AN: Disclaimer, do not have ownership to the show or its characters, or anything that references the Scarlet Lady comic.
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Chapter 9: Laspeyres
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Marigold felt so frustrated with herself. Normally it would be Scarlet Lady that would screw up this royally. But noooo, she had to go let her guard down and get snatched up by some creepy wax blob. What's worse was that the room itself separated her from Ladybug and was now taking her to who knows where. With only a few minutes left on her timer, she found herself in the Renaissance section and in the center was Tigre Mauve all covered in wax. He looked like a half wrapped mummy struggling on the floor.
Then he saw her being transported in his direction. "Goldie, you alright?"
"Mmm hmm." she tried to say through her gagged mouth.
"Where's Ladybug?"
She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. Then she heard the final beep of her miraculous, and that sent her worry on another level.
"Crud, you're about to transform back?" she answered with a another nod. Tigre tried to think fast. "Here, lie down."
She cocked an eyebrow to ask why and he simply scooted himself closer to her. "Trust me. Do you have any food for your kwami?"
At another nod, he got closer and let her lay on her back before answering. "Shadowmoth's got cameras on us. If I can at least block your face we should be safe until I can get your mouth free and you can transform back."
She wanted to tell him that it might be pointless, since the sentimonster form of Chat Blanc from earlier had said her real name out loud. But she decided to agree with him, and met him halfway on the floor and stuck her face into the crook of his neck. Tigre shifted his body to cover her more, but kept the weight off. Before the last few seconds were up, Marigold gave him a worried look, and he could easily guess what she was thinking.
"I won't look, promise." he closed his eyes in reassurance, and it made her feel better.
The miraculous finally wore of, and a little yellow kwami flew from the hair comb. "I'm sorry, my queen, I held on as long as I could."
"Numm uhmm" Marinette tried to say.
Tigre kept his eyes shut, but addressed the kwami. "Pollen, is there any way you could free us?"
"I'm sorry, brave knight, but my power did not work well against this waxy substance."
"Ugh, if only I were Chat Noir right now, I bet a cataclysm would work. Even if I could get my hands free now, the power of the tiger won't do much good."
Pollen managed to slip her chili pepper out of Marinette's satchel. As she munched away at her favorite treat, she looked around to see if there was something she could use to free them. Sadly, the Renaissance section was all paintings, lots of Madonna and Childs. She looked back to what was holding them and asked. "Tell me, Tigre Mauve, is the wax sticky?"
"No, just tight like rubber." he answered, his eyes still closed.
"Then perhaps if I pull hard enough, I can free my queens mouth so she can transform."
"It's worth a shot, just give me a minute to adjust."
It was the best option right now in order for Marigold not to expose herself. He repositioned his body to where his back was arched up and his head rested on the floor. So, Marigold's face was still blocked from the cameras, he just didn't have any weight on her. He could hear the little kwami struggling with the rubber wax over the girls mouth. He could even hear some stretching noises, so that must mean it was working.
"Uhhmst... there! Great job Pollen!" Marinette was finally able to say.
"Hurry... my queen!" Pollen strained.
"Pollen, Buzz On!" he could see the flash of light under his eyelids, and then a very loud slap underneath him.
"Ouch!"
"You okay, Goldie?"
"Yeah, this stuff just smacked me in the face when Pollen disappeared." she rubbed her chin against her shoulder trying to sooth her stinging skin.
He tried not to laugh. He really did. But just imagining how that must have looked made a chuckle escape his lips. Marigold heard it and knocked him with her bound knees, making him lose his balance and fall on his back. It was just as well, his back and head were starting to feel sore from holding such an awkward position.
"It's not funny, Tigre." she scolded.
"Oh come on, it's a little funny." he smiled at her, glad he could look at her again. "I bet if it were Scarlet Lady, we would both be busting a gut."
That thought did make her giggle, but then she remembered the situation they were in, and something important she couldn't explain while her mouth was covered. "Tigre, we got another problem."
"Worse than right now?" he shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah, those sentimonster things that we fought. The one that Ladybug and I faced had been saying my real name the whole time. Shadowmoth probably knows who we are, me and the other girls at least." she bit her lip, worried about what he would do with that information.
Tigre Mauve eyes widened at the news, and he hated the idea of anyone being a threat to his princess. He thought about it for a moment. "The only one I heard through this place was Miracle, and Shadowmoth just guided us through the museum. It's possible that he didn't listen in on our fights, otherwise I think he would have shown himself by now."
She hoped he was right, but there was a strong possibility that he was wrong. Either way his words made her feel better. "I still wish we weren't tied up."
"Yeah, not to mention the others are likely in the same predicament." he wiggled around until he could sit himself back up. Marigold joined him.
"But why put us together?"
"Maybe because we don't have the miraculous they want. To Miracle and Shadowmoth, we're just the extras." Marigold nodded in agreement.
She bit her lip again as she looked around trying to think of a plan. "Well, we can either think of a way out, or wait and hope another hero finds us."
"Makes me wish, again, that I was Chat Noir right now." he grumbled.
"Don't talk like that, kitty, you're still a hero no matter which miraculous you wear." she smiled at him again, only speaking the truth.
"Thanks, Marigold." he winked at her.
He thought about the other heroes they met, other versions of them that could have been. He always thought that Marinette would make a great hero. She was brilliant when she had Plagg that one time, and when he gave her the mouse. Then her being Marigold couldn't have turned out better if he tried. He was sure that the Master Fu in his world had intended to give the miraculous of creation to her now that he had all of this alternate world stuff as evidence. Still, despite that setback that was Scar, he wouldn't change how things were between them.
"Umm, Tigre?" she called him softly. "I was wondering..."
"What is it?" he tilted his head, curious to what got her looking so nervous all the sudden.
"Well, it's about the other Chat Noir, and Ladybug, as well as the other pair." she couldn't look him in the eye.
"What about them?" he wasn't sure where she was going with this.
"I noticed some things between them, and I was just thinking... that is... I wondered if you..." she hoped she wouldn't have to finish.
"Oh." His eyes widened in realization. How should he address this? He promised not to share what he knew unless it was absolutely necessary. If Ebony Mao hadn't been in such a dark place earlier, he would've felt bad about revealing what he knew to her first. Maybe he should play it cluelessly. "It's not that I don't like you, Marigold, I do. It's just... there's this girl I..."
"There's a girl?" Marigold was stunned, her heart feeling like a sinking ship. And like a fool, she couldn't stop herself from asking. "Wha- What's she like?"
She looked sad. Why did she look sad? Then he thought about her asking about the other heroes. So, did that mean that she... and he just said... Oh no, fix this you stupid cat, he berated himself.
"She's great! She's smart, beautiful, super cute, always quick to help anyone that needs it. She always manages to make my day seem brighter whenever I see her."
"She sounds wonderful." she said through her teeth, trying to smile.
He didn't look at her, worried that he might make a face that gave too much away when he said, "Yeah, she's my princess."
"P- princess!?" her voice was shocked, but hopeful.
"Yeah, silly nickname, isn't it?" he allowed himself to feel bashful.
"N-n-no, I think it's really sweet, and this girl is lucky to have caught the eye of someone like you, kitty." she turned away to hide the rush of heat that spread through her cheeks.
"I'm the lucky one to have met her." he knew he couldn't directly say anything to her, but it felt good that she knew what his feelings were in a roundabout way.
Marigold's heart felt like it could fly away. She often questioned where she stood in Tigre's eyes. Then when she met the other Marinettes, she felt more confused with one liking her classmate, and the other her partner. But really, it shouldn't change what she felt, what her own heart told her. She became Marigold to be there for the Chat Noir in her world, to give him the support he needed. Now that they were together, they could work to try and get our of this situation. She saw the camera on them, so she was pretty sure if they tried to leave, Shadowmoth would move the floor to keep them in place. It would help if they got out of there bindings, Maybe if they break one of the display glasses and try to cut themselves free...
Then she spotted something near the ceiling. Someone was crawling out of an air vent. It looked like a superhero, but not one she recognized. Did Ladybug send for backup like she said? This hero was in different shades of blue green that looked scale like, almost like a snake. His hair was blonde, but dyed blue green at the tips, and his eyes were yellow green with slanted pupils like a snake.
"Hey." she tried to address, but the hero stopped her by holding a finger to his lips. Tigre Mauve spotted him as well.
"Who's that?" he whispered.
"I don't know, but don't look at him right now or the cameras might turn to face him." she looked away.
Tigre followed the bee's orders. "Right."
The new hero made his way along the ceiling, using the crown molding to keep in the blind spot of the cameras. When he was still a foot away, the camera started to turn in his direction. Tigre and Marigold held their breathes in anticipation, but the scaled hero acted fast and took out his lyre. Plucking a few of the strings, he caused a noise that made Tigre wince at the high pitch note that came from the instrument. Next thing he knew the camera shot out a few sparks, and drooped down with the red light turning off. The hero took an extra caution by pulling the cords from the device, then jumped down to the two heros on the floor. He didn't stick the landing, however, and stumbled to one knee before pulling himself back up.
"Are you two alright?" he asked a little out of breath.
"Yeah, we're fine. But who are you?" Tigre tried to turn to get a better look at him. He looked like he had the snake miraculous, which worried him. Didn't Wayzz warn them not to use those miraculous while Miracle still had hers active?
"My name's Aspik. Hold on a moment, I'll get you out." Aspik made a twist with his lyre, causing the frame to split into two handles. Then the cord unraveled itself until it was one strand, and he used the cord to shave away the wax like a clay cutting tool. Once the wax was opened up, the confined heroes were free to slip out the rest of the way.
"Ahhh, that's so much better." Tigre stretched himself out after getting back on his feet.
"We really appreciate the help Aspik." Marigold addressed the snake.
"Sure thing. Now from what I understand, you have a few more teammates that need some help, correct?" he asked as he put his lyre back together. He also still sounded out of breath somehow.
"Yeah, there's four more." Tigre answered.
"Okay, we can work our way through the museum to look for them..." he started but then Marigold interrupted him.
"Before we start anything I just want to be sure about something. Did Ladybug send you, or are you from another world like us?" she felt it important to know. She felt that it was the later, because she couldn't see Ladybug giving someone the snake right now. Also, despite the glamour of the miraculous, he did look similar to Chat Noir and Red Beetle.
"Another world." he answered simply and smiled.
"So then you're..." she pointed to Tigre and then back to him.
"The same person, yes."
"Did you just arrive here?" Tigre asked.
"No, I showed up here this morning. But from my experiences in my own world, I chose to stake out my surroundings to learn what was going on. Plus I'm not much use in hand to hand right now, given the circumstances." he explained.
"What do you mean?" Tigre asked again.
Marigold saw Aspik reach for his bracelet and answered for him. "It's your miraculous, you can't use it while Miracle has it unified with the rabbit."
"I tried once, and the effect was really painful. Sass explained to me what was wrong and how using second chance might kill me. Even just having the suit on is risky. It may be holding Sass and I together, but it's still hurting us." so that's why he seemed so winded.
"If it was that bad, you shouldn't have used your miraculous. It's dangerous for you to come here alone." Marigold scolded a bit.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm not alone." Aspik reassured her.
"You have a partner?" she asked, guessing it was another version of her.
"Yep, and she's got eyes everywhere." he paused for a moment. "In fact, she just found the girl black cat."
"Ebony Mao? That's great." Marigold nearly cheered.
"We better go help her," Tigre said. "Before Shadowmoth and Miracle figures out what's going on."
"This way." Aspik hurried out of the room with the two heroes close behind him.
When they made the way through a few hallways, nothing tried to stop them no matter which direction they took. So, either Shadowmoth wasn't aware of their escape, or he didn't care. Did that mean their goal was originally Ladybug and Chat Noir, and that the sentimonsters they faced were just a distraction? If that were the case, why not just take their miraculous once they had them tied down? Maybe it was some sort of plan Miracle had. Both Marigold and Tigre Mauve mentally prepared themselves for whatever the enemy might throw at them.
.~*~*~*~
Chat Noir and Red Beetle struggled against the sentimonster that held them. Red's yoyo was out of his reach, and Chat's hand was in a too awkward position to use his cataclysm. They also weren't sure how their partners were fairing. For once, Chat was hoping that Ladybug would succeed without him. The last thing he wants is for her to be at the hands of their nemesis.
"Any ideas on how we get out of here?" Red asked.
"Well, I can't reach anything to use my ring. What about your lucky charm?"
"I could try, but with the both of us stuck like this, I'm not sure if I'll be able to use it." the yoyo was on the floor about a meter away. Even if he could activate it without touching it, who's to say it would help them escape.
"It's the best shot we have right now." Chat couldn't see any other way.
"Lucky Charm." Red Beetle called out. The swirl of magical insects flew out of the yoyo, and presented them with a spotted... mousetrap?
"We're doomed." Chat stated.
"Yep."
"Or maybe your lucky magic just knows when there's help around." they both heard a tiny voice in the air.
They looked around, not sure where the voice came from. It wasn't from the intercom, and it didn't sound like Shadowmoth. Chat Noir thought it might be Miracle, but the voice sounded more cheerful. Was it Ladybug? He looked toward the entrance and saw no sign of her. Then he heard something, a subtle sawing noise above his head. He looked up, and there were two tiny gray and pink heroes using their jumpropes to cut way at the wax.
"Ma- Multimouse!" he saved himself from the almost slip. Ladybug must have sent for her, and perfect timing too.
"Hello there, kitty cat." the two mini heroes said in sync.
"Some reinforcements?" Red Beetle asked, not familiar with the mouse hero.
"Yeah, and the best kind, too." Chat smiled. then was finally free to yank his hand off the wax. He used his cataclysm to get the rest of it off him and Red. The wax broke into many pieces, but he didn't see a feather, so that proved it wasn't the main body of the sentimonster.
"Quick, head that way." Multimouse pointed to the corner of the room, and the two heroes obeyed.
"Why here?" Chat asked.
"It's out of sight of the cameras. Give me a minute and I'll disable it." she pointed to the ceiling, then used her jumprope to climb up. Chat Noir used this moment to get behind a statue and recharge.
Red Beetle turned his attention to the second three inch hero and held a hand out for her to jump on. "So your names Multimouse?"
She gave him a smile and a friendly salute. "Yes, sir, and you must be Red Beetle, right?"
"How'd you know that?" Chat asked joining the heroes again. He was sure Marinette only knew the name Mister Bug, and it didn't seem like Ladybug had enough time to fill her in on the situation.
"Oh, I've been going through the museum secretly, and I found some of the other heroes in the same mess as you." The other Multimouse hopped back down onto the black cat's shoulder.
"Where are they now?" Red asked as he pick up the mousetrap lucky charm. He still didn't see a way to use it, meaning there were other pieces of the puzzle he had to look for.
Multimouse closed her eyes in deep concentration before answering. "My teammate found Marigold and Tigre Mauve so far. They're going to try and look for the others."
"So you have a connection to all the other mini-yous?" Chat never asked what the mouse miraculous was like, or what it's like for someone's mental state.
"Yes, but it's a little weird. We each have our own mind, and at the same time are linked. It's like the most unusual group chat you can imagine. My partner and I couldn't communicate the usual way, so I'm his own personal earpiece." she jumped onto Chat's earlobe to show an example.
"Clever, little mouse." The black cat was impressed. Then again, it wasn't that surprising since this was Marinette after all. He wondered who her partner was.
"Do you know where Miracle is?" Red asked the one in his hand.
"Yeah, I found them in the security room. Her and Laspeyres are watching everyone through the cameras."
"Laspeyres?"
"Oh, Miracle akumatized uh-Shadowmoth into Laspeyres. It's how he's controling the building, but he can only control what he sees, which it why he needed the cameras." Multimouse explained.
"Ever the guy that stays on the sidelines." Chat commented. "So, how are we going to stop them?"
Red looked back at the lucky charm again, trying to think of a solution. Maybe this required more luck. "What about Ladybug? Do you know where she is?"
Multimouse shut her eyes again for a minute. "Ummmm, not right now. She kind of disappeared on me. Good news is the akumas don't know where she is either."
Chat felt a bit of worry and relief at the same time. He hoped his lady was alright. "Do you think we should look for her?"
"I feel like we need her to succeed." Red paced back and forth trying to think things through. Then he turned back to the mouse hero. "Did you take out all the cameras, yet?"
"There are still a few left." the mouse hero replied.
"Alright, so if we keep out of sight, and then the others keep their attention with Laspeyres, maybe they can lure him out, and we can go after Miracle." Red was thinking about their options, and saw that a divide and conquer was the best way.
"But what about Ladybug?" Chat asked.
"Multimouse can keep an eye out for her. She can also let us know if the others need help at any moment."
"Okay, I'll take you to Miracle." Multimouse paused for another moment. "Well, the good news is that they found Ebony Mao."
"That's good." Red was glad to hear that.
"They decided she was going to look for Ladybug, and I'll bring them to your direction." she added.
"Great."
"Wait, what about Chat Blanc?" Chat suddenly remembered.
Multimouse looked nervous when the white cat was mentioned. "I haven't seen him anywhere in the museum. I don't know where he is."
"We'll just have to hope he's not causing damage somewhere in Paris." Chat reasoned. "Right now our objective should be Miracle."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and then headed in the direction per Multimouse's instructions.
.~*~*~*~
How did this happen?! Chat Noir and Red Beetle were tied down. The sentimonster even made sure Chat Noir hand was restrained so he couldn't use the cataclysm to break free. They were captured. They were within his grasp. How did they just vanish!? Now one of the other screens that showed the bee and tiger holders went blank. This was all Miracle's fault! If she hadn't distracted him, he would have spotted them and see how they escaped! All was not lost, though. The girl black cat and Ladybug were still their captives.
"We have to hurry, before Ladybug finds a way out. And I can take the cat miraculous from the girl!" Laspeyres got ready to use his power and bring the two heroes to him. They were not getting away.
"No, that won't be necessary." Miracle said softly, not looking a bit worried about the missing heroes.
"What do you mean, not necessary! We had the whole group in restrains, and now we've lost visual with four of them! Whatever or whoever is helping them, I need the bug and cat now! That was the whole point of your little stage!" he stomped the scythe to the ground, but Miracle didn't bat an eyelash.
"As I said, the point of this was to observe. The sentimonsters have fulfilled their purpose."
"This isn't over. They have one of the bug and cat holders, I can still claim them! Take away the akuma if you must, but I can still control the amok." he got his hand ready to snap his fingers in case she did take away his akuma.
"You're forgetting one thing, Laspeyres." she smiled at him.
"And what would that be?"
She held up the candle stick. "Plagg, Cataclsym." Next thing he knew, the candlestick vanished into ash. She caught the feather with her hand, and said. "Tikki, purify." then she let the white feather go free.
Laspeyres felt like something had boiled over in him. He didn't think twice about swinging the scythe at her head, but she dodged it quickly, so he swung once more.
"You Stupid, Meddlesome, Insufferable Brat! I would have had all the miraculous if not-"
"So go get them." she said, his screams and insults not effecting her one bit.
"What!?"
"You have the power to control the space around you. So, use it to capture them again."
He could see the logic. She wasn't going to take away the akuma yet. Then he wasn't going to waste further time with her. "When all this is over, and I have the miraculous, I will be coming for you next!" He shot out of the room, not caring for her response.
But she gave one anyway. "I'll be waiting."
.~*~*~*~
The tiger, bee, and snake heroes made their way through the hallways, following the instructions of Aspik's partner. He would put his hand to his ear now and then as if to listen through an earpiece. This confused Tigre Mauve. How was the snake hero able to have communication when the rest of them had failed? What sort of trick was he using?
"This way." Aspik called and made a hard right.
When they made it to another room, they were shocked to find a familiar face running toward them.
"Ebony Mao!" Marigold cried out.
"Oh, good, you guys are okay." she said with relief as she halted a few feet in front of them. Then she noticed the new face. "And who's this?"
"This is Aspik. He's another form of myself, and helped us escape." Tigre answered.
"Well that's good, I guess." the black cat didn't know how else to respond.
"How did you escape, Ebony?" Marigold asked.
"I didn't. That weird waxy stuff that was holding me just disappeared all of the sudden." she answered.
"Does that mean someone defeated the sentimonster? Ladybug, or maybe Red Beetle?" Tigre suggested.
"No, Miracle destroyed it herself." Aspik answered, his hand to his ear again.
"How do you know that?" Ebony crossed her arms in suspicion.
"He's got contact with his own partner." Marigold answered for him.
"Wait, how can he have contact when the rest us weren't able to." Ebony didn't like that thought of that, especially if they had been following him.
Aspik could see they were growing nervous, and decided to share his secret. He removed what was resting on his ear and presented it to the other heroes. It was a tiny mouse heroine. "This is my partner, Multimouse."
"Hello, everyone." she waved at them.
"Hello there." Ebony greeted, feeling better about the situation now. The other two, however, seemed more nervous about the new addition. Marigold looked to Tigre Mauve and saw him looking back at her. Neither of them said a word.
"How do things look on your end, Miss Mouse?" Aspik asked, not realizing the tension between the bee and tiger.
The petit hero closed her eyes for a moment, then addressed the group. "I don't know where Ladybug is right now, but I was able to free Chat Noir and Red Beetle. Also, Laspeyres left the security room to come and look for all of us. I started taking out more cameras, so he won't know where we are right away."
"Do you know what the deal was with those sentimonsters?" Ebony asked.
"I'm not sure, it seemed like Miracle wanted some information, but I can't tell you what. Laspeyres got really mad when she freed you."
"So they're at odds with each other." Aspik said.
"Meaning we should keep them apart so they don't join together again." Tigre added.
"We could get his attention and lead him away while Chat Noir and Red Beetle go after her." Marigold suggested.
"Agreed." the two boys said in sync.
"What about Ladybug?" Ebony asked.
"Assuming she was set free as well, she might be heading that way too." said Tigre. "Still, it's probably not a good idea for her to be by herself."
"I'll go look for her." Ebony volunteered.
"Alright, let's get moving." Tigre was the first to head back the way they came.
"I can let the other two know the plan." Multimouse said before closing her eyes again to relay the message to the bug and cat boys.
Barely a minute after they were out in the hallway again did Laspeyres end up finding them. He did so by splitting the very foundation of the building. The walls were split open and the columns slid away to create a new entrance for him.
"You Will Not Escape Me!" he bellowed.
"Bring it on, old man." Ebony Mao mocked him and was getting ready to attack, when an arm shot out in front of her.
"Wait, Ebony, you need to go find Ladybug." Tigre reminded her.
"Will you guys be alright my yourselves?" she was sure they could handle themselves, but she worried.
"Don't worry, we can take care of him." Marigold smiled at her and got her spinning top ready.
"Here." Aspik allowed Multimouse to jump onto the black cat's shoulder. "She'll make sure you don't get lost."
"Thank you." Ebony didn't waste another second, and ran away from the fight hoping to find their other friends.
When she made it out of sight of the akuma, she started looking around random rooms for any sign of Ladybug. Multimouse would give her directions here and there when she wasn't sure which way to turn. Must have come in handy to see all those rooms at once. She tried to double back to where the front entrance was, hoping Ladybug might do the same thing, but there was still no sign of her. It didn't make sense. Even if she stayed out of sight of the cameras, according to the mouse all of her copies were in the vents and she would have seen her. Thinking maybe she should go back to help the others, she made her way back toward the battle.
She quickly hugged another corner and was immediately smacked into the floor by colliding with something. What? She wasn't sure, but it made a strange orange smoke appear when it made contact with her. It gave her quite a bump on the head, too.
"Owowow." she grumbled and could swear her voice echoed. Maybe she had a concussion. She sat herself back up to find another hero in red, orange, and black spots. "Oh no, not another one."
"Huh? Oh, Ebony Mao, it's you!"
"How do you know me?" her guard went up at this stranger knowing her name.
"It's me, Ladybug." the new hero got back on her feet, and held out a hand for the black cat.
"Ladybug!? Where'd you come from!?" Literally, where did she come from? It was like she just appeared out of thin air when Ebony ran into her.
"Oh, after the sentimonster that tied me down disappeared, I used the fox miraculous to camoflouge myself. What about you?" she divided the fox and put the necklace back in her yoyo.
"Same thing happened to me, but the others had some help escaping." Ebony took out Multimouse from her cat ear, and showed her to the now classically spotted hero.
"Multimouse!" Ladybug never thought she'd see this hero again.
"Yeah, you know her?" Ebony wasn't expecting her reaction, which was natural since Ladybug never got around to explaining Kwamibuster.
"Yeah, I have use that miraculous as Multimouse before." Ladybug knew what it meant for her to be here. She was another alternate verison of herself.
"It's nice to meet you, but the other heroes are going to need our help before long. I can take you to Red Beetle and Chat Noir, they're going after Miracle now." Multimouse pointed in the direction of the security room.
"Good, we should deal with her while the others are fighting Laspeyres." Ebony Mao headed in that direction with Ladybug right behind her.
"Is Laspeyres Shadowmoth as an akuma?" Ladybug asked next to her.
"Yes, he's what's making the building go crazy." Multimouse answerd. "I'm worried if he keeps using it, it could spread to the city."
"Don't worry, we won't let that happen." Ladybug said as they made their way to find her and Ebony Mao's partner.
.~*~*~*~
Red Beetle and Chat Noir crawled their way through the ventilation shafts per Multimouse's instructions, but it was a very unpleasant for both of the heroes. Not only was it a tight spot and they were trying not to hyperventilate at the small space, it was extremely filthy. There was dust on every inch of the four sides of their tunnel, and almost every corner had old cobwebs. Chat Noir was pretty sure he was going to be Chat Gris when they got out of here. He never would've imagine it being all disgusting like this.
"You know, air vents like this always look so sqweeky clean in the spy movies." Multimouse said, reading his thoughts. She was holding onto one of his cat ears trying to stay out of the filth.
"Still, it could be worse." Red said. "At least their aren't any rats right now. No offense, Multimouse."
"None taken. I wouldn't want to see a rat in here either." She shivered at the thought since she was much smaller than a rat right now.
"Plus, you're way cuter than any little mouse I've ever seen." Chat couldn't help but complement her.
"Aww, you're just as much of a flatterer as my partner. Oh, make a left here." she instructed.
There was the mention of her partner again. He wondered who it was, because he didn't remember any other hero being more of a flirt than him. Unless, of course, Ladybug had selected someone new when she chose Multimouse again. It made him more concerned on who was flirting with his princess. He was about to ask when he saw the metal mesh at the end of the vent, and a light showing the next room. He scurried over to the end and moved over to give Red Beetle some more room to see. There was another Multimouse stationed there to watch the akumas.
"...I will be coming for you next." they heard a deep voice and assumed it was Laspeyres.
"I'll be waiting." They could see Miracle come in to view as she said that.
"I think he's going after the others." Chat whispered.
"So, we should probably stop Miracle now while he's preoccupied." Multimouse's little voice added. "I'll open the vent, and you can attack."
"Wait." Red Beetle held out a hand to stop them. "Watch."
Miracle was holding her long staff and looking ahead to nothing in particular. What was she doing? Then she took hold of the staff with both hands, and then the blue mask of the peacock appeared over her face. Did that mean she still had a senitmonster fighting someone?
"Be still, both of you." she ordered through the mask. "If you remain calm and do as I say, I will not harm you."
"What's going on?" Multimouse asked softly.
"I'm not sure." Chat whispered back.
"I will not harm your daughter, but she has something that I need." they heard Miracle speak again. "Now, go up and take the miraculous." After a few seconds, she moved her hands as if she were pressing some invisible buttons.
Wait a minute. Someone's daughter? Miraculous!? "Oh no." Chat gasped.
"What?" Red turned to him.
"I think Miracle has a sentimonster in Ladybug's house. She's stealing her miracle box." Chat Noir felt panic and frustration at not thinking of this as a possibility, since Miracle was the same girl. If she had been the guardian as well, she might have the same secrets as his lady.
"What about her parents?" Little Multimouse was shaking with worry.
"It's alright, I don't think Miracle will hurt them. They are her parents too, after all." Red tried to reassure the tiny hero.
Then they heard Miracle speak again. "With the miraculous of the rooster, I choose to have the power to place you under a deep sleep, until the one with the rooster can release you again. Now, my kitty, return to me. Soon everything will be as it was, and you shall be free. Nothing will hurt anymore. I will save you..." her words sounded more broken the more she spoke.
Everything she said made Chat Noir think about before, when he first battled her and everything she had said to him. Then when Ladybug told him about the Chat Blanc that fought beside Miracle. Could it be?
"We have to get out of here." he said suddenly.
"What!? But we have to stop her, she's stealing Ladybug's box!" Red argued.
"We need to find Ladybug now. We can't win this without her." Chat was sure of it.
"Oh, I found her." Multimouse spoke up. "She's with Ebony Mao and heading this way."
"Good, lead us out of here, please, so we can meet up with them." Chat said.
Multimouse led them back through the vents and downward where another grid led to a janitor closet. They made an easy exit, and followed her directions toward the other bug and cat holders. Luckily, they were heading right for them and met them halfway.
Ladybug had never been so glad to see her kitty. "Chat, thank goodness, I was worried when that wax monster got a hold of us." She smiled at him with relief and gave him a quick hug. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be as happy to see her.
"I'm afraid things are worse than that right now, milady."
"What's wrong?"
"It's Miracle." Red Beetle answered. "We think she might be stealing your miracle box. We heard her talking to someone, and I'm pretty sure it was Chat Blanc."
Ladybug's heart went to her throat. "No no no, this can't be happening. I - I should've hidden the box... I should've-"
"Ladybug, there's something else." Chat interrupted her panic.
"What could be worse than losing the miraculous!?"
"When you fought Miracle's Chat Blanc, did he say anything to you?" Chat needed her to focus, this was important.
"Yeah, he said some of the stuff about us being imposters, the same as Miracle."
"Things like 'You're not real', or 'you're not the one'?" he supplied.
"Yes, exactly like that. Chat, what's all this about?" Ladybug didn't think she was going to like his answer.
"I don't think Chat Blanc is real. I think he's a sentimonster." he answered.
"What makes you so sure?" It was Ebony Mao that asked.
"We saw her using the power of the peacock, and she was addressing her cat but also speaking through him. It got me to thinking when we first fought them. Miracle had her hood up the whole time I fought her, so I think she was doing that same thing. There's also the possibility that if I'm right, this could give us the clue to what she wants from us."
"What would that be?" Red asked, not really seeing the theory yet.
"She want to find someone to replace the partner she's lost." Ebony Mao answered for the other black cat.
"That's crazy!" Ladybug all but cried out.
"Well, milady, if it happened to me and I became an akuma afterwards, I don't think I would be too straight-thinking after losing you." Chat looked at her sadly, not able to bare the thought of it.
Ladybug gave him a sad smile back, the composed herself. "If this is all true, it gives us more information about the world she's from. If Chat Blanc does bring the miracle box here, so if I focus on just getting the rabbit, and we can set up an ambush..."
"But there's still the matter of Laspeyres." Ebony Mao interrupted her.
"That's right, the others won't be able to hold him for much longer. His powers are turning the museum into a deadly obstacle course." Multimouse said after checking with her copies. "I'll gather all my clones to meet up and we can help them."
Oh, right, Ladybug had forgotten about her. And Chat has seen her, so what must he think. She could only see him smile at the little mouse.
"It was a good thing you sent for Multimouse, milady, or we would've been in deep trouble." he said, but his words confused her a bit.
"Really?" was all she could say.
"Yeah, who's her partner though? I forgot to ask." Oh, so he thought he gave the mouse to Marinette again. It's probably best he continues to think that. She just has to make sure the Multimouse with them didn't give anything else away. But wait, she has a partner too? If it's another version of her Chat, then that will give everything up right away, unless he had a miraculous that Chat Noir never used before and looks different enough. She just had to get through this and play it safe.
"ASPIK, NOO!" the little mouse hero suddenly shrieked.
What, Aspik? But that had been...
"What's wrong? Who's Aspik?" Red asked.
"My partner, and he just used his second chance." Multimouse looked like she was ready to cry. "He can't use it now. Sess warned him it's too dangerous..."
"Aspik... is the snake holder." Ladybug couldn't process the information quick enough.
Chat Noir, on the other hand, could see the picture forming more clearly. "Multimouse, you and Aspik are from another world, aren't you?"
"Yes, we have to help him. The longer he uses it the more it will hurt him." she gathered the two copies that were with them to grow herself from a three inch hero to six inches, not paying attention to what her information meant to the two heroes.
Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at one another, not sure which one should speak first, or if there was anything that should be said. To Chat Noir, it really didn't seem like that much of a surprise. His lady was his princess. It had been her the entire time. He had suspected her before, and if it hadn't been for Kwamibuster, then he would have been sure of it. The waning of his heart made sense as well. For how could he have such stronge feelings for two girls other than for them to be one in the same. Ladybug, on the other hand, had more of a struggle with the idea. When she saw her kitty and her prince separately, had that really been what she saw? Perhaps he had to play a form of deception at one point, and it worked. Then when he was Aspik, did he pretend that it didn't work for him so he could stay as Chat Noir later? And then... Chat Blanc... her signature... oh, of course. But wait, that also meant she had been rejecting her love for himself, hurting him for no reason. What must he think of her now?
"Princess?" he said softly, and she nodded.
"Adrien." he smiled back as an answer.
"Guys, whatever revelation you're having right now is going to have to wait until we stop Laspeyres. The others need help!" Multimouse bellowed, getting ready to run off with or without them.
"I- milady..." Chat wanted to say so many things, but didn't know where to start.
"Later, Chaton, I promise." Ladybug smiled at her partner, and took off. Her kitty followed right behind her, along with the other three heroes.
.~*~*~*~
Laspeyres didn't want to let one of the black cats get away, but he knew they would be back with the others. if they wanted his akuma, they would need one of the bug heroes. So if he could capture these extras again, he could hold them hostage. The first thing he had to do was wear them down and force them to use their powers. He started by throwing some bits of the wall in their direction. Aspik and Tigre Mauve jumped away while Marigold swung away on her spinning top. When they tried to go to higher ground, Laspeyres brought the ceiling down on them. The only one that didn't seem to be doing well was the holder of the snake.
Aspik was trying to catch his breath from all this jumping around. Hopefully, Multimouse would be back soon with the other heroes. Right now he was praying that the large rubble floating over his head wouldn't rain down on him. This was like a very, very dangerous game of dodgeball.
"Are you alright?" Tigre Mauve came up to him.
"I'll manage." he got out between breaths.
"How long do you think you can last?" Laspeyres asked as he brought two walls around to trap them.
Tigre Mauve held his arms out to brace the walls apart with his strength, but he couldn't move Aspik out of the way. They might have been crushed if not for the spinning top that wrapped around both of them and pulled them out of the walls.
"Thanks, Marigold." Tigre addressed his partner.
"We have to get out of here." Marigold declared.
They all started to make their way toward an exit, until they heard the akuma yell. "You're not going anywhere!"
Everything spread out around the heroes even further. Bricks, concrete, flooring, furniture, everything was either coming apart or clustering together. What's worse was that the large heavy masses were hitting each other back and forth, destined to cause serious injury if they got caught in it. It was like the akuma created his own asteroid field. Now Laspeyres was creating a wall in front of the exit and moving it slowly, forcing them to head back toward him.
"He's trying to corner us, and I can't use my stinger on all this debree." Marigold called out.
"There's only one way." Aspik said looking at his bracelet.
"What!? I thought you said you can't use it." Tigre said while struggling against the wall trying to push them forward.
"I said it was dangerous, but there's no other option." he got ready to turn the knob.
"Wait-" Marigold tried to stop him.
"Second Chance." he shoulders slumped after saying the words, and then he grabbed both the heroes to him. "Quick, this way."
Aspik led them over one column, and then under another. He forced them together between two walls, and then split them to the opposite sides of another. Every move seemed to tire him out further, but he continued on. How many times did it take him to get through this successfully? When they came closer to Laspeyres, Tigre Mauve got ready to use clout on him, but Aspik held him back.
"Not yet. Jump!" he got the tiger hero up toward the ceiling. When gravity started to bring him back down, Aspik called out. "Now Tigre!"
"Clout!" Tigre Mauve brought his fist down on the akuma, and sent him flying against one of the remaining walls. This caused some of the rubble to collapse on Laspeyres. It also made everything around them crumble without the akuma's power to hold it up.
It caused an opening that allowed Ladybug and the others to enter the room at the right moment.
Marigold, Tigre Mauve." she called out to them.
"Oh Ladybug, thank goodness." Marigold held her hand to her heart. relieved that everyone made it out alright. "Where's Laspeyres?" Chat Noir looked around for the akuma.
"Somewhere under all that rubble." Tigre pointed to the one foot sticking out of the mess. He would've used this opportunity to make a Wizard of Oz joke, but something behind him fell along with a small scream.
"Adrien!" It was Multimouse, who was now at a more normal size after calling back most of her copies, and rushed to her partner.
Adrien Agreste was laying on what was left of the floor, his breathing very uneven and his eyes hazy. Sass was laying right next to him, equally exhausted. Ebony Mao wasn't sure what to think of finally seeing the face behind her partner's mask, since she wasn't too familiar with the fashion icon's son. Marigold, on the other hand, was in a severe state of buffering. Aspik was her classmate, and if this was her classmate, that meant Tigre Mauve was her classmate. Tigre Mauve was Chat Noir. Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste. Her mind just kept repeating the same thing.
"Adrien, what were you thinking!?" the pink and gray mouse reached into his pocket to give food to his kwami. It was a miracle the poor thing was still awake.
"I had... no choice... the akuma..." he tried to say.
"No! Sass told you what would happen if you used second chance, and you went ahead and did it anyway." she would've smacked him with her jumprope if he hadn't been hurt right now.
"You can yell at me more later, sweetpea. You ready, Sass?" he turned to his little snake friend, who looked a little better after eating his snacks.
"I'll manage, sssir." Sass hissed.
"Woah, hold on a minute. After what just happened, you're going to just transform again!? We were told it's not safe to have the rabbit or the snake." Red tried to stop him.
"What if you hurt yourself more?" Ladybug wanted to take the bracelet away from him before he did any permanent damage.
"It hurts more when I don't wear it. The only way to help me is to stop Miracle and separate the miraculous. Sass, Scales Slither." Aspik took a deep breath of relief at having some strength back, even though he still felt exhausted.
Tigre Mauve admired this ones courage, and turned to the group. "We have to get Laspeyres while he's trapped under there. We can take his miraculous as well." he headed inthe direction of the cluster of plaster and concrete.
"I'll give you a hand." Ebony Mao followed after him.
"Me too." Chat Noir joined in.
They were getting ready to lift the heavy pieces when they all shot out on their own. Ebony Mao and Tigre Mauve got stuck behind the pieces and hauled away from the now conscious Laspeyres. Chat Noir, however, was knocked off his feet by the smaller pieces, and then got his leg trapped by one of the column bits. Laspeyres got back on his feet, breathing heavily and his presence just oozing anger.
"Adrien... all this time... Adrien..." he growled through his teeth.
.~*~*~*~*~*~
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.
.~*~*~*~*~*~
AN: Finally! That's it, I'm done! Didn't realize how long this one was actually going to be. Sorry this one took a little longer than usual, but there was a lot going on here and it was all over the place. A lot of editing had to be done. Plus I kept debating with myself about what should be revealed and where. So now it looks that things are going to fall apart more before they can be put back together! What's Laspeyres going to do!?
So, how many didn't think Multimouse and Aspik would make an appearance? Naw, I loved the idea of these two, there was no way I wasn't going to include them. Naturally, they couldn't show up in the beginning, or I never would have been able to play with the whole identity thing. I also felt like changing the names would have given things away for Chat when he first saw the mouse hero, so I kept them. (Really, though, I don't think I could have come up with another superhero name for the mouse. The snake, sure, but not her.) And because I, like many others, didn't like it, Aspik didn't keep the full hood.
Anyway, thanks for reading, hope everyone had fun! Leave a review if you like, tell me what you think. Looking forward to the next chapter! ;);)