"What on earth is happening?"
This is not at all what Ladybug was expecting to happen that night. Su Han gave his ultimatum: tell him who the boy behind Chat Noir's mask is or he will take back the Black Cat Miraculous. Ladybug had a plan. It was manipulative, guilt bubbled under her throat, but it was absolutely necessary! She'll do anything not to lose her partner! And it was supposed to work too, but nothing worked out the way it was supposed to.
In the end, it wasn't Su Han who took away Chat Noir.
The surroundings were changing like blinking lights. Dinosaurs popped in one second only to disappear the next. Buildings flickered between being made of old stone to futuristic metal. Blimp-like objects blinked in and out of existence in the sky. Clocks were spinning out of order. A few old akumas were scattered about. A Ladybug in old style armor showed up out of nowhere only to vanish before her attack can land.
"It's like history's all jumbled up!"
"Time has gone crazy! Or maybe I have."
"I have a bad feeling about this."
Chat Noir was standing right next to her.
In a blink of an eye, someone else stood in his place.
A tall girl with a mane of red hair dressed in a leather black catsuit. Her feral green eyes looked around her surroundings. Unlike all the other apparitions, this one didn't disappear.
Chat Noir didn't reappear.
Ladybug's instincts flared and she jumped away, taking out her yoyo. She doesn't know what's going on, but there's something unsettling about this girl. Not giving her a chance to attack first, Ladybug threw her yoyo at the cat.
Too bad the other girl was ready for it. She batted away the yoyo with her silver staff. On her clawed hand was the Black Cat Miraculous.
"Why do you have his Miraculous?!"
As soon as her eyes landed on Ladybug, her cat-like pupils narrowed into guarded slits
"Hello to you too," the cat girl replied in English. "Is this how the French greet people nowadays?"
The cat girl's nonchalant answer set off Ladybug's temper.
"Who are you and what have you done to Chat Noir?!"
0-0-0-0-0
A fight broke out between Ladybug and the new cat. It was a struggle for Ladybug. Where she expected a parry, the cat sweeps with her legs. A throw with a baton instead of a lunge with a staff. A dodge instead of a block. The cat started off aggressive at first but as the fight dragged on, she was calming down - which did nothing but unnerve Ladybug. How can anyone be calm at a time like this?!
With a swing of her yoyo, Ladybug landed on one side of the platform as the cat girl stayed on the other. They were at a standoff.
"Where's Chat Noir?!"
"I'll do you one better: where the heck am I?"
Ladybug was not amused. She has to subdue this cat and get some answers. Out of options, she resorted to Lucky Charm.
It was a pocket watch.
"Think it's about time to give me some answers?" said the cat.
Time? Looking closer at the pocket watch, its shape resembles the Rabbit Miraculous.
"Okay that's enough out of you two!"
Bunnix jumped out of a time portal, rolling her shoulders like she's just finished doing some strenuous work. The cat girl stared the woman down warily, pointing her staff towards her. Bunnix raised her hands in a show of surrender.
"I come in peace! Calm down! If it's answers you want, I have them!"
The cat hesitantly lowered her weapon. Bunnix lowered her hands.
"First off, welcome to Paris, year 2015."
0-0-0-0-0
Bunnix explained everything, doing her best to repeat everything in English for the newcomer. Time went unstable and caused a few tears - things and people can fall through those tears. That's what happened to Chat Noir. He's fine, Bunnix can even guess where- or rather, when- he is, judging from the cat standing in his place. Whenever she came from, that's when he is. But they can't get him just yet.
"It took more than a few tries just for me to get here," Bunnix said. "All modes of time travel are malfunctioning."
Sadly, they can't chance it by making Bunnix keep trying. No timeline should be left without the Black Cat Miraculous for too long - the balance of the world depends on it or whatever. It's why as soon as Chat Noir disappeared, time just had to pick up someone else who also has a Black Cat Miraculous in his place. As whatever messed up deity who manages fate would have it, there happened to be one standing around where Chat Noir stood just a century and a half ahead.
If they force Chat Noir and this cat to trade places now, who knows when in time would they end up in and what other poor cats would get dragged in to fill their unoccupied slots. It'll only make their situation worse. It's better to wait it out with only two cats lost in time.
Clutching onto the unused Lucky Charm, Ladybug remembered there's still one more trick up her sleeve.
"Then what if I do this? Miraculous Ladybug!"
A swarm of magical healing bugs flew all around the city, fixing everything in their path. Sadly, they did nothing to the apparitions - only fixing the debris they left. Bunnix opened a portal to where Chat Noir should be, but shut it immediately before a dinosaur could get out. Time travel is still a no go.
"At least the clocks stopped spinning," the cat girl - who is unfortunately still here - said.
"Why did this happen?" Ladybug asked in French.
"Can't say," Bunnix eyed Ladybug meaningfully and stuck a finger into her ear like she's picking it but not really. "Maybe in another time, something went wrong. Think of this as a second chance."
Ladybug reached for her ear as Bunnix gestured and felt the ear piece she forgot about. Her knees went weak when she put two and two together. All night she's been doing her best to not lose her cat only to lose him anyway because something went wrong with her plan - something bad enough that Sass had to use his powers on a grand scale just to prevent it.
"… So I'm stuck here?" the cat said in a small voice, her confident demeanor from earlier now shattered.
Another wave of guilt washed over Ladybug. She treated this person like an enemy when she's just another victim of her mistake.
"Don't worry. Time has a funny way of fixing itself. Just give it more uh, time."
"That's comforting," the cat crossed her arms with her ears folded back.
"Hey," Ladybug called for the cat girl's attention.
Seeing her troubled compelled Ladybug to at least try to ease her pain, if only a little. It was her fault she's stuck here after all. With her best English, she said:
"Do not be sad. I will fix everything. I promise."
By best, she meant using up most of her vocabulary through a thick French accent. The cat girl merely looked back at her blankly, not even a little bit touched by her efforts.
"That language barrier is gonna be a problem," Bunnix said in French before going back to English for the cat. "Please tell me you've mastered making the translation charm."
The cat girl responded with a confident flip of her fiery red mane and a smug smirk - making Ladybug blink. How could this cat bounce back so quickly?
"I've mastered it weeks ago," but then her smirk melted into a contemplative frown. "If only I have the right materials for it. Know any guardians around by any chance?"
Bunnix presented Ladybug like she's the jackpot at a gameshow.
"Lucky for you, we got one right here! Mini-bug may be young but she's got everything you'll need," Bunnix turned to Ladybug. "Do you mind if we crash at your place and borrow some of your guardian stuff?"
"Sure! But first we've got to get…"
This is when the cat girl is finally connecting the dots as to who this Ladybug is. Paris. Year 2015. Young guardian…
"O. M. G!" the red haired cat squealed with stars in her emerald green eyes. She grabbed both of Ladybug's hands and shook them vigorously. "You're that legendary Ladybug! The Miraculous Pioneer! The Beacon of Hope and Justice! The one who formed the Neo-"
Bunnix slammed a hand over the girl's mouth. "Shh! Rule number 1 of time travel: no spoilers!"
The girl pried Bunnix's hand off her mouth and rolled her eyes.
"Fine," then she grinned at Ladybug. "It's still an honor to meet you, Ladybug!"
All the aforementioned legendary heroine could say in response was an eloquent, "W-what?"
Needless to say, she did not catch much of what the red haired cat just said and decided not to think too hard about it. Bunnix already told her not to pry into the future.
0-0-0-0-0
They made a quick stop to the sewers so Ladybug can fetch the Snake Miraculous from Luka.
"Why is he in the sewers of all places?" the cat girl asked, voice with barely hidden disgust.
The redhead was walking dead center on the path - the furthest she can get from the icky green walls or the stinky waters.
"Yeah, I gotta ask, why do you keep meeting up with Luka in the sewers? Do you secretly hate him?" Bunnyx couldn't help but tease.
Ladybug ignored Bunnyx in favor of what she can guess the cat girl is questioning.
"Hardly anyone comes down here. It's the perfect place to get from one place to another without anyone seeing! Who knows? Maybe Shadowmoth would go through here tonight!"
Ladybug explained with a forced smile and a twitching eye, as if to quietly implore Blair to just buy her pitiful excuses - which Bunnix helpfully translated to the cat between snickers.
Cat raises a judgmental brow, a sign she's not buying anything.
"He's your ex, isn't he?"
Ladybug decided to pull the language barrier card and smiled harder.
Cat decided to take pity and just leave with the grace of a knowingly scammed customer.
Heroes are entitled to their secrets after all, and despite being physically younger, Ladybug is still her senior. Yeah. This is history's greatest Ladybug, folks. That deserves some respect.
0-0-0-0-0
They eventually found Luka, untransformed and feeding Sass. As soon as the kwami spotted Ladybug, he immediately flew to her and tiredly explained his side of the story.
"I'm so sorry Ladybug, I had no choice."
"What happened?"
"I'm not really sure. I just saw a photo of a Lucky Charm: a watch showing 1:00am."
That confirms it. It was her plan that led to this.
"Would anyone mind translating for me?" the cat girl butted in.
Ladybug winced. She's grateful this girl doesn't understand French. She's not ready to explain to her how it's her fault she's stuck here.
"When kwamis use their power without a holder, it always has magical and disastrous consequences. And Sass's power is to turn back time," Bunnix explained, tactfully avoiding mention of Ladybug's involvement.
"Ah. So I'm one of those consequences."
Sass's eyes widened upon seeing her. It's obvious she doesn't belong here.
"I'm so sorry you got pulled from your time because of me."
"Chin up. I get the feeling you're not the sort to pull this kind of stunt willy-nilly. It must've been real world-ending level serious for you to do what you had to do. If that's the case, then you have nothing to apologize for."
"Thank you for understanding."
"No, thank you for preventing whatever horrible thing it is that made you use your power."
While Sass and the cat girl were having their talk, Ladybug looked on at them with a forced uneasy smile. That cat girl may be understanding towards Sass, but Ladybug doubts she'd be so understanding towards the one who knocked the first domino to disaster.
Luka noticed.
"Are you okay?"
Ladybug tried harder to look more neutral.
"I'm fine."
There's nothing he could say that could help Ladybug anyway.
Not this time.
0-0-0-0-0
This is where they split up. Luka went home. Bunnyx volunteered to round up the time-lost apparitions. They could help, but first, Ladybug should focus on helping set up the time-lost cat. Bunnyx said it should be alright take this cat to her home.
"She's heard of you. I wouldn't be surprised if she's read your entire life story. It wouldn't change anything."
So the only real taboo here is for Ladybug to learn anything about her future from this cat, but it's a-okay for the cat to be privy to her secret identity. This feels so wrong.
Things couldn't get any more uncomfortable - no wait. It could.
Su Han was waiting at her balcony, arms folded, glaring at them. His glaring intensified when he noticed she had a different cat by her side.
"I don't suppose you know the identity of this one?" he said through gritted teeth.
"No," Ladybug said with a small defeated voice.
She meekly explained the situation. How it started with a stupid plan to uncover Chat Noir's identity and how it ended with a different cat stuck in his place.
Through the explanation, Su Han's face got redder and redder.
This time, Ladybug won't argue with him like she did earlier that day. Because this time, he's completely right to be mad. If Su Han couldn't trust her, then Ladybug trusts herself even less. She's proven herself to be a horrible guardian.
"What?! I thought I had warned you-"
A loud coughing interrupted him before he could rant. The cat girl waved at the monk.
"Excuse moi. Can you speak in English?"
"Yes."
"From what little French I'm able to pick up, I'm guessing your beef with her is because of Chat Noir?"
"I don't have any beef with her, but yes. This is because she didn't bother to know Chat Noir's identity."
"And why is that?"
"The Black Cat Miraculous is dangerous if left in the hands of someone else without any precautions! Who knows when the power it holds get in over Chat Noir's head and he gets ideas like Shadowmoth's! I've warned Ladybug a hundred times!"
The cat girl's polite demeanor was quickly replaced by a colder, more intimidating one.
"You know, Su Han, I'm gonna keep this as spoiler-free as possible. Take a look around you."
Around them, there are still apparitions wreaking havoc all over Paris. Su Han narrowed his eyes.
"What does Chat Noir's identity have to do with all these apparitions? If there's a Miraculous that could do this, it would be the Rabbit or the Snake - both of which are under Ladybug's care. This just proves she failed as a guardian!"
Ladybug was shrinking in on herself from Su Han's harsh glare - even though she only understood some of the words, the tone was more than enough to tell her what he meant. But the other cat was unaffected and forged on.
"Did Ladybug warn you of the dangers of finding out Chat Noir's identity?"
That's when Su Han paused, replaying their last conversation in his head. With a hesitant nod, he confirmed that was the case.
"She only did what you told her to, and this is the result. Suffice to say, this isn't the right time for anyone to know who Chat Noir really is. You should've listened."
Now it's Su Han's turn to have his own guilt fest. He turned to face Ladybug and bowed in apology.
"I suppose I should've considered your judgement."
0-0-0-0-0
As soon as Su Han left, the cat girl let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness her winging worked! It all hinged on whether or not Ladybug had warned Su Han so she can pin the blame on him, and for the cranky old geezer to have a conscience. Of course, if it turned out Ladybug hadn't, there are still ways to talk around that, but it would take longer and honestly, she'd rather keep it quick.
No, she barely understood how Ladybug explained the whole sitch to the celestial guardian. But she did pick up the name Chat Noir a lot, so he must be the key to all this. And Su Han was so willing to go on a rant that it was easy to form an argument against him.
Ladybug still looked upset - understandable. Who would be in a good mood after getting chewed out by some crusty monk who acts like he knew better when he in fact did not. She opened a hatch into her room and guided her to where she hid all her guardian supplies.
"Is this everything you need?"
Once again, the language barrier reared its ugly head. Bunnyx is no longer here to translate, and she'd rather not call back Su Han… that's when it hits her that there's one more around who can translate.
"Plagg! Claws in!"
Green flashed and the cat girl is no more. Her flaming red mane smoothed down to a silky crimson foxtail. Leather was replaced by an off-shoulder black jacket that reveals a white blouse underneath. There's a chain with a locket around her neck in place of the golden bell. Her ring changed from black to silver and out of it popped Plagg.
"I thought I'd never see this place as it is again," Plagg said as soon as he saw where he is and who else is in the room. "It's been a while, Ladybug. You got any cheese?"
0-0-0-0-0
With Plagg around to translate, they were able to communicate everything the girl needed for the translation charm. Marinette helped wherever she could as she observed the redhead tinkering with her tools with practiced ease. It's unusual to see someone else knowing how to use those materials, but she guesses those are the perks of being from the future. New rules, new discoveries, new innovations. Better get used to it quickly.
But there's something about that girl that really unnerved Marinette - it's even stronger now that she's untransformed. As a cat, she's easier to accept as an ally.
It's easy to see a little bit of her cat projected onto this cat. Their eyes are the exact same shade, at least when transformed. Her ears curl back the same way Chat Noir's does when he's upset. It's not the same as Chat Noir's grin, but the way she smirks has a similar aura of smugness behind it.
But as a girl, there's something so off putting about her. She can't put her finger on it…
Marinette shakes her head. That is no way to think of the person who's stuck here because of her mistake! She even went as far as to stand up for her against Su Han! Even managed to talk him into acknowledging his part in this disaster of a night… which puts Marinette back into feeling uneasy about her. The way she talked around Su Han, convincing him of whatever it is she just said…
There was a poof and the red haired girl jumped up to present her with what looked like a coin-shaped little rock that had a hole in the middle. She slipped it through her chain necklace and started talking.
"Testing! 1, 2, 3! Do you understand me?" she asked.
"It works," Marinette gasped.
"Yes!" she pumped a fist into the air and smiled smugly. "Still got it."
"Your efforts to impress the future in-laws finally came in handy!" Plagg teased.
"Shut up," the girl pouted and poked Plagg on the cheek. To Marinette, she said. "Thank you for letting me use your stuff, Marinette."
"It's the least I could do for you… uhm…"
"Oh right! I haven't properly introduced myself."
The girl poised herself and dipped her head in an exaggerated bow.
"I'm the Chat Noire from the year 2178. My name is Blair Crawford."
0-0-0-0-0
Translation Charm:
These magical charms allow its wearer to speak and understand one new language per stone. Was originally used by the Old Order of the Guardians to get around the language barrier as they search and seal away the Miraculous scattered around the world. Most monks carry more than a handful of them at a time.
In the past century, these charms became widely used once more by the Neo Order of the Miraculous. It's Great Founder, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, has creatively added these stone charms into accessories to help ease transition as her order expanded along with gaining new allies across the world, such as the United Heroez of New York.
