Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug, Cat Noir and Steel Butterfly.

Chapter 43: Syren.

(Author's notes: It's official, Miraculers; Ondine Carbonnier's Akumatization into Syren won't quite be so averted after all. But don't worry; things in this chapter will still play out in the overall chronological order for the whole story, complete with Steel Butterfly giving Cat Noir and Master Fu a piece of his own mind about the secrecy and the disregarding of his responsibilities as one of nine of Paris' guardians.

Also, the part about certain negative aspects of the original cartoon bleeding into the current timeline is a little something I cooked up. The actual source of the timeline merging will be revealed in due time, because revealing it now would be a big spoiler alert.

Enjoy chapter 43: Syren.)

(Quantic Universe Earth 139, Paris, France, August 3rd, 2015, Steel Butterfly's voiceover POV as he writes in his Rorschach-inspired journal in Master Fu's massage parlor...)

Steel Butterfly's journal.

August 3rd, 2015.

First journal entry today.

Today's the day that Ondine Carbonnier becomes Akumatized into Syren, a demonic mermaid capable of the things that most aquatic superhumans in comic books are truly capable of, with a few exceptions due to some of the other powers she possesses.

But in any case, I informed Master Fu about the ingredients needed to finish the aqua potion, and at first, he thought I was crazy. But when I showed him the footage of how Marinette did it in the original timeline, something unexpected happened. He actually laughed heartily at the jokes Marinette's on-screen counterpart had made alongside his on-screen counterpart.

But I was able to put the tear of joy into the cauldron, and voila! The aqua potion was finished.

But then, Leppey informed Master Fu that the potions can be consumed in any vessel, such as pastries and slices of cheese, for about two examples.

But in any case, I intend to help Master Fu decode even more of the spellbook to unlock additional powers for me and my Miraculous-wielding teammates.

But whatever the case, me and my teammates had also better make sure that Gabriel Agreste-slash-Hawk Moth continues to fall for the false Miraculous spellbook prank we pulled on him on May 21st this year. My plans for him on Heroes' Day depend on him being caught unawares.

And also, since Cat Noir's demanding of revealing secrets is bleeding into this dimension's timeline combined with Master Fu keeping secrets, one theory springs to mind: something or someone is attempting to merge my timeline with the original timeline of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, complete with all of the problems I have with the original timeline.

But not to worry; if it comes down to it, I'll give both Adrien and Master Fu a piece of my mind on their idiotic actions and inactions.

As for Adrien, if he refuses to listen, I'll have no choice but to confiscate the Black Cat Miraculous until he fully grasps – timelines merging or not – that even the power of the Black Cat Miraculous comes with a great deal and burden of responsibility.

But whatever the case, readers, know that I have the best interests of everyone in this cartoon universe at heart. And that especially includes Adrien and Marinette, no matter their mistakes all across the multiverse and no matter the paths their counterparts take with different results and differing consequences.

Whatever the case, I know for a fact that pretty soon, we'll be experimenting with our power up potions to prepare for the Frozer episode, the Heroes' Day episodes, the Miraculous Shanghai episode, the Miraculous New York episode, the Gang of Secrets episode, the Dearest Family episode, the Ephemeral episode, the Multiplication episode, and so forth. But the aforementioned episodes are for in the event Hawk Moth manages to escape imprisonment on Heroes' Day with or without Nathalie being able to save her boss by using the Peacock Miraculous to create a Butterfly Sentimonster to help his escape, or if he manages to somehow escape from La Santé Prison no matter of whether or not it's a maximum security prison for even the likes of magical terrorists.

And who knows? Maybe we'll be fortunate and unfortunate enough to encounter new environmental villains to test the rest of the power up potions on for ourselves and to save the day.

Nevertheless, I intend to make new power up potions, two of which would be inspired by one of my favorite fanfictions from my Earth, not mentioning any titles or names. But one of these potions will definitely be an armor potion that grants a normal-uniformed Miraculous user in the same style as the original cartoon timeline a suit of armor.

Granted, it would be a plagiarized idea on my Earth if my life was a fanfiction story, but where's the harm in a little adventure with the power up potions?

Anyway, I gotta get going. Escaped animals are on the loose in the city and we need my Mirage since Rena Rouge is being closely monitored just in case she turns against us.

(Streets of Paris, third person POV...)

On a Parisian rooftop, a gorilla lands, and roars as the beast beats its chest.

On a news helicopter, Nadia Chamack states as she reports the scene, "Nadia Chamack here, live from above Paris. Escaped animals normally kept at the Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes Zoo are invading the city! But thankfully for all of us, Steel Butterfly, Ladybug, and Cat Noir are already on the job."

The three superheroes fly above the Paris Swimming Pool, much to the shock, fear, and disbelief of Kim Chien Le, Ondine Carbonnier, and the life guard.

The life guard remarks, "I'm positive that they're gonna get the animals back in the zoo as quickly as possible."

Kim replies, "Right, sir. They and their teammates are the best!"

The life guard leaves and Kim groans, "Ough. I wish I could be a superhero. The superpowers. The secrets of being a true hero. The costume, no matter if its spandex or a suit of armor. That would be awesome, right, Ondine?"

Ondine replies, "Hahaha! Yeah, sure."

Ondine fetches a pen and notepad from her duffel bag.

Kim then asks, "How can I become one, exactly? You think there's some kinda superhero school or something like that? Or perhaps more like some sort of secret training facility?"

Ondine replies while she thinks about what to write, "I hear that the heroes use magic jewelry that correlates to the concepts of the universe, but Steel Butterfly says that unless his superiors absolutely authorize it, under no circumstances must anyone in Paris use any form of magic jewelry, even if its ancient magic jewelry from Ancient China five thousand years ago."

Ondine puts a piece of paper in her swimming bracelet.

Ondine holds up her swimming bracelet and asks, "Wanna hear my secret?"

(Time skip to after Kim leaves...)

Ondine says in a saddened tone to herself, "The boy I'm crushing on is... you."

Ondine starts crying silently.

In Hawk Moth's lair, the window screen opens as Hawk Moth remarks, "Poor little mermaid. How many times have you attempted to confess your feelings to the boy you love? And how many times has he been dismissive and oblivious?"

Hawk Moth turns a butterfly into an Akuma.

He sends the Akuma on its way as he remarks, "Fly away, my little Akuma, and Akumatize her!"

Meanwhile, Cat Noir is being chased by a pair of black panthers.

Cat Noir remarks as he gets chased, "Come on, guys, you wouldn't eat one of your cat cousins, would you?"

Steel Butterfly lands on a vantage point above the street.

Then the butterfly hero takes out his flute, plays it, and says, "Mirage!" as he throws the energy ball.

Illusions of large cuts of meat appear on the street in front of the panthers.

Cat Noir remarks, "How about some tasty pork chops instead?"

Cat Noir jumps high in the air and takes flight thanks to his jetpack.

One of the panthers steps on a piece of meat, making the illusion disappear.

Both of the panthers step on more of the illusions, following a trail of vanishing meat until it leads them to the back of a van.

Ladybug shuts the van doors, trapping the panthers inside, much to their audible surprise and chagrin.

Several civilians start cheering for Steel Butterfly, Ladybug and Cat Noir standing on a roof edge.

Steel Butterfly, Ladybug and Cat Noir do a three-way fist bump.

Steel Butterfly then starts taking flight as Cat Noir questions, "Hey, where are you going?"

Steel Butterfly answers, "Syren's Akumatization is underway and I need to be prepared."

Cat Noir asks again, "So, who's going to be Hydrosphere?"

Steel Butterfly answers, "If I told you, I'd have to erase your memory of Hydrosphere's identity to prevent Hawk Moth from targeting him or her in the future."

Cat Noir then asks, "So, you're allowed to know your champions' identities and I'm not?"

Steel Butterfly growls, summoning a humongous thunder cloud.

Cat Noir squeaks in fear.

Steel Butterfly then says, "I'm well aware that you hate secrets, especially with what I previously told you and Ladybug about the original timeline, but secrets exist for a lot of reasons, chief among them being that, for example, if Hawk Moth ever knew the identities of my champions by simply getting the information out of you or out of someone else who was a witness, he would try to turn my champion against me simply attempting to reprogram my champion with an Akuma."

The thunder cloud disperses.

Cat Noir replies, "That... actually makes a lot of sense, but I still hate secrets."

Steel Butterfly replies, "Ladybug, Cat Noir, come with me. Our benefactor has something he wants to show the both of you. Something the both of us have worked so hard to finish, which could give us an advantage."

The three heroes fly off, with their Marinette, Adrien, and Miguel clones going off to rendezvous with their classmates at the cinema.

At the swimming pool, the Akuma enters Ondine's swimming bracelet.

Hawk Moth's voice says, "Syren, I am Hawk Moth. I'm giving you the power to turn Paris into your own underwater kingdom, for both you and your prince. In return, you will bring me the Miraculouses belonging to Steel Butterfly, Ladybug, Cat Noir, Lion Hunter, Rhinocharge, Blueclaw, Corvo, Cat Knight, Bunnyx, and Rena Rouge."

Ondine/Syren replies, "May they all sink under my sorrow."

Ondine becomes Syren and she stands up, something that Steel Butterfly believed to be impossible because, when Ondine is Akumatized into Syren, her feet literally come together as a mermaid's fish tail.

Syren's tears fall into the pool and this causes the water to rise up and overflow the pool.

Outside the theater, Marinette, Adrien, Miguel and Kim arrive.

Max then states, "You're all one minute and twenty-seven seconds early. That's a new record."

Kim then asks, "Is anyone else here?"

Max answers, "Yes, pretty much everyone in our class, including Chloe, Sabrina, and their boyfriends."

Marinette then asks as they enter the theater, "You still don't think Chloe's capable of doing good things these days, do you?"

Max answers again, "I believed the chances of Chloe and Sabrina changing for the better was 0% likely to happen because once a spoiled brat is always a spoiled brat."

Miguel points out, "What about all the spoiled and naughty children shown on Supernanny? They were considered irredeemable, and yet they changed for the better, and so did their parents in some cases."

Max's jaw drops as he states in response, "I didn't realize that. Perhaps some people are capable of change."

Miguel states as he buys himself some popcorn and chocolate candies, "Yeah, but remember, people can change in both directions. But for the ones who are willing to change for the better, if you let them alone for a while without heckling them while also keeping an eye out for them, they can easily surprise you, and themselves."

Markov replies, "Statistically speaking, the chances of even a spoiled brat at a young age changing for the better works in both directions, 50% likely to happen and 50% unlikely to happen unless they realize through something traumatizing like the loss of a friend or a family member that people change for the better and for the worse. It just depends on the spoiled brat and their previous actions in question."

Miguel replies back, "Yeah, you got that right, my little robot compatriot."

The class goes into the main theater where Mecha Monkey vs. Cyber Shark 3 is going to be shown.

Back outside the swimming pool, people start screaming and sprinting for their lives as the water from the pool starts flowing from under the doors.

Viewing this from a submarine periscope in the Seine River, Steel Butterfly's latest champion by the name of Charleen Byrne aka Hydrosphere, says to herself before saying into her commlink, "Oh no. It's worse than I thought, and just as Steel Butterfly said. Hydrosphere to Steel Butterfly. Syren's Akumatization confirmed. Water is pouring out of the local swimming pool and scaring all of the folks in Paris as we speak."

In Master Fu's massage parlor, Miguel replies, "Understood. I'll get the others ready. For now, lay low, Hydrosphere, and be sure to dispel any giant catfish that tries to eat you."

Hydrosphere replies back over the commlink, "Yes sir."

As Miguel hangs up, Master Fu then says, "Now, come and tell me what's bothering you, Adrien."

Adrien replies, "Okay."

Master Fu, Marinette, Miguel, and Adrien enter Master Fu's kitchen that he enlarged specifically for the purpose of brewing the power up potions and the Miraculous-repairing potions.

Tikki, Plagg, Leppey and Wayzz are about to enter the kitchen, but Master Fu stops them with a finger as he states, "Hold on. All of you stay here."

Wayzz and Tikki reply in unison, "Oh, Master, please!" "Oh, Master, please!"

Master Fu replies back, "Kwamis must never know the recipes for the power up potions whatsoever. Imagine what would happen if one of you were to get taken captive by a villain just as worse or twice as worse than Hawk Moth and Future Hawk Moth, just like their respective kwami, Nooroo."

Leppey remarks bitterly, "Yeah, and Miguel was right about one thing: even if the Order of the Guardians had noble intentions at heart, they eventually started treating our kind like slaves when Grandmaster Su-Han was appointed the leader of the Guardians."

Master Fu raises an eyebrow, but Miguel interjects demonically, "Know your place, dear Guardian, for you know he's right. Besides, even if the likes of Su-Han wouldn't ever grasp it, freedom is the right of all sentient beings, including kwamis."

Master Fu sighs before admitting and before asking, "You're right. I suppose you have a contingency plan, Leppey?"

Leppey replies before declaring, "I sure do. Miguel has given me the green light after some extensive testing. Sublimation: I give myself the ability to use my powers without any repercussions or side effects."

Master Fu's jaw drops, Marinette and Adrien's eyes widen in shock, and Miguel smiles predatorily.

Leppey continues, "Sublimation: I give myself the ability to free all kwamis from every restriction imposed by the Order of the Guardians, I give myself the ability to free the kwamis from being dominated by their owners regardless of whether they're heroes or villains, I give myself the ability to give the kwamis the ability to mentally lock away any information accumulated by the Miraculous grimoires from being stolen by any Miraculous-wielding villains, and I give myself the ability to ensure that the only restrictions leftover are regarding the identities of Miraculous users and Guardians and that they will only activate if a kwami and their associated Miraculous jewel falls in the hands of a potential supervillain like Felix Graham de Vanily Fathom or Emilie Agreste."

Suddenly, an assortment of holographic symbols depicting the things that the Order of the Guardians imposed on the kwamis appears over the kwamis' heads and they become corporeal before shattering like glass and dissolving.

Master Fu is shocked at this.

Miguel then says, "The kwamis may be godlike beings, but that doesn't necessarily give anyone like Su-Han the right to treat them like cosmic tools of power to be kept on a tight leash; that's just like General Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross' failed plans to control the Hulk, the Abomination, and Red She-Hulk. And spoiler alert: it's also just like General Ross in Captain America: Civil War attempting to control the Avengers through the Sokovia Accords to make up for his failure to contain and control Hulk and Abomination."

Marinette and Adrien cringed and winced at Miguel's revelation spoiler despite it being a comparison to the Guardians' control over the kwamis accumulated so far.

Master Fu closes his eyes for a moment before saying, "Come with us, please."

The four kwamis follow their Guardian and owners.

As Miguel gets a canister down from a tall cupboard, Master Fu asks, "So, what's on your mind, Adrien?"

Adrien replies, "Master Fu, you're keeping secrets from me, and Miguel said it's because something or someone is attempting to merge our timeline with the original timeline, complete with all of the problems Miguel had with the original timeline before he was transported here from his Earth. And even if it wasn't for that, I'm sick and tired of being kept in the dark."

Master Fu quizzes, "Tell me, Adrien, do you put the noodles in the water before the water boils?"

Adrien replies, "As far as I remember, no."

As his teapot starts whistling, Master Fu states, "Exactly. And in this case, that's mostly due to the fact that there's a time and a place to know everything."

Adrien points out, "Yeah, but that metaphor doesn't really work if the noodles are alive and have feelings and thoughts that matter to them and to everyone they know. I'm supposed to be undergoing training to be a Co-Guardian of the Miracle Box alongside Alix, Miguel, and Marinette, and yet because something or someone is merging our timeline with the timeline of the original Quantic Earth, you're giving each of us preferential treatment in some ways and more than others. And besides, Miguel said that he doesn't trust your original timeline counterpart for encouraging the identity rule and for the selective favoritism, even if it's not 100% happening in this timeline. And to top it off, if we don't find out what's the cause of the timeline combination, we would end up forgetting each other's identities and relationships until my father is in prison along with Nathalie and Lila."

Master Fu's eyes looked downcast and he strokes his beard as he replies, "You're right, Adrien. You truly are wise for a Black Cat of your age group. And I'm sorry for what's happening to our timeline, even if we aren't always accountable for our actions."

Master Fu pours some tea into three cups and he hands them to Marinette, Adrien and Miguel.

Marinette then inquires as she takes a sip, "So, have you found what you were both looking for?"

Master Fu answers, "Yes. When fed with a specific blend of ingredients, all kwamis can be granted with additional superpowers that correspond to any supervillain's environmental threat level, like with Syren, for example. (He holds up the spellbook.) Each environmental power's specific ingredient list is recorded right here in the grimoire. I've deciphered all of the ingredients. For example, to trigger the aqua potion that allows Miraculous users to breath underwater and swim faster than normal, you will require a branch from the dragon king's garden, otherwise known as seaweed. Then a secret kept in a shell, also known as an oyster pearl. And among the rest is a tear of joy. At first, it confused me, but as Miguel once explained to me two days ago, sometimes the ingredients are too literal like the tear of joy being a tear made from someone laughing heartily at a good joke. Anyway, the actual tear of joy is needed for almost every one of the blends."

Marinette and Adrien smile at each other.

Meanwhile, on the Bank of the Seine, civilians start screaming in fear and super-sprinting Grand Theft Auto style as the river starts overflowing.

Meanwhile, Adrien and Miguel play with Adrien's Ladybug and Cat Noir action figures.

Miguel asks while perfectly imitating Ladybug's voice, "Hey, Cat Noir, do you trust me?"

Adrien replies in his Cat Noir voice, "Sure I do, Ladybug. Do you trust me too?"

Miguel answers in Ladybug's voice, "Are you kidding? Of course I trust you. I will always trust you!"

Adrien then asks in his normal voice, "Miguel, do you think that the merging timelines have an ulterior motive in terms of whatever's causing it?"

Miguel answers in his normal voice, "It's entirely possible, yes. But I have a feeling that whatever it is, the ulterior motive behind the two timelines merging together is anything but good."

Meanwhile, Wayzz drinks some of the power blend.

Wayzz remarks, "Mmm, there's a slight flavor to this power blend. Oh yeah, I remember it being just like this."

Master Fu remarks in response, "Ha! I knew it."

Master Fu raises his Turtle Miraculous-holding hand and says, "Wayzz, power up!"

Wayzz stiffens momentarily, then his shell glows and he spins into a flash as he becomes Aqua-Wayzz.

Aqua-Wayzz states, "Aqua-Wayzz!"

Master Fu then says, "Aqua-Wayzz, Shell On!"

Master Fu turns into Aqua Turtle, an aquatic version of his Jade Turtle self.

Aqua Turtle remarks, "Yes! We did it!"

Miguel comes in and smiles broadly as he states, "Wow! I knew it was going to work."

Marinette then asks, "But how were you able to transform like that without hurting your back?"

Aqua Turtle answers, "Well, my age was reversed, and therefore my back doesn't affect me or my transformation attempts anymore."

Suddenly, Miguel's phone rings.

Miguel picks up and says, "Hello? Really? I see. Anything we can do? Okay. Thank you, Mr. Mayor."

Miguel hangs up and says, "That was Mayor Bourgeois. Syren is flooding the entire city as we speak."

Marinette then activates her commlink and says, "Ladybug calling Lion Hunter, Rhinocharge, Corvo, Blueclaw, Cat Knight, and Bunnyx. We need reinforcements to help deal with Syren right now."

Marinette received multiple affirmatives saying that the others were on their way to the massage parlor.

Meanwhile, Marinette's clone enters the movie theater with Alya.

They reach the theater where the movie is going to be shown.

As they settle in their seats, the movie starts to play. But then, not even half a minute into the intro of the movie, people in the front rows start getting up and running out, followed by people in other rows further into the back doing the same.

The Marinette clone questions, "What's going on?"

Suddenly, water rushes underneath the seats where Alya, Nino, Kim, Max, the Marinette clone and many others in their row are sitting.

They lift their feet onto their seats.

Out in the streets, people scream and run as fast as they can as flooding water rages in the streets. And flooding water also rushes into the theater.

Rose's eyes widen.

Alya remarks, "Okay, who left the faucet running?"

The Marinette clone calls out, "Get to the stairs! Quickly!"

Everyone rushes to the stairs to the roof.

A fleeing girl calls out, "Hurry up!"

Marinette calls out while running up the stairs, "Everyone, get up to the roof!"

People run upstairs towards the roof, and water floods the stairwell behind them.

Meanwhile, in Master Fu's massage parlor, the nine heroes stood in their aquatic forms, complete with Atlantean-inspired battle armors and Atlantean-inspired weaponry.

Steel Butterfly escorts his allies to the roof.

Hydrosphere shows up, looking like a combination of Aquaman in his various armors – except for Injustice 2, Black Manta, Ocean Master, and many other human-looking superheroes and supervillains who wear armor while being able to move and breathe underwater.

Hydrosphere states, "Everything's all ready to go, and I managed to get everyone else to safety."

Aqua Butterfly replies, "Then let's go stop Syren!"

The ten heroes dive underwater and they practice their abilities while briefly practicing what Aqua Butterfly told them about underwater combat.

After finishing with their brief practices, the ten heroes manage to make it to their destination while avoiding giant catfish.

On the rooftop of the theater, the Marinette clone gasps.

Markov bemoans, "Oh, no. My circuits are sensitive to water."

Kim remarks, "Wha, ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha!"

Kim runs and dives off the roof into the water, only for Aqua Butterfly to catch him in mid-air, much to the collective surprise of pretty much everybody except for the clones of the heroes' civilian selves.

Aqua Butterfly states sternly, "First of all, Kim, I know what you're thinking when it comes to what Markov said about his circuits being sensitive to water, so I'm going to say this only once: all forms of electronics are NOT supposed to get wet whatsoever, and that includes artificial intelligence."

Kim's eyes widen and his jaw drops, signifying that because of his low intelligence, he didn't even know that.

Aqua Butterfly then continues, "Secondly, Markov only has one arm, so if he theoretically didn't have an electrical vulnerability to water, exactly how would he be able to swim in large bodies of water with just one arm?"

Kim looks downcast as he realizes that the aquatic form of the butterfly hero was right.

Aqua Butterfly then finishes, "And thirdly, this citywide flood is the work of Ondine Carbonnier, aka Syren. (Everyone gasps, with Kim being the loudest.) So, it's a total bad idea to dive into the water because she can leap out and grab you to make you hers. And that would be entirely possible because, in theory, she has the ability to turn people she kisses on the lips into mermaids/mermen. She wants you all to herself, Kim, and you blowing off your guessing game at the pool just to watch the movie and confess your feelings for another girl caused Ondine to get Akumatized. And it further emphasizes the fact that, unlike me, most boys of your age are oblivious to the feelings of a girl."

The boys let out offended gasps, including Miguel's clone, Adrien's clone, and Aqua Butterfly's male teammates.

A fish fin is seen approaching in the water.

Suddenly, the Jaws theme song plays as someone starts singing the theme song.

Aqua Butterfly demands, "What the?! Who's playing and singing the stupid Jaws theme song?!"

Syren leaps out and makes a grab for Kim, but Aqua Butterfly zaps her, electrocuting her badly due to the fact that she's wet. And besides, like Aqua Butterfly was emphasizing, water and electricity was a deadly combination.

In Hawk Moth's lair, Hawk Moth is shocked at how well-prepared Aqua Butterfly was, even for Syren.

Hawk Moth demands to no one in particular, "How is this possible?! How did Steel Butterfly come prepared for Syren?! I'm gonna have to consult Nooroo when this is over."

Back at the battle, Aqua Lion was battling Syren underwater, and he manages to get Syren on the ropes due to his supernatural experience in underwater combat.

Syren growls and summons her underwater army.

Aqua Butterfly cackles as he snaps his fingers and his own underwater army shows up, much to Syren's shock and horror.

Aqua Butterfly calls out while imitating the Transformers Armada Hot Shot, "ATTACK!"

Aqua Butterfly's radio drone plays the same music from Transformers Armada used during Optimus Prime's attempt to stop the Hydra Cannon and during Unicron's attempt to suck everything into his maw as Aqua Butterfly's army fights Syren's army.

In particular, ten vs. one between the Heroes of Paris and Syren proved that no matter the elemental threat or the environmental threat, there's always strength in numbers.

Syren breaks off from the fight to find Kim, but Aqua Crow calls out, "Oh no, you don't!"

The ten heroes follow Syren, swimming faster and faster to catch up without exhausting themselves.

Suddenly, Syren summons a swarm of catfish.

Aqua Butterfly's stomach growls loudly as he flashes a maniacal grin, complete with his razor sharp dragon teeth showing.

The catfish get so scared that they swim away, much to Syren's shock and horror again.

Aqua Butterfly then shoots aquatic webs out of his wrists and ties up Syren.

As Aqua Butterfly reels in Syren, she manages to shake the aquatic webbing loose and swims away again.

Aqua Butterfly roars in frustration and anger.

Aqua Butterfly then says, "Aquabug, Aqua Crow, come with me! The rest of you, see if there's any survivors that got to safety."

Aqua Noir then asks, "Where are you going?"

Aqua Butterfly replies, "I got a plan. But I'll tell you later."

Aqua Noir replies bitterly, "But we all are a team, aren't we? I'm tired of all these secrets."

Aqua Butterfly smacks Aqua Noir hard in the face, making him yell in pain as the others wince.

Aqua Butterfly states extremely sternly, "You may not know it, Cat Noir, but secrets exist for a multitude of reasons, especially because there's always a time and a place to know everything! And I admit, Master Fu may be slightly skewed in his Guardian duties, but that doesn't change the fact he's needed. And besides, if you detransform right now instead of just doing what you're told and remembering that great powers come with a great deal of responsibility, I'll have no choice but to confiscate the Black Cat Miraculous."

Aqua Noir sighs as he points out, "You're starting to act like Ladybug and Master Fu right now."

Aqua Butterfly smirks as he replies, "I know; I wanted to get that out of my system."

Everyone sighs in relief.

Aqua Butterfly then says, "But in all seriousness, I want you to assemble your clones to escort any survivors to safety."

Aqua Noir replies, "Leave it to me."

Aqua Noir swims away fast.

Aqua Butterfly sighs as he states, "You all know what to do."

Hydrosphere and the others nod as they rush off.

A tedious ten minutes later, the heroes defeated Syren and returned her to normal.

In Master Fu's massage parlor, Master Fu is holding up a rack with 20 vials containing potions that are in different colors. He shows the other heroes a paper with matching colored circles and written descriptions of each power potion.

Master Fu explains, "Each blend corresponds to a new superpower."

Marinette takes the paper and scans it/reads it very quickly.

Marinette remarks, "Oh wow. It's just like Tikki and Miguel told me during the day of the statue unveiling. But still, this is a lot of powers."

Miguel then snaps his fingers and the racks multiply as carefully as possible without spilling, breaking or dropping anything.

Marinette and the other heroes each take ten racks of vials and they get to work combining the potions with edible vessels like pastries and slices of cheese.

After baking the magicaroons in the ovens of the Dupain-Cheng bakery and Miguel's field headquarters, the heroes get to work on storing them.

Meanwhile, Steel Butterfly is spying on Gabriel through his thoroughly concealed smallest cameras from the first Spy Kids film.

Gabriel demands as he holds the grimoire with the page of the power up potions displayed, "Nooroo! How can I obtain more powers?"

Nooroo questions in reply, "What do you mean, Master?"

Gabriel replies, "Don't treat me like an idiot! Steel Butterfly and the other members of his team except for Hydrosphere have new powers. How did they do it?"

Nooroo answers, "We do not know the recipes for the power up potions. A safety precaution just in case a Miraculous ended up in your hands or in the hands of someone just like you."

Gabriel opens the grimoire to the power up potion page and asks, "It's inside this grimoire, isn't it? Can't you read it?"

Nooroo answers again, "No. Only Guardians can read it. The Order was very strict about such contingency plans in case the Miraculouses fell into the wrong hands in ancient times. But I'm telling you, I don't know anything!"

Gabriel replies, "Well then, it looks like I'll have to find this Guardian, wherever he is and whoever he is."

Gabriel closes the grimoire and returns it to his safe.

Steel Butterfly turns off his cameras and flies away while remarking to himself, "Perfect! He doesn't suspect a thing! Mwa hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

Steel Butterfly lands in his lair and takes out his journal.

(Steel Butterfly's voiceover POV as he writes in his Rorschach-inspired journal...)

Steel Butterfly's journal.

August 3rd, 2015.

Second journal entry today.

So, Syren was a tad difficult to deakumatize than the original timeline just because of her new ability to summon aquatic life as her personal army and even with the superior numbers and superior tactics.

But thankfully enough, we still prevailed.

But of course, I didn't need to give both Master Fu and Adrien a piece of my mind; it was just Adrien I needed to rein in a bit.

Thankfully, that wasn't too hard.

And also, Gabriel finally still fell for the fake Miraculous spellbook trick.

I checked myself, and he still fell for it, even though he still opened the spellbook for reference of the aqua potion, something that never happened in the original timeline. But hey, beggars can't be choosers.

In any case, Hydrosphere proved to be an effective champion, able to turn Syren's army against her and able to reverse Syren's effects on the city being submerged underwater.

But of course, I know for a fact that if one million, four hundred and seventy thousand, and thirty-five people had died as a result of Syren's attack, Hawk Moth would've been in big doo-doo big time if he ever caught caught and put on trial.

But thankfully this time around, pretty much everyone in the city managed to get to safety.

Anyway, the next Akumatization to prepare for and avert if possible is Caline Bustier, also known as Zombizou, a supervillain whose lipstick-filled kisses turns people into contagious kissing zombies.

We would need a champion by the name of Apocalypse Survivor to help return the kissing zombies back to normal.

But I think we won't need to avert Bustier's Akumatization considering the fact that there's no more spoiled brats in Bustier's class or in the other classes in the school.

Anyway, I better get ready.

The next journal entry will detail my plans for if Bustier does get Akumatized despite our efforts.

The End.

(Author's notes: In the next chapter, we shall see if Caline Bustier will still get Akumatized into Zombizou.

See you all in chapter 44: Zombizou, or Zombizou Averted.)