On her way home, Alya was receiving a weird notification on her phone. After checking, it didn't turn out to be solely a notification, but a warning. Someone was hacking into the Miracle Blog. Alya quickly accessed the Blog and put on safeties. Luckily she was quite capable with her blogs, and she had help with Max for anti-hacking measures. Though these slowed down the hacking, when Alya checked the settings, she was still worried because the parts of the blog targeted showed a really good knowledge of the lay out and workings of her blog. Too much knowledge. But whom would have that?
Putting further safeties in place, she went home to her laptop from which she could provide better protection to her website so she picked up the pace so she could get home faster. Luckily over a year of crime fighting and super heroics gave leaves her in great physical condition.
Mom and Dad should still be at worked, Nora had training and her little sisters are at the daycare. That means she luckily could work in peace without having too much questions asked. As she went home, she found that the front door was unlocked. Which shouldn't have happened if no one was at home. As she went inside, she threated carefully. Didn't make a single sound as she went inside and snuck closer into her room. She could hear a sound, someone typing away at the keyboard of a laptop. HER laptop.
Her laptop was sacred to her. Nobody, not even her boyfriend, touched her laptop. She kicked in the door. "All right, you creep, stay away from my…" she blinked as she saw whom sat in the chair. Another her. Another Alya. "…our computer?"
The other Alya looked at our Alya. "Oh…er…sorry about that?" she said. It sounded awkward and not genuine.
"It's going to be one of 'those days'…" Alya muttered softly. "So, what are you? A gynoid created in my image? Magical clone by a magical creature? Shapeshifter?"
"Other-dimensional counterpart." Alya II said.
"That was going to be my next guess." Alya said. "Say something only we know and I will fully believe you." The other Alya leaned closer and whispered something in Prime Alya's ear. Alya blushed hard. "Gah! You could have told me the combination of our locker at school or something, not that!"
"Sorry?" Alya II said with a shrug.
"Now if you don't mind…get away from my laptop!" she bit, and the other Alya jumped back, and onto our Alya's bed.
"Technically since I am a counterpart it is also my laptop?" Alya II said.
"No, I may be you, but I am an OTHER you! Like another person. Never heard about privacy…" Alya noted. "What are you even planning on doing? You could have just reached out to me or the other heroes, if you wanted to know something about this world or to get home…"
"Er…I can't exactly go home." Alya II said, she nervously scratched the mole on her cheek as she sighed. "I never knew the identities of the other heroes aside Nino's but I couldn't bear to look at him again since he the others are gone."
"What? Oh…I'm sorry to hear. If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Alya asked softly.
"I don't know…It was something between Ladybug and Hawkmoth, but I wasn't called upon to be Rena Rouge…hadn't for a long time at that point." Alya II said. "I couldn't make sense of it at the time. I hope that if our worlds were similar enough, I could find out about Ladybug here and if I know her and the others' identities, I would have made sense of what happened…you'd understand right?"
"I understand your reasoning…" Alya noted. Alya II smiled softly. "But I cannot divulge any information to you."
Alya II's face fell. "Why not?"
"Because of several things. Your world and mine could be different, the information may not line up. But most important of all, it is not up to me to tell. Those secret identities are only up to the heroes themselves to reveal. And they are my friends, I could never break that trust." Alya replied.
"But you know, so you found out…" Alya II said.
"I didn't find out. I was trusted with the secret. And I kept that secret. Yes, at the start I tried to find out Ladybug and Chat's identity. But I stopped when I realized the consequences of what that may entail." Alya replied.
"What consequences? You blog would blow up if you had posted it." Alya II asked, sounding honestly like she didn't know what consequences there would be.
"We got enemies. If any of them found out our identities, they would come after us in our homes, after our family and friends." Alya ranted at her counterpart.
"But they have superpowers, they can protect them…" Alya II noted.
"They could…But the attacks would become more frequent, not just by Hawkmoth or Latombe but by ordinary criminals as well, crazy fans, they wouldn't be left alone. They wouldn't have a moment's rest, it would ruin their lives." Alya said.
"I thought you were a journalist, where is your sense of curiosity?" Alya II asked.
"Being a journalist is not always about uncovering information, but when not to spread it." Alya bit back. "What happened to you that you blatantly ignore the basics of journalism and human decency?"
Alya II pursed her lips. "I just wanted some answers…I wanted to know why it happened. Why she lost, why she was getting so much angrier and reckless…why she passed me up. I admire your loyalty but…" Alya II was engulfed in dark energy and she transformed into something that vaguely resembled Rena Rouge, but upon closer inspection, the addition of claws, a pointier face that turns out to be a snout and real claws, it was more a werefox transformation then a costume change. "I will get the answers one way or another."
"Trixx, let's pounce!" Rena Rouge transformed in time as the werefox self, Rena Rage, tackled her out the window and both fell to the ground. After a heavy crash both rolled across the floor both got back up. "I asked Trixx to pounce, not you!"
Rena Rage just growled as the air distorts around her and the temperature increases, just like there was a heatwave around her. "You got it all, she trusts you, you knew everything. I thought I knew what was going on in my life for a long time, but then things change and you thought what you thought was real turned out to be fake…and when you realize there wasn't any fake and it was real after all…I deserve this closure!"
"No you don't. Not if you are still blinded to the consequences of what your actions may cause." Rena Rouge said as she pointed her flute at Rena Rage.
"What would you know about consequences? Everything went right for you! You still got your rep, your friends, the Miraculous…" Rena Rage, stroked her furry chest where in a past life, the Miraculous would be. "I had to cheat to even remotely feel like a Rena again."
"I have those now, but not everything went right. When I found several of the answers, I had names to put to those faces, those icons I once thought as the comic book heroes now became real people. And I had rushed in. If I had succeeded in whatever moronic plan, I would have lost a lot more. And my blog…well, I deserved some backlash for getting ahead of myself. I could have lashed out and be stubborn. But I admitted my wrongs, and while I was knocked down a few pegs, I stood up, stronger than ever again." Rena Rouge explained.
"What about your pride?" Rena Rage asked. "Was it not important?"
"I learned to not take pride in the wrong things." Rena Rage said. "What did you take pride in? If your earlier behavior was any indication you never learned anything. What did you end up like? A tabloid?"
"I am not a tabloid!" Rena Rage said as she charged as she charged at Rena Rouge, whom jumped over her, but found her leg grabbed. Rena Rage threw Rena Rouge across the street, but Rena hooked her flute around a lamppost, and used it to swing around and kick hurl back at Rena Rage, kicking her in the face and knocking her back.
"When I saw you earlier, your utter obliviousness and lack of ethics in your pursuit of your goals, I realized it quickly. You are the worst version of me." Rena Rouge said.
"I am. But that's because I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I will get my answers. Because it will be worth everything. With the knowledge I seek, I will find them…and use the Miraculous to fix it all." Rena Rage said.
"That's even more stupid, because using those Miraculous like you intend to will have consequences…" Rena Rouge said.
"Consequences, Consequences…that's all you talk about. I cannot be held back with the 'what will happen'. I have no time. And even if there are consequences, I will bear them, I can deal with them." Rena Rage growled, going on all fours like a beast.
"Are you sure?" Rena Rouge asked.
"At least I'll will be able to deal with you!" Rena Rage growled as she charged, and the fight was on again.
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Nino had also headed straight home. He would be alone for a while. His mother worked, his little brother was at the daycare alongside Alya's sisters and Nia roamed (she was still getting used to being in one place for long periods of time so when uneasy, she explored the city). He would take the time to get some relaxation and listen to his favorite music. He could almost hear it already. Or in fact, he did hear it for real.
Wait, someone got in the house and was now listening to his music? If it was a burglar it was a really dumb one, as that music could alert someone. But he wasn't sure still so he silently made it to his room, hoping that the music would drown out his footsteps. He looked around the corner into the slightly ajar door of his room. He saw someone, though from behind. He had tanned skin and short hair.
If it was a burglar or an intruder, he didn't want to play his hand right away and become Carapace again. He snuck in and was now behind the intruder. He suddenly grabbed the intruder from behind and had his arm around his throat, not quite a chokehold but close. "All right, what are you doing in my house?"
"Dude, chill! Not here to fight!" a familiar voice sounded from the guy. Really familiar in fact…
Nino turned the guy towards him only for him to see himself looking like an identical counterpart of him. He lacked the hat and headphones and had different clothes but it was him nonetheless. Both of them stared at each other for a while. "Dude!" they said simultaneously.
"Are you me?" Nino asked the other Nino…
Since the other Nino could be Nino's twin, we'll call him 'Twinno' for now. "When you were four and played with Marinette and Kim in the sandbox, you dropped your corndog but ate it anyways, and got so sick that…"
"I'm convinced!" Nino said, raising his hands to stop from reliving an embarrassing moment. "If you're me, then how…" Nino asked as he suddenly frowned. "Did you go through one of those anomaly portal thingies?"
"Pretty much." Twinno replied.
"So…where's the hat?" Nino asked curiously.
"Lost it in my world." Twinno said sadly. He sounded…resigned.
"Oh. Er, need a ride home? I think I can ask Bunnyx…" Nino began.
"There's no way home for me." Twinno noted. Nino's eyes widened. Twinno noted this. "Let's just say that our group of heroes wasn't nearly as successful as yours."
"Oh…that sounds bad. Sorry to hear, dude…Can I get you something?" Nino asked nervously and awkwardly.
"You got something to eat?" Twinno asked.
"Mom made krichlate yesterday. We got some leftovers." Nino noted.
Twinno still looked sad, but there was something genuine about his smile. "That'd be awesome. Haven't had those in ages." Nino had grabbed the jar of the Moroccan cookies, the two sitting down at the table and enjoying the sweets. Twinno seemed delighted to taste them, almost crying. "Just like how mom used to make them."
"It is our mom whom made them." Nino reminded him. "You don't have to tell me what happened. But what happened in your world?"
"I'm not sure. Unlike you I wasn't able to stay Carapace." He sighed. "You did well for yourself, full time member it seems."
"I'm sure you did fine too." Nino said, trying to sound supportive.
"Nah…I was at one point but…" Twinno sighed. "I no longer deserved it. Rightfully so."
"Can't be that bad, right?" Nino asked.
"I was a turtle, in the best…and worst way. When the things got tough, I just retracted in my shell like a coward. If I could have spoken up, things would perhaps not have escalated like they did, and I would still have my friends and family. Never got to make up before that Miraculous disaster hit." Twinno noted.
"I…I don't understand." Nino said honestly.
"Of course you wouldn't. You're a better turtle. You knew that once in a while, you get out of your shell and snap…" Twinno made a gesture, imitating a snapping turtle with his hand. "As a result, you still got it all. You got your friends, your music and movie passion, your family…you even got a new sister, I think? I saw the pictures of the new girl. What's her name?"
"Nia. She was a lost soul whom needed help." Nino assured.
Twinno chuckled, both joy and sadness oozed from it. "You did great. And it is a shame now…I got a taste of my old music and of mom's cooking again, even for a moment. But it will be gone soon."
"What are you saying, dude?" Nino asked.
Twinno's joy vanished like snow in the hot sun. He sighed. "I'm sorry!" he said.
Nino's instincts kicked in and he quickly backed off as his counterpart flipped the table. "Dude, what is your problem?" Nino said as he landed on his feet after dodge rolling being crushed by the table.
"I told you…I am a coward. I would have paid for my mistakes by the loss of everything. Would have served me, for not sticking up for my bro when he was uneasy…" Twinno said as he started to glow with dark energy and he started to bulk up. "…Not stand up against my girlfriend when she was being stubborn and keep her on a leash." His skin turned scaly as his fingers elongated in claws. "Stand up for Mari, my oldest friend, when she most needed help."
Nino gulped as the transformed counterpart was now large enough to cast a shadow over him. "Dude…" Carapace said. As he tried not to show fear at what his counterpart had become, he reminded himself that he may not use 'dude' all the time because it was not always a good enough word to express some things.
Twinno was now a massive turtle-like beast. It like if Carapace and Slash from the Ninja Turtles franchise were fused together. "And again I've been a coward for not standing up to the person whom sent me here. She wants the Miraculous of this world. I appreciate your hospitality, alternate me-dude…and I don't want to do this…But I got no choice."
"You always have a choice." Carapace said. "A while back I was at a downer point, almost lost in my anger. It clouded my mind, and I almost lost myself. Now don't lose yourself to your despair, there is something else we can do…I don't know what yet, but I'm sure there is another way." His monstrous behemoth counterpart didn't move an inch. "Nino?" he asked. Kind of weird of calling someone by his name.
"It's SHELLSHOCK!" He raised his big, hammy arms and tried to cave Carapace's face in, whom held his shield, and as the fists hit the shield, a shockwave went through the house, anything made of glass or fragile enough shattered.
Carapace got up and growled. It seems there was no talking this out. "Let's take this outside!" he said as he left the house. He went through the door, only for Shellshock to run through the wall. "Dude that's my house…our house…you know what I mean!"
Shellshock panted, not because he was tired but because he was emotional. "Forgive me…" he softly muttered as he let out a roar, though it sounded more sad then angry. He would charge at his counterpart and a kerfuffle would take place soon.
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Lila stretched as she walked back home. She would wait for the next mission but in the meantime she would practice a bit of soccer in her back yard. As she approached her home though, she could see something from a distance. Someone stepped outside of her home, and it wasn't her mother. That someone was able to get in with no problem sent an alarm through her head. From a distance, she looked familiar, but it couldn't be.
She saw the person part and Lila started to follow her. From a distance, staying out of sight but never far away enough to lose sight of said person. She found the person standing still for a moment to check herself out in her reflection in a window, and stood long enough for Lila to finally see her face. Lila's eyes went wide. Jinxx poked her head out of the purse, her eyes went wide. She popped them out of her sockets, robbed them over her chest as of to polish them and put them back in, blinking a few times, before looking between Lila…and the doppelganger she trailed. "She's you…But if she's you, who are you, whom am I? Am I still Jinxx? Do I still like salami? Will I ever play the violin again?" Jinxx noted.
"I am not sure, but something fishy is going on. (Jinxx, put that sardine away) a doppelganger is possible but she came out of my house, that's a major red flag (Jinxx, put that red flag away, we don't want to attract bulls)." Lila said as she followed the Lila Doppelganger.
It came to a halt as she found the other Lila running into Aurore and Mireille. The two looked confused when the other Lila started talking to him. Not only the doppelganger knew where she lived but she recognized people at her school. She snuck closer to hear what the other her began talking about. "…asked me to help with a project, it would involve charity in Achu…" It was the type of thing Lila would have said half a year ago, prior to her what she called 'redemption'. The doppelganger was like a version of her that hadn't learned bout the consequences of lying.
Lila called her copy Lie-La in her mind. Luckily everyone at school she had been doing better and wouldn't lie so Aurore and Mireille were very confused at the other her. Lila decided to throw her other self off guard, jump from her hiding spot and shouted: "Hey! You!"
Lie-La turned around, her eyes went wide and she was like a deer in the headlights…only unlike that deer she managed to bolt for it. Aurore and Mireille were even more confused when Lila took chase after her doppelganger. The two besties looked at each other. "You have a clue what is going on?" Mireille asked?
"No idea…But this is not the weirdest thing that has happened in Paris." Aurore muttered.
"You think we should put an alert on the blog? Maybe it is a human doppelganger, but that could be a magical monster or a creation of that terrorist Latombe." Mireille suggested.
"Good idea…" Aurore said as she took out her phone.
Meanwhile Lie-La ran like her skirt was on fire with Lila on her heels. The other Lie-La does not have the same physical condition that Lila had, mostly due to the latter being a sports girl with a side of superhero cardio training. Lie-La took some short-cuts and sharp turns, and a few dirty tricks to slow Lila down but it was clear she delayed the inevitable. At one point, she was cornered in a dead end of an alleyway.
Lila got closer to her look-a-like. "All right, missy! Spill, what is going on? Who are you and where do you come from?"
"Don't you recognize your own face?" Lie-La said. The way she raised her hands and smirked wasn't playful. It was almost mocking.
"How can you be me?" Lila asked.
"I'm from another world silly." Lie-La said. "I was a hero in that world, one of the best in fact, everyone loved me. But there was a threat I was not able to save my world from. Only I survived and I ended up here. I was so scared and alone in this new world." Lie-La tried to look broken and sad.
"You broke into my home." Lila hissed.
"I didn't break it, it technically is also my home. And I must say I'm impressed." Lie-La said.
Normally Lila would have felt flattered but her other self's smirk put her on edge. "What are you blathering about?"
"I saw you with pictures of the others, you really got them eating out of your hands. Even pretty boy Adrien and goody two-shoes Marinette…" she spat out that last word like it was a curse "Seem to like you. In my world I hadn't make that little bitch fall in line, but you did. Good job."
"Fall in line? They are my friends, not my servants or something." Lila growled.
"Yeah, right… 'friends'!" Lie-La said as she made air quotes with her fingers. "As if you are not impressing them with your tall tales and trick those gullible fools into giving you the attention and admiration you deserve, have them do everything for you."
"I don't know what is up with you, but I don't work that way. These people are really my friends. And the 'tall tales', yeah I don't do that anymore, haven't for a long time." Lila explained.
"Oh really, then why are they so friendly with you?" Lie-La asked.
"Because they are nice? And while I wasn't a few months ago, I like to think that I have become a nice person as well, one worthy of their friendship." Lila replied.
"No, that can't be. We should never want friends, we want followers, whom praise us, do anything for us, treat us like the goddesses we are. You are another me, are you? You are another Lila Rossi, you should realize that." Lie-La said.
Lila looked down at her feet. "At one point, I may have agreed with you. I felt alone, isolated due to being the perpetual new kid. My life being constantly thrown upside down…I may have thought that friendship may not be worth it. But something changed. Someone reached out to me, and…I have realized it was worth it. It was worth creating new bonds, it was worth it regaining my passion. It was worth having real friends."
"Ugh, you are making me sick." Lie-La said. "You could have ruled the school, you could have ruled everything but you had to be a goody two-shoes. I am ashamed to call you a counterpart."
"I can say the same. I wish I could say I don't know what would have made you this…twisted, almost cartoonish alpha bitch. But I realize probably no one reached out for you like they did for me." Lila noted.
"I don't want anyone to pity me, I want someone to worship me, or fall in line in my queendom!" Lie-La huffed angrily.
"I don't see why you are so deserving of it. You are a coward. I was on to you from the start, that's why you tried to run from me. You only try to talk me into it, thinking I am just like you or that you can lie your way out of this. Let me tell you, it hasn't worked for me, and it will not work for you. I have found out that the lies only give short term satisfaction, and you have to constantly have to build them up to prevent it from crumbling. It is something that is impossible to keep up. Instead working for something in an earnest way, something that you can be proud off. Because you built it up yourself instead of mooching of others like a leech. I am truly satisfied with my achievements in life." Lila explained.
"It's funny, but also disgusting. You sound like that pathetic Marinette, at least the one of my world. She was a girl whom shouldn't have minded her own business. I took great pleasure in destroying her." Lie-La said with a sadistic smirk. "A shame that the moron Hawkmoth didn't properly finish the job I helped him start and whatever wish he wanted to make turned everything to pot, otherwise I would have stood out on top."
"You helped Hawkmoth? Like, if you world was like mine, was a magical terrorist turning people into supervillains against their will and would burn down Paris if it meant getting the Miraculous?" Lila asked.
"Yeah, what about it?" Lie-La asked.
"Why would you want to help that kind of guy?" Lila asked.
"Power. I got power, and I got to put that bitch Ladybug in her place for trying to expose me. It wasn't her business." Lie-La explained, like it was a normal thing to do.
"You would let Paris burn because someone rightfully pointed out you were lying?" Lila said as she felt she was about to throw up. "You are insane. I mean, even if your reason to hate Ladybug wasn't utterly pathetic, that little regard for innocent people? How do you even…Our mom would be among them."
"What about those people? They aren't me, they don't concern me." Lie-La said. "And while Mom has been useful and easily manipulated in the past, she had outlived her use once she refused to be a good pawn any longer. As for the sleight, no matter how big, those whom aren't with me are against me and need to be destroyed, at any cost."
"You are foolish to have shown your true nature, so I'll have no qualms kicking your ass." Lila said.
Lie-La laughed. "Oh please, I always knew a chance existed that my counterpart would expose me. Even if you weren't a softie, my other selves wouldn't want to share their power, I wouldn't. I just kill you, and take your place. With everyone already liking you it would be easy to use those pathetic bonds of friendship to have them become subservient to me."
"What makes you think you would be able to do it?" Lila asked.
Lie-La smirked evilly as she was engulfed into dark energy and turned into something Lila would hope to never see again. Her own counterpart now stood there in her original Akumatized form, Volpina. As she wondered how if she ever could escape that dark and embarrassing moment in her life, Volpina spoke up: "Hawkmoth got himself and everyone blown up but he never renounced my powers. And without anyone to control me I can do whatever I want with them."
"Oh, prepare to be disappointed." Lila said with a smirk of her own. "Jinxx, go crazy!" She transformed into a burst of light, standing there as Pipistrello. "Ta-da!"
"Oh, you are chummy with Ladybug as well? How could you have lowered yourself like that?" Volpina said in disgust.
"You aligned yourself with a madman whom got your world destroyed, while my world is safe and sound, so from where I stand, I think I got the longer end of the stick." Pipistrello said as she pulled out a hand-shaped balloon and let it fly off. She readied her hammer. "And this stick has a very big and heavy tip that maybe can knock some sense into that tiny brain of yours…That or I just like to hit stupid evil bitches in the face. It's very therapeutic."
"Your hammer and gaudy outfit will do nothing against me. I am Volpina, mistress of illusions, the last Akuma of…" She was hit in the face by the mallet and knocked through the wall of the alleyway. "Hey, I wasn't done talking!"
"You just kept jabbering. Besides, what kind of villain still does that? So cliché!" Pipistrello huffed. "Besides it would be pretty stupid to see an opening like this and not take advantage of it."
"I will erase you! You are a disgrace to me, the real Lila Rossi." Volpina said as she blew her flute and suddenly they were surrounded by dozens or more Volpina clones.
Pipistrello saw all the copies, but she just smirked. "You bore me, you are like this villain sue. You are not interesting, you are just annoying. But guess what, this time you will not get away with anything. Things are different in this world, evil like you never triumphs." Pipistrello giggled. "Even now you are so pathetic that you have to rely on your deception. You had to lie to get anyone pay attention to you, to get anything done, but I got everything done on my own merit. I don't need to hind behind a parlor trick, I have realized what my own worth is and best of all…I am part of a team, while you are alone!"
"People don't care. People use each other all the time. Friendship, bonds, they are a construct of a society that doesn't admit what us people are truly are all alike. I am the only one admitting it." Volpina said, her copies echoing.
"True, there are people whom would lie and manipulate; but that everyone is just like you? No it isn't. True honesty, true friendships, they exist. And that you don't understand that, that's just plain sad." Pipistrello said.
"Don't you dare pity me!" Volpina growled.
"I don't pity you. I think you are laughable." Pipistrello said with a chuckle.
Volpina lost it and sent her clones rushing at Pipistrello. Pipistrello spat in her hands and rubbed them together and picked up her hammer. As soon as the clones came close enough, she swung her weapon. And with that, the real skirmish begun.
TO BE CONTINUED
NOTES
Another three encounters between heroes and their counterparts.
Well, the evil Lila for the show, she is so villain sue and transparently evil that I make her so obvious.
Alya's counterpart is not exactly evil but is the version of Alya whom has tunnel vision and couldn't acknowledge her mistake.
Alternate Nino realizes his mistake but feels powerless from makign the same mistakes.
Next chapter, Alix and her counterpart confront Multiversity.