"The Time Cat!" Older Marinette and Hawkmoth exclaimed as space distortion opened behind Volpina.
"Later losers," Volpina stepped inside the distortion, both Marinettes running after her, only for both to fall flat as the space distortion disappeared.
Both Marinettes frowned in disappointment.
A time portal opened behind them, blinding nearly everyone as Plagg 3000 stepped out.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the Supreme One has once again escaped into the time stream," announced Plagg 3000 in a panic as older Marinette helped younger Marinette up to her feet. The time portal disappeared from view, leaving a very excited Alya dying to ask more questions of the armored cat, and a very confused Nino and Adrien.
"No, Volpina did. The Supreme One is right there," Older Marinette gestured to Hawkmoth, who looked bored with the situation with his impending imprisonment now being delayed.
"Where? I don't see her," Plagg 3000 looked like he was taking a headcount as he scanned around the area.
"Her? I thought the Supreme One was Hawkmoth," Older Marinette was struggling to wrap her head around this new information as Chat Noir joined her.
"Of course not. Behold the face of evil... The face of the Supreme One," Plagg 3000 opened a new portal revealing a much older and commandeering Volpina.
"Volpina," Chat whispered in disbelief.
"Oops," Older Marinette guiltily looked away. It was her fault for going after the wrong villain, and now they had lost again.
"You still could have mentioned Volpina was the Supreme One," criticized Older Marinette as she looked down at the bi-ped cat.
"I thought it was obvious," answered Plagg 3000 smugly. Older Marinette was beginning to like the original Plagg a lot more than this version. He didn't talk and wasn't nearly as smug as this cat.
"Uh-huh, sure. But just run it down for Marinette's sake," answered Chat, whom Older Marinette frowned at his betrayal. Now she saw where Plagg 3000 developed this attitude.
"Wasn't it clear that Volpina was the only one smart enough to take over the world?"
"I guess, but she never showed any initiative before to take over the world on her own before," responded Older Marinette.
"So Volpina has the Time Cat, and she's all-powerful… 20 years from now. So, short-term, everything's hakuna, right," asked Chat, looking a little hopeful.
"Not necessarily. The time stream is in flux," pointed out Plagg 3000.
"I'm tired of playing defense. I'm taking the fight to Volpina," Older Marinette announced, and began punching in some coordinates on her chrono-manipulator.
"You're going to the future," asked Chat, looking slightly worried. He had just got Marinette back and now she was leaving him again.
"Yeah," Older Marinette briefly glanced at Chat to see a hint of worry in his eyes.
"OK, OK. From here on out," Chat stepped forward to be next to Marinette, "we're in this
together, LB." Older Marinette smiled at Chat, which he returned.
"But the danger to the time stream... It's impossible!" whined Plagg 3000.
"And since when has that ever stopped us," asked Older Marinette, doing her best to concentrate on entering the coordinates.
"She's got you there," echoed Chat.
Plagg 3000 sighed, not believing he was agreeing to this, "Very well. Proceed."
Older Marinette opened a new time portal and was about to step in, when Chat cut her off, proceeding to place one foot in the portal.
"Hey, look. I've got one foot in the future. Ha ha ha…" Chat laughed to himself before Older Marinette shoved him in.
"Uhh! Let's warp... or whatever you call it," Older Marinette stepped inside, followed by Plagg 3000, leaving behind Young Marinette, Alya, Nino, Adrien, the police, and the villains staring in confusement.
It was Officer Raincomprix that brought things back to order, "Alright, let's get these people out of here!" The villains were led away, leaving the four teenagers.
"Well, that is something you don't see everyday," commented Nino as he stuck his laptop in his backpack.
"And I didn't even get to interview the talking cat," whined Alya.
Young Marinette looked over to Adrien, who quickly turned his head away when she did.
"Confused?" asked Adrien.
"Oh, yeah," young Marinette agreed.
"Good. I thought it might just be me."
Marinette smiled at Adrien, who offered a small smile in return. She hoped her future self and her future partner would be able to handle whatever happened.
Marinette entered the Volpina ruled future, almost stepping on Chat who had fallen through the time stream and landed on his face. It looked as depressing as when she last saw it, with Volpina's horrendous orange and black flags everywhere.
"So where exactly is this," asked Marinette as she looked down to Plagg 3000, who closed the portal upon his entrance.
"In your time is was known as Paris, now it's known as Volparis."
"She really needs to work on naming things, and her sense of style," critiqued Chat as he watched a flying car zoom overhead.
"Yeah. Bleak chic," agreed Marinette as Plagg 3000 began leading them down a street.
"Quickly, the eyes of the Supreme One are everywhere," urged Plagg 3000, not a moment too soon as they were intercepted by a very buff man dressed in Volpina's hideous sidekick attire.
"You there! Why aren't you toiling for the glory of the Supreme One," demanded the man.
"Oh, dude... I am so toiled out," groaned Chat. To be frank, time traveling was getting a bit exhausting.
"We got a lippy cat boy and some cats. A code 9," the man called in of his watch, both original Plagg and Plagg 3000 looked little miffed at his comment as surveillance drones entered the area.
"Tag and bag," were the man's final orders before the drones began chasing after them. Plagg 3000 stopped short, pulling out a blaster gun.
"I'll hold them off as long as I can," Plagg 3000 ordered, Marinette and Chat continuing their run, a couple of drones surviving Plagg 3000's attack to follow them. They began shooting laser beams at them, one of them burning off a piece of Chat's blt tail.
"My tail," he cried as he grabbed the remnants of his tail and tucked it into the belt around his waist.
Marinette continued running, grabbing onto a flag and flipping over, kicking one drone into the other drone.
"At least they didn't get the ears," Chat tentatively touch where the cat ears should be on his hoodie, satisfied to find them.
"Come on," Marinette led them down an alley, coming across a former Gabriel' store, now called Volpina's.
Both teens groaned at the change.
"Oh, well, when in Volparis, blend in,"Marinette marched to the store, Chat racing to be in front just in time to open the door.
"My lady, you put the "neat-o" in 'incognito'," complemented Chat as she passed through, him shortly following after her.
"OK, which is the mens' side?" the store was full of the same outfit, the only difference was the sizes.
Marinette shrugged and went left, so Chat went right.
They emerged out of the store, Chat taking off the mask to be Adrien.
"This is a fashion nightmare. At least it's not a bad fit," Marinette groaned as she looked over her outfit, growing to despise the color orange as she did.
"Ah, really? 'cause mine's kinda riding up. I think I picked from the girls' side," asked Adrien as he searched the outfit for a pocket to put Plagg in.
"Looks like we're carrying you," Adrien tried to tuck Plagg into his arms, but the cat jumped off and went for Marinette's shoulders.
"Traitor," he murmured.
"Come on, let's find Volpina," Marinette led Adrien away from Volpina's, Adrien frowning at his cat the whole walk, thinking that his cat looked a little smug.
Based on their knowledge of Paris from 20 years in the past, they made it to what was once the Eiffel Tower, now a refurbished Citadel of Doom with a statue of Volpina guarding the entrance.
"Somebody loves herself a little too much," criticized Marinette, who honestly thought no one could top Chloe in that department.
"You gotta though give Volpina her props. I mean, this is one slick citadel of doom. Motion detectors, laser cannons, and my favorite touch, a piranha-filled moat," responded Adrien.
Marinette felt like Volpina took out a page of Nino's book, "How to be a Villain" that he could have wrote after inspiring the Monsieurs.
"A moat? So retro," Marinette rolled her eyes.
Adrien shrugged. He personally thought a moat was cool. "So how do we get in?"
Marinette looked around, trying to figure out options when Adrien heard the whirring of the security drones.
"Marinette," Adrien grabbed Marinette hand, running away from the drones. Both drones launched nets at them, capturing both in a single net. One of the drones picked up the net while the other supervised, Marinette and Adrien trying to readjust themselves to where Marinette was not sitting on his lap.
"Marinette, can you please stop moving," asked Adrien, glad Marinette was unable to see his face as he turned pink at having Ladybug on his lap. Marinette complied and Adrien slowly edged her off so they sat next to each other. Cramped, but less awkward than before.
"Uh, excuse me, where are you taking us?" asked Marinette to the drones, trying to clear more of the awkward.
"The Attitude Adjustment Center," answered one of the drones.
"Isn't that the high school?" asked Adrien, perking up at the sight of the school.
"Prepare to be drained of all individuality and spirit," continued the drone.
"Yep, high school," groaned Marinette as she watched the familiar neighborhood pass by. The park she grew up in was gone and her parent's bakery and home destroyed.
She heard Adrien gasp next to her as he watched the remains of bakery as they flew over.
Marinette hoped her parents were alright.
"Welcome to the Attitude Adjustment Center," welcomed a friendly blond as Marinette and Adrien made their way through the crowd of people entering, choosing the last two seats in the back row. Plagg made himself comfortable on Marinette's lap.
"That's right, file in. Fill all the seats. I see some openings in the front row. Hi... I'm Chloe Bourgeois," introduced the woman as the doors to their classroom closed.
"Chloe? She's working for Volpina," Adrien whispered while shrinking into his chair. He hoped his hair was still messed up enough so she wouldn't recognize him.
"That fits," Marinette responded in a whisper.
Adrien looked around the room, happy to see no one else from their class in the room.
"OK, let's start. Does anyone know why you're here?" A man in the second row raised his hand. "Yes, you... soulless worker drone number 5889."
The man shifted in his seat, probably regretting saying anything, "Well, uh, I think it's... Aaaah!" The man yelled out as his seat opened from under him, dropping him into a void of unknown. Chloe pulled her hand off the button that had made the man disappear.
"Exactly. You're here because you think, and we all know that's not allowed. The Supreme One thinks for you. Let's watch an instructional video. Lights!"
The lights turned off on their own as a screen came down, the title card reading "The Supreme One and You" before switching to Hawkmoth's face appearing in the recording.
"The Supreme One started with a simple dream... to rule the world. Of course, it was my dream first," Hawkmoth started to say before he was cut off by an electric shock to the neck.
"OK, eyes on me!" The camera moved over to an older looking Volpina in all her orange and black glory, "You know, I started out as an underestimated sidekick, trying to make the stupid schemes of others succeed…"
Hawkmoth mumbled something off screen, only for Volpina to push a button on a remote, sending another shock to Hawkmoth.
"Ooh. But with the help of a time-traveling cat idol," Marinette and Adrien both frowned as Volpina revealed the idol, "I went solo with an evil scheme of my own, and it worked! So, now it's my world. Ha ha! You're just living in it. Back to work!" The video cut out, the lights turning back on as the screen retreated.
"Not the feel-good film of the year. Although the music was good," commented Adrien as he and Marinette readjusted their eyes to the brightness of the classroom.
"So, who still questions the infallible leadership of the Supreme One? Wait. Don't answer. We'll just mindscan you," Chloe pressed another button, two drones started going around the room, scanning the mind of everyone in the class.
Adrien tried very hard not to laugh as the drone scanned his mind, eventually succumbing in the end, "Ha ha ha ha ha ha! It tickles!"
It moved over to Marinette who had tried to prepare herself, but the drones searched her mind thoroughly, finding her sense of rebellion.
"Our scan has picked up two troublemakers in the back row," observed Chloe from the front of the classroom.
Marinette and Adrien tried to sit as innocently as possible until Adrien's curiosity got the better of him.
"I wonder what they do with troublemakers."
As if to answer his question, their feet and hands were strapped in metal cuffs.
"High school never had to resort to this sort of thing," whined Adrien as he and Marinette struggled to get out. From behind their chairs, extending arms came out with red collars.
"Or that sort of thing," Marinette panicked.
"Obedience collars," Chloe answered the unspoken question as she approached them, "You'll learn to love them. Not that you'll have a choice."
"Chloe! It's me, your Adrikins," Adrien begged, hoping she would recognize him after the many years. If anything could save him at this point, he hopes it was her undying feelings for him. Then he could come back and rescue Marinette.
"Who?"
"We've been friends since we were five. And you don't remember me? Adrien Agreste?"
Chloe looked up, pondering, "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."
Adrien flopped his head on the desk, ignoring the obedience collars as they lowered.
"Keep your head up," Chloe grabbed Adrien by his hair and held up his head, allowing the obedience collar access to his neck.
They both struggled as the collars reached for their necks, Marinette trying to figure out a way out of this. She was almost ready to ask the sleeping cat on her lap for help, when part of the wall exploded, knocking Chloe to the ground.
"What?!" Chloe yelled out, all eyes turning to the newcomers.
A giant of a man and smaller but equally strong woman with frizzy colorful hair jumped over what remained of the wall, firing plasma guns similar to Plagg 3000's.
"Eat hot plasma, Supreme One stooges," the man yelled as he fired at one of the drones, the people in the classroom running out in a panic.
"Vive la resistance," the girl cried out, happily aiming at the other drone.
"Cat's attack!" Cried out Plagg 3000, several more looking similar with an occasional white spot, running into the room. Chloe was quickly outnumbered and tied up by the cats.
"Get them off me!" She screamed, no one bothering to help.
Plagg 3000 shot his plasma gun at the back of Marinette and Adrien's chairs, freeing them from their bonds and the potential obedience collars.
"Love your timing," complemented Marinette as she rubbed her wrist.
Meanwhile, their other two rescuers were firing at the reinforcement drones, the man dodging their lasers to shoot one of them done. The woman managed to take down two drones with her plasma gun, the third and final charging for her. She backed up a bit before jump kicking the drone, sending it crashing into a wall. The man and woman regrouped, ready to take down more drones at a moment's notice.
"What's the dealy on them," asked Marinette, Adrien too shocked to say anything.
"You do not recognize them?" asked Plagg 3000.
"MARINETTE! ADRIEN!" The woman squealed when the coast was clear, pulling both of them into a group hug, the larger man pulling all three into a group hug. It was then Marinette noticed the several pins in the woman's bandana.
"Mylene? And Ivan?" Marinette asked as Ivan set them down.
"Welcome to the future," squealed Mylene in excitement, Marinette surprised Mylene was now actually a little taller than her. Did that make her the smallest in the class now? "I can't believe we are the first ones that get to see you again!"
"Well Plagg 3000 saw them first," pointed out Ivan.
"Plagg 3000 cheated so it doesn't count," retorted Mylene teasingly. Still as in love as ever, Marinette could see.
"Last time we saw you," Adrien tried to put the words together. The shyest couple in class were now on the front lines of a rebellion.
"A rebellion forces you to find bravery you didn't know you had," answered Mylene with a perky smile.
"Wait, I have some questions about this," began Marinette, when futuristic jet burst through the wall where the screen once was.
"Somebody needed a ride," the door to the jet opened to another equally buff man, but with his glasses and attire she had seen in a gaming tournament before, Marinette immediately recognized the new comer.
"Max!" Marinette cried out in excitement as he lowered down a rope ladder.
"No time now. We've gotta jet. In the LB Mark XII!" Ordered Plagg 3000, the cats scrambling up the ladder, followed by Marinette, Adrien carrying Plagg, Mylene, and Ivan.
"Strap in," warned Max as he pressed some buttons on the control panel, the LB Mark XII ascending into the sky, "cause this baby flies."
With a final press of a button, they were off, throwing Adrien and Plagg against the back wall of the jet, past all the other Plaggs.
"I think the time stream switch your clumsiness with Adrien's," teased Mylene.
Marinette giggled, "So LB Max?"
"Our boss insisted on it. And since it was a partnered project, I allowed it to stick. We did win with that bot in the tournament after all."
"So if you're here, where everyone else?"
"Most of them are with the resistance, some deep undercover, and some followed Gabriel Agreste on the mass Lunar migration," answered Max.
"My father, led a Lunar Migration," asked Adrien as he approached the front.
"Along with Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. As far as our reports know, they've together made the moon a very livable environment," continued Max as he flipped a few of the overhead switches.
"Ok, so where are we going now," asked Marinette, trying to figure out the jet's direction.
"Catacombs," guessed Adrien?
"Yes actually. Volpina tried closing them up from the public, but we found alternative routes," Max directed the jet towards the Catacombs of Paris.
"There you'll meet our leader," answered Mylene. Marinette and Adrien looked at their friends' faces to see mysterious smiles, but no answer regarding who their leader was.
Marinette and Adrien's jaws practically hit the floor when they meet the leader of the rebellion, as buff as every person they had met from their class but wearing a familiar set of headphones around his neck.
"Marinette! Adrien! Man, am I glad to see you guys," Nino approached the duo. He used to be around the same height as Adrien, now he stood towering over, closer to Ivan's height.
"Nino?" Marinette asked just to be certain.
"You're a giant," Adrien whispered, straining his neck to look up. He was certain a fist bump from future Nino was send him flying across the room.
"What can I say? I had a growth spurt," he pulled them into a giant bear hug, both Adrien and Marinette certain they could hear bones cracking.
"Uhh! Why is everybody in the future so ripped," whined Adrien, wishing maybe he had stayed behind so Marinette could see him in the future as buff as everyone else. He quickly put that picture out of his mind though.
"Fighting an evil dictator will do that to you," answered Nino as he let go, Marinette almost gasping for breath. Adrien only frowned; at least he could still fight without the 20 years advantage everyone else had on them.
"So Nino, what's the sitch?" asked Marinette with a sly smile, which Nino returned.
"Heh. It's been a long time since I heard that."
Many representatives of the rebellion gathered around the planning table, a majority were old classmates with a few new faces, all taller but only some as buff, with Rose and Juleka being the exceptions as they were dressed in labcoats.
Marinette and Adrien stuck close to Nino after introductions, afraid of being squished out by the taller people in the room.
"The Tempus Feles idol," a hologram image appeared about the planning board. "Volpina used it to play the time stream. We need it to set everything right," began Nino.
"Take that away, Volpina's future is history," Marinette concluded.
"Can't we just break it," asked Adrien looking around the group for an answer.
"The chaotic effect of unleashing the chronal energies might snap the time stream back to normal," responded Max, thinking over the possibilities.
"Might…," emphasis Kim standing next to his best friend, another equally buff person standing next to the toned Alix.
"Might," pried Marinette.
"Or it might unravel the fabric of time and space and destroy the universe," concluded Max.
"Even the people on the moon," added Mylene.
"OK, let's just start with getting it away from Volpina," decided Marinette, they would figure out what to do next once they got the Time Cat.
"We tried to get in, but every mission ended... badly," stated Alix, looking guiltily down. Others lowered their heads in respect for those they had lost, Marinette hoping the few classmates missing from the table were just elsewhere. Amongst those missing included Alya.
"Then we're due," Marinette responded, trying to raise the optimism level in the room.
"Heh heh. Same old Marinette," Nino chuckled, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Anybody seen Plagg," asked Adrien, not seeing the cat anywhere nearby.
"I think I saw Plagg 3000 take him to meet all the other Plaggs," offered Juleka," I can go get him."
"It's fine, maybe they'll teach him to be less lazy."
Marinette chuckled, hoping Adrien was right but highly doubting it.
"We've run the scenarios," Max pulled up Volpina's Citadel on the hologram, "Aerial assault... equals major catastrophe." The hologram tower shot lasers at the hologram LB Mark XII, destroying their means of entrance.
"And a ground assault…" Kim spoke up as a hologram version of him and Alix ran up to the tower only to be blown to smithereens, "worse."
"Then we'll go lower," Marinette smiled a calculative smirk, one Adrien was certain he had only seen on Alya before. Whatever she was planning was then probably unconventional and ridiculous.
"The sewers? Aw, man! There's a whole rainbow of smell down here," whined Adrien as the team trekked through the sewers that had not been upgraded in the past 20 years. The team consisted of Nino, Mylene, Ivan, Plagg 3000, hundreds of his brothers, Marinette, Adrien, and Plagg Prime, now tucked safely in a pocket of Adrien's new battle attire. Max was left behind and in charge while Nino went with the team.
Nino stopped them at a grating, Marinette the first to go up and inspect the coast was clear in one of the hallways of Volpina's citadel.
"So far, so good," Marinette whispered down below as she popped out, Adrien following up behind her.
"Tell that to my shoes," Adrien pouted, bringing up his foot covered in unknown waste. Nino pushed Adrien the rest of the way, followed by the cats, Mylene, and Ivan.
"According to my readings," Nino pulled out a tablet, Marinette looking over the edge of the screen as Nino explained, "the idol is in the center of the palace."
"Not that you'll ever see it," came a familiar British voice. The group turned to find Kitty Paws stepping into the light, complete with a long tail, cat ears, sharpened claws and fangs. She was adorned in Volpina's black and orange suit with an obedience collar around her neck.
"Kitty Paws. You working for Volpina too," asked Marinette, not really that surprised to find one of the villains guarding the halls.
"Well, I don't get a paycheck, if that's what you mean, but there are some benefits. I'll consider this one of them," Kitty Paws readied herself into a fighting stance.
Adrien readied himself into a fighting stance as well, "She's out numbered, we can totally take her."
"Oh am I?" More lights turned on, revealing various cats dressed ninja style Volpina suits, and all ready to fight.
"That's new," was all Adrien could say, a slight edge of panic in his voice.
"Plagg Prime and I will handle them," offered Plagg 3000 as Plagg Prime jumped out of Adrien's pocket to join his descendants.
"You sure? Plagg can be pretty lazy," commented Adrien, only for his cat to glare at him distastefully.
"What he means to say is thanks," offered Marinette for Adrien, Adrien only nodding.
"Attack!" Called out Plagg 3000, Plagg Prime though being the first to run into the fray of Kitty Paw's cats, Plagg 3000 and Plagg Prime challenging their leader directly while the others fought her trained army.
"I always wondered why he seemed so fascinated with my karate and fencing," commented Adrien, both he and Marinette still to stupefied by the site of cats fighting in the ways of cat kung fu.
"Move or lose it guys," urged Mylene, Nino and Ivan already heading down another hallway. Marinette and Adrien raced to catch up, Marinette having to take triple the amount of steps to keep up with Nino as he looked at his tablet.
"How close are we?"
"Real close. Just down this hall," Nino glanced between the tablet and the hall, the layouts matching up as they continued.
"Sorry! You won't be getting by me," out of the shadows ahead appeared Anti-bug, or what was left. Her head was mostly intact but the rest of her was pure machinery including the obedience collar around her neck, with one arm being replaced by a sword starting from the elbow, the other arm relatively normal for a robot.
"Anti-bug?" asked Marinette, this transformation not even in the possible reaches of her imagination.
"Yes, but now they call me Robo-bug, world's deadliest swordswoman and sharp shooter" she answered with a confident smirk as the tip of one one of her fingers popped off, transforming the hand into a gun.
"That's a mouthful," retorted Marinette with a roll of the eyes.
"And why the sword. With you being all future tech I never would have pinned you as a sword person," added Adrien.
"Oh can it, true it took awhile to get use to the enhancements, but I'm no less a threat than I was before," Robo-bug cocked her hand and fired an exploding marble, sending the team into different hallways for cover.
"Who's laughing now Little Bug," Anti-bug cackled, as she fired more exploding marbles.
"I think insanity came with the enhancements," mumbled Adrien, Marinette nodding in agreement.
"Get ready to bolt Marinette," warned Mylene from the other hallway where her, Ivan, and Nino took cover.
"We'll handle Robo-butt from here," echoed Ivan, readying his plasma gun.
"Robo-bug! Not butt!" Robo-bug growled as she began her her advancement.
"Says you," Ivan taunted.
"Let's go! It's game time," Nino urged as he ran out of their side, pulling out a plasma gun a little more advanced than Ivan and Mylene's. Mylene and Ivan were quick to follow their leader, tackling Robo-bug. Marinette and Adrien crept along the wall until they were safely past the frenzy.
At the end of the hall they found a double door entrance, Adrien pulling them apart, before poking his head inside to find the room clear of villains or drones. The room was held up by columns with Volpina's head at the crown, in the center of the room was the Time Cat on a pedestal.
"I see it," Adrien stepped back to allow Marinette in first, following closely behind.
"The Time Cat," Marinette whispered as she approached.
"Let's grab and go My Lady," urged Adrien, Marinette taking the few remaining steps to reach the idol.
"Ah-hah! I knew my past would come back to haunt me one day."
Marinette looked up to see on a platform above older Volpina, the future's Supreme One, illuminated by a spotlight as she stood before her throne.
"Volpina, ready when you are." Both Marinette and Adrien got into a fighting stance.
"Sorry, Bug. The Supreme One always delegates. HM, you're on." Volpina pressed a button to open another door in the room, Marinette and Adrien turning their heads to see the new visitor.
"You're going to have Hawkmoth fight me," asked Marinette in surprise. This was even stranger than Robo-Bug.
"As a last line of defense, that's weak sauce," added Adrien.
A spotlight lit on the new guest, revealing an incredibly ripped Hawkmoth with an obedience collar around his bulging neck.
"Who are you calling weak?"
Marinette and Adrien's jaws practically hit the floor.
"Now, see, everybody in the future is ripped," pouted Adrien. Even the bad guys were buff.
"What happened to you," Marinette finally managed to say after getting over the shock of once twig like Hawkmoth now looking like a pro-wrestler.
"Diet and exercise," answered Hawkmoth with a smug look.
"And some genetic manipulation. The future is a wonderful place," added Volpina.
"Out of my way," Hawkmoth picked up Adrien, squeezing his arms to his side, Adrien trying to wriggle out to no avail.
Hawkmoth chucked him into a pillar, which knocked down the column, head, and flag above toppled around him.
"Adrien," Marinette was about to run after him, when she was stopped by Hawkmoth, who slammed his hands to the ground in an effort to stop her, Marinette easily jumping out of the way.
Get the Time Cat, then get Adrien, then get out of there. That was her plan.
Hawkmoth swung as her again, Marinette jumping over him and out of reach. He thrashed his arms around wildly, no coordination to his attack, Marinette eventually able to get a moment to position herself while Hawkmoth stretched before his next attack.
"Fighting... you know, it's fun to watch," Volpina took a seat on her throne to enjoy the show before her as Marinette and Hawkmoth launched themselves at each other.
Meanwhile, the cat battle was fairly even on both sides, Kitty Paws lost in a sea of orange and black suits with red and green armor.
"Advance, my kitty minions! Show no mercy!" Kitty Paws barely had time to duck as one of her own cats, a siamese, flew overhead. She turned to see where it had come from. Plagg 3000 was holding his own in battle, able to fight off whatever cat came his way.
"Alright, feles, let me show you what a true master of cat kung fu can do!" Kitty Paws got into an attacking stance before leaping after Plagg 3000, who also leapt up to meet this new challenger.
Nino, Mylene, and Ivan were forced again in the adjoining hallways, Robo-bug letting out a volley of exploding marbles.
"I'll give her this... she shoots a good game," Ivan admitted as the smoke slightly cleared from the latest round.
"What do we do?" Mylene looked over to Nino.
More marbles were fired as Nino came up with a plan, eventually settling on a recent improvement to their gear.
He pressed the buckle on his belt, a force field surrounding him.
"Let's take her down."
Mylene and Ivan nodded, pressing their own buckles, force fields surrounding them.
They charged down the hallway, their fields deflecting the marbles.
Hawkmoth attempted to grab at Marinette's leg as she continued to kick out at him as they came back to the ground. Marinette quickly backed up, with Hawkmoth chasing after her.
"You can't evade me forever, Ladybug," Hawkmoth taunted.
Marinette stopped and attempted a round kick to Hawkmoth's gut but was quickly bounced off by the firmness of his abs, which sent her flying across the room.
"I've got fab abs." Hawkmoth looked very proud at this, Marinette felt disgusted.
"Oh, this is so wrong," Marinette tried to mentally shake that image out of her head, but it wouldn't leave as she saw him punch a column, only to catch Volpina's giant head and chuck it at her. Marinette barely rolled out of the way, the head crashing into the window behind her.
Hawkmoth then came up from behind and pushed her towards the edge, Marinette almost falling out, barely managing to grab the ledge.
She tried to pull herself back up, but her arm was caught by Hawkmoth, who pulled her up with ease, holding her high so she couldn't touch the ground.
"Ha ha! Ladybug, you think you're all that! Blah blah blah-blah-blah," his voice dripping with over 20 years of annoyance with every "Blah".
"See," Volpina stood from her throne, applauding her champion, "you were born to be a sidekick."
Hawkmoth mumbled some snarky remark, Marinette sure it was him mocking his former sidekick.
In a moment, Volpina held up her remote, "What was that?"
"Nothing, oh, Supreme One! Nothing at all! Now, what should I do with this pest?"
"Nothing's on TV... oh, except me," Volpina put away the remote, chuckling at her own joke as she did, "so how about we watch her suffer?" With a press of a button at her tower, a chair appeared out of the floor, with open restraints and a ray aimed at the head area. Hawkmoth smiled with glee as he placed Marinette in the chair, the restraints clamping on her wrists and ankles, the ray above glowing as it readjusted itself to her height.
"No one hurts my lady," Adrien tackled Hawkmoth from behind in a choke hold right above where the obedience collar was. Hawkmoth attempted to reach around to grab him but Adrien held on tight, as Hawkmoth began wheezing for breath. Electricity emitted from the collar sent both men to the ground. Marinette glared at Volpina as the held the remote pointed at Hawkmoth and an unconscious Adrien.
All of a sudden, and explosion came from the floor as a masked woman appeared, shooting a plasma gun at Volpina and Hawkmoth, who came to rather quickly, running for cover. The woman tossed some cds, destroying the ray over Marinette's head.
"I'm ready Marinette," the woman approached Marinette. She shot off the restraints, Marinette quickly running to pick up Adrien, slinging the barely conscious boy over her shoulder.
"Thanks, do I know, you?"
The woman pulled off her mask, revealing herself to be Alya.
"Alya!"
"Alya? Alya? Who's Alya," pondered Volpina, largely to herself, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I'm an old friend of Ladybug's," answered Alya as she pointed her gun to take aim, covering Marinette as she took Adrien out of the way of a potential fight.
"Lookin' good," complemented Marinette as she set Adrien down
"Why, thanks, Mari. There were a few nasty years after Miss Supreme banned freedom of the press. Tried to imprison me after posting some Anti-Supreme One propaganda on my blog. So I joined the rebellion. I take it you two still not together yet," asked Alya as she caught Marinette brushing Adrien's hair out of his eyes. Marinette's embarrassed deer in the headlight look answered Alya's question.
"I take it no."
Volpina, irritated by the reunion, pressed another button, her throne converting into a doom ray.
"A-hem. Mind if I cut you off?" Volpina shot her ray of doom at them, Marinette pulling Adrien a little out of the way before running after Alya.
"You know, I do mind," Alya took aim and fired a multi-shot at the doom ray, destroying to ray and sending Volpina into Hawkmoth's arms.
"You've been busy since Australia," complemented Marinette.
"True. 20 years of practice does a body good," Alya smirked, before Hawkmoth pulled off her gun, crushing it with his hands.
"Oh, bring it!"
The girls immediately began running, Hawkmoth chasing after them.
Plagg 3000 continued to fight Kitty Paws, until he eventually round kicked her into the crowd of cats. She sat up to find her cats fleeing the battle scene, leaving her alone in the hall.
"Charge!" The organized group of Rebellion cats tackled her to the ground, overpowering the cat villain.
Nino, Ivan, and Mylene continued charging after Robo-bug with their force fields up, so close to taking her down when her hand dropped and a giant marble exploded, sending them flying against the walls. She approached Nino as his shield dissipated, her sword point at his throat.
"Any last words computer geek?"
"Have a nice nap," answered Nino with a smug look. Robo-bug looked at him confused before she felt a tap on her metallic shoulder. She turned only to by met with a punch in the face from Mylene, sending the cyborg to the ground, the crash detaching her torso from her legs, held only together by wires.
"Nice work dudes," Nino joined Ivan and Mylene in congratulatory high fives.
"Excellent!" Plagg 3000 congratulated the humans as he and the rest of the cats walked over.
"I'll say," everyone turned in surprise to see Robo-bug aiming her arm at them, releasing another giant marble, then sent them flying into the nearby hallway. Robo-bug snapped her hand back on to reattached her legs, smiling as she stood over her victory.
"Maybe I finally get to use this thing," Robo-bug admired her sword as she stood above her prey.
"Don't, you know the Supreme One wants them alive," chided Kitty Paws as she appeared down the hallway, hair and suit more messed up than normal.
"What's the point of having a sword arm if a never get to use it?"
Marinette and Alya continued to run as Hawkmoth lumber after them. They briefly split as he ran between, thrashing his arms around as he tried to catch them, both eventually jumping out of reach.
"Alya, I can't get over your wicked badage," complimented Marinette as Hawkmoth came after, swinging his arms as he tried to catch her, Marinette easily avoiding every swing until she jumped away over to Alya.
"Once she took away my blog, I needed a new hobby," answered Alya, noticing Hawkmoth approaching them. She prepped her hands to give Marinette a step up, which Marinette used to flip over Hawkmoth, Alya flipping out of the way as well.
Hawkmoth flexed to the point his shirt ripped off, frustrated by the cat and mouse game the two girls played with him.
"Will you two hold still," whined Hawkmoth.
Alya ran and did a flying kick at Hawkmoth, Marinette jumping up to do the same. Hawkmoth grabbed Alya's leg and flung her into Marinette as Marinette spun to increase her momentum and kick, slingshotting them both into the ground in front of a still unconscious Adrien.
"I could really use your help Chaton," Marinette whisper to the boy as Hawkmoth pulled both her and Alya up by the collar, taking them over to Volpina.
Just then, the doors opened to reveal Robo-bug and Kitty Paws leading an imprisoned Nino, Mylene, Ivan, Plagg Prime, Plagg 3000, and several other cats.
"I got your rebels right here, oh, Supreme One! No thanks to the cat woman," announced Robo-bug as she led the prisoners forward, Kitty Paws grinding her teeth in humiliation.
Marinette heard a gasp and turned her head to see Alya staring at Nino, and Nino staring at Alya. Based on their reactions, they hadn't seen each other in a long time despite both being a part of the rebellion.
"Well, Bug, it's been real. Erase them from history," dismissed Volpina, Hawkmoth immediately dropping Alya and Marinette in protest.
"What?! No taunting? No 'how did I do it' speech? Oh, poor super-villain form Volpina," Hawkmoth scolded his former side-kick.
"You think?" asked Volpina, no one in the rebellion had made it this far even for her to be given the chance to gloat.
"Most definitely! What's the point of ruling the world if you don't stop to smell the roses?"
Volpina took Hawkmoth's words into consideration, pacing away as she did.
"Well, all I can say is…," she opened her eyes to notice one person missing from the group. She turned to find Adrien reaching out to grab the Time Cat. She quickly leapt after him with one glowing plasma hand, the other hand grabbing the idol before he could.
"No touchee my cat!" She glared at Adrien, threatening plasma hand lingering to close to his face for comfort.
"Can't blame a guy for trying," offered Adrien weakly.
"Actually I can," and with that, Volpina chucked Adrien, him coming to a stop at Marinette's feet.
"That's the spirit! Now gloat! Tell them how you did it!" Congratulated Hawkmoth.
"All right. Went back in time, went big into dot coms, got out before the bubble burst, invested into Gabriel's, transferred your sidekick's father to California, started an evil think tank…"
"Wait a minute! What?!" Adrien had a dangerous looking in his eyes, hoping he didn't hear what Volpina said.
"Evil think tank. You know, mind control, weird ray things…," continued Volpina.
"No, before that," interrupted Adrien.
"Oh, yeah. I convinced your papa to move you both to California. You know, told him it was for your own safety, but it was actually to break up the team," answered Volpina.
"You broke us up," asked Marinette, devastated. Volpina really did go lower than any of Hawkmoth's plans.
"D'oy! See, traveling into your past I realized one thing... as a team, you two are actually solid. Why? Don't know, don't care. So I broke you up by sending the model as far away as possible. Anyhoo, once I had the obedience collars…," Volpina started again only to be interrupted by a very furious Adrien.
"You're the reason I moved? Your the reason I had to leave all my friends?!" Adrien stormed towards Volpina, only to be stopped by Hawkmoth.
"Sit back…" Hawkmoth never got to finished as Adrien grabbed Hawkmoth by the wrist and threw him across the room towards the fallen column.
Kitty Paws and Robo-bug watched in amazement, allowing Mylene and Ivan to jerk on their chains to throw their captors off balance, breaking apart their restraints.
"And no one knocks down Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, past, present, or future," Adrien pulled out a modified staff Nino had given him, going after Volpina in a mad fury. He sung him baton, accidentally knocking over another column, which knocked over another, and another, until they all came crashing around the room, everyone scrambling to avoid being hit. In the chaos, with columns eventually falling towards the center, the idol was thrown from its place, crashing to the ground, its power to travel time lost.
"You broke the Time Cat? You broke the Time Cat!" Screamed Volpina in outrage at Adrien, who had ran to protect Marinette in the destruction.
"Fool! You might unravel the very fabric of time," scolded Kitty Paws.
Adrien scrambled forward, trying to put the pieces back together. He was very much against being unraveled.
"I can... I can fix it. Really!"
"Wait! Adrien, I think it worked!" commented Marinette, everyone looking up to see a new space distortion opening in the sky.
"What worked?" Adrien looked between the broken pieces and Marinette.
"Your plan," Marinette tried to jog his memory. He was the one who suggested breaking the Time Cat after all.
"Ohh, yeah. My plan."
A red glow surrounded them, pulling them up into the distortion. Mylene broke the final chain holding Plagg Prime captive, allowing him to rejoin Adrien and Marinette.
"Bye Mari!" Called out Alya, holding tight to Nino.
"Nice going kids!" congratulated Plagg 3000 with a salute.
Volpina meanwhile was racing up what remained of her throne, jumping onto Marinette and Adrien.
"No way," she grumbled.
With a swift kick to the gut from Marinette, Volpina fell down to the ground.
"Way," snarked Marinette with a victorious smile as they disappeared into the distortion.
A knock on Adrien's door interrupted his response.
"Come in," Adrien called out.
The door opened, and Gabriel Agreste entered the room. Adrien immediately stood.
"Adrien."
"Father."
The two Agrestes stood facing each other, Marinette feeling the awkwardness even on her end.
"Hi Mr. Agreste."
"Miss Marinette?" Mr. Agreste stiffened as he noticed Marinette on one of Adrien's computer monitors.
"Yeah, I was just talking to Adrien. Um… I'll go so you two could talk."
Just as Marinette was about to hang up, something hit all three of them, giving them terrible headaches.
"What the?" Gabriel looked confused for a moment as he looked between the equally confused Adrien and Miss Marinette, remembering the reason he had entered.
"No, no, you can stay Miss Marinette. I was hoping to talk to you as well tomorrow. This will make things a bit easier."
Marinette nodded, moving her hand away from her computer mouse to her lap.
Mr. Agreste sat in the office chair while Adrien took a seat on the edge of his bed.
"How long have you know about Adrien being Chat Noir Miss Marinette?"
"Uh… since Christmas Eve. When Nathalie told me Adrien was missing, I was going to have my friend, Nino do a tracking search, when Nino told me Adrien was covering a mission for me so I could enjoy my Christmas with my family."
"And how long has … Nino known?"
"Shortly after Marinette and I's first mission," responded Adrien.
Gabriel nodded.
"And how do your parents feel about your … saving the world thing Miss Marinette?"
Marinette leaned back in her chair, trying to remember telling her parents. She remembered the scolding she received after returning home from her first mission, and the long talk that followed.
"They were a little worried at first. Had me take a few extra defense classes just in case. I'm sure they still worry but they did their best to make sure I was prepared."
Again Gabriel nodded.
"And has my son been an asset to your missions?"
For some reason, the answer came to Marinette in a flash, as if she had long known the answer.
"I don't think I could save the world without him Mr. Agreste. He's a great partner and even better friend."
Gabriel leaned back in the chair, thinking over Marinette's words before turning to his son, who smiled softly at Marinette's praise.
"Nathalie tells me you have continued doing well with your studies and extracurricular activities, with the exception of a few absents. And it looks like Miss Marinette has returned you home safely for every … mission."
Both teenagers leaned forward in their seats, awaiting Gabriel's answer.
"Please keep protecting my son Miss Marinette, as I am sure he protects you. I trust my son has been true to that which his mother and I taught him."
It was almost as if the sun had been let into the room with how big Adrien's smile was as he leapt from the bed to his father's arms for a hug.
"Thank you father. I'll stay safe. I'll keep both Marinette and I safe," he promised.
"I know you will."
Hello Peoples! It's the last month of the year and almost Christmas! So for the time being I think I'm going to take a little break from "Call Me, Beep Me" to write a Christmas Story. Already have an outline so hopefully I'll get down to writing it. And unless I feel like it maybe I'll write another chapter of "Call Me, Beep Me", but probably won't happen until next year (January) or the Christmas Story is done. Whichever comes first.
So Merry Christmas! And Happy New Year! And All the Holidays between now and then.