MMXMLC
Miraculous X: Red, Black, and Blue
A/N: Before you read this, I recommend that you be familiar with the series "Mega Man X" and "Miraculous: tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir". However, the characters will explain the elements of their own stories to each other, (sooner or later) so it's not required.
As there isn't much material to go off of in game, I'm taking a few creative liberties. Most obvious are X's personality and hobbies outside of maverick hunting. More creative liberties include the way various tech stuff actually works. I'm ignoring a lot of media, and building off of the parts I know best.
There are spoilers for Miraculous here, so be warned. I haven't changed much there, since it has more than enough story to go off of. However, X's presence may alter the course of events. I'd like to thank the wiki for providing episode scripts for unchanged dialogue. Most things that go more-or-less unchanged in the Miraculous episodes will be skipped to avoid redundancy.
I have no idea why people do disclaimers. I think it would be pretty obvious that those writing here have no ownership of the properties. Was there a lawsuit at some point? Anyways, I'm only doing one disclaimer here at the beginning, so here: I do NOT own "Mega Man X" or "Miraculous: tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir." So, without further ado, here's the story.
Chapter 1: Warp Wasp/Robostus.
With a splash of blue liquid-like energy, Mega Man X materialized just outside Abel City's quantum-research facility.
Looking to be about 15 or 16, his entire body was covered in sectioned blue armor. His helmet, chest, boots, and waist had bulkier dark blue armor while the rest was a sleeker light-blue. A lighter stripe went over the top of his helmet ending in a shining red crystal at his forehead, and light blue arches framed his face before coming to a point between his eyebrows. Appearing to be a human in armor, X was actually an advanced robot capable of emotions and complex decision-making.
Raising a white-gloved hand to his earpiece, he established a comm link with his home base. "This is X, I've arrived at the scene. Any description of the target?"
A female voice replied from the other side of the connection. Her voice was a bit shaky, which made sense as it was her first time on duty. "Ok, let's do it. This one's an Insect-class, Maverick designation Warp-Wasp. He once worked at this facility before he was infected. He was designed with one-of-a-kind experimental technology that allows him to twist the fabric of space. In combination with his quick flight and wrist-mounted stinger-launchers, they give him a considerable advantage over most hunters."
X nodded as he approached the entrance, a light click sounding with each footstep. "Thank you, moving in now."
" Good luck, sir."
Not wanting to give the virus the opportunity to spread over wireless connection, he turned off his comms before engaging his combat protocol. His spatial awareness and processing speed immediately improved far beyond any human capabilities, and his processor began focusing on velocity, trajectory, and possible surfaces to jump off instead of things like the interesting architecture or the funny-looking aesthetic of the robots. Plates on his arm raised and rearranged, replacing his right hand with the business end of an arm-cannon. As his plasma-generator hummed to life, he activated his acceleration-systems and dashed inside.
As usual, the Maverick virus had taken over all the robots in the facility. Everything with a processor capable of housing it had gone haywire, and would attack anything not infected. Also as usual, not infected included X. As soon as he stepped inside, a whole host of mindless drones were alerted to his presence and began converging on his position.
Charging up and discharging blast after blast of plasma, he eliminated everything he came across. Early in his career he would have hesitated at something like this, but after years of trying to cure the virus to no avail, he had mostly given up. It was all he could do to take down the afflicted bots before substantial damage was done.
As he dashed and wall-jumped his way through the facility, he steeled himself for what he was about to do. These lesser robots were nothing; it was the Reploids, the ones that could think and reason and feel that it really ate him up to kill. Knowing that they were once more complex than 'Yes, lord Sigma' and 'Die, hunter!' made him regret every plasma-shot he sent their way. But such was the way of things; he was responsible for their creation, so it was his responsibility to take them down.
Soon enough, he came through some blast-doors into a central chamber. The Virus always behaved like this; place the strongest of the infected in the center of the area and put all of the lesser machines around the edges. It was even so predictable as to build blast-doors into every central chamber that didn't already have them.
But back to the chamber itself. Buzzing around some machinery that clung to the ceiling like moss was a sleek black and yellow Reploid, with wings that beat so fast that they seemed not to be there. Above their black-gloved hands and protruding from their wrist were long white spikes, ready to be fired off and replaced at a moment's notice. As soon as he noticed X, his eyes gleamed with delight as the blast-doors slammed shut. A maniacal cackle resounded through the room as Warp-Wasp powered up his own combat protocols. "Die, Hunter!"
Taking an immediate dive at X, he extended his stingers forward in an attempt to reduce his opponent into a bot-kebab. Seeing this and immediately reacting, X leapt backwards and out of the way before discharging a plasma-blast at the Maverick.
Warp-wasp didn't quite have the speed necessary to dodge a fully-charged laser blast, but he did have the means to retaliate. As his self-repair systems converted ENRG into replacement metal, he twisted the space around himself to teleport all over the chamber, firing off a series of stinger-blades at X from multiple directions. X managed to dodge a few, but gritted his teeth when a few of them tore through his armor. He felt his ENRG reserves deplete as the damage was repaired, wincing at the negative pain-feedback he got from his sub-processor. He had a huge ENRG reserve, and he had a few sub-tanks stocked up, but he had no idea how much Warp-Wasp had in him. One more 'as usual'; it was a battle of who could make the most of their reserves.
Meanwhile
Somewhere in Paris, an aperture opened on an unidentifiable building, shedding light on a mysterious silver-masked individual as well as countless pure white butterflies. Extremely well-dressed, this person held a cane in his hands and looked off into the sunlight.
"Two dear friends who've been separated. There is nothing artificial about those emotions."
As he spoke, one of the butterflies drifted into his hands. Dark energy coalesced into and around the creature, transforming it into a darkened state. Only slivers of the light that once shone from it could be seen through the murky purple, and the grace with which it once flew with was replaced by a sick flutter. With a flourish, the mysterious figure released the thing and issued his command.
"Fly away, my little Akuma, and evilize this electronic heart!"
Now with direction in its life, the Akuma flitted off into the Paris sky with an uncanny speed and sense of direction. In contrast to the darkness of the Akuma, the Eiffel tower shone in the sunlight, and the rooftops of the city just begged to have heroes grapple-hooking and pole-vaulting across them.
Seeming to get more frantic the closer it got to its target, the Akuma came upon an open window in a good-sized building. The room had a desk, a lamp, a computer, and tons of books, but the Akuma ignored most everything and headed towards a drawer in the desk. Defying butterfly logic, it pressed itself flat to get into the space.
What it happened to come upon was a very small spherical object, small enough to fit in one's hand like a baseball. It had a blue oval-shaped screen with two expressive eyes, currently wearing a sad expression. Two blue buttons sat embedded on its sides, and the backside had clear plastic to show the inner circuitry. Not pausing for a second, the Akuma squeezed in between the clear plastic and phased into its central processor.
All was mostly quiet in the quaint office, but inside the drawer a conversation was about to change the fate of two worlds.
Suddenly, emanating from the central processing unit, the same dark energy from the Akuma enveloped the little robot before revealing the same robot, but with a different color scheme. Blue was replaced with red, and white was replaced with black. With his green eyes narrowed in fury, he activated his ultimate ability; a green wave of energy erupted from his small frame, sweeping all across Paris.
Simultaneously, all machinery, appliances, and electrical equipment began to vibrate with new life. Bursting from the drawer of the desk, Robostus spun up his propeller and turned to face the door. "Max, my friend, I'm coming to get you!"
Back in Abel City
X panted heavily; this maverick was giving him a run for his money. His systems had taken heavy damage and he had been exerting himself, so his ventilation system was working overtime. On the other hand, his adversary was showing similar signs of wear and tear. X would use a sub-tank as soon as he was sure he needed it, but for now he was confident he could win under the current circumstances.
Warp-Wasp twisted space once again, teleporting rapidly to different corners of the room. Each time he reappeared, he fired a stinger. However, one of the warps just so happened to synchronize perfectly with another distant cosmic event. From within one of the quantum warps, bits of green energy washed over Warp-Wasp. The Maverick's eyes went wide as the virus was overridden by something supernatural. Suddenly making a gradual descent to the ground, Warp-Wasp turned around and created a twisting rift in space-time. "ROBUSTUS BECKONS, AND I MUST ANSWER!", he said in a screech.
Perplexed, X hesitated and stopped in his tracks. Mavericks never behaved like this; fights could never be interrupted. This contradicted every pattern that X had determined. If the virus had evolved in some way, he had to investigate immediately. Instead of destroying the Maverick, he would observe and intervene when necessary.
X didn't have to wait long. Warp-Wasp began drifting slowly towards the rift he created, like a moth to a flame. Not wasting any time, X dashed forward and gripped onto the Maverick's leg just before the portal closed behind them, leaving behind a hasty data-beacon for when the other hunters came to investigate his disappearance.
Unidentifiable colors and geometric impossibilities flew past his optics as the two reploids tumbled through the quantum tunnel, and X found that he couldn't register any of it. Everything here existed several dimensions above him, and his processor wasn't complex enough to make sense of it. Warp-Wasp was the only thing he could register at the moment, so that was what he paid attention to. The Maverick seemed not to be phased by the insanity that swirled around them, but maybe it was conditioned to not pay attention to any of it.
As quick as it started it was over, and they were both flung out into an unfamiliar sky. Now noticing the hunter latched onto his leg, Warp-Wasp started jerking around in an attempt to shake him off. With a swipe of a stinger, he struck X's fingers and dislodged his grip. Leaving him to tumble into oblivion, the Maverick made a beeline to get to its destination.
Gritting his teeth, X revved his internal gyroscopes to right himself and scanned the area below for a place to safely land. Below him was a sprawling city with many interesting things going on, but his combat protocols kept him focused on the task at hand. Pinpointing a clear intersection in the roads, he charged up a buster-shot and used the recoil to angle his trajectory towards it. As the ground rushed up at him, he braced his systems for a more intense impact than usual. A boom resounded across the vicinity, and the pavement curled up into a crater. His shock absorption took care of most of the damage, but not all, leaving the rest to fully deplete his main ENRG. Not waiting a second, he activated one of his four sub-tanks to refill it to the max.
Not one to forget what he was doing, X aimed his gaze upwards to try to catch a glimpse of Warp-Wasp but to no avail. In the time it took to safely land, the Maverick had escaped.
X disengaged his combat protocols with a sigh, now taking notice of the details around him. His new location was drastically different from the Abel City he was used to, the most substantial change was the technology level. Everything was simply less advanced. There were no street-cleaning robots taking care of trash, there were no holo-screens, and the buildings-
X had to take a second to gasp. That architecture; X had never seen anything like it. The skyscrapers and transit systems in Abel City were certainly impressive, but compared to these buildings, they were boring and sterile. The twists, turns, the exquisite stonework; this was practically architecture heaven.
As he looked around to take in his surroundings, his optics locked onto an interruption in the horizon. A truly massive structure stretched to the heavens, seeming to pierce and scrape the very sky itself. Now, X had seen his fair share of skyscrapers, even climbing some that were taller than what he was looking at, but they were all peers to the surrounding structures. This… this thing had such a contrast to the other buildings that it had a unique majesty, the likes of which he had never seen.
He had to go see it up close.
A rev of an engine interrupted him from his musings, beckoning him to investigate. After dashing down the road, he came across a strange sight. A group of cars seemed to be herding some humans. Primitive helicopters buzzed overhead as various appliances bobbed and weaved down the sidewalks.
His first thought was that the various objects had been taken over by the maverick virus, but there were errors in that logic. For one, it didn't behave like this. If those cars were Maverick, then they would be running those poor people right over. Secondly, this place seemed to be too primitive for anything to be able to house the virus. Along with that, the hovering nature of the appliances was uncharacteristic of technology of that type. This train of thought having taken split seconds, it led him to realize that whatever was possessing these had immense power, and was what had overridden Warp-Wasp's processor.
Ignoring the possible ramifications of this, he decided to focus on the present issue; those humans needed help.
After re-engaging his combat protocols, he dashed forward and hit one of the car-tires with a low-powered buster shot. Making a wide circle around the vehicles, he made quick work of the primitive wheels and rendered them all immobile. Once he was finished with that, he leapt up onto one of the cars and pointed to a deserted building.
"Get to safety! I'll cover you!"
The people were startled and a bit confused, but seemed to understand that he was there to help. They made a quick hustle to the building he pointed to, and any appliances that flew their way got blasted by X with minimal-power blasts. The machines were not made for this kind of action, so X didn't need to charge up his buster at all.
He repeated the process with any convoys he saw, ending the almost-lives of the animated objects and freeing the captive people. He decided to continue like this until he got to the source of it all. It was the same thing he always did, so logically it should work here.
Elsewhere in Paris
A massive robotic entity stomped through the streets of Paris, looking uncannily similar to combiners of the transformers series. Various construction vehicles formed a torso, legs, and arms while a small van functioned as its head. Inside this van was Robostus, and a kid with a green shirt and glasses who occupied the passenger's seat. The human kept nervously glancing towards the evilised robot, who was oblivious to the fact that his friend's nervousness was a result of his own actions.
"Don't worry Max, no one will ever be able to separate us again. We just need to take care of Ladybug and Cat Noir and get those jewels, that's all!"
Max was about to reply, but something caught his eye. An irregular shape was streaking across the sky, getting closer by the second. In no time flat, it landed on the mech's shoulder with a loud clang. As its wings buzzed to a stop, it bowed down on one knee, putting one hand on his chest and stretching the other to the floor. When it spoke, it did so in a screechy voice. "All Hail Lord Robostus!"
At this, Robostus narrowed his expression screen display. He wasn't aware of any entities like this existing in Paris, but it didn't matter. They were obviously here to assist him in his objective. "What is your name, friend?"
The strange new player stood and saluted, wings fluttering to assist in exaggerating the motion. "The name is Warp Wasp, Lord Robustus! I live to serve!"
Hawk Moth, who saw this through Robostus's eyes, was perplexed. They were not an Akuma victim; of all people, Hawk Moth would know this. Had someone found the Bee Miraculous? No, something wasn't right. The comb was nowhere in sight; and whoever this was, they were not a Miraculous user. This was something new, something unusual. He would have to keep a close eye on this thing.
If Robostus had a mouth, he would be grinning fiercely. "Pleasure to meet you, Warp Wasp. Patrol the skies, and bring me Ladybug and Cat Noir!"
Now with an objective, Warp Wasp pumped his fist in front of him, signaling that he was ready. "Yes, Lord Robostus!" And with that, he cackled off into the sky in a way which no normal aircraft was capable.
Elsewhere
X was getting nowhere. This crisis had taken over a whole city, and there was no obvious spike in difficulty as he progressed. That meant there was no definitive center. Looking for the source of this chaos would be like finding the Hadouken upgrade.
It was only when he came across a huge open area that he realized he had been subconsciously approaching that massive pointy structure. And devil was that thing huge. Without missing a beat, he switched off his combat protocol with a smile and made his way to one of the four legs of the pointy tower.
…A few seconds later…
To justify the fact that he was now scaling it, he had told himself it would make a great vantage point. Maybe there was some sort of huge thing he had missed that he could only see from a great height. But wow, this design was astoundingly brilliant. Not only was it tall, but there was also style and panache. The way the supports all lent themselves to one cohesive spire of tallness made it very pleasurable to look at.
Sadly, X's enjoyment of his climb only lasted so long. Once he got about a third of the way up, an annoying number of helicopters abruptly noticed him, beginning to swarm all over his location.
He scowled before engaging combat mode and pushing off of the wall with all his might, launching himself at one of the nearby choppers. He didn't shoot it down on account of the trapped pilots, but merely grabbed onto one of the landing supports and pulled himself through the open door. Inside, a pair of humans were cowering in the pilot and co-pilot seats, with seatbelts strapping them and their arms in place.
X had to shout over the helicopter blades, so he wasn't sure whether they heard him. "Don't worry, I'm here to help!" X moved to help them and readied his arm cannon, pointing it at the buckle. But, considering the weak material and the safety of the humans, he transformed it back into his hand and broke the primitive buckles with sheer force.
"Sit tight, I'm getting you out of here." He knew they probably couldn't hear him over the whirling blades, but he said it anyway. When dealing with civilians, it's best to speak more to seem welcoming, whether they can hear you or not.
They released exclamations of surprise as X shot out the windshield with his buster, and then went on to yell out in fear as he looped his arms under their shoulders. With a thrust of his accelerators, X dash-jumped out the front of the helicopter to an outcropping of the tower. After landing and setting them down, he turned to face the helicopter again. Now that the humans were safe, he was free to disable the propellers. He took aim and fired, pegging the rear propeller and watching as the aerial vehicle spiraled and crashed.
X furrowed his brows in concern. "Hm, primitive." Something that had been bothering him finally caught up with his train of thought. He was trapped here, and his technology was far beyond what this world was capable of. If this place's vehicles didn't have instantaneous self-repair, than it meant that he was unsustainable. As long as there was electricity he could keep his power core charged, but he needed ENRG to repair himself. He may have a large reserve, but it would only last so long.
But there was hope. Whatever was controlling these vehicles was either high-tech, supernatural, or both. Maybe if he was able to analyze it, he could find a way to harness it and use it to his benefit.
Before he could think any further, he remembered that there were more helicopters to deal with. Steeling himself for more combat, he leapt up to continue saving lives.
…A few minutes later…
X blasted the tail off of the last helicopter, and surveyed the wreckage before him. In the chaos, more aircraft had come from other places in the city, and he had to dispatch them all. The pilots and co-pilots behind him cheered, and he turned around to face them. Grinning, he chuckled sheepishly as he waved to them; his publicity where he came from was complicated, and it was strange to have such overwhelmingly positive reception.
One of the helicopters had belonged to some news-outlets, and the reporters he had saved were now asking him questions over each other. Their cameras had been possessed (and then destroyed by X), so they were doing it pen-and-paper style. "What's your name?" "Are you a superhero?" "Are you affiliated with La-"
He would have stayed to answer questions, but the direness of the situation had other Ideas. X turned away and readied his accelerators. "I'm sorry, there's no time. I've gotta go, bye!"
Now that he was free of aerial attackers, scaling the tower was a cinch. In no-time, he was standing on the very top balcony, surveying the city. Problematic machines and appliances wreaked havoc everywhere, but one thing that caught his eye was an unusually large bit of movement near what looked like a sports arena. That certainly looked significant. Now with a destination, he slid down the side of the tower and began dashing his way there.
Elsewhere
Somewhere else in the city, two individuals were slinging and vaulting across the city.
One, a girl with blue-tinted hair, wore earrings and a red skintight supersuit with black spots. Over her eyes, she wore a domino mask of the same color-scheme as her suit. Using some sort of yoyo, she launched it out and used it as a grappling-hook to swing across the city with a practiced rhythm.
The other, a guy with blonde hair and cat-ears on his head, wore a black suit with a leathery texture. He had a golden bell just below his neck and a tail-belt. Underneath his black domino mask, his eyes were completely green with black-slit pupils. With his extending stick-baton, he pole-vaulted across the city with just as much skill as the red girl but with a little more flair.
Having just freed some civilians from the clutches of evil appliances, they were now hot on the trail of Robostus's giant robot. The thing's giant metal feet couldn't avoid leaving tracks, which were conveniently obvious once spotted.
The girl in red gritted her teeth as she looked forward sternly. Robustus was likely the most dangerous villain yet. He was smarter than the both of them, had a whole army at his disposal, and didn't seem to have any item an Akuma could hide in.
And yet, as she stole a glance at her partner, she realized that the odds had never been in their favor. The villains always had some drastic advantage over them, yet her partner beside her stood as a testament to the fact that they always pulled through. And she knew they would this time. They had to.
Suddenly, something that sounded like gunfire interrupted her musings. A barrage of massive white needles whizzed past the two of them as a huge black and yellow thing divebombed towards them from behind.
The two of them skidded to a stop on the rooftop and looked up at the newcomer, and were greeted by an unfamiliar sight. The already-described being hovered in place, back-lit by the sun. It spoke in a screechy voice with a slight electronic distortion. "Are you Ladybug and Cat Noir!?"
She narrowed her eyes at this strange being. Everyone in Paris knew who Ladybug and Cat Noir were. Thus, this guy must not be from Paris. He couldn't have been an akuma victim; no, this was something else. "Well then, he's obviously not from around here."
The cat-man smirked and nodded his agreement. "Tell me-ow-bout it." He turned to face the hovering Maverick. "Now wait just a minute, buster! Who's asking?"
"I am Warp Wasp!", it proudly proclaimed. "I serve Robostus! Now answer my question, fleshlings!"
Well, that was interesting. He had an Akuma-like name, but it was strange that he served Robostus. As far as they had seen, Robostus's control only extended to inanimate objects. However, this guy's use of the word 'fleshlings' suggested that he wasn't exactly… organic. The spotted girl stared up at him defiantly. "And if we are?"
Warp-Wasp's eyes glinted maliciously as he zipped a few meters closer. "Then I shall bring you to my master! Forcefully, if I must!"
The heroine thought to herself for a moment before nodding to him. "We'll go willingly!" Interrupting her partner's protest, she leaned in to whisper. "It'll save us the trouble of having to find him."
He 'ahhed', giving a thumbs up before looking back up to Warp Wasp. "Well, this is your lucky day! I'm Cat Noir, and this is Ladybug. You know, we were already on our way to see Robostus. You mind leading us there?"
Almost seeming disappointed that he didn't get to fight them, Warp Wasp began flying ahead of them. "Very well. This way!". To the heroes' slight dismay, he took off like a shot without giving them much reaction time. With a shrug, they used their own means of transportation to follow after him.
Soon enough, they came to the sports stadium. Ladybug was beginning to note that a surprising number of battles ended up here, but maybe that was just a coincidence. Cat Noir seemed to be having similar ideas, as he muttered something about animation budgets.
Warp Wasp flew up into the airspace of the arena, calling out to his master. "My lord, I have retrieved Ladybug and Cat Noir!"
At first nothing happened, and the duo began to feel at unease. The strange being above them was no Akuma, but they were related to Robostus in some way. They needed to figure this out, quick.
Elsewhere
X was able to take some of the streets he had already cleared, making his mad dash for the sports arena that much quicker. He got there in no-time, easily scaling the giant wall with a few wall-kicks. As soon as he reached the top and got a look inside, he dove for cover and cursed to himself.
Inside the arena were three beings; Warp Wasp and two others. They appeared to be human, but were dressed strangely from the other humans he had encountered here. They seemed to be animal-themed, so maybe they were Mavericks? Reinforcements that Warp-Wasp had called from their home-dimension, perhaps?
X crept forward carefully. He had to be stealthy, else he may provoke them into attacking. Devil, three mavericks at once. X decided not to engage, as that would only mean death for him in his current un-upgraded state. He had to find some way to confront them each separately.
He got to the front few rows of the stadium, but before he could formulate a plan, a whole fleet of different vehicles swerved into the arena. They quickly formed a circle around the two strange Reploids(?) as Warp-Wasp hovered out to the sidelines.
The Duo
Cat Noir jumped into a ready stance, shouting "They've got us surrounded!"
Ladybug began spinning her yoyo and flung it out towards some distant anchor. "Come on, let's find some high ground!"
As they leapt into the air, however, Warp Wasp teleported above them and swept his stinger-blades in wide arcs. "Not so fast, Hunters! Robostus still has business with you!"
Just then, the construction vehicles around them jumped into the fray. As they suddenly converged on each other to form none other than Robostus's Excavator-Mech, the right arm reached out and clamped itself onto them. With a cackle, Robostus pumped the mech's other arm in celebration. The heroes let out a cry of distress as their arms were pinned to their sides.
Cat Noir groaned in discomfort, as he was suck facing into the jaws of the excavator. "I told you that giant hard drive would be trouble!"
Ladybug tugged at her arms, but the excavator was clamped too tight. "How about you give us a Cataclysm right now?"
"I can't! I can barely breathe!"
Nearby
X watched with alarm as the vehicles suddenly merged into a giant robot and nabbed the two Reploids(?). He had to do something, and quick. Thankfully, the giant robot seemed to have a slower processing speed and was taking forever to come to its next action.
By the time he formulated a plan, though, a wave of green energy washed over the area and a sudden attack began in X's mind. His optical LEDs changed into strings of binary code as he slumped over. Unlike any virus he had ever seen, this strange energy almost completely took him over.
However, three-hundred years of diagnostics weren't for nothing. The focus of the attack was elsewhere in the city, and his core operating-system reacted to such things at lightning speed. He began fighting off the technological onslaught, hoping he could save those Reploids(?) in time.
Lady and Cat
"Warp-Wasp, get those jewels for me, would you?"
"Gladly, my lord!" Finally having something to do, Warp Wasp moved in with sadistic delight, first going for Ladybug. But each time he tried to grab the earrings, Ladybug jerked out of the way. However, it was only a matter of time before he got them.
Robostus watched on eagerly. "Look Max, I'm going to be a real human in fifty-three seconds!"
Ladybug was beginning to lose hope as Robostus engaged in telepathy with Hawk-Moth, likely on account of his deviations from the plan. It seemed that even Hawk-Moth couldn't keep up with this super-computer.
Warp-Wasp suddenly gave upon the earrings and moved in on Cat Noir's ring. "Ohh, Now's the time to come up with a bright idea!", the hero exclaimed worriedly.
Ladybug watched on with horror as Warp-Wasp's hand neared the ring. "I'm sorry, Cat Noir!"
But then, the unexpected happened.
A distant sound came to everyone's ears, the sound of something gathering energy. Starting at a low-pitch and ending at a high, it was released as a crackling ball of energy hurled itself straight into Warp-Wasp's side and blasted him away from Cat Noir.
A blue something whizzed into the sports arena, quickly closing in on the action in the center. Whatever it was, it was nimble. It leapt off of the Mechscavator's knee and onto the arm that held Lady and Cat. Sunlight glinted off of blue metal as a white gloved hand stretched out in reassurance. "Don't worry, I'm here to help!"
Now that Ladybug could see him clearly, she realized that he seemed to be around their age. Perhaps he was a Miraculous holder? Well, she sure hoped so, but she was glad for the help no matter what. With a fully charged blast of the same energy that got Warp Wasp, he obliterated the hydraulics that kept the two so securely trapped.
As they tumbled to the turf, the blue guy leapt off of the Mechscavator and started running towards Warp Wasp. "You fight your bad guy, I'll take mine! Whoever's done first can help the other!" And with that, he ran; no, dashed off at inhumane speeds.
Cat Noir nodded, spinning up his staff and preparing for battle. "Divide and conquer; good idea!"
Ladybug nodded affirmative and got into a ready stance. "Sounds fair. Lucky Charm!"
X
X vented a sigh of relief as he settled back into his usual rhythm. This was what he was used to; just him and a Maverick fighting for the other's extermination. It wasn't that he enjoyed it, but it was simply what he had come to do best.
Just as he was about to get the jump on Warp Wasp, he caught a blazing pinkish-red light from the other battle. The red Reploid(?) had summoned some kind of harp that shared her color scheme; X found it a little strange, but decided not to dwell on it.
Thanks to the fact that this was a mere continuation of a previous battle, X kept the upper hand the entire time. He did miss having walls to jump from, but he had fought plenty of battles with nothing but a floor. He was just glad there weren't any edges to fall from. However, there was something strange about the way Warp Wasp was fighting. The Maverick in question was fighting with self-preservation tactics. The odd thing about that was that Mavericks that were as far gone as he was supposed to be would only fight with destruction in mind.
As X was about to land the final blow, Warp Wasp teleported to the ground and got to his knees, getting right up close to X. "Dearest hunter, please spare me! I'll do anything! I-I'll give you my Warp-power, anything!"
X faltered, hard. This was unprecedented. Could this mean that the virus could be cured? That there was finally an end in sight? Not an hour ago, this very being was relentlessly trying to murder him. Now, though-
Taking advantage of his hesitation, Warp Wasp lunged forward to impale X with a stinger. This did not go well for him, as X's combat protocols were still engaged. Easily sidestepping the attack, X shot directly into the Maverick's back, rupturing its power core. The usual explosions happened, and the ENRG from the Maverick's core flowed through X's data crystal on his forehead. Thanks to the information embedded inside, he now had Warp-Wasp's complete blueprints.
Not forgetting the battle nearby, he turned just in time to see the giant robot turn to rust-dust with a claw-swipe from the Cat-Reploid(?). X dashed over to congratulate them, amazed at their destructive power, only to find that they were frantically engaged with something in the sky as a group of vehicles swarmed around them.
Lady and Cat
Just as the Mechscavator was reduced to a pile of scrap, a massive explosion of energy startled them all. As all heads turned to see what happened, it became obvious that the blue guy had defeated his opponent and was making his way to their side. As soon as he got there, he hopped up onto a car and readied that arm-gun of his. "Wait, you guys already defeated that big robot. Why aren't we taking out these infected cars?"
Cat Noir quickly explained, pointing up at Robostus. "The cars aren't the problem, he is!"
The cars were getting more frantic, so they had to keep jumping from vehicle to vehicle. Blue guy looked up and quickly spotted the little robot and aimed his arm-gun-thingy at him. "That little thing? I can shoot it down easy."
Ladybug jumped over and forced the guy's arm down, ending that line of thought. "Wait! We have to find the peaceful solution!"
The new hero paused and thought for a moment before asking a question, "Well, what do you suggest?"
Ladybug grinned and held up the harp. "Follow my lead."
Seeming to get the gist, newcomer nodded and aimed his charging arm-cannon upward. With superhuman strength, Ladybug lobbed the harp up at Robostus, who easily dodged out of the way. X sent a half-charged blast, which the small guy dodged just as easily. "Really? Is that your last move?", he asked smugly.
Ladybug grinned as the two projectiles intercepted in mid-air. "Speaking too soon is a human weakness, Robostus!"
The strings from the now-totaled harp fell down and entangled Robostus's propeller. He shouted in surprise as gravity finally started working on him, but Ladybug managed to catch him with her yoyo. Wide-eyed, Robostus tried to rev his propeller. "What was that?"
Ladybug smiled and pulled out the flash-drive. "That was wit, and a little bit of luck."
Robustus's eyes resumed their angry display. "Ha, you're wrong, Ladybug! The game is still on!" In a last-ditch effort to save himself, he released a new wave of his strange green energy. In an interesting turn of events, the blue hero thudded to his knees as his eyes turned into binary code.
Deeply unsettled, Ladybug began shouting at Robostus. "What did you do to him?! I thought your powers only affect machines?!"
The blue hero stood and shakily aimed his arm-gun at Ladybug, while Robostus 'grinned' maliciously. "When I dealt with Hawk-Moth, I sensed a new robotic presence! Meet your destruction, Ladybug and Cat Noir!"
As blue powered up a shot and aimed it at the heroes, Ladybug decisively shoved the drive into Robostus's 'mouth'. "What?! What do you think you're- ERROR. ERROR. EERRRROOoorrr…"
X
X watched in awe as the plan fell perfectly into place. He was glad to finally be able to find a peaceful solution, but stayed determined in case something went wrong. But then, the cyberattack returned.
As he struggled to fight off the nigh-overwhelming force, he felt himself stand and ready his buster. Panic flooded his emotional matrix as he realized what was happening. He fought with new determination, but this new onslaught was aimed directly at him. While he managed to keep his thoughts safe, he felt his physical control slip.
But then, something strange happened. His faculties returned just in time, and he just barely managed to direct his X-buster up and away from red-reploid before it discharged. He didn't see what happened, but he saw a small data-storage container installed into the little Maverick. A black butterfly emerged from inside its central processor, trying desperately to flutter away. However, the red Reploid opened up her yoyo and caught it, reciting some sort of line that he couldn't hear thanks to his fuzzy audio. When she released it, the little creature was pure white.
After that, she collected the remains of the harp and tossed it in the air, adding two words to the action: "Miraculous Ladybug!"
X was astounded by what happened next. The harp exploded. Not violently, but spectacularly. Waves of spotted energy placed all of the vehicles where they should be, and repaired all of the damaged turf in the arena. It was likely that all other damage was fixed, something that left X speechless.
As red-girl tended to Markov and Max, X pulled cat-guy aside. "Hey, what was that? You know, the glowy thing and the rusty thing. And what happened to the little robot?"
Seeming surprised, cat-reploid(?) tilted his head in curiosity. "Oh, that? That was M'lady's Lucky Charm. It repairs all the damage from Akuma Fights. And the 'rusty thing' is my Cataclysm, it's guaranteed to destroy one object, or assembly of objects. Oh, and don't worry about Markov, he's okay now. Say, what's your name?"
Still in awe at the fact that the stadium was empty now save for the four(five?) of them, X took a second to answer. "X. My name is X."
Cat-guy snorted, obviously thinking it was funny, though X wasn't sure why. "Well, mysterious name, Mr. 'X'. I'm Cat Noir, and that lovely lady over there is Ladybug."
Now it was X's turn to be curious. "Cat Noir? Ladybug? Just what kind of Reploids are you?"
Cat Noir just gave him a blank stare. "What the heck is a Reploid?"
Just then, both his ring and Ladybug's earrings gave a distinct beeping sound. Cat Noir began backing away. "Uh, sorry 'X', we gotta go! Cat-tch ya later!"
"Wait! I have so many questions!" X moved to follow them, but they were already long gone. By the way that they moved, he could tell he wouldn't be able to keep up.
With a sigh, he turned around. And yet the most eerie sight he had seen all day confronted him.
There before him, perfectly intact, was Warp Wasp, but not quite. As X approached him with his buster drawn, he realized that there was no-one home. The Maverick's optical LEDs were completely off, and despite him standing up, he was completely motionless. It seemed that this "Lucky Charm" could repair Reploids, but not restore consciousness.
He noticed the green-shirt kid and the little 'Markov' watching him as he draped Warp-Wasp's dormant frame over his shoulder. He didn't know where he was, but he knew that Warp-Wasp was his key to getting back.
Later, Elsewhere in Paris
In a vague out-of-the-way location, a young girl kneeled across from a short old man. The girl had the same hair and eyes as Ladybug, but with casual civilian clothes. The old man was balding and had a Hawaiian shirt as his signature attire. Nearby sat two small creatures unlike anything else in the world. One red and one green, they were themed after a ladybug and a turtle respectively.
The girl, named Marinette, was thinking about the conversation they just had. With the new revelation of what she and her partner were protecting, she now had more determination than ever. No way was she ever going to let the Miraculous fall into the hands of Hawk Moth.
However, there was one thing on her mind that she needed to ask the old man about. "Master Fu, are there any blue or yellow Miraculous missing?"
Master Fu stroked his goatee for a second before answering. "Well, besides the Peacock Miraculous, all are accounted for. May I ask why?"
Marinette thought back to her encounter earlier that day. "Well, when we fought today's Akuma, there was this weird blue-guy and a flying bee-person. I was wondering if they could be Miraculous holders."
After a moment of tea-sipping, the old Guardian scrunched his eyebrows in thought. "Describe them to me."
And so she did. She described their weird armor, the weird language choices, and the way that they fought. With each new piece of information, Master Fu got more concerned. "And you say this 'blue-guy' was affected by the Akuma's technological control?"
Marinette nodded affirmative, and Master Fu 'hmm'ed before voicing his thoughts. "There are no Miraculous that fit those descriptions. The Outfit Manifestations that the Kwamis create never completely conceal faces, nor do they leave faces unconcealed, and the protective magic means there's no need for physical armor. Also, this 'Warp-Wasp' could not possibly have the Bee Miraculous, as it is in our possession and does not grant the power of flight to brand-new holders."
As Marinette listened, she remembered how strange it was that Warp Wasp had obeyed Robostus's every command, and that the blue-guy had reacted so severely to the tech-wave. And then it clicked. "Maybe they're robots!"
Master Fu was slightly surprised by her sudden conclusion, but then stroked his goatee in thought again. "That's quite the accusation, but it could very well be the truth. They seem very powerful from your descriptions, and we don't know nearly enough about them."
Marinette nodded her agreement. "I'll meet with Cat Noir tonight and see if we can track him down."
Meanwhile…
After contacting each-other through their yoyo and baton-phones, they decided to meet on a rooftop near the school. Thanks to their incredible mobility, it only took them a minute or two to get there.
Cat was first to speak as he leaned against his baton. "Well Mi'Lady, it seems we have something to talk about today."
Ladybug nodded as she gazed out at the city. "It's that new blue hero. I think I've found out something about him."
Cat Noir chuckled as he got up and twirled his staff for a few seconds. "Oh, yeah, I was meaning to tell you. He said his name was 'X'."
She raised an eyebrow at that. "What kind of name is 'X'? Is he trying to be all mysterious?" Cat Noir simply shrugged, going back to messing with his staff. After a second of thought, Ladybug faced her partner and steeled herself for the accusation she was about to make. "He's not a Miraculous holder. I think that he's a robot."
Cat Noir tilted his head and reviewed the facts before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds reasonable. He did react weirdly to Robostus, and he was really confused about our powers."
Ladybug hummed her agreement. "Well, I have another hour before I have to get back to my other identity. How about we see if we can track this guy down?"
"Clawsome idea, Mi'Lady."
Ladybug ignored the pun and got to business. "Let's see if there are any sightings on the Ladyblog."
After doing a bit of research through the devices built into their equipment, they found that a lot of people had seen him at the Eiffel tower. Now with a destination, they swung/vaulted in the direction of their quarry.
Elsewhere
X had found a wagon he could carry Warp-Wasp in, and was now dragging him all over this new city. Now that he realized he may be here a while, he wasted no time in deciding that the tower would make a perfect temporary base. As a towering landmark, it was visible everywhere he went, so he could always find his way back to it. It also made a great vantage point.
He kept getting strange looks from passerby, which made sense as he was odd enough to warrant such attention. He chuckled lightly to himself as he realized how bizarre he looked; a blue-armored teen dragging a deactivated giant robot bug behind him in a red-flyer wagon. While in his world he would be stopped by law-enforcement for a variety of reasons, right now he was simply an oddity. He saw people aiming handheld devices at him, presumably taking pictures or video.
He eventually came to the base of the tower, where he found that it was actually quite a popular tourist destination; perfect for listening in on conversations in order to learn about this world. Ignoring the people who were stopping and staring at him, he found his way to an elevator and pressed the button to get to the top. He had to switch elevators at one point, but it was no big deal. He could easily scale it, but time wasn't an issue at the moment; not to mention the fact that he was lugging around a dormant Maverick which would make climbing much harder.
As he left the elevator at the top of the tower, he took a look around. There was some sort of apartment inside, and a balcony with a protective fence facing inward. X was momentarily puzzled as to why the fence was there; did this world's inhabitants lack common sense? Or were they simply overprotective of the visitors here?
With a shrug and a sigh, he moved on. He needed a place to buckle down, and the roof up there was as good a place as any. It wasn't ideal, but it would work for the time being. After picking up Warp Wasp and jumping up past the fence, he sat down, laid back, and interlaced is fingers behind his helmet. No harm in getting some rest before tackling the situation.
Over the next few hours, he took time to dig through his new blueprints of Warp Wasp. He was stunned by the sheer complexity of the designs within the Maverick, as it was quite unlike anything he had seen; quantum-manipulation was no simple accomplishment. However, he had to tough through it; if he were to have any chance of getting home, he would need to understand these blueprints inside and out. Plus, he had to convert Warp Wasp's weapon system into a format his X-buster could use.
Enraptured with the contents of his own mind, he was oblivious to the approach of two people from behind. A black-clawed tap on his shoulder shook him from his stupor, and he turned around to see Ladybug and Cat Noir. The black-clad teen extended his hand to help X up, which the reploid gladly accepted. "Hey X, I never got to thank you for helping us avoid a Cat-tastrophe. I hope we aren't intruding on anything?"
X dusted himself off as he fully withdrew from his internal edit mode. "No problem; it's nothing that can't be finished later. What's up?"
Cat Noir hopped up to balance on one of the protrusions while Ladybug went over to sit on a cross-beam. "We have a few questions for you, if you don't mind."
X shrugged, not sure what to do with himself as this whole experience was a bit awkward. "Ask away. I have a few questions myself, actually."
Cat grinned and stole the first inquiry. "Ok, first question. Are you a good guy or a bad guy?"
After a light chuckle, X gave the duo a reassuring smile. "I can assure you, the safety of the public is a very high priority for me."
The two shared a look that was somewhat relief and partway confusion. Ladybug continued. "Two questions: where are you from, and why are you here? You don't seem like you're from Paris."
Paris. Okay, so that was where he was. Not that he remembered any place like that where he came from, but it was nice to have a name for where he was.
He decided to not beat around the bush and just say it directly to avoid unnecessary confusion. He gazed out to the skyline as he considered his wording. "This is going to sound crazy, but I'm pretty sure I'm either from the future, an alternate universe, or both. As to why I'm here, I'm not here on purpose. I was in pursuit of a Maverick- err, a criminal. That one, actually." He gestured towards Warp Wasp. "Warp Wasp has- or had -spatial manipulation abilities that opened a wormhole to this universe, and I simply pursued."
Their eyes widened as the revelation hit them. Cat Noir glanced over to Ladybug and tapped a finger on his stick thing. "So now he's been dealt with."
"But you need his abilities to get home." Ladybug looked over to X to check whether she was right.
X nodded. "You guys are spot-on." He caught Cat Noir's grin and realized the pun he had made on accident. Ladybug looked slightly startled, but X decided that wasn't important at the moment. "I have his blueprints, but they're too complex for me to work out just yet. As of right now, I'm pretty much stranded." As he said that last bit, he looked off into the distance wistfully; the intricacies of his predicament had hit him once more. He either needed to figure out how to sustain himself, or find a way back home. He wasn't sure yet which one was more important. "At least it's got a good view."
Snapping himself out of his funk, he turned back towards the duo. "My turn. You're obviously not Reploids, so what exactly are you? Enhanced humans or something?"
Cat Noir twirled his thing in his fingers. "I guess you could say that. We're human, but we have these magic jewels called Miraculous that give us our powers. Mine's the ring of the Black Cat; it has the power of destruction. My Cata- uh, power, can instantly destroy any one thing. Even saying its name activates it, so I have to be careful." He pointed to his ring.
Ladybug put up a hand to brush the hair away from her ears so that X could see her earrings. "The Ladybug earrings have the power of creation. It's power analyzes the situation and creates a peaceful solution through an object, and repairs any damage the fight causes. But Miraculous don't just do those things, they also give us super-strength, agility, and durability, as well as weapons like my yo-yo and Cat's baton."
Cat extended his staff for emphasis as she mentioned it. "Ok, my turn again. Are you a robot?" He and Ladybug looked at him in anticipation. It seemed this was something they were very curious about.
Straight to the point, it seemed. X smiled and nodded, deciding to keep it simple. "Yeah."
Ladybug gaped as Cat raised his eyebrows in astonishment. It seemed the bug-themed heroine couldn't help herself as she jumped up and almost started prodding X's face. "But you're so… lifelike!"
X grinned proudly, also shying away from the red-gloved hand. "Yeah, that was my creator's intention. I may be made of different stuff, but I can think and feel just like any human."
Ladybug composed herself and prepared for another question. "Ok. You mentioned the term Reploid. What is that?"
This momentarily caught X off guard, but he was able to mask that. It did make sense that they wouldn't know what a Reploid was; he was just so used to them being ubiquitous that it almost didn't occur to him that they wouldn't know about them. "Well, the Reploids are a race of robots like me with their own consciousness. Since I'm the one they're all based off of, I'm technically not a Reploid, but Warp-Wasp is. Err… was, before he became a Maveri- er, a criminal. It's the first thing I thought of to explain your powers." He took a moment to decide his next question, snapping his fingers as he thought of it. "Ah, what was that thing we fought today? That… Robostus, was it?"
Ladybug took the lead in this explanation, straightening up with a serious expression. "That was an Akuma victim. Hawk Moth, the holder of the Butterfly Miraculous, has the power to turn people into supervillains. He targets negative emotions and sends out a little black butterfly- an Akuma- to possess them. He'll stop at nothing to get our Miraculous, which is why we have to stay vigilant."
X hummed in thought, stroking his chin for a moment. It sounded a lot like Mavericks, but he would avoid telling these heroes about them to preserve their relative peace of mind. "Well, I'm glad that this Akuma business can be reversed and resolved peacefully." X couldn't help but show a little bit of sadness at the fact that such options weren't available to him, but shrugged it off in favor of a more neutral disposition.
The two were momentarily perplexed at his odd comment, but seemed to have moved on. Cat Noir's attention was caught by Warp-Wasp's wings catching a little bit of the breeze. "Is that bug-bot permanantly down, or…?"
X shook his head. "Will he reactivate? No; not on his own. It takes an experienced scientist to jump-start a Reploid's consciousness." What he didn't say was that he knew just how to do that, though he felt like he should leave that part out for now.
They seemed to trust him somewhat, and he found them to be trustworthy. He wasn't sure where to take the conversation, and it seemed that neither were they.
Cat Noir hopped up and started spinning his staff idly. Attempting to move things along, he started punning relentlessly. "Well, the cats seem to be out of their bags, and it looks like curiosity killed 'em. Meow's about we look fur a better place for X to stay while he's here?"
X smiled as he hoisted Warp Wasp over his shoulder. He thought he was alone, but even in an alternate dimension there were heroes to fight beside. "That sounds fantastic."
Meanwhile
"I'm really sorry for scaring you so bad, Max! I promise to keep my emotions under better control."
"It's hardly an issue, Markov. I simply wish there was a way I could bring you to school without causing a disturbance."
In an unspecified part of Paris, Max and Markov had arrived home and were discussing the events of the day while they worked on their latest computer program. The room was semi-lit, with the perfect balance between the brightness of the computer screen and the rest of the room. Max sat in a swiveling computer chair while Markov hovered next to him, both interacting with the computer in front of them.
Markov changed his display to wink face, signaling that he already had the situation figured out. "No worries, Max. I can wait here and work on our projects while you go to…" Much to Max's confusion, Markov trailed off with a blank expression on his face. It was as if, deep within his coding, there was some sort of itch…
Max looked over at his friend with a concerned expression. "Markov? Are you all right?"
At that, the little robot jumped in surprise. "OH! Sorry Max." His display changed to question marks as he came back to reality. "Uh… I'm fine. What was it we were talking about?"
Max raised an eyebrow, not fully believing his friend, but decided to let it go for now. "Would you really be okay staying home while I go to school?"
The little robot raised his claw in his version of a thumbs-up, his display changing to a happy expression. "Of course, Max! I'll still be able to spend time with you!"
Max smiled, put at ease by Markov's cheeriness. "I can only hope to someday be as optimistic as you, Markov."
And with that, they happily got back to their computer coding, blissfully oblivious to the subtle influence of an age-old conflict…
A/N:
Thanks for reading this. I have some amazing plans for it, though I don't plan for it to go very far beyond a certain point.
To anyone worried about Ben 10,000, have no fear. I fully intend to return to that story. Excuse my cliché, but school hit like a truck and I lost my muse to the depths of Tartarus. It seems to be coming back, though. I have quite a few plans in my back pocket, and this one is my definite favorite. I love finding common ground between stories, and the parallel between Mavericks and Akumas was too juicy to pass up.
Anyways, here's to the launch of a new awesome story!