AN: When I wrote this, I didn't realize it was going to be published on Mother's Day…

To yellow 14: It's sad that Adrien's later actions so completely overshadowed his previous heroism.

To Butterfly: Yeah… there is now a Wiki page for the "RooT"-verse to explain the deceased characters and how they died. Short answer is, assume everyone is dead unless otherwise specified! Ivan was the first hero that CBN killed, at the memorial for Ladybug when he punched Ivan in the face so hard he snapped his neck instantly and launched his already-dead body several kilometers through a building and into the Seine!

Two Years Ago

Multiplice stood between Carasus and Taurus – she clenched her teeth, her eyes narrowing at the sight of this interloper using Taureau Dechaine's miraculous. Ten years and three holders later, and it still stung to see Ivan's accustomed horns atop someone else's head. So wrapped up was she in her own thoughts that she missed the first few lines of Queen Bee's briefing.

"–If we're lucky, we'll be in and out before Agreste even knows what's happening. Are we all clear?"

Multiplice blinked, looked down at her miraculous pendant – smaller than it had been when she first received it, all those years ago, matching her own loss of size. Almost a different lifetime, which – if she was honest – it had been. Many lifetimes. Alex and Ana stood a little off to the side, just behind the heroes, watching the briefing quietly under the supervision of one of their older fighters. Alex looked down at her, worry in his eyes. He looked so like his father… Perhaps in a year or two Alex would finally inherit his father's miraculous. Her mouth set in a thin line. Was that really what she wanted for her son? Finally she focused her attention back on Queen Bee and nodded. "All clear. Let's just finish this thing."

Carasus eyed her carefully before sharing a look with Impératrice Pourpre, who handed a butterfly to the fighter standing next to her – "Capt-Animal," one of Sabrina's regular helpers. The woman was covered in lavender light, and her uniform shifted to a brighter tan once she transformed. Impératrice Pourpre placed a hand on Capt-Animal's shoulder, and she nodded firmly before Impératrice Pourpre pushed through the crowd toward the children, placing one hand on each of their shoulders. Carasus nodded. "Voyage."

As the portal formed, Capt-Animal rolled her shoulders and popped her neck, and feathers sprouted from her arms. The portal was barely larger than a meter across when Capt-Animal took off, rocketing through it and into the dank cavern beyond. As she passed through, her skin and suit shimmered and shifted colors, camouflaging with her surroundings. Multiplice put a hand on Alex's shoulder and gave him a forced smile. Looking into the too-familiar face, she opened her mouth to say something, but no words would come. Sighing, she released him and, with a thought, activated Multitude, shrinking and dividing and leaping through the portal. The interior of their old Headquarters looked little changed from the days before the Incident. Leaning against one wall she could still see a hull plate from the Shunjar mother ship that Astreau Dechaine had wrenched apart with his bare hands during their final fight to push back the invasion. Anansi's first motorcycle sat in a display case beside the Owl's cowl. All the grass and flowers, however, had long ago died out. The butterflies had disappeared. A thin layer of dust covered most of the surfaces. Multiplice gave the command, and her clones fanned out around the perimeter of the cave, searching for signs of life.

Near the roof of the cave, slight distortions in the ceiling's texture showed Capt-Animal's progress as she flew tight loops, examining every centimeter of the ground. A Multiplice-clone near the old grotto – Emilie Agreste's body still frozen inside – looked up in surprise as Capt-Animal became briefly visible when she turned over into a dive, rocketing straight into one of the small nooks set into the side of the cave. She emerged moments later, cradling the old wooden Miracle Box against her chest.

"I have it," she gasped. "I even opened it up, and they're in there – the ones we need, I mean."

Half the Multiplice-clones turned toward her as one and opened their mouths to cheer, when a blast of white energy lit up the cave. Capt-Animal's eye went wide as the energy blast struck her shoulder. The Multiplice-clones spun around, searching for the source. A trapdoor had opened near the old lab. The smooth silvery barrel of an energy rifle protruded from it. Capt-Animal dropped to the ground, rolling around in pain, the Miracle Box forgotten in the dirt beside her. A half-dozen Multiplice-clones raced toward her, merging together as their paths intersected. Another bolt from the energy rifle, and Capt-Animal's unprotected head disintegrated. Her body flopped lifelessly, just before the mini-Multiplice reached her, standing over the Miracle Box and spinning her jump rope as a shield. The energy rifle fired again, and she deflected the shot into the cave ceiling, sending a stalactite crashing to the ground.

"Team Two!" shouted Queen Bee, rushing into the cave, followed by Taurus and their other two fighters. One of the fighters shot the automated energy rifle, which melted and dropped to the ground. A section of the cave wall opened near the elevator plate, disgorging a dozen of CBN's troopers, led by two of his Miracu-Minions.

The two Multiplice-clones closest to the opening rushed to intercept them. One of the troopers, his eye drawn to the movement, pointed at the first clone and fired his rifle, the clone a small speck in the center of a steady beam of energy. Multiplice screamed, the agony coming to her as from a distance, as the clone melted and burned. Another trooper stomped the second clone, crushing all of her bones beneath her boot. The two Resistance fighters fired into the crowd of troopers, striking one in the shoulder. At a thought, Multiplice pulled her surviving clones back, closer to the mini-Multiplice guarding the Miracle Box.

"Stampede!" bellowed Taurus, pawing the dirt with his boot and dropping his head, charging the enemy troopers. The Dinosaur threw his lasso at Taurus, who deflected it aside with his cattle prod, not slowing his headlong charge. The front two troopers dove to the ground to avoid him, and he barreled straight into the man behind them, falling on top of him, planting his feet on the man's chest, and pushing himself back up. The trooper gurgled weakly as his chest caved in, before Taurus drove his foot into the man's face. Taurus spun his cattle prod, blocking an energy beam into the cave wall. The Eagle swung his mace at Taurus' head, and he held out his cattle prod to block it.

The Multiplice-clones raced toward the Miracle Box. The Eagle hurled his mace at one of the clones, who dove to one side, narrowly avoiding the strike. As the troopers spread out around the cavern, a group of Multiplice-clones merged together into a second mini-Multiplice, tackling a trooper to the ground and placing her hand on his throat, snapping his windpipe. Another trooper held a gun to the mini-Multiplice's head. One clone separated from the mini-Multiplice a moment before the trooper pulled the trigger, causing his shot to miss high. The clone climbed up the trooper's leg and leapt to his hand, pulling his finger back. The trooper yelped in surprise as the mini-Multiplice kicked him in the crotch, knocking him to the ground.

The Eagle's mace struck the mini-Multiplice in the back, knocking her to the ground on top of the trooper. The Eagle leapt into the air, sprouted wings, and snagged his mace out of midair, hurling it down at the mini-Multiplice, crushing both her head and that of the trooper with the same blow. Multiplice gasped in horror, all of her clones freezing in place and falling to the ground at the loss of such a large portion of her consciousness. The mini-Multiplice next to the Miracle Box was the first to recover, scooping up another half-dozen clones to merge into herself. Across the cave, the Dinosaur and Taurus were engaged in a furious duel, churning up the ground beneath their feet. One of the other Resistance fighters was down – shot. Queen Bee raced toward the mini-Multiplice and Miracle Box, blocking energy blasts from all corners of the room as the cavern's automated defense systems targeted her. Three more Multiplice-clones were struck and killed by the hail of fire. Multiplice's consciousness was a state of constant agony as bits and pieces of herself died left and right. But she was no stranger to loss. She couldn't allow herself to fall into grief – she had to power through. The mission: nothing else mattered.

"In-Dino!" the Dinosaur bellowed, as a massive pit of lava erupted from the ground beneath Taurus, who leapt out of the way with moments to spare. One Multiplice-clone, however, wasn't so lucky and fell in. Multiplice let out a shriek as the clone burned. One clone hurled itself at the closest fighter in a rage, clambering up his torso and kicking him in the throat, knocking him backward into the cave wall and knocking him out cold.

Suddenly the elevator whirred to life and began to descend.

"We're out of time!" Queen Bee screamed, eyes wide, looking around the room wildly. The Dinosaur caught Taurus around the neck with his lasso, pulling it tight, throwing him up into the air only to slam him back down to the ground on top of a stalagmite, which crumbled under the impact. Taurus tugged feebly at the rope as the Dinosaur put his foot on his back, pulling harder. Queen Bee threw her top at the Dinosaur, knocking him off of Taurus' back momentarily. "Grab the Miracle Box and let's move!" she called to Multiplice.

The elevator plate dropped below the cave's ceiling, a single pair of boots visible. The mini-Multiplice shook her head. "There's no time!" The Eagle and several troopers were closing in around her. She grabbed the Miracle Box in her hands, almost too large for her to hold, and pulled it back, throwing it at Queen Bee. The mini-Multiplice fell to the ground, her head taken off by the Eagle's mace. The last four clones fell to their knees, gasping in shock. The Dinosaur hurled Taurus at the wall, releasing him from his lasso and throwing it to catch the Miracle Box.

Queen Bee knocked the lasso aside with her top and snatched the box out of the air. CBN was fully visible on the elevator plate, standing with his hands behind his back, halfway down to the cave level. "Multiplice!" Queen Bee shouted. "We need to go!"

The remaining four Multiplice-clones all sprinted toward the still-open portal, as fast as their tiny legs could carry them. Queen Bee waved to her last surviving resistance fighter, beckoning the man through the portal first. The Multiplice-clones were halfway to the portal when the elevator shaft opened, and Cat Bug Noir stepped out. The Multiplice-clones turned to look at Queen Bee, then at Cat Bug Noir. With a sigh of resignation, she shook her head at Queen Bee. "No. You go. I'll hold him off."

"But–Mylène–"

"Just do it, Chloe!" Multiplice screamed, running back toward Cat Bug Noir, her eyes alight with rage. "I'll buy you time! But they need you! Just–just promise me something." Two clones merged together and sprang up behind CBN, kicking him in the back of the knee. The other two clones merged, leaping on CBN's arm only to divide again when he tried to slap them off. CBN grabbed one clone and squeezed, a malicious rage in his eyes as the clone struggled feebly against his iron grip. The clone's legs jerked once. Multiplice froze, stunned. CBN kicked the mini-Multiplice across the room into the wall. She looked up in a daze, her eyes unfocused. CBN whipped out his staff, gave it a testing swing, and extended it across the length of the room, crushing the mini-Multiplice's head with a wet pop.

"M–Mylène?" asked Queen Bee hesitantly, stepping back through the portal.

The last Multiplice-clone gasped, blinking past the shame and pain and shock. Mustering her remaining strength, she panted, "Look out for Alex. He–he's alone… he doesn't deserve that."

"I–I will." Queen Bee gave her one last pained look as the portal closed.

CBN looked down at the last Multiplice-clone, snagging it off of his arm. "You thought you stood a chance against me?" he demanded with a sneer.

Alex… I'm–I'm sorry. The pain that had been building on the edge of her consciousness for twelve years, ever since her first clone was killed, finally began to fade. Weakly she struggled against CBN's overpowering grip, knowing even as she did so that it was a losing battle. Taurus lay in a crumpled heap against the wall – no way Alex would follow his father's footsteps now. But Chloe had survived. They had succeeded. They had recovered the Snake and Rabbit Miraculous. And maybe that would be enough. Finally Multiplice stopped fighting against the crushing grip. Ivan… I'll see you soon…

"Cataclysm."