Hugo ran as far as he could before the transformation wore off, just after landing on an unknown if he wouldn't admit it, his endurance wasn't the same as his elders, even when he didn't use his miraculous special power, as proved by his hashed breaths and the drooling sweat on his , he couldn't wait to recover completely to start freaking out about the whole ordeal.
"Xuppu! We're in the past! This is a disaster!"
"Hugo, I know you're lost and worried but...tell me you have something to eat please, I'm starving!" begged a drown off Xuppu on his left shoulder.
"Oh right, sorry buddy. Don't worry, I wouldn't have brought you with me without provisions!"
It wasn't the best, but bananas were a pain to carry around, so he had opted for dried ones, which he offered to the both went silent the time the banana disappeared, so that Hugo could start a new freak out session, taking the Kwami between his hands and shaking him .
"Xuppu! We're in the past! Oh my god! They all think I'm my father! And then he saw me! And Hawkmoth…or Monarch..whatever his name; he knows I'm here! Why in all places in the past I had to encounter them when there's like 4 millions of parisian?! And in what year are we then? "
"S-s-stop s-s-s-shaking m-ememe l-l-ike t-this ! I'm going to puke..."
Needing a feedback for his turmoil to find peace, the boy released his friend in the air, instead starting to walk in circles while holding his head.
"This is bad, so bad…what am I supposed to do…Maman and Papa will never find us here, we're doomed!"
"Hey, calm down, it's not that bad! You could have been sent to the Jurassic area you know! And here, it means Chat Noir and Ladybug are present too. "
"Oh, you're right. I guess it could be worse. But don't you know WHEN we are exactly? It's super important to not make any mistakes here…and Uncle's Max watch has been bugging since we arrived here…"
"Well, I'm not sure…you know time flashes like a light for me, and I didn't get to really see the outside world back in my days in Paris. Master Fu and Ladybug were really strict about securing our existences. But seeing human's lifespan and Adrien's age it's at least before Louis was born. How old is he already?"
Hugo scratched his neck.
"Louis is 21 and I think Mom and Dad were in their 20's when they had him, so we're at least…25 years ago? Holy shit, that's a lot."
He sighed heavily, before walking toward the roof's edge, getting a better view of Paris' current state.25 years or more uh…the city didn't look that different buses had a different color, there were less trees and a lot more cars too. People seemed more carefree, as the menace of akumas weren't as bad as in 2050. He cringed a bit when he recognized his dad on a poster ad.
"Geez, I didn't know he was THIS famous back then! I owe him an apology for doubting him when he would joke about it."
" Yes, you definitely should, effort put in jokes are not to be underestimated! "
Both parts of the monkey squad stiffened, and turned slowly to face a grinning Chat Noir, standing playfully with his stick behind neck.
" Also, who's that famous guy you're mewing about? It would be a pleasure to mewt him! "
Hugo gulped. It was the second time he was caught by a black cat today, the difference being that this time the superhero would be much more difficult to buy than Plagg alone. Jumping off the low wall, Chat Noir walked toward him and regained seriousness.
"You know, I've heard from a certain someone that a monkey had escaped from the Agreste House and since all these weird events keep happening today, I've decided to follow the can't hide from me, kitten, not with how much I know Paris' roof; so please spill the beans. Who are you and how did you get this miraculous? "
The boy felt cornered. Of course he was dying to tell him the truth! But he couldn't because right now, he was replaying a butterfly's effect dogma over and over : do not mess with the past or you can say goodbye to sweet ol' future! Lost on what to do, he remained silent and avoided the cat gaze, but feeling how Chat Noir moved forward again, almost menacingly, he just knew it wouldn't be enough to avoid confrontation.
"Cat's got your tongue, mm? But I can be patient, I've nine lives after all! I guess I will just try to ask questions and see what expression you're making. I should also call Ladybug, she might be delighted to finally find back one of the miraculous that was stolen from her."
"Wait, no! Don't call Ladybug please!" Ladybug meeting him would be the icing on the cake.
"Oh, but why, you think I wouldn't be enough to make you speak?"
Before the conversation could take an ill turn, Xuppu decided to interpose himself between both of them, arms widening from each side of his tiny body in a defensive gesture.
"Hold on Chat Noir! H(bubble) didn't do anything wrong! He's not friends with Monarch by any means! "
The hero of destruction and misfortune blinked once, then twice, before frowning, completely giving up his previous demeanor for an incredulous one instead, pointing at the kid.
"Wait, really? You mean he actually freed you from Monarch?"
"It's complicated. I can't tell you the details because it could lead to a very big mess. At least…not every of them."
At this, Hugo's eyes widened.
"Wait Xu, you know what's going on better than I do, right?! Are you sure it's safe?"
" No, but we will need his help and probably Ladybug's if we want to go back. They are the only ones we can really trust here."
"Hold on you two, I'm completely lost there. You need my help? Is it related to the Shift by any chance?"
"The what?" replied in unison the two lost souls.
"Ya know? The strange beams that came from the sky and the people that lost consciousness spontaneously ? It was all over the news today, from what planet are you exactly?"
'If you knew' muttered Hugo. But at least now, the Black cat seemed more friendly.
Xuppu was right. They couldn't find a solution alone, and only the Chat and Ladybug of this era could actually be of help. Now it was a plan, and having a plan lifted his spirits up a bit.
"I thought you would have more details about the Shift, but I guess I was wrong…"
"No wait, Xuppu's right. I will explain to you what happened to me and how I got myself in your house in the first place. I'm sure it might help you understand…"
" You mean the Agreste House right?" Chat Noir had gapped for a fraction of seconds.
"Uh? Oh yeah, of course haha, my tongue slipped…"
Scratching nervously his neck, Hugo started to story-tell his journey so far since he arrived here, distorting some details and purposely forgetting some, so that all the clues about his real identity would not transpire. Chat Noir nodded several times, deep in though, and he was relieved to note he believed them.
"So…if I summarize this right, you were caught in an akuma battle with your brother and a wounded woman holding a strange artifact; then a light tunnel swallowed you while you were trying to leave your school, you've lost consciousness and woke up in the street. A gorilla man picked you up mistaking you for Adrien Agreste, the local celebrity, to his house. "Then, you've ..pfff…met with a frightening man and thought he was evil so you've escaped the place. " The idea of his father being frightening to the point of throwing yourself out of a window seemed to amuse him quite a lot. Even if he seemed to have no clue he had reasons to be frightened, it was a good reaction, it lightened the mood.
"Yes…I know it's far-fetched! But I swear all this is true! Since I'm here…everything is different and I just feel I need to go 'back' where I belong…or something."
He locked his turquoise eyes with newfound determination, and he might have looked particularly convincing at this moment because Chat Noir's own almond pupil widened in surprise.
"Ok ok, let's say I believe you! Could you recognize that woman if you saw her? I suppose she was also sent nearby, among the victims. If we find her, we will understand what happened exactly."
"Wait! That's it! You're right, she might know how to go back! Ohh, D..Chat Noir, you're a genius!" grinned the boy, excited, before throwing himself for a hug.
"Meowch, to think you doubted it !"
Finally, some good news! Telling Chat Noir was probably the only best idea they ever got since coming here! People always told Ladybug was the brainy member, but they would have to think twice before insulting the Black cat's intelligence! When the hug felt different than usual, Hugo backed off an awkward Chat, slightly heartbroken. Of course, Chat was a stranger in this era; he wouldn't give the fatherly embrace he expected, and needed. The hero noticed the kicked puppy expression, and put a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Hey…it's ok, we will find her, and your brother, I promise. But for now, you will have to stick with me, because I still need to monitor your every move and protect you."
Just at this moment, a characteristic dial tune interrupted their conversation, and soon, Chat Noir got back in serious business mode. Hugo guessed the whereabouts of this call, seeing how only Ladybug had this number, but he would politely let Chat fill him up with what the news was. When the call went off, the masked blond turned back.
"Well, forget about sticking with me, an akuma has appeared and I've got to go help my Lady! You, you will stay here until it's over. "
"Wha..wait, I could help you. Remember I'm a miraculous holder too? "
"Uh uh, I'm not letting a kid play around! It's too dangerous. You stay here, ok?"
"But.."
"I said no!"
"..Grr Fine! You're always like that. " grumbled Hugo, frowning at the ground. It reminded him of how Louis or his Mother would scold him when he wanted to help.
"...We will continue our discussion later. I still have a lot of questions for you, lad! I entrust him to you Xuppu, please keep an eye on him."
The monkey Kwami only nodded, and Chat soon extended his stick and jumped toward the north. When he was far enough, Hugo realized something.
"Oh shoot, Xuppu! We forgot to tell him about Pandora! What if an akuma from my time was there?"
"If one of Pandora's akuma had followed us, we would know about it by now…I guess?"
"Are you kidding? There were multiple times when they were hidden in crowds to do maximum damages. We have to warn him!"
"..Isn't that your excuse to go even when he forbids you to?"
"Oh, come on, who do you believe I am ? " the blond replied, half grinning. He hid behind the roof building to be sure Chat Noir wouldn't see his transformation.
"Ok, no time to waste or we will lose him! Xuppu, Show time!"
A few silly poses later, Hugo was unrecognizable. Indeed, in the future, all the costumes tended to be more functional than aesthetical and thus, it hid the heroe's face completely with a helmet, among many other features and evolving of weapons and gadgets. Hugo was following this example, but instead of a helmet, it looked more like the head of a smiling monkey mascot. And his body suit was actually composed of a brown sweater with pins on it, a brown and golden suit tighten in black safety shoes, extra sized protective white gloves and elbow's and knee's protections like a skateboarder would have. It was completely opposite to the ancient style costume Kim was wearing when activating his miraculous since the appearance depended on the holder's vision, and here, it was a 11 year old brat having his own fashion taste! For his weapons, he had the regular stick at his left, but also a stone slung in his right, his main asset. Hugo was really proud of his costume, a mixture between a cartoon character and a hero! When he transformed, he usually felt invincible (except for that time just before but, shh, you saw nothing!) . With this mindset, he followed the trail of Chat Noir across Paris, eager to see the fight from up close. Nothing serious could happen if he stayed hidden, right?
—-
Adrien was a bit distracted. His conversation with Hugo only brought more questions than answers. If Plagg had been right and 'the Shift' was caused by a miraculous power, then the woman he had seen was one of their team. But all miraculous had been stolen, except for Bunnyx, and she never appeared unless problems regarding Time were involved. Besides…his resemblance with him still perturbed him and wasn't explained. Seeing him from up close, he wasn't really a paste-copy from him, but rather like a relative. Was he a Sentimonster created by his brother to monitor him then? But why would Xuppu work for Felix and lie to him about needing his help? And could a Sentimonster become a miraculous holder?
"Mmm.. I should definitely talk about this to my Lady after we beat this akuma."
Soon enough, he could see fleeing parisians, meaning he was close to the battlefield. 'It's time to focus, Chat.' he told himself, before spotting a familial red and black figure on a HLM's roof, adjacent to the Place des Fêtes of the Paris 19th district. Very wide and not much high buildings, which could be a pain to reach the villain, he noted. He had only the time to step on the roof before Ladybug debriefed what she knew with concentrated stance.
"Hello Mon Minou! It seems we will have to deal with a very exigent akuma that didn't like how his students played the last song of his. One thing is sure, he also have powers of creation…"
To be fair, even if she didn't told him anything, he could have taken a guess : In the air, on a black wooden crafted box stood an arrogantly purple faced villain with an impressive white mustache, a monocle, a flashy cyan blue uniform with flakes so excessively long that if the man wanted to actually walk, he wouldn't be able to without tripping. Aligned on the plaza and sometimes floating in the air around him were dancing orchestral instruments, which were, for a part of it, transformed citizens. New instruments were appearing from time to time and disposed as he wished, seemingly a result of the Passion's miraculous power. The akuma was using his conductor's wand to lead his troops and create a symphony, but as Ladybug told him, he didn't seem satisfied by the result.
"No No No! What is this horrid noise?! And you call yourself musicians?! You don't deserve to be under my lead! When I make this sign, you need to stop playing so the bass and violas can be heard more. Let's start again, progressively…No! Bande d'incapables! I'm ' Maestro ' and I will get the perfect melody out of you all, hear my words! "
Chat giggled.
"Haha, I think I know this kind of guy, working in Conservatories. Talented but never satisfied with anything you do! He didn't need to invite all Paris for his concert though. Oh, did you know someone made a cat gig on the web? I should definitely show you..Well after more pressing matters that is. "
"More pressing matters? You're talking about the Shift I guess… I did in fact want to talk to you about it too...I've helped some of the victims and got an eerie feeling about this."
"As clever as usual my Lady. And yes, I've extra infos on the matter too. But first, let's finish with this one."
The fight then began in a familiar ballet. Chat would start taunting the villain on ground, in order to get him down from his pedestal and be at reach. However, Maestro wouldn't make the effort, using his wand to control some instruments to chase after the cat. Comically, he was now chased by an armada of violins, trumpets and even a piano, whose music were distorting the air and sending wind blows at him and his surroundings. Ladybug noticed that the instruments around the conductor were forming a wind barrier around him, and when she tried to escalate them, she was pushed away without being able to touch them with even one foot. The good point was that the conductor wasn't a very aggressive akuma : he would advance quite slowly and except for the beams he was sending to transform them ('like usual, villains had something with beams even though it never worked' she swore), his instruments weren't very menacing…for now. Because even if he was slow, he was surely widening his army little by little, and she feared that if her partner and herself didn't released the akuma quickly, he would become inaccessible while the two superheroes would exhaust themselves.
Simple but efficient, Monarch really could be imaginative. There was one sure way she knew to counter this. She found an abandoned stage on the plaza, presumably for an incoming spectacle and decided to hide behind a curtain.
"Lucky Charm!"
And hop là! The whole electric guitar plus amp set just popped in her arms, and she almost lost balance. She asked herself the sempiternal question : "What I'm going to do with this?" Her eyes saw a power outlet with an extension that had been abandoned by the technicians as they had been transformed. Good, now she could power up the guitar and amplifier. But after that…what was she supposed to do? She didn't know much about playing the guitar, only for a few courses with Lucas. And her usual Ladybug vision wasn't giving her her answers, so she decided to hide the instrument for now among the other stuff (even if it was very recognizable by its ladybug skin!) and attract the Conductor's attention elsewhere. Normally, she would have not separated from her lucky charm by any means, but this time it had been too cumbersome. As they feared, the fight extended on the plaza. They had known for sure the akuma was on the wand, but the barrier just wouldn't let them access it. Chat didn't dare use cataclysm on transformed citizens. They decided to regroup.
"My Lady? Don't you have an idea on how to use your Lucky Charm yet? You know, I'm quite a musician myself, I could try something even if it will sound ugly."
"I'm trying to think, but I feel something is missing. I've noticed his instruments diverge when he tries to transform us…it might be our chance to strike back , but I can't see the Lucky Charm's relevance in this…."
Suddenly, as if it only needed to be asked, a deafening sound resonated on the plaza. Both heroes and villain turned their heads at the stage, where was standing…a monkey with the lucky charm in his hands.
"Wha…"
"What is he doing here! " exclaimed Chat Noir in a mixture of anger and surprise.
The boy had the boldness to wave at him, before pointing his finger at Maestro.
"Hey Ugly! Is that all you've got with so many instruments playing ?! Let me show you what's true music and with the best of them!"
To demonstrate his point, he started to play a rock song that completely covered the rest, his fingers so fast it seemed like he was putting all energy in it. The Lucky charm, although doing nothing special in appearance; might have for purpose to strike a painful nerve to the akuma who lost his cool immediately, his face reddening in anger.
"What is this, you deprived savage! This hideous instrument I recognize! To believe my son has preferred this wretched sound to the magnificent classical music, unacceptable!"
He was going to launch a massive instrumental attack at the tiny hero, only to be interrupted by Monarch.
"Yes Monarch, I'm not stupid! I will catch him for you..but not without harming him! This child needs proper education on music and I'm going to personally deliver it!"
The column of instruments cleared the way for the conductor to throw himself, his wand ready to strike. A beam was launched, but the monkey stopped playing and made triple flips on the side, while mocking him with antics, causing his anger to skyrocket. Meanwhile, Ladybug and Chat had approached, ready to intervene; only to hear the newcomers scream "Uproar!". From his power, three yellow balls appeared in Hugo's hand, and he didn't wait to use his stone launcher, aiming at his enemy who had gotten way too close. The ball exploded right in his face, leaving a trail of powder making him cough and disorienting him a little bit. When he regained composure, Maestro tried to distance himself from the Monkey, who was ready to launch another ammunition.
"Wha…That's it! I'm sorry Monarch, but I will do as I planned way before, to give him a taste of a perfect orchestra! "
The butterfly holder tried to warn him, but it was too late. He moved his wand and, instead of the instruments directing their aim to his initial target, they backfired at him and sent him flying inside a real tornado, all while playing the French cancan. The villain decided to use his bonus indestructible power, but Resistance or not, he was still being bonked against his instruments mercilessly making him loose grip of his akumatized object. The wand flew outside of protection, and Chat easily grabbed it and broke it. The evil butterfly was soon caught by Ladybug's Yoyo to be cleansed. And for the Lucky charm, they walked toward the stage where the newcomer was waiting. To Marinette's surprise, the boy jumped with the energy of an electric battery and addressed them with familiarity, as if they weren't complete strangers.
"Haha! Did you see that! I've beaten the akuma all by myself, wouhou! When I'm gonna tell Sis about this!"
" YOU! I told you not to move from where I left you! It could have been dangerous!" retorqued the cat boy, not amused.
"Pff, an akuma like this is nothing! I'm sure we could beat 5 in a day straight! I've seen way worse!"
Ladybug was puzzled at the exchange. The boy talking seemed younger than them, in height but also in maturity. How could a child have gotten himself the miraculous of derision?
"Chaton, you know him?"
"Let's say, we've just met before I came here. It's a long story and it was among the things I wanted to talk to you about. He seems to have been one of the victims of the Shift apparently."
Now she was curious. She wanted to talk to him, and made one further step to reach for the scene where he was standing, only to be halted by an ominous feeling. In the corner of her eyes, she saw a girl, around 10, walking slowly and unbalanced toward them. She immediately jumped backward, in a defensive stance, her eyes scanning the menace. Chat Noir had done the same, but the boy didn't seem to have noticed, nor to have the reflexes for what happened next.
She just had the time to shout " KID! RUN!" before a gooey giant hand destroyed the backstage and clawed Hugo's neck while he was turning around, hanging him in the air. The boy struggled all he could but the hand seemed semi-material and his own hands were passing through it.
100 meters behind appeared the girl whose arm was extended, hand in a gripping motion matching the giant one. The girl was disheveled and looked like a figurant in a zombie movie without the make up, only for her clothes to be in perfect conditions. A strange tattoo was hanging on her forehead, beginning to form a skull head. She had remained in human form to approach but as soon as she had caught her prey, a sticky ectoplasmic matter surrounded her frail figure, lifting her up in the air. Still, it was starry but translucid, so they could still see what she looked like from outside. Besides, a part of her head was sticking out of her gelee body, a mad smile on her face and purple eyes opening wide.
Despite the few changes, it was enough for the boy to recognize her.
"Ay..Aysha?"
" FinalLy FouND YOu, HugO! noW yOU WiLl TelL Me aLl yoUR SeCRetS! HahahAhAhaHa! " replied the mischievous akuma.
