The story below is based on the characters from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. I own nothing of the show. This is purely fictitious and written for the enjoyment of my readers and myself. All rights go to the proper parties.
This was a very complicated chapter, hence the title, and I struggled to write it. It may not be the battle you were expecting as a reader, but I wanted this akuma fight to go a certain way. I'm not sure how Mullo's power works with the communication aspect between the many mice, so this may not be canon compliant. I took a few liberties with how it works for the sake of this story.
Hope you all enjoy it!
Multimouse watches as Multihorse and Cat Noir retreat into the sewer below. She sighs in relief and finds Tikki hiding nearby. "He didn't see you, right?" She asks her kwami.
Tikki shakes her head, "I don't think so."
Marinette sighs in relief, "I don't know how to make this right, Tikki. This is torturing him. I didn't know Marinette meant so much to him." She trails off.
"He cares for you Marinette. No matter what form you're in. Only you can make this right with him again. He'll need you once this akuma is dealt with," Tikki says, always the voice of reason.
"I'll be there for him. As Ladybug and as Marinette." She responds, "let's take care of this akuma. Tikki, Mullo, unify!" She calls as Multibug replaces one of the many multimice.
Multibug looks around and watches as the multimice scatter to scout out the doll sized version of Paris. Multifox runs towards her and stops beside her, prepared to use her illusion power when needed. An explanation is unneeded as they think, move, and feel at the same time. Being many places at once is strange. Each Multimouse is individual while also being a part of a whole. The best way to describe the sensation is to think of it as a hive mind situation.
Multibug feels, sees, and hears as the multimice question the Parisians all at once. A young girl, named Dalia, was akumatized as Dollia, an akuma determined to make all of Paris be her dolls.
One Multimouse meets with the akuma victims mother. "Were you able to see what the akumatised object is?" Multimouse asks the woman.
"No," she says, "I sent her to her room after she threw a tantrum. I told her I wouldn't buy her a new doll set and house she wanted." She explains.
"Is there anything missing from her room that may be the akumatised object?" Multimouse asked.
"No. Nothing. I don't now what it could be. Please help my daughter." She cried.
"Don't worry, ma'am. Ladybug, Cat Noir, and I will save your daughter and bring her home to you.
~Cat Noir and Multihorse~
Multihorse relayed the new information they learned from the Parisians to Cat Noir. He nodded as he took in what the multimice learned from the akumas mother. "No sign of the akuma yet. It's strange. I don't think she cares about getting the miraculous. She seems to be solely focused on shrinking Paris and playing with her new 'dolls'," Multihorse says.
Cat Noir contemplates what this may mean for them in this fight. "Is Ladybug receiving updates from you as well?" He asks.
Multihorse nods, "She's with Multifox and is receiving updates as you are."
"Can you have Multifox ask her to use her lucky charm? It might give us something to help track down this akuma. If she's playing with people like they're dolls, then she must still be her normal size. It shouldn't be too difficult to find her," Cat Noir suggests.
Multifox waits as Multibug uses her lucky charm, happy to have Cat Noir seemingly back to normal. "She got a map," Multifox shares, "It looks like a map of Paris."
"Hmmm, can all of you see the map if multifox looks at it?" Cat Noir questions.
"Yes we can," she confirms.
"Okay, then have all the multimice search for something that doesn't belong. Maybe we need to compare the map to Paris itself." Cat Noir suggests.
"Wow, look at you Kitty, coming up with a plan before even Ladybug does." Multihorse praises.
"I just want to get this over with." He rubs the back of his neck and looks at Multihorse on his opposite shoulder. "I don't want you to be transformed longer than you need, and this seems like the logical way to use the lucky charm," Cat Noir admits.
Multihorse smiles and says, "Thank you Kitty, and you're right. It is the logical way to use it. In fact, we've found the anomaly. Let's get going."
Cat Noir watches as Multihorse opens a portal large enough for him to fit in. He walks through and looks around to find the only building out of place. A bright pink dollhouse with white accents sits in front of the miniaturized Eiffel Tower. Cat Noir moves forward and reaches his hand out to touch the toy.
"Stop! That's mine!" A voice calls from behind him.
Cat Noir moves his hand back as he looks to the source of the voice. A life-size doll looks at him with annoyance in her eyes. Her black hair is pulled into a ponytail and her skin looks like plastic. Her eyes blink mechanically and her joints are joined together by a ball. She holds her hand out towards him. A ring sitting on her pointer finger stands out to Cat Noir. That must be where the akuma is.
"You must be Dollia, I'm Cat Noir, I'm sure you've heard of me," Cat greets with his signature smirk on his face.
A purple mask appears on Dollia's face. "I don't want their miraculous! I just want to play with my dolls," she whines.
Cat Noir interrupts whatever Shadowmoth is saying to her and says, "You must be lonely playing with your dolls by yourself." He winks at Multihorse, hoping she understands his plan, and continues, "would you mind if I played too? I have some dolls of my own. I'll let you play with them too if you want."
The akuma smiles wide and nods her head excitedly. "Can I see them?" She asks.
"Of course!" He responds. He motions towards Multihorse, shooting her an apologetic look before gently grabbing her and showing her to the akuma. "This one is Multihorse. She's part mouse, part horse, all hero!" He exclaims.
Dollia squeals and runs over to Cat Noir. They talk more about Cat Noir's "dolls" while the multimice plan their method for taking the ring from the akuma victim. One Multimouse confirmed with the girls mother that the girl treasured the ring. It seemed to be the obvious choice for the akumatised object. The mother also said that the dollhouse they came across must be the one she said no to buying for the girl. It seems that this akuma went shopping before shrinking all of Paris.
Some of the multimice join Cat Noir and the akuma victim. They quietly whisper to Cat Noir, "You'll have to cataclysm her ring. Her mom says she treasures it. I don't think we can get it off her easy."
Cat Noir subtly nods and continues his conversation with Dollia, "That's a very pretty ring." He says, trying to see if he can talk it off of her instead of having to upset the girl.
"Thank you! My big sister gave it to me before she went off to University." She exclaims.
"Do you mind if I look at it?" He asks.
"No! It's mine." She whines. The purple mask appears again on her face. "But I don't wanna! I already have a ring. I don't want Cat Noir's!"
Multifox prepares to make her illusion as Cat Noir reaches for the girls ring while she's distracted talking to Shadowmoth. She chuckles at the irony of Shadowmoth helping them defeat an akuma by arguing with her. Cat Noir snatches the ring off her finger and calls his cataclysm as she looks at him with a look of betrayal on her face. The akuma flies out and Multifox creates her illusion as Multibug moves to catch the akuma in her tiny yo-yo. Thankfully, the magic still works even when the butterfly is larger than the yo-yo.
Cat Noir watches as Ladybug shows up to catch the akuma, too irritated with her to question her absence during the "battle" with the akuma. She releases the purified butterfly (Multibug releases the real one at the same time), and calls her miraculous ladybug (Multibug does the same). Paris is returned to it's regular size and the akuma victim is returned to normal.
Dalia's mother runs to her daughter as Cat Noir helps her to her feet. A few of the multimice helped her find her way to her daughter. They hugged and thanked the heroes for saving the day once again. Cat Noir smiles before turning his attention to Ladybug and the now regular size Multimouse.
"I'll take her home," illusion Ladybug says as she grabs illusion Multimouse and prepares to yo-yo away.
"Wait!" Cat Noir calls rushing towards them.
The illusions attempt to stay far enough away from Cat Noir to prevent him from interrupting the illusion.
"Can I talk to Multimouse for a moment? Alone." He says.
Ladybug gives him a pained stare before responding, "I really should get her home. She's had a long day, Cat."
"Please Ladybug," he turns to Multimouse, "Princess?"
Multifox panics as she attempts to keep the illusion in place. Illusion Ladybug backs away from illusion Multimouse. Illusion Multimouse stays a few steps away from Cat Noir. A large enough space to prevent any accidental bumps or intentional touches.
Cat Noir smiles softly before launching himself at Multimouse. Attempting to hold her tight, happy that she seems to be okay. Only, his hug meets air. Multimouse disappears, Ladybug disappears, they were an illusion.
