AN: It is always a challenge in a story like this, which touches on real-world events and figures, to both stay true to the real people and their struggles and also to expand on them in a fantasy sense. There are a few historical people who will appear in this anthology; I will stay as true to their historical activities as possible, though I do take some creative license.

"So… what can I help you two with?"

Leaning back in the plush sofa, Nath shared a look with Marc, sipping his tea, and glanced across the coffee table at their host nervously. "Do you remember me telling you about my Opa, before he passed?"

Emilie leaned back in her chair, selected a macaron, and nodded slowly, a shadow of sadness crossing her face. "Of course, I remember; how could I forget? At the end, when he was staying here, I wanted so badly to go down and see him – but he was far too sick for visitors, and of course I was so sick myself…" She swallowed, letting out a breath. From the shelf on the far side of the Agreste Mansion's mother-in-law suite, Duusu made a noise between a sniffle and a coo. Leaning forward, Emilie met Nath's gaze with a sympathetic smile. "I'm so sorry I didn't get an opportunity to meet him. But from everything I knew of him, he was such an incredible and fascinating man."

Nath nodded, blinking away the tears that gathered at the corners of his eyes. Marc covered his hand with his own and squeezed. Nath sighed heavily. "He really was."

Smiling wistfully, Emilie glanced past them toward a row of pictures hanging on the wall near the door. "Growing up, I remember reading some of my own grandfather's stories from the War – if I hadn't had Nooroo and Duusu to confirm them, I don't know that I would have believed half of what he did!" She sighed. "At the time I could only wonder at how much different people must have been back then, to stand up against such violence, such hatred, to fight back against the Nazis. But then I look at you kids and all that you have accomplished in the last few years and I don't wonder any longer. Perhaps it was chance; perhaps it was fate. Either way, the right people are in the right place to do the right things. That's what happened for my Grand-père; that's what happened with you!"

Marc hummed, nodding in agreement. "To be honest, if you had told me three years ago that I would end up fighting something like the Tarasque, there's no way I would have believed you. But… here we are."

Emilie shook her head ruefully. "Some people, I suppose, are just made for the times in which they find themselves," she observed. "My Grand-père dealt with World War II and the Nazis so much better than I think I would have: working with the French Resistance, sending champions to protect civilians and help the Army… With all the Nazi super-soldiers he described–"

"'Super-soldiers' plural?" Marc interrupted, cocking his head.

Nath nodded slowly. "I knew about der Ritter," he admitted. "But I didn't know how many others there might have been."

"Oh, yes," Emilie confirmed, giving them a grave look. "From Grand-père's descriptions, some of them were… horrifying. And without his champions – among others – to fend them off, who knows how the War might have gone. I think that may have been why the Nazis worked so hard to hunt them down, on a couple of occasions, in fact. They knew that someone had been helping the French Resistance to fight back against their own superpowered soldiers, but they didn't know who or how, and only had a vague idea of where he might be."

Marc started and leaned forward, his eyes widening. "Wait, really?"

"I remember Opa telling me a story like that," Nath mused, looking off into the corner, trying to remember the story. He shook his head in frustration. "It was pretty close to the end when he told me, though; I'm not sure how much of it I should believe. His memory was getting really bad – I think he was getting some of Hawk Moth's Akumas mixed up with his own adventures."

Emilie gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm so sorry for your loss. And for how difficult it must have been, watching your grandfather's memory deteriorate in that way." She let out a breath and dabbed her eyes with a tissue. "My paternal grandmother went through much the same thing, for several years before her passing." She shook her head, sighing. "But I'm sure this is not what you came for today…"

"Actually," Marc responded, raising an eyebrow, "this is exactly why we came."

Emilie furrowed her brows in confusion, looking back and forth between them. "Oh?"

"I've been drawing pictures based on Opa's stories almost as long as I can remember," Nath explained, feeling some heat rise in his cheeks and ears. Marc pushed the empty teacups and pastry plates to the side, making space on the table between them. As he did so, Nath pulled out his portfolio and leafed through it to withdraw several sheets of paper which he lay out on the table in front of Emilie. Curious, Emilie leaned forward, as Duusu lifted off from his perch on the top of the bookcase and fluttered down to hover just above the table. "At first it was just a drawing exercise – for fun. But now…"

"Oooh," Duusu cooed, dropping down lower and examining one of the drawings more closely. He grinned brightly and looked up at Nath with wide eyes. "That's almost exactly how I always pictured Davidstern looking! Although I think Nooroo said his suit was a little lighter shade of blue than that. And the hat was a bit bigger."

Nath hummed, making a couple of quick notes on the side of the drawing. "Thank you; that really helps."

Emilie cocked her head, glancing up at them curiously. "Are these for a… comic book?"

Nath nodded nervously. "I'd been thinking about working them into our other comics, back when I thought they were just stories that Opa was making up," he explained. "I thought Davidstern would make a great ally for Ladybug and Cat Noir to meet and team up with. But now, that just doesn't feel right. Now that I know they're real, and after meeting the Knight and hearing his stories about his own grandfather, I actually–" Marc cleared his throat, arching an eyebrow at Nath pointedly. He grinned sheepishly. "I mean, we want to release a comic book detailing all of the superheroes who were involved in World War II: Davidstern, der Ritter, Knightowl…"

"Your grandparents," Marc added, glancing at Emilie.

Emilie's eyes went wide, and she sat back in her chair, her mouth opening and closing dumbly. Finally, she sniffled. "That is a wonderful way to honor your Opa's memory!" she told Nath, giving them both a warm smile. "Everything that he did – for his people, for his country, even for Grand-père – it deserves to be remembered."

"That's what I thought, too," Nath agreed, smiling in relief.

Emilie furrowed her brows. "But what do you want from me?"

"We were wondering if you might know anything about what your grandfather was doing during the war," Nath answered. "Especially any of the other Akumas – or champions – that he sent out. Orikko and Ziggy were stuck in the Miracle Box for the entire War, so they weren't any help. But we have been able to talked to a few of the Kwamis who were active – Trixx and Mettli were very helpful."

"While we were in Angola, we interviewed a couple of the older Guardians who were there," Marc added. "Last week we went to interview a few of the retired holders in New Atlantis."

"Knightowl emailed us several stories the week after we returned."

"But we're still missing a lot of information," Marc finished. "How many of M. Kurtzberg's memories were accurate? What other champions did le Maquillon employ? Were there other heroes in France? If we're going to paint a comprehensive picture, we need as much as we can get."

Emilie hummed pensively. "I think I can help you with some of your research." She frowned. "But I do need to be cautious in how much I share – or at least in how much you publish. If I give you all of my Grand-père's notes, you cannot publish everything that's included. After all, I do need to preserve my family's anonymity, especially since now it is tied in to the identities of Ladybug and Cat Noir."

"Absolutely," Nath assured her. "We understand the need for… creative use of the facts, at least when it comes to certain sensitive information. We've been working within those limits for as long as we've been publishing Heroes of Paris comic books–"

"A lot longer than I've known about…" Marc interjected under his breath, elbowing Nath in the side.

Nath grimaced sheepishly and cleared his throat. "Um… sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

Marc shrugged, giving him an amused grin before turning back to Emilie. "If you want, I can send you the manuscript before Nath starts drawing it – that way you can let us know if there's anything that shouldn't be included."

"I can also send you the character models for your grandparents and any other champions or guardians they used so Duusu and Nooroo can make sure they look accurate," Nath added.

"Yes, please!" Duusu chirped, clapping his paws eagerly. "I can't wait to see la Resistaonne's griffin!"

Nath furrowed his brows in thought. "A griffin, you say…"

"We're not trying to reveal anything about the heroes today, even unintentionally," Marc told Emilie. "But we do want to give people hope: show that even in the midst of suffering and tragedy, heroes will always arise to fight back."

"And I want to shed light on more of the unsung heroes – like Opa," added Nath, his stomach clenching. He coughed. "Show that Paris has always had heroes: even before Ladybug and Cat Noir appeared to fight Hawk Moth–" Emilie's jaw clenched "–there were so many other heroes who appeared to fight the Nazis and those like them."

Furrowing her brows, Emilie watched them carefully for a long minute. Nath swallowed nervously. Finally, Emilie pulled out her phone and pressed a few buttons, giving them a warm smile. "I just sent you the scans of le Maquillon's journal – that includes everything, every champion he ever empowered, every guardian that le Resistaonne ever created. If I remember correctly, the War itself is in the third volume, going from the invasion until the end of the war. I also included Master Fu's journal from the same timeframe," she added, chuckling and giving a small wistful smile. "You know, it's too bad you didn't start your research even just a month sooner; I'm sure Mme Lenoir would have had a thousand stories for you to include…"