"Experiencing loss is a part of life, but good things come too. Expect the unexpected and embrace it." Calyrex narrated.
After having become Miracle Queen, Techno approached her with the Miracle Box. "Use them well, my queen." he said.
From her top, Miracle Queen created large swarms of wasps. "Sting. Sting them all! Make them mine!" she ordered as they flew across the city, stinging others.
"Each first time is an adventure, and who knows how far these adventures will take you. You find people with whom you entrust with your heart as much as they entrust you with theirs. That trust is sometimes broken, but it can always be restored. Yes, sometimes the road can be winding. You might even get lost along the way. But with help from the right people, you'll always find the destination." Calyrex narrated.
"Oh, what sort of hell has she unleashed?" Jet said seeing all the wasps flying and stinging all the people.
"Attention, people of Paris! From now on, there will be no more secret identities! All Miraculous holders come to me!" Miracle Queen's voice echoed.
"This can't be good." Ajna said.
"I got a bead on her. She's in Trocadero." Tails said. "Outside the Palais de Chaillot. And she's not alone."
"She's got Alya, Max, Kim, Nino, Kagami and Luka under her control. Four of them wearing their Miraculous." Levy said.
"She's gone and exposed their identities to the villains now. We need to get over there now." Hope said.
"Oh...going somewhere?" a voice said as a beam was fired at them as they dodged. They looked up to see Cell flying there and laughing.
"Cell. Of course you'd try to spring an ambush." David said.
"This is no mere ambush. We simply don't want you trying to talk our queen out of her place." Cell said. "Now...die right here and….ah!" Cell shouted an agony as he found his arm ripped off. "What…"
"I'll admit...you have some flavor...but...you're pretty much trash." a voice said as they saw a familiar figure standing there with Cell's arm.
"Meruem…" Indigo said.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Cell asked, regenerating his missing arm.
"An ultimate lifeform." Meruem said.
"Is this some kind of joke? I'm the ultimate lifeform around here!" Cell said.
"Says the guy that just got his arm ripped off." David said.
"Trust me when I say, you're no Shadow the Hedgehog."
"Um… Wrong kind of Ultimate Life Form." David said.
"But wait, if you're still here, then…" Mayumi started.
"Don't worry about a thing." a voice said on Mayumi's comm. "I've not left this city quite yet."
"That voice… Boss, is that you?" David asked.
"Who else? I had a feeling something big was about to go down so I decided to stick around." Emi said. "Listen, Meruem can handle Cell. You all need to hurry and stop Miracle Queen."
"You got it, Boss. Let's go, Sectonia." David said.
"Right away." Sectonia said.
"Don't you dare...ah!" Cell said being stabbed in the stomach by Meruem's tail.
"Don't even think of leaving. Least not until I show you how inferior you truly are." Meruem said.
"Fine...have it your way. I'll slaughter you first!" Cell said as he and Meruem engaged in battle.
The heroes hurried down to where the villains were as they were soon sighted.
"I should have known they'd be here eventually." Techno said. "Damnit Cell, why do you keep getting worked all the time?"
"Whatever, it doesn't matter. We're totally way better than them." Miracle Queen said before seeing both Cat Noir and Ladybug jumping out of the waters.
"Tikki, Longg! Unify!" Ladybug said as she combined the powers of the Ladybug and Dragon Miraculous before standing there as Dragonbug.
"Well well...look what we have here. All my enemies in the same place." Miracle Queen said.
"Enemies? Is that truly what you believe?" Sectonia asked.
"Don't even try talking your way out of this. You all tossed me aside and deemed me worthless. Well, I'm about to show everyone in Paris who the real queen is. And by the way, it's so not you." Miracle Queen said as her four servants moved in.
"Chloe, I'm sorry. If I knew this would happen, I would've done something about it. I gave you that Bee Miraculous because I felt that I could trust you when it really counted. But I guess I feel pretty pathetic right now, don't I? This whole situation is my fault." Sectonia said.
"You should feel proud. You helped to make the most powerful queen in all of Paris. And you consider all this your just rewards." Miracle Queen said.
"But don't you see? This isn't what I wanted. Right now, when I look at you, I see a reflection of the person I once was, slowly turning into the monster that once enslaved her entire kingdom. You remember how we talked about that...didn't you?" Sectonia asked. "At that point, I felt like I was talking to someone I can genuinely relate to. Don't you remember how your life got better because of everything that happened with your family?"
"Well yeah but...no...no! You can't stop me!" Miracle Queen said.
"No...but pretty sure this might." Sectonia said, kicking over a doll created by King Monkey's Uproar into Miracle Queen, turning her top into a disco ball and the wasps into confetti. "Sorry...but you asked for this." she said, breaking the ball, releasing the Akuma as Ladybug caught and purified it. This caused all the controlled holders to stop in their place and Miracle Queen was reduced back to Queen Bee.
"No!" Queen Bee said.
"That's enough, Chloe. It's over now. Chloe… Before what happens, I need to ask you something. Didn't it feel good when you helped out with Despair Bear and Zombizou? At that point, we saw sides of you that we actually weren't expecting. Loyal, brave, willing to step up when things went down… Very few people have those qualities. And all of that was even before you even had your eyes on the Bee Miraculous in the first place." Sectonia said.
"Yeah...but...but I can still be better!" Queen Bee said as she opened the Miracle Box and put on the remaining Miraculous. "I'll still show you...that I am still worthy of the title hero!"
"You can drop the act, Chloe. I know what this is about. Your whole reason for doing this is because you want to feel like you were part of the group, but were never given the chance. I understand that feeling quite well. These guys didn't trust me at first either. Heck, I even tried to kill some of them when I first met. But travelling with them all, I began to see things in a new light. And that is a view I want to show you right now." Sectonia said. "Everyone, leave this to me."
"You're planning on fighting her alone?" Leopardmon asked.
"But she has all the Miraculous!" Miles said.
"Uh...somehow I don't think that'll factor." Ginseng said.
"What are you all waiting for? Transform me!" Queen Bee ordered.
"And that's where the problem lies. You don't know how to use all of them because they were never revealed to you until now." Sectonia said.
"She's right. You don't even know our names." the bull kwami known as Stompp said.
"Nor did you say the right commands." the tiger kwami known as Roaar said.
"Or even say please for that ma-a-atter." the sheep kwami known as Ziggy said.
"Chloe, I understand how it feels to want to be a part of something greater, but forcing it will only cause more problems than solve them. What I'm trying to say is… You don't need the Miraculous to be someone special. You were already doing just that just by being yourself, and being honest with your own feelings." Sectonia said. "Hate me all you want for this, I understand. It… It was my fault all of this happened, after all."
"I...I…." Queen Bee said.
"She's not the only one who feels this way. Our friend in your Miraculous feels the same way. They are suffering because of this choice you've made." Fluff said.
"Pollen….this is...so lame." Queen Bee said as she started removing all of the Miraculous and tossing them aside before finally removing the Bee Miraculous.
"Chloe." Ajna said.
"Wow...this was a direction I wasn't expecting. But...doesn't matter now. We still have the Guardian!" Techno said as the butterfly sentimonster kept going at the shield as it started to give way.
"Master Fu!"
"The game's over, you chumps! You're in checkmate!" DaDan said.
"I can still solve this. Lucky Charm!" Ladybug said before getting a key. "A key? But...what am...I...I can't use it."
"Hahaha! That's right! You can't!" Hawk Moth said.
"Sectonia did save Chloe but...it doesn't even matter. I can't even save him. I'm...a failure." Ladybug said.
"Do not say that!" Jade Turtle called out. "You are the best Miraculous holder I ever met! You made mistakes but who hasn't? What matters is fixing them. And you always know how to fix everything. You hold all the keys." he said before smiling. "You people will make excellent guardians."
"What?!" Techno said.
"I, Wang Fu, hereby relinquish the Miracle Box and name Ladybug and the Hero Alliance, the new Guardians!" Jade Turtle said before the barrier broke as a light enveloped him.
"No!" Hawk Moth said as the box changed into a circular one designed like a ladybug.
"Master…" Wayzz said.
"Damn it. We still need…" Techno said as they saw Cell thrown down onto the steps.
"You still have no idea how badly you are outclassed, do you?" Meruem asked. "You so called rulers...you have no idea how truly wonderful humans can be. Their ability to change and adapt."
"Please. Who cares about some pathetic beings?" Cell said.
"I do. I was like you once. But a human showed me the right way I can live my life. A being like you...has no right to exist." Meruem said, holding an arm up as red energy began to gather. "All of my rage, for the chaos caused today, for the loss of my fellow ants in the past, and the loss of the only human I could never beat...you'll take it all!" he said lowering it and blasting Cell up close. When it subsided, not a single trace of Cell remained within the large crater.
"Damn… Remind me not to get on his bad side." David said.
"Yeah, and I gotta say...he's got my respect." Ajna added. "That was awesome."
"So this is the power...of the King of the Ants." Jexi said.
Techno could only look at the crater where Cell once was, mouth hanging open and eyes open wide in fear… before they slanted. "Everyone...we're leaving." he said, his voice cold.
"What? But we got a chance to get the Miraculous before they…" Pete said.
"No." Techno said. "I don't care if they get them now. I want to rip them from their dead hands." Techno said, his voice rising in anger before he looked at the heroes, rage in his eyes. "You… you heroes have taken too many of my teammates from me. I was fine with just being an enemy, just fighting you...but now? I won't stop until I've killed you all. Until everything you've accomplished is dust. Until then… this is war!" he snarled as he pushed a button on his wrist, teleporting the villains away.
"What was he getting mad at us for? We didn't kill Cell this time." David said.
"Honestly, David… I don't think he cares at this point." Mark said.
"Either way...he's lost a little more power." Jexi said. "Crap, Master Fu!" he said as they hurried up the steps.
"Master! Please wake up." Ladybug said.
Back at the mansion, the villains returned along with Hawk Moth and the weakened Mayura as they changed back.
"Natalie...Cell...we lost too many today. We've...lost again." Techno said.
"No...we have not." Natalie said weakly holding a tablet. "The guardian...had a deciphered version of the grimoire. Now...we can fix the Peacock Miraculous."
"We can do that?" DaDan asked.
"According to this, we can. If we fix it, we can create Sentimonsters without risk of drawbacks." Compress said.
"Heheheh...this...is a truly great day." Gabriel smiled.
Back with the heroes…
"Master? Master!" Ladybug called out as Master Fu slowly awoke. "Master…"
"Oh! Such pretty costumes and clothes. Who are all of you?" Master Fu asked.
"Just as we thought… When he transferred his position as Guardian to us, he wiped his own memory." David said.
"It's the rule of the Guardians. Their memory gets erased when they pass on the box, to protect the secret identities of the Miraculous holders." Wayzz said.
"You just need to know that...we're friends, sir." Hope said.
"Well, nice to meet you." Master Fu said.
"Goodbye...master." Wayzz said sadly.
"Well...guess I better fix the damage." Ladybug said using Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage Chloe caused.
"Such a shame you threw away such a pretty key ring. It matched mine, perfectly." Master Fu said, taking out a matching one.
Chloe looked on at the scene before she started to walk off.
"You're just going to leave?" Sectonia asked.
"I know what I did and that you risked everything to save me. But...it's for the best that I keep a distance for now." Chloe said.
"I see. I...may consider having you come along with us further down the line. Until then, take care of yourself, Chloe." Sectonia said.
"I will. Oh, and Sectonia?" Chloe asked.
"Yes?" Sectonia asked.
"I just want to say… Thanks for everything up until now." Chloe said.
"You're welcome. And no worries. The Miraculous will be quite safe with us." Sectonia said. "Including the Bee."
"I know." Chloe said as she walked off into the distance.
"As we grow old, we realize life doesn't always give us all the gifts we hoped it would. I would have loved to tell you all this in person, Marinette, but if you're reading this, it means I've already lost my memory. But you mustn't be scared, and you mustn't be sad. As I was telling you at the beginning of this letter, experiencing loss is a part of life, but it doesn't define it. Because what really matters isn't whether you win or lose. It's the ability to…" Calyrex said a while later, revealing his narration to be reading a letter. "...accept changes in ourselves. It's accepting that even if life doesn't always give us the gifts we were hoping for, the real gift is life itself. Even if life doesn't always give us the gifts we were hoping for, the real gift is life itself. Sincerely, your friend...Wang Fu."
"Oh wow. I never realized that it was actually that deep." Suicune said.
"Yes… It was so moving." Galarian Articuno said, holding back her tears.
"I'm...I'm not sad about this or anything." Galarian Moltres said as tears leaked down his face.
"It's okay to cry." Galarian Zapdos said.
"He did the most selfless thing any person like him would do." Cheshire said.
"He wiped his own memory for the sake of something more important than his own life. That is a very admirable trait few can say to have." Kyogre said.
"So...what of the old master?" Zacian asked.
"He was reunited with his lost love and the two are now living in the UK." Calyrex said. "Meruem was recruited by Emi and they departed back to Tokyo of the Standard Universe. The Miracle Box is now kept on this ship since it would be dangerous to leave it unguarded given its new unique appearance."
"And the fact that its users are all now exposed." Galarian Articuno said.
"To Hawk Moth and the villains...yes." Calyrex said.
"Least everything wrapped up without much issue. We had one loss but...they'll be happier now." Rokuten Maou said.
"Indeed. I would have to agree." Calyrex said.
Back with the heroes…
"So much happened in our short time here in Paris." Aqua said.
"Yeah, I never expected it to be so eventful." Jesse said.
"Nor for us to end up with this." Jexi said holding the Miracle Box.
"Yeah, we really should put that in a secure place." Tanjiro said.
"Yeah, I really should stop carrying this." Jexi said going off to secure it.
"Well, Ace, guess this is where we set off once again." Hope said.
"Yes, at least for now. Once we confront Gardle. Hopefully, we'll find the answers we seek." Ace said. "And try to deal with that demon that attacked us, it'll most likely be with Gardle."
"Well, Ace, we wish you good luck." CP said. "Mark, would it be possible to pray for a demon?"
"I wouldn't be opposed to it." Mark smiled.
"Besides, he's not all demon, Cap." David said.
"I'm human too after all." Ace said. "I'll try and catch up with you guys again when I can after things are settled." he smiled.
"Thanks for responding to my call for backup when you did." David said.
"What are friends for?" Ace smiled. "If you ever need us again, just give us a shout, but knowing you guys, I think you can handle things just fine on your own."
"Thanks." Jexi said. "If there is ever any problem...we'll contact you immediately."
"Thanks, I wish you all the best of luck against the Rulers of the Lost." Ace said.
"Trust us...they aren't much of a problem anymore." Hope said.
"I know what he said but...I can't help but wonder what is going through his mind." Jexi pondered looking to the ground.
At the mansion, Gabriel was working in his lair before holding up the Peacock Miraculous. "Good as new."
Elsewhere, in the Lost Universe…
"Is he still in there? He hasn't left his chamber in days." Solace said.
"Yeah, the boss has been a big thinker but he's never taken this long before." Brave said.
"True but those heroes have given him a rather complicated problem to figure out." Index said.
The door soon broke open as Barl slowly emerged.
"Lord Barl, we are so glad you are well." Solace said as they bowed.
"I've...figured it out." Barl muttered as he headed off.
"Sir? Where are you going?" Aurora asked.
"To the place where all my promises will be fulfilled." Barl softly smiled as he continued off.
"Place where his promises will be fulfilled. Know anything about that?" Rebellious asked.
"Sadly, no. There are some things even I do not know." Index said. "But when it comes to the Lost Universe, Barl knows it very well. Though for the sake of all the living, I truly hope he knows what he is doing."
To be continued...