"Man, you leave for one weekend to visit some relatives in Italy and you miss having fought a move-copying or move-countering robot and seeing you swap Miraculouses." Lila said during the Miraculous team's gathering and training session.
"Why do you say it like its exposition, we already know this stuff?" Alix asked confused.
"Because we know, but others may not." Jinxx said, having snuggled on top of Lila's head, her favorite nap spot.
"I don't get it." Alix noted.
"I see beyond time and space, but the Bat sees beyond other realities at times. A reality that is unclear even to me." Fluff noted as she chewed on a slice of carrot cake.
Alix raised a finger, paused, frowned and stopped in her tracks. "Never mind, I don't think I want to know." She then turned to main five. "Sorry I wasn't able to make it. That reception at the Louvre with my family was important and I couldn't sneak out so easily..."
"It's fine, we know that we are with a large group, everyone with their own stuff going on. It is not easy for all of us to be free at the same time. We all have our responsibilities outside being heroes." Marinette assured them.
"Not to mention, we managed in the end, so it was clearly not as bad as you think. Exhausting, though." Adrien noted. "Good to have a lot of heroes in reserve though."
"Speaking of reserves, where are Sabrina and Max? They're the only ones not around?" Mylene asked.
"Oh, didn't they tell you? They are on a date." Chloé explained.
"No way? Maxie and Brina?" Kim asked wide eyed. "Oh, didn't know he had it in him. I'm so proud of him." Kim pretended to wipe away a tear. "I am going to tease him mercilessly about it though."
"I knew they were getting friendlier as of late, but that they got together?" Ivan wondered. "I knew they respect each others as classmates but..."
"Times are changing, and so are people, sometimes it are these differences that push people onto different paths, and then those paths tend to cross in different ways from before." Marinette said.
"Did Fu give you lesson in Fortune Cookie speak in addition to all the Miraculous stuff?" Kim asked.
"Actually he does do that." Marinette said. "He says it is cheesy, but it is expected from wise guardians."
"Everyone has a guilty pleasure I guess." Alix said as she shrugged.
"Back to Max and Sabrina, I think they make a cute couple." Rose noted.
"You'd say that. The only one who is a bigger shipper then you is Alya and she has been surprisingly quiet about it." Juleka pondered.
"Oh, I already got the inner shipper Alya energy out of my system." Alya said. "That and I've been focusing more of my attention elsewhere." Alya said as she grabbed Nino's hand.
"Oh, that's right..." Kim said as he scratched the back of his neck. "How are you holding up, bro?"
"I've been better. But I think scrapping his tin toy allowed me to vent some of my frustrations. It also helped I have a few patient friends, honorary sister and girlfriend talking sense into me." Nino said.
"If you want, if we see the guy, I'll ram an Uproar down his throat, beat the shit out of him and present him on a silver platter." Kim said.
"I am working on the reach of my portals, but one of the destinations I have in mind is a piece of the ocean near Australia with a severe shark infestation. Could ask Latombe for a swim. Chances of death by drowning are about zero." Alix suggested.
"Wait, are we still joking about this, or not?" Rose asked.
"Not sure...bastard deserves a bit of pain at least." Juleka added.
"Let's not talk about the bastard and let him ruin our good mood." Marc suggested. "Instead I am more curious to hear about the Miraculous swap. That sounds like an epic story."
"It was. First time we did long ago because I was disabled, and some were swapped around. We realistically knew there would be similar situations and trained a bit with Miraculous swaps. Not much but in the end it made enough for a difference." Marinette explained.
"And luckily Sabrina and Max were also quick on the uptake. We wanted to wait a bit since we ourselves don't have completely figured it out. But it is a good way to throw off our enemies so we thought about starting early." Adrien added.
"Oh, that's so cool! Someone swap with me." Kim shouted.
"Oh, sure. Don't mind my feelings." Xuppu said sarcastically.
"I love you, you little scamp, but you can be a handful." Kim pointed out.
"I need a break from your stupidity at times!" Xuppu said as he stuck out his tongue. Kim made a face back and they went on for a while. They have learned by now those two idiots would bicker for a while, get bored and continue like nothing happened.
"Actually I had thought about it too, but not in the way of real life, just wondering how each of us would look like with various Miraculouses. It's cool but the possibilities are endless." Nathaniel said as he pulled out his sketchbook. "I haven't thought of names though, because I'd think people would rather pick themselves."
"Oh, is that me with the Rooster?" Marc asked as he peeked over Nathaniel's shoulder at the sketchbook. "Oh, there are a few...Brazilian Carnival and Mardi Gras?"
"Well, these are colorful and you are colorful." Nathaniel noted. "For myself with the Goat, I thought about this renaissance theme, as it was an era of artists."
"Oh, let us see!" Rose said as she looked at the sketch book. "Are we in it?"
"Of course I made a few designs for each of you. Not all possible ones because that are hundreds, but a few." Nathaniel said as he moved on to the pages with Rose and Juleka.
"That seems a bit more metal then rock, but love the boar motive and those tusks." Juleka said. "Oh, I know what my name would be: Razorback."
"Oh, that outfit would be so cute on me. I'd look like a magical girl." Rose noted.
"We are all technically magical girl." Alix pointed out. "And magical boys."
"Yeah, but it looks more anime style magical girl than normal magical. What do you think Juleka?" Rose asked.
"...You know the thing we have on Thursday, I can convince Roaar to swap..." Juleka noted as she licked her lips.
"I'm the kwami of passion, sure, but no way you are using the Miraculous for that!" Roaar noted.
"Oh, is there one of me with the rabbit?" Kim asked.
"Kim, I didn't drew you with the rabbit. In fact, while there are some Miraculouses we'd trust you with, but should we really give you the one with time and space at your command?" Nathaniel asked.
"Hey, it wouldn't be that bad." Kim noted.
"Like you wouldn't try to bring a dinosaur to the present as a pet?" Marc asked.
"Me? No, that'd be silly." Kim said, but he didn't sound convincing.
"Is there any of you guys with me?" Jinxx asked.
"Er...I don't think anyone wants you anywhere near their brain. I mean, we see what you do to Lila?" Alix noted.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lila said, now standing there with a red wig, and a cat plushie, which held a Valentine heart.
"I don't put the silly in people. I just let it out. Lila had the silly in her." Jinxx said as she munched on something that looked like multi-colored popcorn. She offered some to the others. "Bibble?"
"I like Nath's art as much as the next girl, but I think we should be getting back to training." Marinette suggested.
"Oh, can you show us your swapped forms again? I'd love to see them up close." Mylene asked.
"Pretty please?" Rose asked as she and Mylene both pulled out their puppy dog eyes.
"Dang...I hate it when they do that." Adrien said. "They always succeed."
"Well, it can't hurt. You learn them by showing them something. So who goes first?" Alya asked.
"Allow me...Now let's see...Adrikins, can you borrow me Plagg?" Chloé asked.
Adrien looked at Plagg, whom had fallen asleep in the box where the Camembert has been earlier. It would be funny to see Plagg's face as he woke up to being sucked inside the ring. "By all means." Adrien said as he handed the ring to Chloé.
"Sorry I'm late, I got a bit of overtime at my side job but..." the sound of Luka's voice sounded as he arrived on the scene.
"Plagg Claws out!" Chloé's voice shouted as she turned into Ebony again, the spluttering of a Plagg woken from his nap to be sucked violently in the ring.
Luka was stunned and he dropped his bag as he now saw his angelbee in a black cat punk rock look. "Angelbee? Or should I say angelkitty? Just...whoa?" Luka stammered as he blushed.
Ebony seemed surprise by Luka's arrival, but soon recomposed herself as she grinned and asked seductively. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" she said as she ran her fingers down his chest. "Or rather, I'll get your tongue later..."
"What's it about the feline Miraculous that makes one so flirty?" Nino wondered.
"I dunno, but the Black Cat gives some of the best outfits for...indulging fantasies." Adrien said. "I think Mari was hot as hell as Lady Noire. I think she always is but that black suit did her some favors." Adrien replied.
"Nightprowler's outfit also showed off Nino's perky bottom rather nicely." Alya said.
"Gah!" Nino said as he blushed.
"You are able to get flustered, it means that you're doing better." Alya snickered.
"I think everyone has gone way off track. Does everyone have really short attention spans now?" Marinette asked.
"We are teenagers, remember?" Adrien joked.
"Ok, Chloé, I know you enjoy the attention of your boyfriend, but we are supposed to teach our teammates about swaps." Marinette said.
"Yeah, while I like how you and my brother gets along I don't want to see you making me an aunt." Juleka noted.
"Jules, you and Rose are just as bad." Luka noted.
"I think all the couples in our midst are having troubles keeping their hands off each other." Ebony huffed.
"Not jealous at seeing you are missing, single ladies?" Kim grinned as he addressed Alix and Lila.
"Heck no! Romance makes you guys act silly and mushy. If that's what romance does to you, I'd rather not." Alix said.
"And I don't think I'd like dating right now. I'm doing good for myself. Mending things with my mom, soccer, becoming a hero. I feel pretty satisfied for now." Lila noted.
"We still got a training session to do." Marinette said. "Nino, care to demonstrate?" Marinette said as she held out her earrings.
"Me?" Nino asked.
"Feels right you start off the training as you struck the winning blow last time." Marinette noted.
Nino thought about it. He didn't get to be the teacher very often, as he did mostly assisting during these sparring sessions. But maybe just this once he could be in charge of class. He smiled a bit as he took the earrings and handed his bracelet. "Hold Wayzz will ya?"
Marinette held on to the turtle as Nino turned into Axion and stood in front of Ebony, ready to spar. "Wielding a different Miraculous doesn't automatically give us Marinette and Adrien's fighting moves. We still fight in our own way, just with different tools. Pay attention and you may note both differences and similarities in fighting styles."
Marinette smiled. It has been doing Nino some good to be around his friends again. She had no problem putting Nino in charge of today's class either. She was happier then ever that she now had a huge team behind her. Not just that there are more people to protect the city, but also that there are more people to support you. They had more people to confide in, their allies grew in numbers. But Latombe had none. They knew they had the brighter future ahead of them.
Jinxx broke the mood when she looked into Nath's sketch book, his eyes widened and she said: "Holy crap, did we became our own fan community just now?"
NOTES
Just another interlude, coming from the last chapter and some funny or heartwarming reaction of the heroes that didn't get to be there.
Wanted to make it a double feature with a date chapter with Max and Sabrina, but I couldn't think of a premise for that interlude yet so I'll have to do that later.