AN: Well, this is the very last one. I'm grateful to those that took an interest and for those who came back for this story, and I hope that they have a good time. Once more on the disclaimer, don't own the show or its characters, and a special shout out to zoeonee-sama for her fancomic Scarlet Lady, which was the first inspiration for this. Enjoy!
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Chapter 14: Certain
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Ladybug, Marigold, Ebony Mao and Multimouse all walked up to the little pile that consisted of Miracle being comforted by their partners. She had been crying for a few minutes now and was down to short sniffles with her head against Chat Noir's shoulder. The rest of the boys held her in some way to let her know they were beside her. Ladybug felt a great sense of pride for her kitty as well as the other boys. It always felt different when it wasn't a matter of using a super punch or magic trick to stop an akuma victim. Here, they helped possibly the most emotionally hurt person to have ever become an akuma. It felt even more raw for it to be a different version of herself. But the job wasn't through yet. Ladybug stepped forward and knelt down in front of everyone, waiting for Miracle to notice her.
When her tears finally stopped and she looked at the spotted hero, only one thing came to Miracle's mind. "I'm sorry." her voice weak from the strain of her emotional turmoil.
Ladybug could only smile and reply gently. "It's okay."
Miracle lifted her head from Chat Noir, but she didn't move away from any of them. "Is it?"
"Of course."
"But... but I messed things up so bad..." she looked like she was started to get upset again. "I must be the worst hero ever... I can't even call myself a hero anymore. I'm just another villain... I'm... I'm worse than Shadowmoth..."
Ladybug and the other girls felt a great wave of empathy over the girl that curled up on herself. She really was just like them. When Ebony Mao came back from being Snow Mao, she thought nothing but the worst of herself. How could she have given in so suddenly; have gone to such a low place? Marigold felt those times she was left out of the fight and couldn't help Chat Noir, the boy she loved. Multimouse and Ladybug felt a great deal of pressure when they both had the power of all the miraculous at their disposal, Ladybug even more when she became the guardian before Master Fu could finish teaching her. Miracle was the best example of how they might end up if not for their partners.
"No, you're not." Ebony Mao spoke up, breaking Miracle out of another near spiral. "Believe me, we've all had our bad moments at some point. You've seen them with those Museum of Sorrow sentimonsters."
Miracle turned to look at the hospital bed with her Adrien still sleeping peacefully, despite everything that was going on around him. "I just wanted my partner back."
"You can still help him." Multimouse took a turn. "Maybe you didn't see the answer right away, but I'm sure that it was there. You said you're lucky charms were all ones you had in the past, then that must mean you had to go back in time to help him before the rings wiped his mind rather than combining the snake and rabbit."
"But... changing the past..." Miracle started to repeat all they were warning her about. Even though she hadn't wanted to listen, she still knew the rules of time travel.
"Well, that's one of the perks about being guardian." Ladybug said. "You learn a few things about how to use the rabbit miraculous, and there are ways to effect time without really disrupting with it."
"Really?" Miracle asked, hopefully. "When Bunnix first showed up, I didn't want to listen to her after she told me she wouldn't save Chat Blanc. I didn't want to know anything about her having the rabbit after that... Is there truly another way...?"
"Absolutely." Ladybug watched the smile spread over Miracle's face, and was ready to help her in any small way she could.
"I wouldn't get too eager to use Fluff just yet, not with the state he's in right now." Red Beetle interrupted with showing that he had both the kwami and the watch in his hands.
"Sass isn't looking any better, either." Tigre Mauve showed the same thing with the snake. Neither of the kwamis were moving, and they were breathing heavily with their eyes closed.
Multimouse took out some food she saved from the hospital in case Aspik was going to need it, and handed it to the bug and tiger heroes. "Here, see if you can get them to eat some of this."
Red and Tigre accepted what was offered and tried to give it to the kwamis. They practically ate in their sleep with they brought the food to their mouths, but it was a relief that they tried either way.
"Oh, what have I done?" Miracle stepped up to get a better look at the kwami's and the condition they were in. She looked up to find the kwamis that she lost from her miracle box had come out of their hiding spots and were looking down and the snake and rabbit as well. "I'm so very sorry everyone. I must be the worst guardian in any world out there."
"Nah, there have been some pretty bad ones long before you, Guardian." Xuppu commented.
"The guardians once made the mistake of giving the power of the box to a king, and...welllllll..." Trixx trailed off.
"Have you ever heard of King Altabsyium?" Duusu finished.
"No." Miracle answered, never hearing the name. She turned to the other heroes who all shook their heads.
"Exactly!" all of the kwamis said at once.
Then Pollen floated up to Miracle. "Do not worry, my queen, you will find a way to fix things, and you will do it the right way this time."
"I hope you're right." she turned to show her back to the kwamis. "Will you all go back to the miracle box, please? I promise to make everything better."
"Of course, my queen." Pollen went back to her spot without hesitation, and the rest of the kwamis followed after her, making the spots return to Miracle's suit.
"I hope I can keep that promise." she said more to herself, then turned to the heroes. "And I hope that I can make things better for all of you as well."
"Maybe, but it's like Red said, using Sass or Fluff wouldn't be a good idea right now. "Aspik said, sounding more winded now.
"Aspik, are you alright?" Marigold asked before the mouse hero could.
"I want to say yes, but I think I would be lying." He let himself lean on his mouse partner, and rubbed his aching temple. "I think that power up finally wore off."
Multimouse kept hold of him while she addressed the bug holders. "Should we use the cure? Maybe that will help Sass and Fluff as well."
"No, it won't work." Ladybug answered. "What's happening to them doesn't involve an akuma, so my cure can't undo the damage."
"But it does." Miracle spoke up. "I'm the akuma after all, won't purifying it undo all the damage I've done with it? If I just reject it..."
"I'm not so sure that would work either." Marigold interrupted her. "If we take the akuma while the miraculous is unified, the kwami's might still be hurt. And if we separate them before the cure, we'll all be sent back to our own worlds, and the cure might not reach Aspik, or Sass and Fluff."
"So, we're all going to be either stuck here forever or unrepairable. Great." Tigre Mauve groaned while the others were stumped at what to do.
"No, there's another way." Red broke the silence.
"What is it, Red?" Ebony Mao asked her partner.
"Do you remember what Wayzz said, about those that master the unified miraculous?" He looked at each hero seeing if they knew the answer.
Ladybug was the first to reply. "That a holder that truly wields the miraculous can use the special gifts that the combined miraculous create."
"Like the Burrow Chance. That's how I was able to start all of this in the first place." Miracle added timidly. "It took a while, but I was still able to do it."
Red stepped in front of her before continuing. "Wayzz also said that someone that combines the snake and rabbit can choose a specific moment in time to reset, even if it wasn't a moment where the Second Chance was used."
Realization spread over each hero, Miracle included. She looked down at her arm that held the glowing symbols of the rabbit and snake. "The first Burrow Chance I've used has been running this entire time... So..."
"So, that means you can still use it to go through time." Marigold finished.
"And if you go back to your world, and back in your time to before this all started..." Ebony Mao said.
"Then you can use the miraculous cure and everything will be fixed, even the kwamis." Ladybug finished enthusiastically.
"And we'll all be sent back to our own worlds!" Multimouse jumped with joy.
"Plus our absence from home will be erased as well, so any akumas that were there while we were away will never have happened, too." Ebony Mao turned to her partner, and they fist bumped for figuring out the solution. All of them were worried what would happen to their own version of Paris once they got back, so it was nice to know that it wouldn't be a problem now.
"It will be like none of this ever happened." Chat Noir added, but more quietly than the rest.
"There's one problem, though." Miracle interjected. "Once I do all of this, none of you will remember what happened these past couple days. It took me a while to figure out how to use it, so if I go back to before I used the miraculous, it will be further than you're thinking. Maybe even a day or two earlier than when you actually fell into this world."
"Then, we won't remember meeting each other, or what we learned about Shadowmoth, our identities, none of it." Ladybug said, not feeling so good about the outcome anymore.
"Just like Oblivio." Chat Noir said giving his lady a rather miserable look. She felt equally dejected and took hold of his hand as if he was going to disappear if she didn't.
"We'll forget everything." Tigre Mauve looked to Marigold, not wanting to think about how he'll forget his wonderful partner had been his princess this whole time.
"Well, most of you will." Aspik said above the pain drumming through his head.
"You mean you'll still remember all this, Aspik?" Multimouse asked still letting him lean on her.
"Yeah, it's a side effect of being the snake holder. You remember each moment in time you go back to. Best teacher is experience, and all that crap." he spat out that last part, really wishing he could lay down somewhere right now. He'd never felt like having the snake was much of a burden until this little adventure.
"Meaning, you and I would be the only ones that will remember any of this." Miracle said as she looked back to her arm where the snake symbol was.
"There's no helping it, I'm afraid." Ebony Mao said. "We may forget everything, but it's the only way we'll ever be able to set things right."
"Ebony's right." Red Beetle joined her. "What's important is that our bad guys at home never win."
"There's a time for everything." Ladybug repeated the words Bunnix once told her.
"Maybe..." Miracle started, an idea forming in her hand. "Maybe I can ask Sass and Fluff to tell you all about what happened here. One day, when there are no more secrets, they can reveal your experiences with each other. Or even better, if there's ever a day when you fall down a similar path I have, they can warn you not to take it."
"You'd do that?" Chat Noir said, astonished at the thought.
"I am the guardian, and the rabbit and snake miraculous are connected to all the others, so I don't see how it wouldn't be possible." she shrugged.
"I think it's a great idea." Marigold smiled. "Plus it would be a good backup if things ever go really wrong for us in our worlds."
"Knowing Scar, I can definitely see that as a possibility." Tigre Mauve smirked at his partner, and she only smiled warmly back at him.
Ladybug addressed Miracle. "We would really appreciate you doing that for us, Miracle, and for setting things right. What do we have to do?"
"We'll have to go back to the spot where I first arrived here, where my burrow is." Miracle answered, then started walking more toward the center of the garden were there was more open space.
Her words sent a warning bell in Ladybug's head. "Wait a minute, you mean there's been an open time portal just sitting around Paris somewhere!?"
"I had to keep it open so I would have an easy way to go back to my own world rather than searching around the different burrows for it again." Miracle answered simply, but still saw the panic in Ladybug's eyes. "Don't worry, I covered it up so no one would find it."
"Oh, you covered up the big bright doorway through time! That's comforting!" Ebony Mao snarked.
Miracle only smiled, "Come on, I'll show you. Kaalki, Voyage!"
Each hero stepped through the voyage. Red Beetle and Ebony Mao were the first to follow her. Tigre Mauve and Multimouse helped Aspik through, since it was getting harder and harder for him to stand. Marigold looked at the hospital bed, wandering if she should ask if they should bring the sleeping Adrien. But then again, if this was a matter of time travel, he would be put right back where they started in the end as well. Seeing he was fine where he was, Marigold followed the rest. Since they were the only ones left, Ladybug looked back to walk beside her partner, only to find him looking back at his family, what was left of them anyway. She couldn't see his face, so she wasn't sure what he was thinking.
He was turning the rings on his finger, his mind reeling through all the lies and deception that he still didn't know the full extent of. Now all of that was going to be erased...
"Chat..." his lady's soft voice made him turn away to see her holding out her hand to him. "We better get going, kitty."
He gave a long sigh in defeat, and went up to take her hand. "I know."
They stepped through the portal together and came out of an ally way. It looked like any other area around the city, so Ladybug wasn't too sure where they ended up. Then when she looked across the street, she saw a familiar lamp post. She remembered it because of the little jewelry shop that was in front of it. It was the same lamp post that one man ran into when he swore an akuma had stepped in front of him. An akuma with a long black cape...
Ladybug couldn't stop the singular laugh that escaped her lips, which cause her kitty to look at her. "What's so funny milady?"
"Oh, it's nothing." Ladybug decided not to share. It wouldn't really matter since everything was going to be changed anyway. She was glad that man would no longer be punished for telling the truth.
They turned to join the other heroes, who were all gathered near Miracle as she focused her attention on a dumpster.
"Plagg, Cataclysm." Miracle called out, then touched the dumpster to reduce it to ash. There she revealed the Burrow that was against the brick wall.
"I can't believe that was sitting here this whole time." Ladybug said first.
"Yeah, I used the goat miraculous to make the dumpster that blocked it rather than an illusion. That could've been discovered much easier." Miracle explained.
"Are you sure you'll be able to reach your world again with this portal?" Tigre Mauve asked to be sure.
"Don't worry, I know where I need to go, and when I need to be." Miracle started to fidget with her hands, not sure if she should say want she wants to. "I... I know I've made some horrible mistakes, and that I don't really have a right to ask this, but I hope that you all can forgive me. Even though you won't remember any of this once I use the cure..."
"I'll remember." Aspik stepped in. "And I, for one, already forgive you."
"Thank you." Miracle gave him a soft smile. "I don't know what will happen once everything goes back to before we all met, but hopefully it will be for the best."
"It might be for the best, or it might be worse." Ebony Mao spoke up. "But whichever it will be, it will be our choices, and we can live with that."
"That's right." Red stood beside his partner. "Each of us will get through it together like we always have."
"And one more thing Miracle." Marigold stepped up to her. "I know it seemed like you were all alone, but from what you told us, your partner was still there with you, even as Chat Blanc. So, I don't think he ever had any doubt that you will free him. We all know you will, too."
Miracle didn't even bother wiping away the tears spilling from her eyes. "Thank you."
Marigold then gave her a tight hug before moving over to stand beside Tigre Mauve. Miracle could see all of them, in the many shapes and forms. No matter what happened in their lives, or as the different heroes, they were always together. Marinette and Adrien really were made for each other. Chat Blanc had still been the teammate she needed, even when he couldn't fight beside her. She had just forgotten that for a moment. Now she felt like she finally woke up from the longest nightmare in the world, and got ready to go through the Burrow.
"I don't know how long it's going to take me, maybe several minutes. So, I think at least you will all get to say your goodbyes." She informed them before she stepped in.
"We appreciate that, Miracle. Goodbye, and good luck." Red Beetle gave her a wave, wishing the best for her.
Miracle waved back at them, then jumped through the burrow and it closed right in front of them. None of them were sure what would happen next. Would the world start to fade away? Or maybe there would be this great white void that would slowly spread over them like in the movies, and then they'd wake up to their designated worlds. When they were all forced to this one, they remembered a dark sinking feeling, so would it be like that? And more importantly, how much time did they all have left together?
"How long do you think it will take?" Multimouse was the first to ask, and she was asking Aspik more than anyone else.
"I guess it all depends on Miracle. Plus, I'm not sure if it will be instantaneous and we'll all just be in a certain spot in time like when I use the second chance. Or it could be like waking up one morning trying to remember a dream." he gave his best answer.
"It won't really matter much, because we won't remember anything." Chat Noir said, sounding angrier about it. "Shadowmoth will still be out there, making akumas and destroying Paris."
Ladybug wanted to say something to him, but Tigre Mauve beat her to it. "Look, Chat, I know things seem awful now, especially learning who your villain it. To Marigold and me, he's still Hawkmoth. I don't know if his motives are the same or not, but maybe if we keep beating him, father will give up and look for another way like how it happened in Aspik's world."
"And if he doesn't?" Chat Noir shot back. "If he keeps being the villain, hurting my friends and everyone I care about, or if he takes thing's further like with Miracle and Chat Blanc. What can we do then?!"
"You do what you've always done." Red Beetle answered, holding Ebony's hand. "You fight the akuma, purify it, and put a stop to the butterfly holder for the sake of Paris."
"Red and I may not know who Lunamoth is, but we're not going to let that stop us. We made a promise to each other, and to the city. We'll see it through no matter what happens." Ebony Mao added.
"Plus, even though it's not Gabriel Agreste," Multimouse said next. "Aspik and I'll still have to fight a butterfly holder that threatens our city. Each of us has a job to do, no matter who we're facing."
Ladybug took her turn and grasped Chat's hand tightly. "You and me against the world. Right, kitty?"
Though he still felt distressed, he gave his lady a small smile. "Always, milady."
"I'm just sorry that I'm going to forget who you are, Princess." Tigre Mauve said addressing Marigold.
"Or that we will forget about Scarlet Lady." she said back, giggling that the grumpy face her kitty gained.
"Ugh, just when I thought that nightmare would be over..." it all seemed so unfair having to put up with Scar the way he did.
"Don't worry, kitty, I'll always be there for you to pick up Scar's slack." she hugged him around the waist and let him wrap his arms around her.
"I know you will, my sweet princess." He kissed her forehead and just held her. Feeling happy that she was with him, but also sorrow since he wouldn't remember that it was Marinette. He'd just have to enjoy it while it lasted.
Ebony Mao and Red Beetle watched the display before them. They both thought it was really sweet seeing other versions of them together, but at the same time it felt like they were watching completely different people. They didn't have as much relations as the rest, and they were the ones that felt they were losing the least once everything was back to normal.
"You know, I will be sad that I won't know your name anymore, but..." Ebony started.
"But we don't really know each other either way." Red finished, reading her mind. He ran his hands gently through her hair and along her cheek, as if trying to hold the memory of the beautiful girl behind the mask. her eyes closed at his soft caress. "It doesn't matter when and where I learn your name, you will always be my Kitten."
She smiled at his words and knew it didn't make a difference to her either. Then a thought struck her head. "You know, they were all saying how you went to my school, and we were friends there." she supplied.
"Yeah, I wish I could've gone to your school, if only to meet you properly." he wanted that more than anything.
"Maybe you still can." her black ears perked up in hope.
To Red, it sounded impossible. "But how, we won't remember anything..."
"That doesn't mean you still can't try. You could talk to your father or look up the school to get yourself enrolled, and then you can be with all your friends like these guys are." she held both his hands to encourage him. "You may not remember it now, but maybe one day you will try if you want it hard enough."
"And we'll really see each other again." he smiled at her, then turned to tease. "Do you think you'll recognize me as your partner, or will the secret identities keep us apart longer?"
She only smirked back at him. "I don't know, you'll have to come to my school to find out. And I bet I will figure you out before you do me."
"As if, I'm pretty sure I would recognize my kitten first if I looked hard enough." he crossed his arms in full confidence.
"I don't know about that; Marigold did a pretty good job at fooling me when I gave her the mouse." Tigre Mauve commented, not letting go of his partner.
"We've pulled some pretty tricky stuff as well to keep our identities a secret." Multimouse added.
"Yeah, but you knew who each other was the whole time. That doesn't count." Tigre shot back, making everyone laugh.
Ladybug saw everything happening around her and couldn't help laughing with them at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. But then she noticed that Chat Noir wasn't laughing with them. Was he still worried about Shadowmoth getting the miraculous back? She saw him messing with the wedding rings again, and it made her remember their significance. Once everything was reset, they would be back in the hands of his father, giving him control over his son again. If nothing else, she wished that would be the one thing that wouldn't be reversed, and the rings would stay safely on her kitty's hand.
She reached over to rub his back, trying to give him the same comfort he gave to Miracle earlier. "It'll be okay, Chat."
"I'm not so sure it will." he said quietly. "Shadowmoth will be free again to use akumas. It will all be back to the way it was..."
She wasn't going to let her last moments with her partner as a whole be filled with despair. "We will find out the truth eventually, and your father won't have the miraculous anymore. And, maybe, we can look for a right way to help your mother, so you won't be alone..."
"I know all that..." he interrupted her. "But that's not really what I'm worried about."
Ladybug couldn't think of what else he was referring to. "What then?"
"It'll be like Oblivio again, but worse." he closed his eyes tightly to fight against the tears. "Back then, there was some evidence to what happened because of that photo. But now, I won't even remember that you said you love me, and you'll be back to not liking Chat Noir."
"Chat, I don't..." She wanted to deny it, but she could also see where his mind was set.
"I know you said that you cared about Chat Noir, but what about how you felt before learning who I am? Was there anything about me that made you think there was a chance between us?"
"Of course there was, several times." she answered without hesitation. Then she thought over some things they've been through recently. "I know I didn't turn to you for help as often as I should have, especially when I became guardian. And then there was my civilian self trying to tell Adrien my feelings, and maybe I should've noticed that he was feeling lonely as well."
"But now you'll go back to only liking that part of me..." Chat added in complete defeat.
"Can you say the same thing if it's reversed?" she countered, feeling anxious for asking this.
"What?" her questioned made him finally look at her.
"Well, would you like Marinette if she told you she loved you, or would you only like Marinette after learning she was Ladybug?"
"What!? No, of course not!" he said right away. "I've always liked everything about you, Marinette. You're kind, sweet, caring, beautiful, and you were the first real friend I ever had. When Chloe pulled that prank with the gum, I was distraught thinking that you hated me. I just felt lucky enough that you heard me out when I tried to apologize in the rain. I wasn't sure if things could ever be more than friendship, and a part of me worried that I wasn't feeling faithful to Ladybug..."
"I felt the same way." she stopped him there. "I kept looking at as liking two different boys, but I was choosing Adrien. There were sometimes I felt I could love my kitty more, but then..." she trailed off.
He knew what she was going to say, though. "Chat Blanc."
"Yeah." She nodded and saw a single tear escape down his cheek. She caught it, thinking of the time she'd done this before.
Though his heart still hurt, it felt good to have Ladybug so close to him. "I suppose I'm just as guilty for thinking the same thing. I called Marinette my Everyday Ladybug after all. I guess I labeled it off to having a type, or something."
"Heh, yeah, I suppose that's one way to look at it. And you know, despite what you think, Adrien and Chat are not all that different. Maybe I never saw it as easily before because my brain couldn't grasp the idea that I had been crushing on the same guy giving me flowers and shamelessly flirting with me." Ladybug was sure her earlier self would've died from embarrassment if she discovered the truth then.
Chat Noir felt a little embarrassed himself, but he'd never regret any of it. "You know, when Kwamibuster happened, I was actually disappointed that you weren't Marinette, or at least that you made me think that."
"Really!?" that surprised her.
"Yeah, I thought that would've been the most wonderful thing in the world if my princess was my lady. It also conflicted me because I thought I had strong feelings for two different girls." he kissed her hand, feeling better about everything despite it going away in a matter of minutes. "But I guess now I would have to wait for the moment when Marinette tells me how she really feels, if you think that will ever happen. Will it?"
Ladybug felt her cheeks heat up, and even more so when she answered him. "You once told me that whether we were partners, or anything more if we wanted, that you and I are certain..."
"Yeah, and I meant every word."
"Well, I want to believe that, too. I don't know when, but one day I'll be able to say it to you without messing up." she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.
"I'll be waiting." he whispered into her hair.
They held each other for a few seconds before Ladybug pulled away slightly and turned her gaze to all the other heroes. They were each beside their partners, holding one another and waiting. She felt like she should say something. Should she give a small speech? Give congratulations on a job well done like she did with the temporary heroes? Or maybe just simply thank them and say goodbye. For some reason, words were just escaping her.
"This all feels a little weird, doesn't it?" she got out, not even sure of her own words. "I feel like I should say something, but I don't know what."
"I would think a goodbye would be okay, but even that feels a little strange." Chat Noir commented.
"Yeah, it's one thing when we have heroes from another country or something to come and help us, but this goes way off road. Saying goodbye to yourselves, and all that." Ebony Mao said.
"I would've said this has been a memorable experience, but..." Tigre Mauve trailed off.
"Maybe there will be a part of you that remembers, like deja vu. It's happened with Multimouse before." Aspik words surprised everyone.
"Really, how?" Marigold asked.
"There was this akuma that had the same powers as the snake. We were using the bug and cat at the time, and we thought we couldn't beat it." Multimouse started to explain. "But then our miraculous magic started to work against it with my lucky charm changing every time by telling me where Catwalker should use his cataclysm until we caught the akuma."
"So the miraculous was helping you fight without you needing to remember?" Ladybug added.
"Yep, and I'm willing to bet that the same thing could happen here. Maybe it will seem like a dream, but there will always be a piece of us that knows." Aspik said.
"Well, whatever happens," Ladybug stepped closer with her kitty, and they were all gathered together. "These past few days has shown me without any doubt that the two of us, Marinette and Adrien, in any costume or power, are the best superhero team." She held out her fists, and they all joined in.
"Pound it!"
It was then that things started to feel strange. Even though they felt the ground under their feet, it was as though they were sinking. Ladybug pulled away from Chat slightly to look at his face, and she could tell he was feeling the same thing. Her peripheral vision was starting to go blurry, and all the sounds was fading away. She could still see Chat Noir, and he was still looking right at her. She didn't want to look away at the other heroes in case he's not there anymore when she looked back.
"I love you, Adrien." she couldn't hear herself talk, but she saw his smile spread. Whether he heard her words or just read her lips, she wasn't certain, but she vaguely heard him answer back.
"I love you too Marinette."
Then everything went black.
.
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Miracle knew the moment she needed to go back to, to save her kitty. She also knew that she had to keep the promise she made to the other heroes, to not get greedy about setting time the way she wanted it. There was only one moment that she knew where she truly went wrong. The moment where her panic took over and she ignored her instincts.
The magic of the rabbit and the snake was a strange feeling. Not only did she have access to all the burrows, but the power of the snake made it seem as though there were burrows inside the burrows. But even through all the mess, she knew the places she had to fix. She went back to the moment she first unified the two miraculous, which would set things a little earlier for all the heroes. She just hoped everything would still happen the way it was supposed to in each of their times.
"Tikki, Miraculous Ladybug." she used her staff to call for the miraculous cure and repair all the damaged caused from her merging the snake and rabbit. Now, it was as if she had never used them, and the kwamis would be alright in every world. She looked at the snake and rabbit symbols on her arm that were no longer glowing, so that told her it worked. Next, she turned her attention to her surroundings.
Everything was just as she left it. The cure had no effect on anything before the unification since she was still an akuma, and all the effects of her being Miracle still remained. Gabriel Agreste was encased in stone beside his wife's chamber. Her long black cape had returned over her shoulders, and Adrien was back to being Chat Blanc from the Masquerade sentimonster. She quickly got rid of that and made Adrien rest on the ground. He seemed a little less scared, and was looking around the room curiously. So, she made sure not to make any sudden moves and frighten him as she reached behind to take the black cat ring from the miracle box. She then placed it on the boy's finger and watch the little destruction god appear before them.
"Huh, wha-... Pigtails?" Plagg looked at her, at his holder on the ground, and then back at her to look over her new look. "Are- are you an akuma?... What happened? Last I remember I still had that horrible akuma in me."
"A lot has happened in the past few days Plagg. Although, in reality it was only a few seconds." Miracle answered.
"Oh, did something happen involving time travel? That stuff always gives me a headache." Plagg grumbled. He then looked at the state of his kitten again, and got angry. "And what happened to Adrien?"
Miracle started explaining what had happened during their fight with Shadowmoth. How he used the ring to wipe Adrien's mind. How she wasn't able to fix it with miraculous cure, and how her failure helped the villain into akumatizing her. Then when she stopped him she said how she tried to hide away from the mistake by unifying the snake and rabbit miraculous.
"So, you're telling me that you tried to throw my kitten away just so you wouldn't have to deal with him, and Relace Him With A Different One!" Plagg shouted at the outrageous thought.
Miracle let the cat kwami say what he wanted about her. He was well within his right to. "I wasn't thinking clearly Plagg. Being an akuma kept me from seeing the real answer. Luckily, all the other versions of Adrien and myself were able to help me."
"But you're still an akuma. How do you know that you won't make the wrong choice again? And just what are you going to do?" Plagg crossed his arms in uncertainty.
Miracle just smiled, and held a hand to the yin yang symbol over her chest. "Tikki, Lucky Charm." A swirl of ladybugs appeared and presented her with a spotted jewelry box. It was only big enough to hold a pair of rings. The words from the Ladybug in that other world came back to her, about how to use the rabbit miraculous without disrupting time. She looked at the box, next Adrien, then the chamber, and then turned to the symbol of the rabbit on her arm. The answer finally came to her. "I know what I need to do, Plagg, and this time I'm going to fix everything."
Plagg looked at her determination, the same one he had always seen with Ladybug. Plus, since this was Tikki's magic, he was able to believe it better. So, he got ready to follow through with whatever her plan would be.
"What do you gotta do?" the black kwami relented.
"Don't worry, Plagg. I'm going to make sure this won't happen to Adrien ever again." she scratched his little chin to comfort him, then got to work...
.
.
"Second Chance."
"Okay Scales, just let me know when you find the best way to take out the akuma." he heard his partner say next to him.
"Huh, what?" her words confused him.
"Let me know how many tries you have to take to stop Desperada." Multimouse rephrased.
"Desperada?" Aspik looked around real quick. They were in the sewers. This wasn't the place he expected they'd end up. The good news was he no longer felt pain, so that must mean that Sass was alright now.
"Umm, yeah you know Desperada, musical akuma that's got tons of different weapons that we can't risk being hit by." she didn't understand why he was so confused. Did something happen on one of the second chances?
It took Aspik another minute to realize what was going on. "Oh, that's right. She said the reset would take us further than when we fell into that other world."
"What are you talking about, Aspik?" Multimouse was more confused now.
Aspik looked down and saw that the timer on his bracelet was still running. Luckily, he didn't need it anymore to remember what they needed to do. "Don't worry, sweetpea, I'll explain everything later, and I know what we need to do for Desperada."
"Great, what's the plan?" she asked ready for action.
Aspik made his way out of the sewers, and back onto the Liberty where he turned on the speakers at max, and started playing one of Jagged Stones songs to get the akumas attention. Desperada leaped from the Eiffel Tower and onto the boat where she saw the snake hero.
"You won't get away from me!" she aimed her trumpets at him, and Aspik jumped away from the speakers and slid toward the drum set.
"You'll have to do better than that." Aspik pulled the cymbals off the drums and made a run for it off the boat.
"Get back here!" Desperada cried out as she chased after him.
Aspik made his way down an ally and ran through it with Desperada right behind him, He remembered how it happened before. She thought she had the upper hand being in a such a narrow space, so she pulled out a trombone from her guitar case, and got ready to shoot. Aspik was prepared for this, and knew the moment she would fire. Right... about... Now!
Desperada knew she made contact because of the puff of orange-yellow smoke that appeared in the ally. "Ha, Gotcha!" she cheered.
"Guess again." she heard a voice above her.
Aspik was standing on a pile of wooden crates, and was still holding the cymbals. Now she understood, he must've been using the pieces as a shield and that's what she hit. She acted quick and aimed her instrument at him again. He blocked it with the cymbal again, but then she shot some more to knock it out of his hands. Now he was more vulnerable. Aspik flipped up and over her to run back out of the ally the way they came.
He still had one cymbal, so he was able to shield himself from Desperada's rapid fire, and kept running toward the Eiffel Tower. He got behind one of the legs, then turned to stand his ground. Desperada, suspecting a trap since he went back to her own sniping spot, got behind the leg and aimed her instrument at him. They were now at a standstill, waiting for one or the other to strike first.
"Give up, Desperada!" Aspik called out.
"Not gonna happen!" was her response, and she started firing again.
The snake holder expected this, and dodged the attack. "Knew you'd say that. Now Multimouse!"
"What!?"
Next thing the akuma knew, something had wrapped around her left arm, and pulled it between the metal framework of the tower. She tried to defend herself and use her other hand to hit the snake holder, but then the same thing happened to her right hand, and she dropped her instrument with her arms spread out. Aspik ran up to her and broke the guitar case releasing the akuma.
Things calmed down after that. Multimouse and Aspik took the girl back to the Liberty where Jagged Stone and a few others was waiting for her. The heroes said their goodbyes and that they had to take the akuma to the bug and cat holders.
When they got to their hiding spot, Multimouse merged Tikki into Multibug, and purified the akuma. Luckily they damage wasn't to great with this akuma, and Marinette and Adrien met back with their friends.
"Hey Adrien, what happened earlier, you looked a little confused about where you were for a moment there?" Marinette asked when they had a moment alone together.
"Ummm." Adrien knew he couldn't say anything yet, it wasn't safe right now and it was a long story. "I'll tell you later on patrol. And let's go as the cat and bug this time." he whispered.
"Okay." Marinette didn't question it further.
Later that night, Coccinelle met with Catwalker atop the Eiffel Tower. She noticed when he came up to her that he was wearing the snake bracelet, which was a risk. They never wore their second miraculous together when they were the bug and cat heroes, less someone saw them and put two and two together.
"What's going on, Chaton?" the bug hero asked.
"Well, something really big happened, and only those that held the snake or rabbit would remember it. I wanted to tell you about it, and I figured having Sass out would help to fill in some of the blanks." Catwalker went to the door to go to the inside of the tower. He figured they could sit inside and have plenty of time to talk.
They took a couple of the chairs out, and Coccinelle sat right beside him. "What happened?"
He told her everything. How there was a world out there where his father was a terrible villain using his own son as a soldier fighting against his partner. How the version of Ladybug, her first identity as the bug holder, lost her partner and took desperate measures to get him back. How they met different versions of themselves as heroes, and the different ways they knew each other. Coccinelle asked a question now and then to understand everything, like the unified snake and rabbit and how dangerous it was. Sass helped explain a few things like how it affected the kwamis in each world, and how Adrien could've been seriously hurt as well. She interrupted him asking if he was alright now, and he assured her he was before continuing. When the story was over, all the bug hero could do was stare at her partner.
Catwalker wasn't too sure what she was thinking. "You okay, milady?"
"Y-yeah, it's just... Wow." She had no real words to describe what she felt about the story she just heard. One thing stuck in her mind, though. "So, your father chose to play the villain so he could take away the miraculous and make the wish?"
"Apparently in a couple of those worlds, yes." he replied sadly. He remembered when she asked the same thing when the other heroes explained things to them. "I don't know if that makes me the lucky one, or does fate have a worse setup for me?"
"No, kitty, you can't think like that. Things are so different with your father there's no way that would happen, and even if it did I would be there to help you." she slid her arm behind his back to pull him in for an embrace. "I can't imagine how it would've been if I didn't know it was you behind the mask the entire time." she added.
"I saw how it was, and there was a lot of confusion." He smiled. Being able to watch it from the outside, it all seemed like some crazy romantic comedy. "One side of us liking the other side, and that other side liked the first not knowing they were the same person."
"That's messed up." she protested, but then was laughing with him. "I wish I could remember it."
"It's okay, what matters is that we saved the world, every world, and everything was put back to normal as far as we could tell." Catwalker reached over and placed his arm over her shoulders. "And also..."
She looked up at him, their noses nearly touching. "What?"
"That no matter what happens, or who we are facing. Whether it's Agrias, or had still been Hawkmoth, it's you and me against the world, my lovely princess." He looked deeply into her eyes and saw the rosy red spread on her cheeks.
She smiled at him and held her hand to his cheek. "Always, my dear prince." Then she pulled him in for a kiss.
.
.
Adrien was feeling very off this morning. Normally his routine would carry on without any problems, but for some reason today he just he couldn't keep his head on straight. When he was in the shower this morning, he almost dropped the bottle of body wash on his foot. At the last millisecond, he pulled his foot away, thinking how he didn't want that to happen again. That made him stop and wonder why he thought that, he hadn't dropped the bottle on his toe before, had he? Then later when he got dressed and brushed his teeth, he saw Tikki drawing on the foggy condensation on the mirror. She was drawing daisies all across the bottom, and then stopped.
"What, no smiley faces this time?" Adrien teased, figuring she was done now.
"Huh?" Tikki turned to her holder confused.
"You aren't going to draw faces on the flowers this time?" he asked again.
"I- I was just about to..." Tikki looked at the mirror, then back at the boy. "What do you mean this time?"
"You've done it before, haven't you Tikki?" he asked.
"I don't think so."
He was confused, but then just shrugged it off. "I guess I just imagined it. Forget about it, Tikki." Then he walked out into his room. He barely heard her reply.
"Sure."
He saw on his desk that Nathalie had brought him breakfast already, and helped himself to some toast and jam while he turned on the TV to some of the engineering programs he liked to watch for inspiration. He flipped a bit until he got to one that talked about how certain structures would fail because of one small miscalculation. Adrien thought it was fascinating until he started to notice that the buildings and bridges on the show looked very familiar. Not that he had been there before, but that the footage and narration sounded like he had heard it already.
"Hey Tikki, have we watched this one already?" He turned to his kwami, who was helping herself to some toast with a lot of extra strawberry jam.
"Mmmmm, not that I remember." she answer between bites.
"I could swear..." he mumbled.
"Maybe you saw a different program that had the same subject." Tikki supplied a possible explanation.
"Yeah, that's probably it." Adrien accepted that, then turned off the TV. He had to get started of his lessons anyway.
He got through the mathematics part fast enough, then gave himself a break by doing a search on modern architecture. There were several that were very well done. Some buildings were done in the most unique way. Some of them were even hospitals. He had hoped that one day he would be able to create one such as these. However, when he would try to do a sketch of what the building would look like, he never could imagine outside a basic structure.
"Tikki?" he called for the kwami as he crumbled up a sheet of paper and threw it in the bin.
"What is it Adrien?" the red kwami floated up and looked over her the boy's work.
"Were your previous holders always the creative type?" he rested his head on one hand, and twirled his pencil around with the other.
"Well, it depends on what you mean by creative?" Tikki took her own pencil and started drawing a picture of a slice of cherry pie, very well done, too.
"I mean like, was everyone good at something. Like one was good at painting, one was writing, maybe even one was music?" Adrien asked. His own piano skills were good, but he never felt the need to compose his own piece.
"Every one of my holders had their own strengths and weaknesses, but it's not always best to compare two together." Tikki answered. "The lives of each of my holders was different. Like I would have one that had the greatest imagination, but it was during a time that not everyone could read and write, so their stories weren't always remembered."
"So there were limitations?"
"In some cases, yes." Tikki went over to the cup of pencils and started coloring in the red for the cherries.
"But I have all the education at my disposal, and yet I can't think of a good idea for what I want to do." Adrien grumbled, running his fingers through his hair. "Does that mean I'm not creative enough?"
"Of course not, Adrien." Tikki set the pencil down and floated up to face her holder. "Creation is not always about making something new and exciting."
"But what about when I need it to?" he looked at his kwami, hoping for the right answer.
"You just have to find the right way to use your strengths." Tikki said simply, but he wasn't sure what to do with that answer.
What sort of strengths did he have? He thought about it for a few moments, when his phone went of to signal an akuma attack. He turned on his television again to check the news. Nadja was saying how there was some sort of mind control that was spreading with people chasing others and coming into contact with them.
"We better head out to see what's going on. Tikki, Spots On!"
Red Beetle zipped off to the roof of the buildings across the street, and heard his yoyo sound off before he could swing away again. It was a message from Ebony Mao and her voice was very frantic.
"Red Beetle, we got a serious akuma on our hands. The akuma's name is Zombizou, and her power is turning everyone into contagious zombies! Do Not, I Repeat, Do Not Fight with anyone in the streets! Any contact will turn you into a Zombie! I'm on the roof of the Dupont-Francois school with some students that aren't infected yet, and I could use some help!"
"That school again!?" Red exasperated. Just what was Lunamoth's fascination with that school, anyway?
The spotted hero swung above the buildings and away from the infected citizens, and came up to the middle school to find Ebony Mao defending several students on the roof. He could see people were trying to climb of the building or come through the stairway, so his partner was going to need some help.
"How are things, Kitten?" Red asked as he landed on the roof next to them.
"Oh, Red, thank goo-" Ebony started to say before someone shoved her aside.
"Oh, My Hero!" Chloe flung her arms around him and held on to the hero in what he knew was her fake hysteria. "You would not Believe what I've been through! First that stupid baker girl thinks she can humiliate me, and then the Ridiculous akuma decides to make me a target for no good reason! And now that stupid flea-bitten stray is doing nothing but failing! But you'll protect me, won't you Beetlekins?"
Chloe actually tried to reach for him to give him a kiss, but Red Beetle quickly took hold of her shoulders and made her step away. Then he turned his attention to his black cat partner. She was looking very angry right now. Her shoulders were shaking, she was hissing through her teeth, and if her braid had been an actual tail he was pretty sure it would be ruffled up. He supposes she didn't take kindly to Chloe's actions, and he can admit that he felt his skin crawl every time the blonde brat acted like that. If things weren't so serious right now, he would have given her a good tongue lashing about personal space, but it would have to wait.
"Can you tell me more of what's going on, Ebony?" he asked his partner, not giving Chloe any mind when she tried to shout again to get his attention.
Ebony took a deep breath to calm herself down, then answered him. "The akuma is a teacher named Madame Bustier. She puts her magical kiss on a person, and they can make the spell spread on contact. I think the akumas in her lip balm. The problem is with all these infected people, we can't get to the akuma..."
Red Beetle took a glance over the edge of the building. Strange, the view looked familiar to him, but he knew he hasn't been in this situation before. Either way, it wouldn't be long before the infected would reach them. He and Ebony Mao might be able to fight them off, but like she said, it won't do much good if they can't get to the akuma. Then something occurred to him.
"Is the akuma really after Chloe?" he asked.
"Yeah, she is." Ebony answered. "It's no surprise really, seeing as how many times it's happened before. Maybe that's why everything feels so weirdly familiar today." She grumbled that last part, but Red still heard it.
"Wait, things have been feeling strange to you?" He didn't think much of it earlier, but if it was happening to his kitten as well, it can't be a coincidence.
"Yeah, like I was having the biggest case of deja vu of my life." Ebony replied. At first she thought that Plagg's serenades about cheese were just starting to sound repetitive, and then her fumbling at breakfast was nothing new. But then the sketches on her desk looked like she already made them even though she knew it was a new page. And then everything that happened with Chloe and her gift...
"The same thing was happening to me, like I was reliving the day somehow." Red said.
"Do you think there's another akuma out there?" Ebony asked concerned.
"I don't know, but right now let's deal with the current one." Red looked back down the building to find that the infected people were scaling the walls now, and they would reach them shortly. He quickly took his yoyo, and swung it to another building at a lower angle. Then he addressed all the students that weren't under the spell. "Listen up everyone, were going to zipline to that building there. I promise that Ebony Mao and I will protect you, so get ready."
"Do you have a plan, Red?" Ebony Mao asked as she got all the students to line up.
"If Chloe is the real target, then we'll have to force the akuma to come get her if we can keep the minions from reaching her." Red Beetle worked the best strategy.
"Make her come to us. Got it." Ebony Mao understood, and got ready to fend off anyone that came near them.
"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! You expect me to just play the bait!?" Chloe nearly screamed at hearing the heroes' plan.
"Or we could just leave you here and be kissed into a zombie!" Ebony hissed at the girl.
Flinching at the thought, Chloe kept her mouth shut after that. Red was thankful for the silence, then turned back to his partner. "I just hope this works."
"Something tells me that it will." Ebony smiled at him.
"Because of the deja vu?" he questioned.
"No, just because it's us, and together we won't lose." She gave him a wink, and helped the last person along the yoyo before taking off herself.
All Red Beetle could do was smile at his wonderful partner. If nothing else, he could always believe in her...
.
.
Marigold was looking around for the dark, but familiar, silhouette to come jumping atop the buildings of Paris so they could start on their patrol. So far, she hadn't seen any sign of Chat Noir. She wondered what was keeping him. Was he still upset about when she exposed herself as Multimouse? She hoped he wasn't too disappointed in her, but it was the only way for her to not expose her identity as the bee holder. Hopefully, he won't think to give Marinette another miraculous, because she had doubts that stunt would work a second time.
"Hello there, little honeybee. Lovely night, isn't it?" the bee holder heard a familiar voice behind her.
She turned around to greet him, but was halted at the sight of someone she didn't recognize. It looked like a young boy in a cat suit similar to her partner, but it was purple and striped like a tiger. She wasn't sure if this was another hero, or an akuma, so she kept her guard up. "Who are you?"
"It's me, Goldie, don't worry." Only one person called her that.
"Chat Noir?"
"It's Tigre Mauve for now. Do you like it?" He twirled around to give her the full body view.
It was a similar suit to the black cat, but at the same time very different. Even his usually golden hair was changed to match a tiger. Not that Marigold didn't like it, he looked just as dashing as ever, but she did wonder. "What happened? Why don't you have your normal miraculous?"
"Oh, Plagg got a little sick, so I had to take him to Master Fu. I didn't want to miss our usual patrol, or possibly leave you alone to deal with an akuma, so I chose the tiger for tonight." Tigre Mauve explained.
"Oh, poor Plagg, I hope he feels better soon. Well, I'm glad you were still able to meet me." Marigold felt warm knowing that he was thinking of her.
"Plus, look at it this way." he came up and placed his arm around her shoulders.
"W-what?" she managed to get out through the sudden spike in her heartrate when he held her.
"Now we really match as partners, were both in stripes." he smiled.
"You're funny, kitty." she let herself giggle before slipping away from his grasp. "Ready to start our patrol?"
"I was born ready." he whipped off the bolas from his waist and started swinging them in a circle. There was something about the tiger miraculous that made him feel more... not really free, more like dangerous.
The way he was displaying himself sparked a memory of something that made Marigold snort with laughter and she had to bite her lower lip. Tigre Mauve didn't know what he did to make her act like that, but she had such an adorable laugh that it didn't seem so important. But he was curious.
"Did I say something funny, Goldie?" he asked, still swinging his weapon.
"It's just... the way you did that... reminded me of something from a play..." Marigold tried to get out in between laughing.
"What play?" now he was intrigued.
Instead of answering, the bee hero took out her spinning top, and opened it to the search window to look up the right song. When she hit play and he heard the first notes, he recognized the play she was referring to immediately. His mother always loved this one and they would have fun acting it out together. It was also one of the reasons he felt so good about being a cat themed hero. So, he couldn't stop himself from going along with the song.
"Meow..." he matched the singer's cue, and Marigold kept playing the song.
The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat...
"If ya offer me pheasant, I'd rather have grass." He swung the bolas back around his waist and made a strut toward the bee hero. Marigold set the spinning top aside, but let the music keep going.
"If you put me in a house, I would much prefer a flat. If you put me in a flat, then I'd rather have a house. If you set me on a mouse, then I only want a rat. If you set me on a rat, then I'd rather chase a mouse." Tigre Mauve and Marigold worked with each other to the music. Swinging their hips and taking long strides in a circle near each other, but they didn't touch yet.
The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat
"And there isn't any call for me to shout it..." Tigre took hold of the bee's hand and gave her a twirl until her back was to his chest.
For he will do as he do do
"And there's no doing anything abou-ou-ou-out it, no..." Marigold swayed her hips with him before stepping away.
The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore, She held her hand out dramatically as if she were rejecting him.
"When you let me in, then I want to go out. I'm always on the wrong side of every door. As soon as I get home, then I like to get about. I like to lie in the bureau drawer. But I make such a fuss if I can't get out, Hoo!" Going a little more solo now, Tigre Mauve took to the rest of the roof with the lyrics. He jumped and slid along a chimney. Then he went to an antenna to use for poll dancing. Marigold was just holding her sides laughing away at the kitty's display.
The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious cat
"And there isn't any use for you to doubt it.." He rocked his hips some more.
For he will do as he do do
"And there's no doing anything abou-ou-ou-out it,"
The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious beast, Marigold added one more move with a small shimmy of her shoulders. Then Tigre Mauve took her hand again to have a makeshift tango with her.
"My disobliging ways is a matter of habit, yeah... He gave her a twirl, and Marigold matched him in rhythm of his dance steps, all the while biting her bottom lip to hold in her laughter, but it was a struggle.
"If you offer me fish, then I always want a feast. When there isn't any fish, well, darling, I'm not having rabbit. If you offer me cream, then I sniff and sneer. For I only like what i find for myself..." He dipped her, and then pulled her close like he was going to kiss her...
"No." Then Tigre let go so fast that she nearly fell.
The Rum Tum Tugger- Marigold couldn't take it anymore and cut off the music. Her stomach was really starting to hurt from laughing so hard. Tigre Mauve lost it as well and just held on to her while having a full belly laugh.
"Oh man, that was too rich..." He said finally catching his breath.
"Can you imagine if the Ladyblogger saw any of this?" Marigold asked, whipping the happy tears from her eyes. She knew for a fact that Alya would chew off her own leg to have seen thirty seconds of that. "God, I wish I had been recording that."
"I don't think Paris would be able to take it, Goldie." he smirked and gave her a wink.
Her reply was to fall into a fit of giggles again. "Please... no more... hahahahaha..."
"Hehehehe... Phew..." he took a deep breath to calm down. "Man, I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time."
"Really?" The rest of her laugher died down at his words. "Why?"
"Oh you know, I haven't been able to relax all that much, with my civilian life and then having to deal with Scar. It makes me all the more grateful that you're here to help me, Goldie." The smile he was giving her sent Marigold's heart into overdrive. Was it her, or was having the tiger miraculous making him more flirty?
"I'm glad I was able to help you as your partner, Chat- er, I mean Tigre." she saved her mishap.
"I'm glad, too." Tigre Mauve said honestly. He may have been a little sore that Marinette couldn't stay as part of the team, but Marigold was still the best he could ask for. He walked to the end of the roof, and held out his hand to her. "Shall we, then?"
"We shall." They leaped off together into the city.
.
.
Today had been way too close for Marinette. She had been so worried about whether or not she should leave the fox miraculous with Alya permanently, even having nightmares about how it could go wrong. Then much of her fears were justified when Shadowmoth created the Sentibubbler and held her, Nino, and the rest of the Cesaire family hostage. Alya had been able to come through with the illusion that Ladybug would never again give her a miraculous, but would that really be enough to keep her safe from Shadowmoth? Would the deception be able to last?
Alya could see her best friends struggle, and got ready to take the necklace off. "Here Marinette, if you think Trixx will be safer with you..."
Marinette stopped her and pushed the miraculous back towards her. "No, you should keep it. You're a great hero, Alya, and creating the illusion with Ladybug not giving you a miraculous anymore can work in our favor."
"Oh, do you have any ideas on what we could do?" she asked ask she placed the necklace back on.
"You were very clever today. It gives me the idea that having you as an undercover hero could give us the advantage we need against Shadowmoth."
"Oooooo, I like the sound of this." Trixx said, always loving a good level of sneakiness.
.
"Come out Ladybug and Chat Noir! Come out and FIGHT!" One Divider group shouted in sync under the Eiffel Tower.
"Okay, you asked for it?" a new voice called out in the distance.
Chat Noir came down from above, collided himself with the Divider clones, and used his baton to disperse the group. Some of them tried to grab the cat, but he quickly defended them off, knocking most of them over. When they started to overpower him, he used his baton to leap away from them, and made a run for it down the street, making sure they followed him. He tried to keep them away from the citizens, but so far he wasn't see a quick way to stop them.
"Where are you, milady?"
He had been waiting for his partner to show up and tell him what the plan was, but so far it seemed like he was just causing a distraction. He kept running away from the group that was following and made a hard right, only to find another group of Dividers waiting to ambush him. Chat Noir came to a halt, and was cornered. They were all getting ready to tackle him down, so he had no other choice.
"Cataclysm!" The black cat dropped down and touched the cobbled road they were all standing on.
The roadway easily started to crumble and cave in into the sewers below. Several of the soldiers fell with it, vanishing after being hit by the rubble. This gave Chat Noir the opportunity to fight his way through and leap off to a nearby roof. He was still looking around for his partner, but saw no sign of the spotted hero. She wasn't captured, was she? He leaped around the rooftops to see if she was anywhere in the city, when he spotted something at the news station. Was that the turtle's shell?!
Chat Noir quickly took off toward the building and saw that it was the turtle's shield, and that it was holding the Divider clones inside. But that also meant that he couldn't get in without breaking the shield, and his timer was almost out so he had to recharge before he could be of any use. He was about to do that when the shelter dropped, and the clones disappeared.
"What...?" he didn't know what happened until he saw the millions of magical ladybugs flying through the city. "Oh, great job milady."
He went to the top of the building and felt his heart stop at the sight before him. There was Ladybug with Carapace, Vesperia, Pegasus, and Polymouse all grouped together. They were doing a pound it, without him. Ladybug had finished off the akuma without him again. She never even tried to contact him.
He landed near the group of heroes, surprising the leader. "Oh, Chat Noir, there you are! I wondered where you were. Don't worry, we took care of the Divider akuma."
"Sorry, milady. I must've missed the memo." Chat Noir replied dryly. Then his ring chose that moment to go off.
"Oh, you better get out of here before you change back kitty. And I gotta take care of everyone else here. Bug out." she said as she zipped off her yoyo with the heroes heading for their assigned hiding spots.
"Yeah, later." Chat answered, though he knew no one heard him.
.
"If you must trust me once, let it be this time." Adrien cried out to Ladybug as he grasped her shoulders.
It didn't seem like she could hear him for a moment, so he had to force her into the bathroom and shut the door. Adrien's mind was reeling over the last few minutes. So, Ladybug had given the miraculous of the dog to Felix, but thought she was giving it to Adrien. And now it looks like Felix is stealing the miraculous from the guardian. This was all his fault. He never should've gone along with Felix's plan to switch places. He should've realized something was wrong.
"Ladybug?" Adrien tried to listen through the door, hoping she would answer, but he didn't hear anything. Taking a chance, he opened the door and found that she was gone.
Plagg came out of his hiding place and floated around the room thinking he would find some clue. Then he turned to face Adrien "Do you think Felix stole all the miraculous?"
"I don't know, Plagg." he answered worriedly.
"I don't get it. Why would your cousin do this? And what was the point of disguising himself as you if he wanted to get close to Ladybug? It's not like he knows your Chat Noir..."
"I don't know, Plagg!" Adrien repeated. He left the bathroom and started pacing. "I don't know anything anymore! I can't even rely on my own family if they're just going to betray me like this. My father not caring about my feelings, Felix using me. Not even my friends tried to listen to me when I didn't want to go on that stupid trip around the world!" He plopped down on his desk chair and leaned over to hold his face in his hands. "Am I not meant to trust anyone?"
"Come on, gamin, you know that's not true." Plagg tried to reassure his kitten, and pulled one of his fingers away so Adrien would look at him. "I'm sure if you think about it, there is someone that was listening to you."
Adrien did think about it, and it didn't take long. He pulled out his phone to look at some of the pictures he took with his friends, and found the ones that had Marinette in them. He remembered their talk earlier, how she listened and told him it was okay to tell his father how he felt. He may not have been able to, but he certainly felt the need now more than ever. It was because of her, because she was there for him, because she cared. His sweet, wonderful princess.
"You're right Plagg. I had Marinette, and I think I've always had her with me. Smiling at me, making be laugh, brightening my day when all seems hopeless..." he couldn't stop the warm smile that spread on his face.
"I bet Ladybug could use someone like Pigtails right about now." Plagg suggested.
A new bout of determination sparked in Adrien's eyes. "Yes, she does. Plagg, Claws Out!"
Chat Noir leaped off into the city again hoping to find his partner. His best guess was to go to their usual meeting spot by the Eiffel Tower, and luck seemed to be on his side for once. There was his lady, curled up and hugging her knees with her head down, crying in the rain. He landed behind her and wasn't sure what to say at first. She hadn't notice him yet, and he didn't get a chance to announce himself because what happened next had her full attention.
The great cluster of moths that formed a giant head came into view of the Eiffel Tower. It was the same one Shadowmoth used to address the city. This time though, it was surrounded by the turtle miraculous shelter, as well as the symbols of all the other miraculous in his possession.
"People of Paris..." the floating head started to speak. "Ladybug had promised to protect you, well she lied to you. Behold her defeat! I took all the miraculous from her! Now I am more powerful than ever! From now on, I will be attacking you relentlessly! I will be Everywhere! Probing your thoughts! Stealing your Dreams! Harnessing your Deepest Fears! Whatever Damage I can cause I will not Stop! Unless someone brings me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous..."
"I've lost everything..." Chat Noir turned to see Ladybug crumbling in on herself once more. He couldn't let her continue on like this.
He stepped up to stand beside her. "You haven't lost me."
Ladybug was surprised to see her partner. He was standing so strong like he was ready to fight against Shadowmoth then and there. How? How could he still have such confidence? How could he stand there beside her after everything?
"Why don't you just give up on me!?" she cried out. "I've lost all the miraculous! I'm the worst Guardian ever! I wanted to control everything! I didn't listen to you! I lied to you! I kept you at a distance! Every time you offered me a helping hand, I never took it! I really made a mess of everything..." She couldn't look at him anymore, worried he would agree with her and leave her.
While what she said was true, and it did hurt, Chat Noir knew that didn't mean he was going to give up on her. "Milady..." he reached out a hand.
She looked up at him again, his hand right before her. A flash of lightning appeared behind him, and his look of kindness and bravery made her heart speed up. She couldn't stop her hand from taking his. She expected to pull herself up, but instead Chat Noir nearly jerked her to her feet and pulled her into a tight embrace. With her chest against his, and his arms wrapped fully around her, even in the cold rain she had never felt so warm.
At least not until he spoke again. "We're going to get them back one by one. Until the very last, and we'll make sure this never happens again!"
He sounded so sure of himself when he said we. She had to be sure. "You, and me?"
"You, the best superhero there ever was." He let go of her and turned to the people gathered in the streets. "Them, the people of Paris."
Said people were all shouting and chanting her name. They were all standing up against Shadowmoth for her. But honestly, Ladybug didn't really hear them, all she heard was Chat Noir.
"And me, your loyal partner. No matter what, you and I are-"
"Certain." she finished for him. She wasn't sure what made her say that, but for some reason it just felt right. She looked out in the city, letting the rest of her tears dry away.
Ladybug knew she made mistakes, and if it had been anyone else, they probably would've walked away from her. But not her kitty. He had always been there for her, guided her when she needed it, and trusted her to save the day and his life when things took a bad turn. But then she let the future of Chat Blanc scare her into creating a great rift between them. She really should've relied on him more, and include him better when she called for the other heroes. Then her big mistake was letting her love for Adrien blind her to the right answer against Strike Back. That her partner was there all along. Well, she wasn't ever going to forget that again. From now on, it was them against the world, always.
Chat Noir was thinking along similar lines. He thought that when she first became guardian, that things would change for the better. That she would be able to turn to him better, that there would be fewer secrets and they would become closer. He had wanted more than anything for Ladybug to rely on him, to trust him, but the truth was that he didn't give her a good enough reason to. He let his own personal insecurities, and the desperation for love, keep him from seeing what it was that his lady really needed from him. Even when he tried the alternate persona of Catwalker, he only thought about what he assumed she wanted. Though she had told him that she liked his jokes, and that he made being a hero fun, she still needed someone to listen to her and understand her. Marinette, the girl that made his heart feel so full and warm, had shown him what it meant to be a true friend, and that's what he was going to be for Ladybug from now on. It was them against the world, always.
.
.~Fin~
.~*~*~*~*~*~
Final Notes PLEASE READ: Aaaaaaaand Curtains! That's All Folks! Thank you to those that stayed til the end. I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing it. Please leave a review to tell me your thoughts, favorite moments, or anything like that.
I have to say this was final chapter was probably the most fun to write because of how much I got to explore and make different scenarios. Putting Ladybug and Chat Noir back on their canon track goes without saying, and then putting Miracle on the right track to save Chat Blanc was how I pictured it from the beginning.
For Tigre Mauve and Marigold, this was the last time I got to play with their characters since their story wasn't mine. But I didn't want to put them in another akuma fight, or end up novelizing zoe-onesama's fan comic, so that's where the song came in as a final bow to the Tigre Mauve hero, and I'm not sorry for it. (I'm actually surprised no one ever did a music video of this with Chat Noir, I did a search a few times and found nothing. And it's almost too purrrrfect!)
Red Beetle and Ebony Mao were more of a challenge because I couldn't decide which akuma to use. At first, I thought a simple one like Gigatitan, then I thought I should go more elaborate like Dark Owl, then I settled on Zombizou. (It's little bit harder when I have to remember that Adrien isn't in the same set up as Marinette in this world.)
Aspik and Multimouse was more different since it was a matter of winning the fight with completely different miraculous, then having them switch to Coccinelle and Catwalker. I wanted to give a good example of what their partnership was like, and Desperada felt like a classic example.
Like I said, it was a lot of fun to write these little snippets of each pair and their worlds. I left some of them in the middle because I wondered if anyone would be interested if I continued with each world as their own separate stories. Mind you, it would take time, and I would be just adding them as they come to me, but I wouldn't be making them nearly as long as the series. I'm only sorry I can't do Tigre Mauve and Marigold again. So, if anyone would be interested in reading these, please let me know which one you would like to read (if not all of them). ;)
Thanks again for reading, and I hope you'll come back for my next work! ;);)