Year of the Fluff, all those born under this sign will experience overlapping memories of alternate timelines and an insatiable craving for carrots.
This chapter was inspired by a guest review here on Fanfiction, merging some of the ideas presented. Whoever you are thank you for the ideas, I will eventually also do the idea of 'rashomon' style accounts to Ladybug.
"My lady, will you relax?" Cat Noir watched his partner continuously pace in a circle on the rooftop. Ladybug looked extremely stressed, unlike the kitty who was leaning against a chimney. "Su-Han knows the two of us are doing great as co-guardians, and as superheroes. He took the news of the reveal much better than I thought he would already."
Su-Han normally stayed back at the Guardian's temple but after learning of the 'Billboard Oopsie' he insisted on coming back to Paris to check in on not only the duo guarding the Miracle Box but their team of superheroes that he was about to meet for the first time. "I know but that means that we are already on thin ice!" Ladybug spoke in a panic, with a blackboard illustrating her thoughts popping up behind her "If Su-Han see's our team as anything but an unstoppable akuma fighting squad he's going to question my leadership! He'll think it was a mistake letting us keep the box and let the other holders keep their miraculous full time! He'll take all of our miraculous back and force the two of us to revoke our rights as guardians and we'll lose our memories! Our friends would try to fix our amnesia and the fact that both of us would lose our memories at the same time Ladybug and Cat Noir disappear will have others connect the dots that we WERE Ladybug and Cat Noir! Then Hawkmoth will find us and do… something… Ok I don't know what he could even do with us in that state BUT HE WILL DO SOMETHING!"
Cat Noir was only moderately fazed by her outburst. Ever since finding out who was beneath the mask, he started to see the parts of both her identities that came out with or without the mask. He fell head over heels for her all over again. "It won't come to that. We've already sent out the signal for everyone to be transformed and on patrol, and we are going to prove our team is more than capable of stopping Hawkmoth."
Brushing his hand over her shoulder, the heroes shared a soft stare. The twinkle of her blue eyes captivated the kitty and reminded him of something he had been meaning to do ever since the reveal. "And maybe once this whole visit is over, you and me can-"
"Ladybug. Cat Noir." an intimidating voice interrupted the date proposal. The way Cat's ears and face drooped, it was clear this wasn't the first time this had happened.
Quickly changing her stance into a very stiff bow, Ladybug greeted the celestial guardian "Master Grand-I mean-Grand Master Su-Han! Welcome back to Paris!" She was already off to a great start.
The over a century old man was hard to read. The duo wasn't completely sure, but it seemed like he was somewhat happy to see them again. "Greetings young guardians. I am only here for the day and then I must return to the temple, so pleasantries will have to wait." He went straight to the point. "I would like to meet the team of heroes that you have chosen." It was highly unusual to have a teenage Miraculous wielder, but an entire (almost) box worth of them was the first that had ever happened. He had learned to trust these two on their judgment, but he needed to know what the other holders were like firsthand.
"Ah yes, the Miracusquad! A bunch of good kids, if I do say so myself!" Cat Noir spoke like a proud father. Or what he hoped a proud father sounded like since his dad was… well, I can't find a kid-friendly way to put it.
Su-Han raised an eyebrow. "You call yourselves the Miracusquad?" Yep, they were off to a perfect start.
OXOXOXOX
The three hopped across the rooftops, heading to the Trocadero to rendezvous with one group of heroes. "We all take turns patrolling the city, and everyone other than the two of us takes shifts in fighting akumas, except when a specific power is needed." Cat Noir explained, making a flashy jump to the next rooftop.
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"
The three arrived at their destination to witness a huge crowd of people sitting on the steps as if they were bleachers, holding merchandise of some kind and cheering on something that was happening inside a makeshift boxing ring at the bottom. Ladybug squinted down to see who was in the ring and visibly paled. It was King Monkey and Minotaurox! "WHAT THE-" Cat quickly threw up a hand to her mouth to silence her outburst.
Stepping away from her partner and superior, Ladybug ran around to look for the other heroes that were supposed to be with those two. A yellow and black bodysuit caught her eye, and she ran over at inhuman speed. "Vesperia! What are those two doing!?" she shook the blonde's shoulders in a panic.
Unfazed by the outburst, Vesperia casually motioned over to the two in the ring. "Well, we were on patrol and got stopped by a couple of kids that wanted to meet us. Somehow it turned into a debate on who would win in a fight, Minotaurox or King Monkey, and you know how far Monkey pushes this stuff. It was going to be a small match but more people showed up, and Caprikid set up a merchandise booth-" she pointed out a stand over on the grass, where after using his power and recharging, the goat hero was handing out mini flags with either the ox or monkey hero's name on it.
"Where is Pegasus!? He was supposed to make sure King Monkey didn't do anything… Kim-ish." Ladybug leaned in and whispered that last part.
Ladybug jumped normally and followed him up "But today everyone is patrolling and doing what they can to help the people of Paris!"
"Ladies and gentleman!" the voice of the horse hero announces over a megaphone. The girls looked over to see him in the middle of the ring. "In this corner we have the unmovable wall; Minotaurox!" Pegasus gestured to his friend like a real wrestling announcer as the ox boy flexed for the crowd. "And in this corner we have the King of confusing chaos; King Monkey!" The other boy did a backflip for the crowd.
Vesperia made an apologetic motion to Ladybug and ran over with a bell, dinging it to start the match. The bee and horse moved out of the way as the other boys put on a wrestling show. The red-clad guardian watched in horror before remembering that her superior was watching! She quickly returned to where she left her cat and the older man and found them leaning over the railing to watch the fight. Cat Noir had a bag of popcorn with him that he snacked on as he watched. "I CAN EXPLAIN!" Ladybug skidded to a halt next to them.
Su-Han wasn't angry at the display, but rather very confused. "What-what kind of training match is this?"
"It-uh… boosts the morale of people to watch us train?" Ladybug answered. Technically, she was telling the truth, but in a way that made it sound less… immature. "We should probably let these guys continue on and check in on the others!" she pushed both of them away from the railing, just before they could hear Pegasus call out "AND KING MONKEY TRIES TO GIVE MINOTAUROX A WEDGIE! IT'S INEFFECTIVE WITH THE SUIT ON!" Ladybug pushed them out faster.
OXOXOXOX
Hoping the next group wasn't starting a public fight show, Ladybug and Cat Noir landed in a nice, open park. "Viperion's group should be meeting us around here." Cat double checked his staff for any new messages. To his surprise, there was a single text from Carapace. All it said was 'We did it!'
Unaware of the ominous text, Ladybug continued telling Su-Han about the next group. "Viperion is one of the most levelheaded and wisest of our team. I can always count on him to keep things from getting out of hand."
"LADYBUG! CAT NOIR! WE FINALLY DID IT!"
Carapace's voice was loud enough to send the local birds flying away. The guardians saw a strange wooden structure with something bright green placed inside what looked like a big wooden spoon. Getting closer, the main duo realized what it was they were looking at; the one in black was excited, the one in red was horrified. "Oh kwami…" Ladybug muttered.
"Presenting… The Carapult!" the turtle hero proudly announced atop the shoddily crafted catapult. Tiny turtle stickers decorated the wood while Rooster Bold and Viperion were carefully painting the front of the device with green paint.
Su-Han wasn't sure what he was looking at. "A new weapon in the fight against Hawkmoth?" he asked Purple Tigress, as she came by with another roll of stickers.
"... yup." Tigress answered.
Cat Noir started excitedly talking to his best friend about the finished creation while Ladybug pulled Viperion away from the 'Carapult' and over behind a tree. "HOW COULD YOU LET HIM FINISH THE CARAPULT!? You were supposed to be keeping these guys out of any wacky shenanigans!" Marinette whisper-yelled at the snake hero.
"Honestly, we never planned on finishing the Carapult today-" Viperion started, looking away sheepishly. "Rooster realized that if my sister used Clout to launch the catapult, and if he gave himself the power of perfect aim, we'd be able to perfect its usage." He paused momentarily. "The stickers were sadly my idea." he admitted.
The celestial guardian had no further comments on the contraption. He mainly studied the eager face of the cat hero to his right as the Carapult was put into motion. The turtle hero held himself into a ball shape atop the device. "LAUNCH THE CARAPULT!" he commanded.
"Clout!" Purple Tigress controlled her punch as she hit the launch mechanism.
Rooster Bold had been focused on aiming the Carapult at a poorly drawn picture of Gabriel on a rooftop, and remembered a second too late that he hadn't used his Sublimation yet. "Uh oh."
The older man and the teens watched the boy in green go flying through the air. Farther and farther away until he collided with a building and slowly inched downwards. "He'll be fine." Viperion reassured the group.
OXOXOXOX
"-and Bunnyx has been on top of the Eiffel Tower all afternoon. Keeping a watchful eye as the eye in the sky!" Ladybug went on as she, her partner and guy who was possibly her mentor climbed to the top of the tower. Ladybug landed first and immediately smacked a hand on her forehead. "OH COME ON!"
The other two followed up moments later and saw why Ladybug was upset. Bunnyx was fast asleep.
It was Cat Noir who poked the time traveling hero in the cheek to wake her up. "IT WAS KIM!" she bolted awake. Looking up to see her company, Alix cringed. "Knew I shouldn't have been up playing Super Penguino with Fluff till three." She muttered.
"This is your lookout? Asleep while transformed?" Su-Han was disappointed and started to sound mad. "With proper training, any of you can learn to go without sleep for a week straight! You are dealing with a dangerous supervillain that threatens to wreak havoc across not only this city, but potentially the world!"
An alert tone rang on the teens devices, and the co-guardians checked their notifications on their weapons. Bunnyx opted to ignore the ding from her umbrella and looked over Ladybug's shoulder. "Looks like Hawkmoth posted something on his [NonBrandNameSocialMedia]."
They opened up the file to see a video labeled 'Hawkrap' none were prepared for the contents they were about to witness. Hawkmoth was in a CG background wearing sunglasses and bling, rapping about how all of Paris will be akumatized and how the miraculous will be his. The camera was shaky at some points as Mayura questioned her life choices for the eightieth time this week.
Bunnyx and Cat Noir cackled with laughter at the shoddily made music video. Su-Han had several dozen questions about this, and by the look on Ladybug's face, she couldn't give him any sort of satisfying answer.
OXOXOXOX
It took fifteen minutes of the Hawkrap on loop before Ladybug could pull her kitty away from the internet and back to their task at hand. "Alya, please be doing something productive!" the red-clad heroine quietly pleaded as they approached the entrance to the Louvre.
They were greeted to the sight of an angry mob, a protesting angry mob with Polymouse in the lead. The crowd circled around Bob Roth, who was standing beside an industrial sized truck parked on the sidewalk. "DOWN WITH XY BRAND HAIR SPRAY! DOWN WITH XY BRAND HAIR SPRAY!" the mob chanted.
Ladybug groaned and hung her head in her hands. "Why does this keep happening today?!" Where was Alya? Mylene was on her team for the day. She motioned for Cat Noir and Su-Han to follow her as she swung back up to the rooftops. They didn't need to look far for the fox heroine. She was only a rooftop away from them.
Rena Rouge was speaking in unison with the mob, while holding her flute close to her face. The co-guardians realized the whole mob (except Polymouse) was a Mirage! Another orange-colored super-girl sat near Rena. Miss Hound knelt down on a picnic blanket and sipped a cup of tea before she noticed the three newcomers. Mildly choking, Miss Hound waved them over and motioned for them to be quiet. "Miss Hound, what is going on?" Ladybug yelled quietly.
"We were on patrol when Polymouse saw a promotional truck carrying the new XY brand hairspray. She told us about how she'd been hearing about the illegal chemicals that went into making it and the dangers having it sprayed will cause. So Rena Rouge used her power to help back her up so she could stop the spread. Then I made some tea." Miss Hound recapped and held up a small teapot. "Would any of you like some?"
Everyone had a cup of tea now. They sat in a circle drinking their hot beverages while Ladybug looked around for the other hero that was in their group. "I don't see Ryuko anywhere."
"Oh, she's down with the mob." The dog heroine casually pointed out their missing friend. Ladybug and Cat Noir peered over the side and finally noticed a figure in the back, holding a flaming katana over her head.
"Wow, Rena put a lot of detail into that katana! It looks like it's really on fire!" Cat Noir praised their teammate.
"That's not part of the Mirage. Ryuko's doing that because she's always wanted to." Miss Hound clarified.
Ladybug shook her head, exhausted by her teammates. "Of course she would." She took a long sip of tea.
OXOXOXOX
"I think that's everyone, right?" Cat Noir asked his partner, who still looked like she needed a twelve hour nap.
"I have not seen the wielder of the pig Miraculous yet." Su-Han pointed out. He would be ready to leave after meeting the last hero.
Realizing that she had not seen the pink tutu wearing heroine all day, Ladybug's eyes shot open. "Wait-she was supposed to be with Rena's group! Where'd Pigella go?!"
Our red and black duo got simultaneous notifications on their weapons. Opening up their [NonBrandNameSocialMedia] they saw the notice came from the joint hero account. Marinette felt a pit of dread in her stomach when she saw a new video had been posted. By Pigella.
"Oh no." her voice was flat with disappointment by now. Pressing play, she was treated to the sight of Pigella wearing sunglasses, a backwards cap, and a rose gold medallion. There was a pair of baggy pants in the background, indicating that she tried to fit them over her skirt and failed. The pink-clad heroine was belting out a rap of her own, responding to Hawkmoth's rap and insulting him far harsher than either co-guardian expected from her.
Cat Noir continued to watch the video while Ladybug turned around to the older man watching from over their shoulders. "I… uh-" our miraculous heroine for once couldn't think of any way to salvage this. "I swear we are much more serious when we are actually fighting bad guys!"
To her surprise, Su-Han was not angry. He pinched his forehead between his closed eyes. "I believe you Ladybug. I understand the burden of being the sane one more than you realize." he reassured the girl.
With his visit coming to a close, Ladybug and Cat Noir took Su-Han back to the site of the wrestling match (which ended in a draw) and had Pegasus open a portal back to the Guardian's Temple. The celestial guardian took a breath of air, having somewhat relaxed after spending some time away.
CRASH
The loud noises coming from the training yard returned all the stress he had relaxed. Su-Han followed the sound to see a handful of the younger guardians wrangling an ostrich. "Grand Master! We found this bird on our expedition to Africa! We named him Jerry after that comedian we saw on the magic box!"
Su-Han felt a part of him die inside. He looked at the sky and whispered to himself, "The burden of sanity."