To Guest: Why not?

To yellow 14: With all the damage that had been done, plus the length of time, not everything was repaired by the original ML; subsequent MLs can't repair, but it's still the power of Creation being unleashed.

To Butterfly: She is pretty cool!

To armadas: We do indeed!

"Are you two ready?"

Cat Noir looked at Ladybug and raised his eyebrow dubiously. After spending his entire life in Paris, would he ever really be ready to make a trip, not just out of Paris but out of Europe? Yes, the old Heroes of Paris had been connected to heroes around the world, and yes, CBN had spread his poison around the world, but there was still so much to do in Paris. But Chloe didn't want to put this off too much longer.

Ladybug shrugged. "I guess we're as ready as we're going to get," she replied, nodding to Carasus.

"Now remember," Chloe warned them, holding a hand out before Carasus could act, "we're trying to make allies here. These guys have been on their own for so long, we don't know where they are anymore. But we do know that there's at least one of CBN's lieutenants in the area – the Kangaroo, from everything we know. Be careful, and watch each other's backs. And Alex–" she added sharply, grabbing Cat Noir's shoulder and giving him a hard look straight into his eyes. "Bring my daughter back to me."

Cat Noir nodded firmly. "I will."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "I'm fourteen and a superhero, Mom. I can take care of myself."

Chloe pursed her lips. "And you have a partner now so you don't have to take care of yourself, Sweetie. And that goes for both of you," she added, hugging both of them together. "Take care of each other."

Ladybug hugged Chloe back briefly before pulling away. Meeting Cat Noir's eye she nodded. "We will."

"I will send you close to their last known location. Let me know when you are ready to return – or if you need backup." Carasus punched his arm out. "Voyage!"

As the portal opened, Cat Noir could see an overgrown jungle stretching out in all directions around a small clearing. Light from the rising sun filtered green through the foliage. His miraculous-enhanced senses caught snatches of birdsong before they cut out abruptly. With a glance at Ladybug, he led the way through the portal, his staff already out defensively in front of him. Ladybug hopped through after him, and the portal closed with a whoosh. "So where do we go now?" he asked.

Ladybug frowned and dropped to one knee, examining the grass in the clearing, her eyes trailing off toward the undergrowth beneath the trees. Cat Noir followed her gaze, his eyes narrowing to tiny slits. He could just detect movement in the undergrowth, leaves rustling the slightest bit. It could just be an animal, but the scent wasn't that of an animal. He tensed, moving forward to place himself between Ladybug and the jungle.

Suddenly a man rose out of the undergrowth wearing what appeared to be a suit of dark blue, with a dark tail protruding from his back and a mask covering most of his face, from the long ears on top of his head to the snout covering his normal nose. He stepped into the clearing and folded his arms. The brush rustled around them, and Cat Noir noticed rifle barrels appearing from all directions. "What are you two doing in my jungle?" he demanded.

Chloe had said that CBN had a miraculous lieutenant in the area. Cat Noir dropped into a fighting stance and gave his staff a testing twirl, but Ladybug placed her hand on his shoulder. "Are you Señor Barreda?"

Cat Noir's eyes widened. "Wait… that's you?"

The stranger scoffed. "Not exactly a 'señor'… That was my Papa." He cocked his head. "But what's a Cat and a Bug doing here, anyways?"

"We… actually came looking for you," Ladybug told him.

"I gathered as much." He frowned, folding his arms. "So why? And how do you come to have those miraculous? You don't exactly look like the monster."

"He's dead," Cat Noir replied firmly, grip tightening on his staff. "Queen Bee and the Resistance defeated him a month ago and took his miraculous. We're the replacements – the new Ladybug and Cat Noir."

Barreda's eyes narrowed. "Anything like the old one?"

"If you mean the last time there was a Ladybug and Cat Noir, then I hope so," Ladybug answered slowly.

"But if you mean like CBN, then hell no," added Cat Noir.

"How can we be certain of that?" demanded another of the guerillas, stepping up to stand next to Barreda. His eyes bore a striking resemblance to Barreda's as he examined Cat Noir and Ladybug closely.

Cat Noir placed himself between the new guerilla and Ladybug, meeting his gaze without blinking. Finally he shrugged. "We were sent here by Queen Bee to try to make friends. If you're our friend, then that's great. If not, then I guess we'll just return to Paris."

Barreda scoffed. "I remember when Queen Bee came to America the first time, alongside the last Ladybug and Cat Noir. So proud of themselves for fighting off that scout ship. They wanted allies in case they returned. That was when our parents left to visit Paris." He folded his arms. "Everything was fine… until it wasn't. Ladybug died. The world all went to hell. Queen Bee called them up for help with her Gato Loco. And the next I knew, Ricochet was here, attacking my home."

Another boy, only a couple years older than Cat Noir himself, stepped out of the undergrowth. "I was only five," he told them, stopping beside Barreda, a dark look in his eyes. "Do you know my oldest memory? Marco grabbing our hands and dragging us out the temple's back door, just before Ricochet's men stormed the front. We lost so many of our friends that day…"

Ladybug cocked her head, staring at the three of them. Cat Noir's eyes darted around the clearing, cataloguing the number of people still surrounding them. Less than a dozen, but still more than he would care to fight on unfamiliar ground. Barreda watched him dispassionately for a moment before saying, "You don't have to worry, Gato. If you're not with Ricochet, I'm not interested in fighting you. But you and your partner perhaps ought to leave. My brothers and I have unfinished business with our home. I have no interest in involving my people in European affairs again – not after last time."

Ladybug gasped. "Mom told me about you! Marco… you must be Daniel." She pointed to the youngest boy and then turned to the middle one. "And you are…"

"Luis," he supplied.

"Where is your other brother? Um… Miguel?" The three brothers shared a dark look. Marco clenched his fist. Ladybug covered her mouth. "O–oh. I'm–I'm sorry."

"It happened two years ago," Luis told her, his mouth set in a thin line. "Saving me from Spike."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Cat Noir told them. "That's–" He sighed heavily. "That's around when my mother died, too. She was killed by CBN himself as far as I know."

"That's also when we lost the Dolphin Miraculous," added Daniel. He scoffed. "So much for the American Guardians, huh?"

Ladybug cocked her head. "So how many of your miraculous do you still have?"

Daniel gave her a suspicious look, and Luis opened his mouth, but shut it again when Marco shook his head. "What you see is what we've got," Marco informed her curtly.

Cat Noir's eyes widened, glancing at Ladybug, who shrugged. "Our set is a little better off," he told them, "though most of our miraculous are still missing, too."

"My Mom feels terrible about everything that happened," Ladybug added. "Especially with your parents – she always speaks well of your mother. Mom had hoped that your parents and the others would be able to stop him… she didn't realize how powerful he had gotten."

"Your mother is Queen Bee?" Marco frowned. "Well, thanks to your mother, I've spent the last 11 years on the run, trying – and not always succeeding – to keep my brothers and the others safe."

"My Mom's story is the same," Ladybug agreed, nodding. "But now that CBN is gone – I hope we're proof enough of that – Mom wants to reform and reunite the world's miraculous groups. We're trying to restore something like what you had before – the alliance that defeated the Shunjar."

"You mean the alliance that fell to your 'great leader'?" Marco scoffed and shook his head. "Not interested. I have more than enough of my own problems to deal with here, trying to dislodge Ricochet and reclaim our home. After that? Maybe. But any alliance has to come with the return of the American Miraculous stolen by your Gato Loco and Ricochet."

Ladybug nodded. "That's why we're here. We have recovered some of your miraculous." She flicked her yo-yo open and extracted a small shoebox containing six objects: a feathered hairclip – "The Terror Bird" – a pair of round spectacles – "the Sloth" – a beaded anklet – "the Roadrunner" – a tooth on a lanyard – "the Dinosaur" – a hair tie – "the Bison" – and a feather on a necklace – "and the Eagle."

Marco reverently touched the eagle feather necklace before looking up at Ladybug. "Are these all you are returning?"

Ladybug's shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, but yes. At least for now. These are all the American Miraculous we have recovered, unfortunately. We wanted to bring you back your mother's miraculous, but we do not know where it is. But I promise, when we find it, we will restore it to you."

"Do you have any idea how much the Resistance had to do to get these back?" Cat Noir demanded, folding his arms and eyeing Marco through narrowed eyes.

"I do not wish to appear ungrateful," Marco told him quickly. "Thank you. These – these will help us to recover what we lost."

"That's not all," Ladybug announced, straightening her back, a firm set to her jaw.

Cat Noir raised an eyebrow dubiously. "It's not?"

She shook her head firmly. "We are going to help you fight Ricochet."

Marco eyed her contemplatively. "And how do you propose that we do that, Ladybug?"

Ladybug looked into the shoebox of miraculous, then studied the three Barredas, as well as the group of guerilla fighters slowly emerging from the jungle and forming a cordon around the five of them. She grinned.