We are officially on hiatus after this chap! This one was a request from a guest for a chap about heroes giving their own testimonies of why a failed mission wasn't their fault.
The KND episode Operation REPORT was a big inspiration for the idea of each person's story having a different art style. Sadly this is all text so you just have to imagine how it looks. I also had fun writing the Japanese dialogue, I was going to write direct translations but it was funnier making it gag subs.
In the bowels of the Francoise Dupont a light flickered on at a desk. A makeshift office/interrogation room used by the students… and it used to be rented out for bar mitzvahs on weekends, but after little Timothy hit his noggin on a pipe, they put a stop to that.
Today, sitting on one side of the desk was Marinette Dupain Cheng, with her partner and hopefully boyfriend-once-he-asks-her-out Adrien Agreste leaning against a conspiracy board close behind her. Before them were fellow teammates Juleka, Kagami, Nino and Marc, all of whom avoided meeting their leader's stern glare of disappointment. "I'm not mad at you all, but we had been planning this ambush for a month and it should not have fallen apart like it did." the pigtailed guardian sighed. "I need you all to explain what happened to Operation Shijin."
It was a daring operation. They had found a pattern with Mayura's public appearances, and with careful planning and lots of late night brainstorming sessions, they had set up an ambush to capture her. The four heroes were to be positioned in each direction of a four-way intersection and block the peacock lady in. They had prepared extensively for the operation, but somehow it ended with the heroes messing up with their powers and Mayura disappearing.
None of the four wanted to take the blame. They all started talking over each other (except for Juleka, who only raised her hand) and no coherent sentence could be made out. "Stop!" The other guardian spoke up, gathering all attention on him. "One at a time, Marc, you go first." Adrien pointed to the boy on the far right.
The Rooster holder cleared his throat and recounted his tale, "Here's what happened-"
MARC'S VISION
Everything is detailed like a vintage superhero comic book, with speech balloons and all.
"I was stationed in the south. My Sublimation was to be used to counter whatever Amok she inevitably summoned." Rooster Bold appeared with a detailed look like he was from the golden age of comics. A green turtle shell pattern surrounded the fictional page with a 'Whoosh' sound effect popping up. A thought bubble appears over Rooster Bold 'The battle begins.'
Boot's ran one panel at a time until a large page revealed the appearance of an equally detailed Mayura. "Halt!" a jagged speech bubble blocked her way. Rooster Bold leapt into the frame. "You aren't going anywhere vile villainess!"
"Gasp!" a sound effect speech bubble came from Mayura. "The incredible Rooster Bold!"
Dramatically posing, Rooster pointed at her. "That's right! Now, are you going to surrender and come along quietly? Or do we have to do this the hard way?"
Mayura smirked. "The hard way." She plucked a feather from her fan. She reached down for an old tape recorder and the feather went in with a 'ploosh' effect. "Rooster Bold, now you must face-" the next panel revealed a sentimonster that looked like a washing machine had a baby with a boombox. "My latest creation!"
Smirking as he posed again, crossing his arms across his chest. "That monster is no match for my superpower!" He raised his hand dramatically with power lines rising in the background. "Sublimation! I grant myself the power to-"
The sound effect 'Whoosh' appeared on the comic book page. Rooster turned and noticed a stream of water about to collide with our courageous chicken hero. A thought bubble popped over his head 'That must be the Water Dragon power of Ryuko! But why is she heading directly towards me?!'
Without thinking, Rooster shouted "Move out of the way!" a flash covered the panel and the stream of water was diverted. Our hero winced once he realized what he had just done. A box of text appeared overhead. "The sublimation power meant for the sentimonster had been wasted. But our hero does not back down. He does his best with the hand he is given."
Armed with the power to move things out of the way, Marc turned towards the sentimonster.
WHAM!
The sentimonster is flung into a wall.
BAM!
The sentimonster hit the pavement. Another 'Thud' sound appeared.
POW!
The sentimonster is sent whirling into the air out of the panel. It lands one panel later and is determined to stay upright and fight back. It makes a 'Growl' captioned sound effect and pounces on Rooster bold, who tries to flee but trips over something and falls to the ground, his power misfiring and missing his opponent.
A small whoosh flies over as a purple streak just barely misses the sentimonster as it lands on Rooster Bold with a 'Smoosh' effect. Marc struggles to lift his foe off of himself. "Back, you fiend!" he prepares to use his power again when the clunky contraption suddenly disintegrates into nothing.
"Huh-" Rooster picks himself up, straightening his back with a small 'crack' and a thought bubble above his head 'The amok must have been released while I was incapacitated. Now I am free to pursue the malevolent Mayura!"
The peacock lady is shown, running from panel to panel away from the rooster boy. As they reach the same panel together, it becomes engulfed with smoke and a 'fizz' sound. Rooster coughs and moves the smoke away with his power, only to find himself alone. A last block of text appears on top of the page. "And just like that, she vanished-"
MARC VISION OVER
"-if Ryuko hadn't distracted me and made me mess up my power, I could have defeated the sentimonster sooner and caught Mayura." Marc ended his side. The fierce swordswoman, two seats down from him, scowled, clearly not agreeing with his version of the events.
The female co-guardian jotted down notes and turned to the accused heroine. "Kagami, why did you nearly hit Marc?" she was usually so precise, it was a tad hard to believe she could slip up like that.
"It was outside of my control." Kagami declared. "This is how it happened-"
KAGAMI'S VISION
Unlike Marc, whose recount took the form of a comic book, Kagami's was styled like a shoujo anime. She herself was drawn with sparkling eyes and a more magical girl-esque costume.
"I was in the east, the plan was for Carapace to tag team with me once he got the Shellter around the area, however…" The shell pattern surrounds the area, sparkling and glittering with special effects. Ryuko holds back and waits for her backup. "キャラペイスはどこ?" The unreliable subtitles appear underneath her, 'Where is Teenage Magic Nino Turtle?'
Ryuko has no time to wait, for another woman gracefully lands in the street. It is Mayura, looking similarly more shoujo-esque.
"まちなさい!" 'Can you stop momentarily!' the subtitles translate.
Mayura looks to see a silhouetted figure with a light shining behind her. "あなたはだれ?" 'Who's that Miraculous?' the subtitles translate again.
The light disappears to reveal Ryuko, posing with one hand on her hip and the other pointed at Mayura. "あいとゆうきのりゅうせんし! リュウコ!" It translated to 'It's Ryuko!' She made a motion with her hands "ミラキュラスにかわっておしおきよ" 'I am gonna whoop your butt!' The subtitles continued to stray off course.
Mayura held one hand to her chin and laughed haughtily "お~~ほほほ" 'Eviler laughter' a stock footage sequence plays out as she takes a feather from her fan "おいでよセンチモンスター!" 'Come out, monster from my pocket!' The feather fused with a smartphone and created a sentimonster that was a cross between a washing machine and a tablet!
Ryuko was not afraid. She went into her own stock footage sequence that looked right out of a magical girl anime. Ryuko twirled around and let sparkles engulf her as she summoned her power "ウォータードラゴン!" 'Seahorse!' Her form turns to water, and she directs herself at the villainess while ignoring the Sentimonster.
Mayura notices the torrent and makes a chibified shocked face. "なに?!" 'Nani?!'
Ryuko would have taken away Mayura's footing by flooding the street, if not for another burst of water from a fire hydrant intercepting her. The new torrent merged with Ryuko's and sent her off course and towards Rooster Bold, who was also drawn like a magical girl. "あぶない ルースターボールド!" 'The chicken needs to cross the road!'
The power of Sublimation lacked its own stock footage sequence. Rooster simply motioned Ryuko away, and she was flung in the opposite direction. Her watery form shifted back to normal, and she somersaulted across the pavement. Her eyes swirl in dizzy circles before she gets up and sees Mayura getting away. The peacock lady ran with her arms behind her and her head ducked forward… like a ninja!
The dragon girl called forth another stock footage sequence for another power, posing several times before unleashing it "ライトニングドラゴン!" 'You shall pay for your hubris. PAY IN BLOOD!' the subtitler was one step closer to being fired.
In a flash, the lightning bolt zipped over to Mayura and hit her on the side. The shock and subsequent fall broke the device where the amok was. "くそ!" 'Poop!'
Ryuko had Mayura at sword-point. Then without warning, a thick cloud of smoke enveloped the two. "ウィンドドラゴン!" 'Wind Dragon!' One last stock sequence played out as Ryuko blew the smoke away, only to find that she was by herself. Mayura escaped.
KAGAMI VISION OVER
"In conclusion, if Carapace had backed me up like he was supposed to, then we could have finally captured Mayura." Kagami finished her take.
"Way to throw me under the bus, Kagami!" Nino huffed.
The best friend of the turtle hero sighed, not liking where this was going. "Nino, please tell me you had a good reason for not showing up. You were obviously there if the Shellter went up." Adrien had to say that even under these circumstances, he's impressed that the Shellter shield managed to stretch out so far.
"Well yeah, I had a pretty good reason for not showing up!" Nino shot back, mostly towards the Tsurugi heir.
NINO'S VISION
The art style shift changed into something out of a 16-bit video game from the 90s. Everyone and everything was rendered into pixelated sprites. The start button on the screen is selected and a 'Level 1' transition appears.
"I was waiting in the north, making sure all the civilians left the street before I closed us in." The pixelated Nino emerges from a warp pipe. The screen is paused as he opens a map screen covered in dots. A percentage bar goes down until the last of the colored dots leave the map. "Shellter!" a text bubble on the bottom of the screen reads. The screen turns green momentarily, and the background is covered in a turtle shell pattern.
A little arrow points for Carapace to move forward, but then shifts into an exclamation point. "Help! Help!" a male voice called out in the text box. There was still someone left inside the shield! A new objective mark floated over Carapace's head briefly and he backtracked to search for whoever had been accidentally left behind.
Before he could scroll over to the next screen, a sprite of Ryuko's head briefly flashed. It gave a choice to join her or not, and the cursor hovered over both choices before selecting 'no'. Carapace continued with his choice as he searched the level for anyone else. The Shellter kept him from exiting the small area and there were no buildings inside, so whoever was left had to be hiding under a bench or newsstand. A brief cutscene played out of Mayura inserting a feather into a portable game for boys, and a boss fight with a sentimonster that was a cross between a washing machine and a super entertainment system started for a 'Player 2 and Player 3'. It wasn't his boss fight though, so he kept on with his own sidequest.
Carapace runs around the whole level and hasn't found anyone else, but an exclamation point over his head alerts him to the pixelated Mayura who is running on the edge of the background. He tries to pursue her, but a 'hazard approaching' signal flashes on screen and another pixel character collides with a lamppost in the background. It is Purple Tigress whose collision triggers a small explosion that damages both heroes and covers the screen in pixelated smoke.
When the screen is cleared, Mayura is nowhere to be seen. Carapace's sprite looks surprised and falls off the stage, and a 'Game Over' flashes on the screen.
NINO VISION OVER
"-So if Purple Tigress hadn't caused that explosion, Mayura would never have gotten away!" Nino defended himself. He never did find whoever was left behind, though…
Adrien looked puzzled, not by the events of the story, but by how it was presented. "You know, I think Max would have made a more fitting hero to do with the videogame sequence."
Marinette shrugged. "Yeah, but he wasn't part of this mission. Speaking of which-" she turned to the remaining hero. "Juleka, could you please tell us your side of the story?"
"Sure." Juleka mumbled.
JULEKA'S VISION
This time the art style is a Tim Burton-esque stop motion. Purple Tigress arrives on the set, looking a little creepier with the way her model was made.
"I was in the west. I was on standby, waiting for the right time to use my power." Purple Tigress stood waiting. Stop Motion Mayura passed by while being pursued by Ryuko, who was only shown as a shadow. Tigress watched her put a feather into a rectangle and create a sentimonster that was portrayed as a plastic washing machine.
The shadow of Rooster Bold comes by and uses his powers to knock his opponent around. Purple Tigress see's this and readies her own power "Clout!" She waits until the sentimonster and Mayura are aligned, intending to send the heavy washing machine toppling down onto the peacock lady.
Purple Tigress pounces (with visible wires) and aims her fist at the sentimonster. "Then Rooster Bold tripped and his power hit me." The puppet Tigress was hit by a fake looking special effect and was sent flying away from her target and towards a lamppost. Her power obliterates the lamp and causes a giant cloud of smoke to cover her and the shadow of Carapace, who is nearby, too.
"And then Mayura got away." Purple Tigress waits for the smoke to clear, but there is no sign of Mayura anywhere.
JULEKA VISION OVER
Once Juleka had finished, Marco had a question "How come your version was so short?"
"Stop motion is expensive." Juleka muttered.
The co-guardians huddled up to converse (and maybe just an excuse to be close to each other) and they settled on a verdict. Tikki banged a squeaky hammer like a gavel. "The guardians have finished debating." The four heroes nervously waited as Marinette and Adrien sat back down, both closing their eyes and tenting their fingers like the dad in that anime with the boy that wouldn't get in the robot.
"We find the guilty party to be…" Marinette paused for suspense. "... none of you."
A collective sigh of relief swept through the quartet. None of them were getting the blame. "Don't celebrate just yet. There is still a guilty party." the cat hero reminded them.
Kagami raised her hand. "But if it wasn't one of us, then who?"
Marinette sat up, suspicious yet worried. "Nino said he heard someone who didn't evacuate. What happened to them? How did that fire hydrant shoot water at Kagami? What made Marc trip? How did Clout cause an explosion with that much smoke? The true culprit was someone who stayed out of sight and caused these actions, but who was it?"
TRUE VISION
A snappy parody of a song plays as the real version of events plays out. Mayura is chasing after Ladybug and Cat Noir after they have purified the latest akuma. She is led into the middle of a four-way intersection with the heroes awaiting her arrival. Carapace pulls up his Shellter around the area once he see's the last person evacuate.
'Who's the one behind everything?'
A blonde boy hides under a newsstand. He had also been waiting for this chance.
'It was Felix all along!'
He cups his hands and shouts out for help, distracting Carapace and making him think someone was left behind. He is supposed to join Mayura but now he has to worry about saving a supposed innocent civilian.
'Who was pulling an invisible string?
It was Felix all along!'
Ryuko confronts the peacock villainess on her own, and a sentimonster is summoned after the amok is put inside an old beeper. Felix maneuvers low to the ground and uses an old trick he learned to break the nozzle on the fire hydrant. He times it so the spray will cross paths with Ryuko and drive her off course.
'He's manipulative, So creative'
Ryuko is sent towards Rooster Bold, who accidentally chooses the wrong power. He figures out a way to make do with what he has while Ryuko goes back to focusing on Mayura. Felix ducked behind a mailbox and took out a thin wire. He threw it across the road to a streetlamp and waited for Rooster Bold to walk into it and trip.
'That they never even noticed, and a shame it is
Shame, shame, shame, shame'
The trip makes Rooster Bold miss his target, right as Purple Tigress is flying overhead with her Clout activated and ready to pounce. Being hit by Rooster's power, she changes course and heads for a streetlight. Felix tosses a smoke bomb in the same direction and watches them hit simultaneously. It creates a massive smokescreen that Felix runs into. He makes a beeline for where Mayura had been and takes her by the wrist.
'It's too late to watch replay
Now that Mayura's got away'
He flips open a manhole and pulls both himself and Mayura into the sewer below before the smoke is cleared. The four heroes are left standing by themselves with their target nowhere in sight. Their operation had failed.
'Thanks to Felix, Crafty Felix
It was Felix all along!'
"And I stole this song too!" Felix announced out loud in the middle of the sewer. The song came to an end with him and Mayura standing face to face in the Paris sewers. Which was a surprisingly common place to find people with superpowers nowadays.
Mayura hid her shock at seeing just who came to her rescue, playing it cold and neutral. "Why did you help me escape?"
The boy grinned, "I'd like to have a chat about the peacock miraculous."