Dungeon crawls aren't exactly Ladybug's forte, having a stronger preference for quick fighting games and the occasional gimmicky mobile puzzle game. For once, she was grateful that Max's bad habit of over-explaining is retained even as an akuma.
The tower has four levels. At the very top is where Gamer 3.0 will be waiting. Each floor is a maze full of traps and enemies. Their team must navigate it to find a key, which is protected by monsters. Once the key is obtained, they will have to fight the floor boss before they could get to the next floor.
"If you leave now to get more players, I'll simply build the tower higher and spawn more monsters until you return," Gamer 3.0 said.
"And what's stopping me from Cataclysming the whole tower down?" Calico said.
Cataclysm danced at her fingertips, forming an orb of chaotic black energy floating at the palm of her hands. She didn't wait for Gamer 3.0's answer to fire it off at the tower.
"I knew there's a 254.76% chance you would attempt that. So I had prepared countermeasures for your advanced abilities."
Screams for help escaped the hole the Cataclysm made. People were inside the tower! Before any of the heroes could go and retrieve them, the hole immediately fixed itself as glowing data knitted together to reform the tower's black walls. Gamer 3.0 smirked down at the angry Calico.
"That is so not fair!"
"Your limitless Cataclysm might as well be a cheat! I'm simply levelling the playing field."
As much as it is a relief for Ladybug to not see Calico use her Cataclysm so liberally, she'd rather not have this cat be dead weight.
"But Calico not being able to use Cataclysm at all wouldn't be fair either," Ladybug stated evenly. "Even if you beat us, could you really call it a win with how badly you crippled one of our teammates?"
Ladybug pointedly ignored the Calico's excited gasp.
Max always prided himself in playing fairly. He could never be content in a win where he has all the advantages. Ladybug is banking on his inner Max to give in.
Gamer 3.0 let out sigh before pointing at Calico.
"You only get to Cataclysm one thing permanently in the tower. Make it count."
Calico did a little fist pump. "I owe you one, Lady!~"
"Once the game starts, you don't get to leave until you either finish the dungeon as victors or lose to me. Best of luck! I'm looking forward to fighting all of you at the top!"
A glowing green door appeared at the bottom of the tower. Gamer 3.0's hologram disappeared, replaced by big bold flashing words:
GAME START
With trepidation, the four of them stepped through the door. At the very top, Gamer 3.0 is waiting for them.
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The inside of the building is modelled after a cave. Earth and moss covered the unnaturally straight walls and neatly arranged turns. Torches lit the maze up, too brightly to be real. The pathways are wide enough for the four of them to walk side by side. Over each of their heads were glowing green HP bars. Below those were smaller glowing blue MP bars. This definitely feels more like a video game than an actual cave.
"Let's split up," said Ladybug. "We'll cover more ground faster this way. Carapace, go with Calico and take the left side of the tower. Ryuko's coming with me to explore the right. If you find anything interesting or need backup, give us a call. We'll keep you updated on our end as well."
"Ahem," Calico faked a cough to call attention to herself. "I have a better idea: We don't split up. We should stick together, fight as one unit-"
"Your plan would take too long," Ladybug pointed at Calico. "We need to wrap this up as soon as possible. You have more important places to be."
Covering for Chat Noir's civilian life should be more important than helping Ladybug fight akumas.
Calico had the decency to look chastised with her folded back ears and the way she's scratching the back of her head. With a sheepish grin, the cat said, "Point taken."
Just when Ladybug thought she could relax around this cat because she seemed capable of remorse…
"Buuut hear me out."
Calico ruins it by pushing on with her idea. Ladybug let out a frustrated sound at that.
Before they could break out into an argument, a loud roar bellowed to the side followed by a giant beak.
They would've been birdseed had Carapace not held his shield up in time.
Their first monster encounter. It was a huge avian creature with a huge beak and sharp talons and an HP bar floating above its head.
Calico pounced and bashed its head with her staff. Ladybug tied it down with her yoyo string. Ryuko finished it off.
The thing disintegrated into data, until all that's left is a pigeon. The poor thing squawked as it fled when Ryuko so much as glanced at it. Can't blame the little guy, Ryuko does have a glare as her default expression.
"All the dungeon monsters are…" Calico started.
"… at their core, made of humans and other creatures within the premises," Gamer 3.0 finished, his hologram reappearing in front of them. "While things made of data can be recovered, actual living beings have no such backups. You're gonna have to drain away their HPs the normal way."
"Great. Another nerf," Calico rolled her eyes. "No using my Cataclysm to win at anything. I get it, I get it. Sheesh."
"Glad we're on the same page," Gamer 3.0 eyed Calico with interest. "Hmm… You know, if you're as powerful as they say you are, I wonder about your teammates..."
Green lights scanned down Calico. A download bar materialized between her and Gamer 3.0. As it fills up, one icon after another popped up. At 25%, the icon of the Bee Miraculous appeared. At 50%, it was the icon of the Fox Miraculous. At 75%, showed the icon of the Ladybug Miraculous. At 100%, a fourth icon appeared but it disappeared too fast for anyone to see more than a flash of green.
Ladybug paled at the implications of those symbols. Calico on her own is bad enough…
"Thanks for the new content. Your memories have given me excellent floor bosses! I'm going to revise the rules for this. This should be interesting to watch," Gamer 3.0 said before he disappeared as he cackled away.
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"This is a disaster!" Ladybug yelled with her hands over her head, shaking.
Carapace nearly jumped from Ladybug's uncharacteristic outburst. Where did their cool, calm, and collected leader go?
"Calm down," Calico tried to comfort, reaching out a hand towards Ladybug, but the bug swatted it away. Ouch, dude.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?!" Ladybug snapped at the cat, frantically waving at the spot where Gamer 3.0's hologram once stood. "We're about to fight your whole team!"
"I know their weaknesses. We should be able to handle them," Calico said with confidence.
But her folded ears and curled down tail betrayed her façade.
This only further agitated the already high-strung bug.
"You are a scary powerful Miraculous holder. You could destroy all of Paris if you wanted to! You said your bug practices Mirakung-fu, doesn't he? He could counter all of our moves and take back all our Miraculous by force! Your fox specializes in 'concealing presences', whatever that means. What else could he do? Make illusions threatening to drop civilians off this tower or would he prefer to not lie about that?! What about the bee? I wouldn't be surprised if yours could summon a swarm of mind-control bees. Who knows what else can the rest of your team do?!"
By the end of her tirade, Ladybug was breathing hard, shaking, but clearly she's forcing herself to stand strong.
Carapace stepped back from the spiraling bug. He turned to Ryuko in hopes she would know what to do, but she was just as lost as he was. They didn't know what to say or do. To them, Ladybug was this unshakeable beacon of hope who always has a plan. It's not every day they see the heroine of Paris panicking…
"Everything's been a disaster ever since you came along!" Ladybug pointed an accusing finger at Calico.
Ever since Calico came along…
Ever since Chat Noir disappeared.
It's times like these Carapace is reminded of where he and the other temporary heroes truly stood with Ladybug. She may rely on them in a fight, but she doesn't rely on them the same way she relies on Chat Noir. They've been partners since the beginning. Calico, as capable as she is, isn't someone Ladybug would rely on that way.
Calico is no Chat Noir.
None of them are.
But Calico stood firm and stone-faced. If she were hurt by Ladybug's words, only her flattened cat ears are giving it away. She stomped her way towards the angry bug, pulled out her earbuds and stuck them into Ladybug's ears. The bug heroine struggled, but Calico kept her hands over Ladybug's ears.
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"Marinette!"
In the haze of her wild panic, a voice pulled her back from the storm. Anchoring her. It's not Chat Noir, but she's as good as it gets right now.
"I'm here," said Rena Furtive. "I've been trying to get a hold of you, but then you started panicking… So, I told Calico to do this."
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"… Sorry we had to do it this way, but desperate times called for desperate measures."
Rena Furtive spied with her flute-scope's x-ray feature into the Gamer's tower. Her finger pressing on the comm device was shaking. She knew her best friend has been in knots since time went crazy - seeing her hunched over a chimney, breathing heavily should've been her first clue! Then there's how overly emotional Marinette got when Blair talked about her partnership with her bug... Rena Furtive is kicking herself for missing the signs.
Ladybug wasn't hostile to Calico just because she's a scary powerful stranger she can't predict. There's more to it than that. Ladybug was hostile to Calico because she's a walking reminder Chat Noir isn't here. Losing Chat Noir hit her harder than Rena Furtive thought.
Now, Ladybug is taking it out on Calico.
"Why are you cooperating with her…? Didn't she hurt you?" Ladybug whispered through the static.
Oh. She must've seen that, huh?
"She didn't. We're cool. I'll tell you all about it later. For now, focus on the dungeon. I can see the whole labyrinth from here and tell you where to find the key you need. That's why Calico told you guys to stick together. Strength in numbers."
The idea of fighting the rest of Calico's team was the straw that broke the camel's back for Ladybug. They barely know anything about Calico's team, but if they use Calico as their measuring stick… She set the bar pretty high. Rena Furtive couldn't blame Ladybug for panicking at the thought of fighting four opponents at Calico's level.
But it'll be four against one.
As she said, strength in numbers.
"Chat Noir may not be here, but you're not doing this alone. We've got your back."
Including Calico. Rena Furtive trusts Calico's intents. She only hopes the cat doesn't accidentally put her foot in her mouth while Rena Furtive tries to get through to Ladybug to give this cat a chance. Beating this tower would be so much easier with Calico's knowledge of her team.
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"Uh… Calico. What did you put in her ear?" asked Carapace.
"Oh, I've been playing some calming ASMR. Clearly, this bug needed it more than I do," said Calico.
Not like she could tell them about Rena Furtive. She supposes it wouldn't matter to Carapace but… Ryuko doesn't know and Ladybug's already on edge as it is. Better not dig herself any deeper.
Rena Furtive must be getting through to Ladybug as her tense shoulders loosened up and she's no longer fighting Calico's grip on her ears. Seeing as the bug's less likely to bite, Calico decided to let go.
"You can keep those," Calico popped open her baton to get her extra pair of comms to plug into her own ears. "I've got an extra pair."
Ladybug acquiesced in a daze, still listening to Rena Furtive on the line. Calico hopes this could improve Ladybug's impression of her.
With that misunderstanding defused for the time being, the team regrouped.
They decided on a formation. Carapace would take the lead as his shield can protect him whether from an enemy encounter or from accidentally triggering a trap. Ryuko would take the rear, in case an enemy encounter attacks them from behind. Ladybug and Calico took the middle position, ready to back either of them up whenever they'd need it. Rena Furtive directed them from outside the tower, whispering directions into both Ladybug and Calico's ear pieces.
With every dungeon encounter they defeat, they learned new things about the tower.
The tower was formed over the supposed emergency center for the time lost apparitions. Carapace confirmed Max was back in his class when the akuma alerts went off, so this Gamer must be the one they rounded up in the apparition sweep. Ladybug already suspected as such, knowing Max should be back at school instead of on the other side of Paris.
At the moment, the team is stuck hearing out the mini-boss they had recently defeated to get the key.
"Everyone in this musty hovel was anxious for their situation. Who wouldn't be? The service here is atrocious! They couldn't even get me, a duke, a room befitting of my station and assign me a single servant. They're treating us as though we've all contracted the plague and no person should be allowed to interact with us. Not even with our fellows from the same time period. We're all quarantined in this building like prisoners in solitary confinement."
The snooty young nobleman wore a stuffy formal suit with the frilly collar, white powder wig askew revealing his greasy blond hair underneath. He was dusting his overcoat in disgust. He smelled like he hasn't bathed in days. Something tells them this guy doesn't know how to take care of his hygiene on his own.
"Though I must say, this era's plumbing has certainly improved as even this impoverished building doesn't have leaks. Too bad I can't say the same for the people's sense of decorum. It's ridiculous, I tell you. Utterly ridiculous."
Carapace not-so-subtley whispered to the hero group, "Ten euros says this dude is a Bourgeois ancestor."
Calico snickered in agreement while Ryuko shushed them both. Ladybug ignored their antics in favor of politely urging the man to continue with his tale with a forced smile. As soon as the young duke turned his backs on the heroes, Ladybug showed solidarity with Carapace by rolling her eyes at the whiny nobleman.
"That African boy with the spectacles was especially upset. He claims he's from the same era, yet they're treating him no better than the rest of us. Hmp. Such a demanding brat. He needs to know his place and not expect to be treated like royalty. The guards declined his requests for those magical black mirrors you peasants are all so fixated on, which caused the boy to have a tantrum and resort to sorcery. How childish!"
That was when Shadowmoth akumatized him and made him download everyone into the facility.
"He was looking for someone named 'Calico', saying her capture would allow us to return to our respective homes. Since that Calico person wasn't around, the boy sorcerer built this tower to catch the heroes attention and lure them here instead."
"By any chance, has your grace been given a key by the boy sorcerer?" Ladybug asked in a tone full of faux reverence.
Calico bit back a snort. Carapace was less successful in hiding his mirth. Even Ryuko couldn't be bothered to pretend to respect the guy. She started to impatiently tap her foot with a glare that practically screams 'get this over with or I'll run you through with my sword'.
The duke stuck his nose up at them before turning to Ladybug.
"They key is beyond that path. Take the door to the left and it should lead you to a cavern full of crystals - wait, where are you going?! Help me get out of this shack of a tower! I'll pay each of you a bag of gold! You should feel honored to serve me!"
After learning everything they could from the nobleman, the team proceeded to take the key they needed.
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The key was trapped in the largest of the crystal stalactites hanging far above. It was like, four stories up. Those crystal spikes were so smooth, Ladybug's yoyo couldn't hold on to any of them. The walls get smoother the closer it got to the top, making it impossible to climb. This was a simple puzzle to solve.
Calico grinned, taking out her baton. "This should be a piece of-"
"Carapace! Stand right there and hold your shield up. Ryuko, you're getting that key."
Ladybug had instructed Ryuko to jump to it using Carapace and his shield as a springboard. The dragon heroine soared high into the air, threw her sword at the crystal to break it, letting the key fall into Carapace's waiting hands. Ladybug's yoyo weaved itself into a net around the taller stalagmites to catch Ryuko, allowing her to slide down safely.
"Yeah, sure. Why go for my boring magical elevator stick when you could coordinate a United Heroez movie-worthy action sequence? Definitely has more oomph that way. Ignore me, please."
"Chillax girl. That's just how Ladybug rolls. She likes complex plans," Rena Furtive said through Calico's earpiece, surprising the cat.
Calico forgot she left the speaker on. She checked on Ladybug, who was scowling at her before rolling her eyes and going back to holding down her yoyo net. Of course. Whenever Calico is doing something that can look or sound incriminating, that is when she's at the center of Ladybug's attention.
"Is it just me or does she have a complexity complex?" Calico asked, pretending none of it fazed her.
Rena Furtive nervously chuckled before answering, "In this case, I think it's a little bit of both. Sorry. Nothing against you, but you're not her cat. She's still reeling from his disappearance."
"Thought so."
The plan was a success. Once Ryuko got down, the three cheered and congratulated each other on their teamwork. Calico eyed them with envy. It's clear to her that despite having Rena Furtive calm down Ladybug, the bug heroine is still iffy about her.
"If being left out is bothering you so much, why don't you talk to Ladybug about it?"
"Nah. If I push too hard, it'll only make her snap again. Nope. I'd rather not upset her twice in a row, thank you very much…"
That was a lesson Calico learned the hard way thanks to her own bug – one can only push other people so far before they start pushing back. Unlike with Zuzubug, she won't have much time to smooth things over with this bug if they had a bad fallout. She's on thin ice as it is.
"… It's better to simply wait for an opportune moment to lend her a paw,~" Calico said with a smirk.
There was a groan on the other line. Calico could hear the fox muttering, wondering if all cats are cursed to pun.
"You won't have to wait long," Rena Furtive said after a bit. "Now that the party's got the key, there's only the floor boss left. She can't avoid you forever."
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They finally made it to the first floor's boss. In front of them was a tall amber door. It had honeycombs carved all over it and the frame was decorated with flowers made of crystal. The emblem of the Bee Miraculous marked the top of its archway.
"I get that the floor bosses sound scary, but that's only because we know next to nothing about them. Things get less scary the more we know."
Rena Furtive's advice rang in Ladybug's ear. She's been telling her this for the past half hour.
"As luck would have it, Calico's got deets on the floor bosses. Ask her!"
Ladybug took a deep breath in, deep breath out. She's put this off long enough. Time to hear out Calico on what she has to say about her team. The cat was practically sparkling when Ladybug begrudgingly asked her for advice, like she's been waiting for Ladybug to ask for her help all day. Ugh. Better get this over with.
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They opened the door and the boss music started. It was so unlike the rest of the barren cave-like maze they travelled through earlier. The boss room was a bright space with the warm sun streaming down from above and soft green grass covering the ground below. More reflective crystals covered the walls, making the space seem even brighter and wider than it really is. Across the door was a throne carved into the crystalline wall.
There sat the future's bee heroine, Princess Honey, twirling her honey blonde side ponytail's stinger-like black tip. Her suit was distinctly different from both Queen Bee's and Vesperia's. There was bee fuzz all over her shoulders like a hood. Around her hips, her suit formed a skirt. Her legs were mostly black, appearing like stockings. She wore yellow ballerina flats with ribbons that end in sharp black points. Instead of a domino mask, she had oversized, reflective blue goggles covering the top half of her face.
Ladybug's relieved she looks nothing like any version of Chloe with the Bee Miraculous, akumatized or not.
The bee girl stood from her throne and approached them… And then she bowed her head down with her hands clasped together in a prayer.
"Please go easy on me!"
Ladybug kinda felt sorry for her. She threw her yoyo around her wrists and dragged her forward. Calico snatched away her tromp, preventing her from using Venom. Carapace shield-bashed her, sending her flying across the room until her back hit the wall, breaking the crystal's reflective surface.
Her HP bar was quickly going down.
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"Let me give you some tips on fighting Princess Honey: she sucks at close combat. It's why she tends to go with either Renard Rouge or Bugsy whenever she uses Venom. They give her the cover to get close without the target noticing or hold down her target to let her get a hit in. She only has one shot and they help her make it count. Otherwise, she's scared to fight on her own."
"So that's it…? She can't summon a swarm of bees? She can't use her power more than once? No freaky upgrades whatsoever?"
"Cut her some slack. She's only recently been given the Bee Miraculous. As my bug loves to point out, not everyone is born a fighter."
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The bee girl held out a hand and pressed it over her chest.
"Honey Cure!"
A glowing golden honeycomb pattern spread all over Princess Honey. Her HP bar filled up as her MP bar drained away.
Calico mentioned something like this…
"Besides, Master Hisui didn't choose her for her Venom. Her forte lies in support. Not everyone can pick up Honey Cure like she did."
Princess Honey picked herself off the wall, dusting off the debris that got onto her fuzz.
"This fight ain't over 'til you get my Miraculous," the bee pointed to the comb on her ponytail.
Ryuko charged in with her sword, snagging her fuzz and pinning her back to the wall. All the bee girl could do was scream.
"Holy crap! You almost flipping killed me, you brute!"
Ryuko brushed off her struggles and snatched the Bee Miraculous out of her hair. Princess Honey disintegrated into a burst of data.
CONGRATULATIONS flashed over the team.
0-0-0-0-0
The imitation boss copied Princess Honey down to the AI being a coward like the real thing. Had Gamer 3.0 had the foresight to recalibrate her AI, she could've been more threatening, like Vesperia or Queen Bee. Had this been a team battle, even with her AI as it is, Princess Honey could've posed as more of a problem.
Dumb luck was on their side for this one.
"Is that all your team got? I'm disappointed," said Ryuko on their way up to the second floor.
"Oh, Princess Honey? She's just a rookie, and a support unit at that."
"The bees I've seen were more offense oriented."
Venom is a dangerous move if it actually hits. Calico was content to simply let Princess Honey be as the rest of the team could carry her. No one expects her to be good in a fight compared to the rest of the team. Frankly, Calico didn't have the patience to wait for her to get better. It's late in a game that will end one way or another. Might as well take what the newbee could offer and make it work.
"… Yeah. Ladybug – well, my Ladybug's been helping her work on her combat skills."
It was an uphill task, but Ladybug wanted Princess Honey to learn the fundamentals of Mirakung-fu. With her picking up Honey Cure so intuitively, Ladybug argued she may have a better shot than average at learning to read the flow of qi. Simply learning how to do that would dramatically improve her fighting capabilities. Calico would know, her bug did the same for her.
"If it's a challenge you want, you're gonna find it with my Ladybug. He practices a martial art that specializes in neutralizing Miraculous wielders."
"I'll be looking forward to it," Ryuko's lips curled into a small smile at the prospective opponent.
0-0-0-0-0
Ahead of the two girls, Ladybug carefully examined the item they won for defeating Princess Honey. The Bee Miraculous transformed into a piece of honeycomb labelled "Honey Cure". Gamer 3.0 explained before they left the first floor that beating every boss should come with a prize. For this game, they get an item that allows them to use the floor boss's signature move once. As it is an item, it will not consume the user's MP.
Too bad the item is labelled as under Ryuko's possession. As the one who took the Miraculous off from Princess Honey, it's only right for her have it. She's the only one allowed to use it.
Honey Cure's item text describes it as a move that bolster's the target's qi. It heals physical injuries and temporarily renders them resistant to weaker forms of magic. It also recovers qi, or rather, MP within this game. This is the closest thing to a healing potion this game would give.
Some time ago, Alya discovered that as the wielder of the Miraculous of Creation, Ladybug should be able to create anything. What does Honey Cure have to do with Subjugation?
Ladybug shook her head. That's not important. She shouldn't look too deeply into future stuff. She gave the Honey Cure back to Ryuko for safekeeping.
Carapace, who was ahead of them, opened the door to the second floor. The team braced themselves for what lies ahead.
0-0-0-0-0
Honey Cure
Much like how there are more than one type of protector (the shielder and the disarmer among others), Bee wielders can be classified into more than one type as well depending on how one chooses to interpret the concept of Subjugation. At its very core, the Bee Miraculous gives the wielder the power to control qi flow.
Wherein Venom, the user simply blocks the flow, freezing the person in place. Venom invokes subjugation by taking away the subjects' freedom of movement. Or the more generous interpretation - stopping an out-of-control beast in its tracks.
In contrast, Honey Cure allows the user to boost the flow, making the body heal faster and temporarily strengthen their resistance. It can undo the Venom they inflicted onto others along with other qi-based ailments. However, it cannot undo magical afflictions, like curses or charms if they were casted before Honey Cure, nor does it make them immune to more powerful spells like akumatization. It can be used to instantly recharge another wielder's time limit, allowing them to use their power one more time without having to detransform. It's a kinder form of control, willing the body's qi to recover as the wielder wishes.
Honey Cure is pretty handy for waking up magically corrupted wayward sisters from whatever funk the local supervillainess put her through. Also handy for healing reckless Ladybugs who had the bright idea to Lucky Charm an entire island city into existence. Let's just say, Zoe's 40's were pretty eventful (i.e.: stressful) and she was often seen chugging shots of milk with Adrien.