately jumping from roof to roof.

Not her... Not her... Not her... Please... Anything but her.

BOOOOOOOMMMMMM!

When the vigilant arrived in front of the building, it was completely on fire. He saw how neighbors were trying to calm the flames by throwing water.

Dick at that moment didn't think, he rushed into the blaze.

His heart was pounding.

The roof of the small building had collapsed. The room had disappeared, in the middle of it lay debris from the roof.

"MARINETTE!"

The young man was coughing because of the smoke, the heat was unbearable.

No... No... No... No!

"MARINETTE CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

He began to search among the debris while coughing.

"MARINETTE!"

Nightwing coughed harder. At that moment, nothing mattered to him anymore.

Finally, he saw a hand in the middle of the debris in the room.

The young vigilant rushed at it.

It was definitely Marinette.

The young vigilant heard a creaking sound, the rest of the roof that was still standing was about to collapse on top of him. He didn't care about dying, the only thing he cared about was finding his girlfriend.

He coughed harder, but this time at least he had Mari in his arms. The young woman had a piece of wood stuck in her abdomen. She had lost a lot of blood. Her face was abnormally pale. His grip tightened on her body.

Nightwing had to get out of there somehow.

Unfortunately, the rest of the roof began to collapse. Dick saw it but made no movement to escape. If he did, he would have to give up protecting Marinette. And that was not an option. So, he held the young woman firmly against him and prepared to withstand the impact.

BAAAAM!

- As regards the powers cited:
Creation (Tikki)
Destruction (Plagg)
Transmission (Nooru)
Protection (Wayzz)
Illusion (Trixx)
Submission (Pollen)
Emotion (Duusu)
Multiplication (Mullo)
Teleportation (Kaalki)
Intuition (Sass)
Jubilation (Xuppu)
Evolution (Fluff)
Perfection (Long)

Determination (Orikko, rooster Kwami, fire power)

Rebellion (Stompp, Kwami Ox, power: earthquake, can cause earthquakes)

Fraternization (Roaar, tiger Kwami, power: ultrasound)

Passion (Barkk, dog Kwami, power: courage, can give courage and hope to people.

Abnegation (Daizzi, pig Kwami, power: Enchantment, produces scents that compel people to do something. Ex: a rose perfume forces the person to confess),

Innovation (Ziggy, goat Kwami): Gives life to everything the holder imagines.