An: Disclaimer, don't own the show or its characters, just having a good time with them. Parts of this story that hold reference to Marigold and Tigre Mauve come from the talented zoe-oneesama and her comic Scarlet Lady. For those that do not wish to be spoiled on said comic, I recommend reading that before this.
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Chapter 5: Wise Wayzz
Ladybug decided to take everyone to the Eiffel Tower. High up where no one would see them since they always close it up during an akuma attack. Speaking of which, how was she supposed to use her lucky charm when the cats destroyed it, and she had very little time left. Then remembering, she turned to Red Beetle.
"Umm, do you still have your lucky charm?" she asked.
"Yeah, I was able to grab it before going through the voyage." Red help up the deflated floaty, then flung it up shouting "Miraculous Red Beetle" curing everything done by all the heroes and the akumas.
However, seeing how all of these extra heroes remained, it told Ladybug that whatever brought them here wasn't through yet. Obviously it had nothing to do with Shadowmoth. Why else would he show a sentimonster of himself to try and negotiate with an akuma? Was it something involving time travel again? Or perhaps there was another type of miraculous out there that worked similar to the butterfly. She couldn't be sure, Master Fu never got to telling her about the other miracle boxes that existed in the world. Her only hope was to work with all these extra heroes, and find out what they know.
"Okay," Ladybug turned to the rest of the group. "Now, does everyone have something they can feed their kwamis?"
"Yes, we're good." Tigre Mauve answered.
"Okay we got less than a minute, so we'll all get behind some of the beams..."
"What makes you in charge?" Ebony Mao interrupted her.
"Well, I'm the real Ladybug..." she tried to point out.
"Hey, I'm just as real as you and the copy cat there!" Ebony countered.
"But how can that be? If your you, then how is she as well?" Red Beetle thought out loud.
"This might sound really weird and impossible, but somehow we all seem to be the same people." Tigre spoke up, pointing at everyone randomly.
"But how? Some kind of weird cloning akuma?" Marigold ask, throwing ideas out there.
"Whatever the reason, it seems like Tigre Mauve is right. We are the same people, and that includes Miracle and Chat Blanc. Now I suggest that the boys can go detransform together to confirm that, and I'll so the same with the girls." Ladybug reasoned.
"Again, why are you in charge?!" Ebony asked again, but in a more defiant tone.
"Well, I'm the one that's the guardian, so... " she answered nonchalantly.
"You are!" Marigold asked, shocked.
"What happened to Master Fu!?" Red Beetle and Tigre Mauve asked at the same time.
"Was that wise, milady?" Chat Noir asked concerned.
"None of them were willing to give up their guardian to Miracle, so I'm sure we can trust them." Ladybug pointed out. "Now we better hurry, times just about up."
Both parties quickly ran in the opposite directions away from their partners. Ladybug let her transformation drop, and quickly took out a macaroon to give to Tikki. She then turned to the other two behind her, and perhaps she should have been surprised, but after how today went it seemed pointless. What was in front of her looked like two extra Marinette Dupain-Chengs, but they weren't exact replicas. The one that had her own Plagg wore darker clothes, with a simple short black dress with long sleeves, and her classic cherry blossom logo sewn on her right shoulder area. She wore dark pink leggings, and a pair of ankle boots rather than her ususal flats. Finally, she wore her hair in two small braids instead of her pigtails.
The one that had the bee miraculous did look more like Marinette though, she was just wearing different clothes. She had the classic pigtails, but she wore a cute light pink sweater with overly long sleeves, a gray and black plaid skirt, and a simple pair of ankle socks with black mary janes. She was giving Pollen some chili peppers while looking back and forth at the other two Marinettes.
"So what do we do now?" the black cat Marinette asked.
"Well, I think it's safe to say that all of us are real and the same person, the question is how?" the bee holder added.
Tikki, listening to each of them, turned to each of the kwamis, and floated up to Plagg to look at him more closely.
"Sugarcube?" Plagg look back at her skeptically.
"Neftali and Ahmeen." Tikki spoke clearly, watching the black kwami's eyes widen in shock.
"Thomas and Lulu." Plagg spoke back, and Tikki got a worried look on her face.
"Is that some kind of code, Tikki?" Marinette asked her kwami. Clearly it had to be something serious if the kwamis were exchanging secret passwords between each other. She wondered if this was another thing Master Fu knew.
"Yes, Marinette, we need to transform back and meet back with your partners." she insisted.
"And take out Wayzz when your ready, he'll be able to explain things better." Plagg added.
"Okay, Tikki Spots on." the first Marinette called out.
"Plagg, Claws out." the second said.
"Pollen, Buzz on." said the third.
Things were going pretty much the same on Chat Noir's end. He transformed back into Adrien Agreste, and saw two more of himself in front of him. There wasn't really any difference to them save for their clothes. The one that was Tigre Mauve wore a black hoodie that had the same color stripes as the shirt he always wore. The Red Beetle one however, was wearing stuff that looked nothing like the Gabriel brand. He wore a simple shirt and jeans, with a brown denim jacket. The Chat Adrien smiled to himself just thinking about the heart attack his father would have if he saw this. Still, it begged the question of how these two extras got here?
Plagg took it upon himself to look over each Adrien, and then at their kwamis. Tikki looked at him in equal concern. "So all of you are Adrien Agreste?"
"Yes." the other two replied.
"But how can that be?" his own kitten asked.
"Well, if I'm right on why, then we got a pretty serious situation on our hands, gamin." Plagg then turned back to the other two. "So you guys were given your miraculous by Master Fu, right?"
"That's right, though I didn't learn about it until later." the Adrien with Tikki answered.
"Same." the tiger one added.
"Why do you have the tiger miraculous, and your partner has the bee?" Plagg asked.
"Well actually, I'm usually Chat Noir." he replied.
"What!?" the cat Adrien exclaimed.
"Yeah, before all this happened, my Plagg got sick, so I had to take him to the guardian. But I didn't want to leave Paris without their cat hero, so I took Roarr as a backup in case Marigold needed help." tiger Adrien explained.
"What about the ladybug holder?" Plagg asked.
Then the temporary tiger got a really annoyed look on his face. "Scarlet Lady is the absolute worse. If it wasn't for the miraculous cure that we needed fighting akumas, I would rather she never show up."
"Well obviously the one that you know as Marigold is this Chat Noir's Ladybug." Tikki added logically, pointing to the first Adrien.
"Okay, so one last thing I need to check." Plagg turned back to Tikki. "Neftali and Ahmeen."
Tikki gasped, then replied. "Thomas and Lulu."
"What does that mean, Plagg?" his holder asked.
"It means we need to transform back, and ask Ladybug to take Wayzz out." his kwami replied.
"Wayzz, why?"
"Because he was with Master Fu the longest, and he'll be able to explain it better."
Adrien gave a nod in understanding. "Alright then. Plagg, claws out."
"Tikki, Spots on."
"Roarr, Stripes on."
The group of young men met back with their ladies. Everyone was confused and worried, not sure what to do next or what to expect. Chat Noir walked up to Ladybug and chose to speak first. "Plagg said Wayzz should be out to see this." he advised.
"My Plagg said the same thing." Ebony Mao spoke up.
"Alright, then, is everyone okay with that?" Ladybug made sure, and everyone nodded in approval.
Red Beetle went up to stand next to his partner for support. Tigre Mauve, however, kept looking at each different hero, seeming unsure of himself.
"Everything alright, kitty?" Marigold walked up to him.
"Everything's fine for now, Goldie." he replied, forcing a smile on his face.
Ladybug stopped herself for a second, a bit confused at Marigold's words. "Kitty?"
Chat Noir caught on, "Oh yeah, apparently he's supposed to be Chat Noir, but he had to use the tiger miraculous."
"What?!" she was unable to comprehend the information. "But then..."
"We'll explain later, right now I'd like to know more about our current situation." Marigold intervened.
"Preferably before those other two attack Paris again." said Red.
"Oh, right." Ladybug then opened her yoyo to reveal the portal connection to the miracle box, and pulled out the jade bracelet. She quickly slipped it on her own wrist, and Wayzz appeared from a spec of green light.
"Greetings, Guardian, how may I ... help... you." Wayzz started to look next to Ladybug, and saw that there were two more of her. Rubbing his large eyes to rid of the supposed trick being played on him, he looked again to find the same thing with Chat Noir. "Oh my, what has happened?"
"We were hoping you could tell us." said Tigre Mauve.
The turtle kwami turned back to his guardian. "Perhaps you should start from the beginning, I'll see what I can do."
Ladybug gave a quick summary in what had happened throughout the morning, at least from her part. The fight with Chat Blanc, Tigre Mauve stepping in, then Chat added his fight with Miracle and Ebony Mao. Then when the whole group was in one spot, and was barely able to escape Miracle's power.
"The worst part is that they're still out there, and they could still attack the city." Ladybug finished.
"I see." Wayzz then turned to the others. "Can any of you recall how you came to be here in the first place?"
"It was really weird." Red answered first. "Kitten and I had just finished a patrol when this strange feeling washed over me. Then all the sudden it was like I was being pulled down a dark whole. When I woke up and tried to get home, I saw myself in my room."
"Same thing happened to me." Ebony Mao said. "I was on my way home, then things were different. I tried to contact you Red, but it wasn't working. So I waited out until an akuma came out, or something."
"I'm sorry Kitten, I didn't think you got pulled into... whatever happened. If I'd known, I would have been with you from the start." Red said regretfully.
"It's okay." she smiled at him. She held his hand in reassurance.
"Marigold and I were together when it happened." Tigre Mauve spoke next. "I thought it was an akuma attack, because we headed out to face one before blacking out. When I came to, I couldn't find anyone. It was early in the morning, so I just waited until I saw signs of the akuma, or Scar, or something."
"Scar?" Chat Noir asked, not familiar with the name.
"It's what I call Scarlet Lady, because she's a scar on my life." he answered with a groan, and while she agreed, Marigold couldn't help but giggle at his expression.
"I waited for a while, too." she added. "I wasn't sure what to think of the different heroes that were fighting each other so I waited for the right moment to intervene."
"Well, you saved our lives there Goldie, it was great timing." Tigre replied.
"That was quick thinking." Ladybug complemented, then turned back to the turtle kwami, "So Wayzz, can you explain all this to us?"
"Indeed I can, and I'm afraid that this is a very dangerous situation. It certainly explains Fluff and Sass." he rubbed his tiny chin in contemplation.
"Fluff and Sass!? What's wrong with them!?" Ladybug interrupted.
"They are very weak, Guardian. Someone has incorrectly unified their powers." Wayzz answered simply.
But it wasn't a simple answer to everyone. "How can they be unified, no one pulled them out? And what do you mean incorrectly?!" Chat Noir pointed out.
"I saw them, they were still in the box last I left them." Ladybug added.
"Well as you know, combining two kwamis allows you to use both of their powers." Wayzz continued. "For a master holder they can unlock a way to combine the special abilities. Sass's power is to relive a moment in time as often as possible until the right path is taken. When combined with Fluff burrowing time travel, they can see each outcome of the second chance all at once until they can see the right one. Or at an even higher level, they can pick a specific moment in time to reset, even if the moment wasn't used by the second chance."
"Wow, that sounds pretty useful." Red Beetle commented.
"Useful, but risky. It can take a great toll on the user and the kwamis, so often it is best to use those miraculous separately. It is also an even greater risk if the power is used the wrong way." said Wayzz.
"What's the wrong way?" Marigold asked.
"If someone were to use that power for a personal gain to disrupt time, it can create terrible consequences, such as branches in time, or alternate realities." he looked around each of the different heroes.
"So what, we're all from different realities or something?" Ebony Mao asked first.
"Correct." Wayzz nodded.
"But which one is the real one?" Ebony asked again.
"That's just it, all of you are real." he said simply. Seeing all their shocked faces, he took a moment before continuing. "All of you are from your own real world where something different happened from the other. You perhaps have different backgrounds, different lifestyles, or you made different decisions that affected recieving your miraculous. There could even be a world out there where your parents never met, so you don't exist. But each world is just as real as the other."
"Like how Scarlet Lady got the bug miraculous when she wasn't meant to." Tigre Mauve said.
"Yeah, I remember you telling me that." Marigold agreed.
"Yeah," Tigre sighed, then just kept looked at Marigold after she turned her gaze back to the kwami. Chat Noir saw the way he was looking at her, and wondered what he was thinking. Like he was piecing something together. Judging by what he said previously, Scarlet Lady was not the right partner for that cat. He also wondered what could've happened for Red Beetle to get the kwami of creation. Then Ladybug interrupted his own thoughts. "So you all are from parallel universes?"
"And that would mean that Miracle and Chat Blanc are just as real as well." Red Beetle said, giving everyone another feeling of dread.
"No doubt." Wayzz agreed.
"But what does this have to do with Fluff and Sass?" Ladybug asked again.
"When such a desruption occurs, all of the rabbit and snake kwamis in each world are affected. It is a sort of invisible connection. Until this can be reversed, the kwamis will be weak as if they are continuously being used. So it would be very dangerous to use either for the time being."
"So how do we undo all of this? Obviously the miraculous cure didn't do anything except repair the damage around the city." Ladybug looked out toward Paris, seeing no trace of the previous fight.
"The only way would be for the holder that unified the two miraculouses to separate their power again." Wayzz answered.
"But who did it?" Red Beetle asked, turning to the others.
"It wasn't us, Ladybug said she left the two in the miracle box." Chat Noir pointed out.
"It wasn't us, I never even used those two before." Tigre Mauve answered.
"Me neither." Marigold added.
"It was Miracle." Ladybug spoke out confidently.
"How do you know for sure, Milady?" Chat Noir asked. He didn't doubt her, but he wondered what gave her that conlusion.
"When she used the different miraculouses on us, a spot on her suit would glow. Then when she used the dragon, I saw a spot glow on her arm along with two others. Those spots must have represented the rabbit and the snake." she determined.
"Which would mean she's the one keeping the time disruption open and unstable. She is continuously using Fluff and Sass's abilities, otherwise everything would have repaired and reset with the second chance. And we do not even know if her motive it to change a course in time, or to create an alternate reality." Wayzz got really worried about the consequences of both actions.
"How can she be using all the miraculouses like that?" Ebony Mao thought out loud.
"It must be her power as an akuma, she can use them as many times and as often as she wants." Red Beetle speculated.
"But how did she get all of them in the first place? I mean, I know she's from a different world and all, but I can't see the guardian handing them all over to her, no matter how dangerous it got." Ebony Mao countered.
"Unless she was made the guardian as well, like Ladybug here." Chat Noir responded.
"It's possible, but I wonder what could've happened to get her and her cat akumatized." Lady asked more to herself than anything, just thinking about how Chat Blanc acted.
"Well, either way, we're all gonna be stuck here until we find her and remove the akuma." Tigre Mauve said. "I hate to think how our Paris is doing without their heroes."
"Not to mention we have to get back to our civilian lives. We can't be away for too long without it looking suspicious." Marigold said.
Ladybug worried for them as well. It would be bad enough to have their families worry about them , but what if there was an akuma during their absence. She could understand the weight of the guilt when your city is left defenseless. She would never forgive herself for what happened while she was in New York, even though she was needed in that city because Hawkmoth was there. She only hoped that in their worlds they would be able to repair any damage, or in Marigold and Tigre Mauve's case, this Scarlet Lady would be able to hold her own for a while.
"We'll figure something out." Ladybug reassured them, then turned back to the turtle kwami. "So Wayzz, is there any way we can stop Miracle from doing anything irreversible?"
"You would have to learn more about her, and her cat partner. You also need to find the focus of the time disruption. What is the common denominator between all of you? What is it that she's looking for?"
"Well, she kept calling us imposters, so maybe she was thinking the same thing we thought, that we were sentimonsters or something." Chat started a theory.
"Or maybe we said or did something that wasn't right in her eyes." Ebony Mao said. "Something that did or didn't happen in her world... Ugh, this is confusing!"
"I wish there was a way for us to see into her world." Marigold sighed.
"There is a way." Wayzz said easily.
"How?" everyone said in sync.
"Well since they are connected to the other worlds, Fluff would be able to tell you which world this Miracle girl came from. Granted it won't be easy because he'll be feeling very drained of energy. I suggest, guardian, that you have plenty of food ready so he'll stay awake."
"Great, so you can just summon the rabbit miraculous..." Chat started. but then Wayzz went right up to his face.
"No, young cat, it's best to keep them in the miracle box, otherwise they could get worse."
"So then I'll have to go home, and figure this out myself." Ladybug said.
"But shouldn't we help?" Red Beetle offered.
"Normally I'd say yes, but I don't want to risk anyone's secret identity. Just figuring out one of us will expose the rest." Ladybug tried to reason.
"Well, why don't we go with you then?" Ebony Mao pointed to herself, and then to Marigold.
"Won't it look suspicious having two more of the same person?" Marigold asked sarcastically.
"We can hide away in her room, it's not like your family goes snooping around randomly in there, right?" Ebony asked, she tried to be vague so as not to give too much away to their partners.
"We may not have any other choice." Tigre Mauve stepped up. "We can spend this time to learn about each other's worlds, see what we have in common, and what Chat Blanc and Miracle might be planning."
"Right, then later on patrol, milady, we can compare notes without giving away our identities." Chat Noir laid out a plan.
"Alright, it's the best option we have for now. Everyone just keep a lookout, and be cautious in case either one of them shows up at our homes." Ladybug decided.
"Then there's still the matter of Shadowmoth." Chat said worried.
"He might be out of the picture for now, or he'll create a different akuma to fight them. Either way, we'll be ready." she reassured her kitty.
"What if we just go after them?" Marigold suggested. "I saw through the portal she opened, and it looked like the Grand Palais."
"They may not be there anymore. It's best for them to come out for us." Red reasoned.
"We should really get home anyway." Chat Noir spoke up. "I was supposed to head right back from school when the akuma attacked."
"Alright, stay safe kitty, and you two as well." Ladybug addressed all the boys.
"Thank you, Ladybug." Red then turned to Ebony Mao. "You be careful, okay Kitten."
"Sure thing Red, aren't I always." she bopped a finger playfully on his nose, and all he did was smile. The way they looked at each other did not go unnoticed by Ladybug or Chat Noir.
Marigold turned to her stripped partner, and saw the strange look he was giving Ladybug and Ebony Mao, but she couldn't guess what he was thinking. Was something bothering him, was he nervous about separating. "Will you be okay, kitty?"
He heard her voice, then shook his head out of a daze, "Oh, don't worry about me, Goldie. Just be careful out there, okay." He took hold of her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, which was a little unusual for Marigold. He sort of looked worried about her. He was always more... professional like with her as Marigold. This seemed extra friendly.
Ladybug took the opportunity to speak up. "Alright Chat, we'll meet up at our usual patrol time."
"As you wish, milady." Chat Noir gave a gentlemen's bow, before heading in the other direction from where Ladybug was going to swing off.
"Have a meowvalous time sharing your litter box with two more kitties." Ladybug called out laughing before zipping away on her yoyo, with the other two girls behind her.
Chat Noir had to do a double take on what he just heard. "You guys heard that right? She just did a Cat Pun!" he had such a bright smile on his face.
"Is that unusual?" Red Beetle asked confused. It didn't seem strange to him, after all he and Ebony Mao would lay several jokes on each other throughout each akuma battle.
"Well, maybe not to you, since your partner is the cat, but for me it was like seeing an eclipse.!" Chat exclaimed.
"Well, how often does she get the chance?" Tigre Mauve asked. It was strange for him too, but mostly because Marigold can do her own bee related banter.
"I guess never." they all laughed.
"Well anyway, we better get back to your house before you get into trouble." Red pointed out.
"Right, you guys can go through my window while I take the front door. I gotta call my bodyguard too, he's probably scouring the city for me." Chat felt guilty realizing he was supposed to meet the gorilla to take him home. With that the three young men leaped from the Eiffel Tower and headed for the Agreste Mansion.
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"An alliance, you say?" Shadowmoth enquired.
"That's right." Miracle answered plainly. Chat Blanc stayed right by her side, not saying a word.
"And what is it that I could gain from you?" he rested both hands on his staff, keeping up the stoic businessman appearance.
"I can give you what you have longed for from the beginning." she removed her hood so he could see her face.
"How do I know you won't just take Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous for yourself once we obtain them?" Shadowmoth had to be sure. Last time with Timetagger he had been too ambitious, too ready to believe the akuma that he thought was working for him in the future, and it nearly cost him everything.
"You misunderstand, Shadowmoth. I won't give you the miraculous of your Ladybug and Chat Noir, I have no need for them." she stated.
"But I do if my wish is to be fulfilled." Shadowmoth raised his voice, not wanting to play any games with this akuma. "What is it that you want in the first place if not the power of the ultimate wish?"
Miracle smirked at him, then made her way toward the window while still looking at him. "First of all, I don't need the bug and cat because I already have them right here." She opened up her cape wider to reveal the yin yang symbol just under her throat, with the bug and cat symbols on where the dots should be.
This confused Shadowmoth. If she had the cat miraculous on her, then how could Chat Noir be akumatized into Chat Blanc. Did she merely choose this form for him? Was she even the one that akumatized him in the first place?
"Second, I'm sure you realized that every hero that showed up today are different versions of the same heroes." he gave her a nod to let her continue. "That's because I brought them here with the help of the rabbit and snake miraculous." She showed her left arm, and the two glowing spots that represented the two powers.
"But why? And why bring them here?"
"Well, the arriving in your world was a really just a happy accident. I didn't pick where we would end up, I just brought them all to one area." She walked back over to Chat Blanc, and placed her arms around him, but he didn't respond. "One of those heroes has something I want. Something I couldn't get in my own world. But it will take too long for me to figure out which is the right one, so I need your help to lure them all to one spot."
"And if none of these holders have what you seek?" Shadowmoth asked, starting to understand.
"Then I will take this world's snake and rabbit miraculous and try again until I get it right." Miracle answered.
It was an interesting plan, but not without some suspicious flaws. "Why don't you just use the ones you already have?"
"Because I would have to stop the unified power, and everything would reset. I would have to start all over." she explained.
"Alright, then why don't you just use your own butterfly and peacock miraculous if you need them? What good am I to you if you have all this power?" he accused.
"I need a little help from experience. Which heroes are the ones of your world?"
"Ladybug and Chat Noir, and you didn't answer my question." he wouldn't let her change the subject.
"Interesting. Well, I would like to get them all close together, and while I could use the butterfly and peacock myself, having one more on my team with the same power would be more beneficial." she was smiling at him, and Shadowmoth didn't like it.
"Again, with all your power, what do you need me for." he could see no reason for helping her, other than being a pawn.
She showed him her arm again, while keeping the other around Chat Blanc's shoulder. "While it's true that you can combine as many miraculouses as you want, I can't unify another while this one is running. And in order for my plan to work, I need the work of the peacock. Afterwards, if we don't get the miraculous of your world, I could either give you my own bug and cat miraculous for your wish, or you can do the same thing I did with the snake and rabbit. What do you say?"
Miracle's proposition was more than promising. While he still didn't truly trust her since she was obviously a Ladybug from another world, the desperation she must feel in seeking him out must outweigh his moral standards. So he shall give in to her terms, and assist with her plan. At the very least, he could claim a bug and a cat from any one of the heroes. And if that fails, he'll just take control of her akuma, and have the most powerful being at his command.
"Very well, we have a deal. What is it you would like me to do?" he held out his hand for her to shake.
She complied, and answered, "At midnight, tonight, meet me at the wax figure wing of the Louvre, and we shall create the ultimate trap for every hero."
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AN: And done, again. So now we got into the sci-fi multiverse part of the story. I got the idea for the story after seeing Wishmaker, and I was randomly thinking about unifiying different miraculouses, and instantly when I thought about the two time traveling ones... lightbulb. Like I said, some inspiration came from the Into the Spiderverse film, but mostly I wanted the Scarlet Lady version to be real as well. But then MCU was whipping up their own stuff, and I felt I should hold off until it died down some. (Saw the recent Dr. Strange not long ago, loved it, might just be my favorite one so far.) Anyway, hope everyone is still intrigued, feel free to review your thoughts, and what you think will happen next. ;) ;)