A deafening noise reverberated, similar to the one of a broken radio and a gate being forced open. The portal looked like a window in space (and obviously time) , but the starry aspect wasn't to be admired long enough. Very soon, a first individual emerged, in the form of an old wizard merged with a mirror replacing his feet. His eyes were only mere translucent orbs yet transpiring cosmic energy. Pandora's symbol was present on his pointy hat, and also found on his attire, giving him a fascinating elegant appearance, with his royal blue and gold starry design. A complete contrast with the two following akumas who looked like death machines. The second one to appear was bald, disfigured with scars, with his lower body looking like a metallic tarantula with functional arms and sworded tips. Finally, the last one looked like a cyborg from a video game with fluorescent green on gray and dark pallet color, a mad grin on his face, and 2 long guns that were the extension of his arms. Soon, they saw an armada of futuristic floating canons emerging from the portal and dispatching in the air all around him.

The wizard akuma directed his mirror toward Alix, his severe expression never leaving his face even while having found his prey.

"I am Teleport Tracker. You may NevER escaPe me , Alix Kudbel . LaND the timE miraculous to uS. "

" AnD i Am pERfeCt shOoTEr ! yOu maY haVe esCApeD uNtIlL NOw; bUt yoU'Re noThINg mOrE THaN a tRAppeD mOuSe AnD i WiLL bE tHE oNe tO exTeRmiNate yOu !"

The shooter aimed at Alix and in a fraction of seconds launched a charged attack he had prepared in advance, surprising Adrien and Louis who were the closest to her. Marinette and the others only got the time to see the beams directed towards the two boys and to scream " Alix! Adrien! Louis!" before they heard the impact. Caughting, all eyes were on the spot they were supposed to be, and it seemed several hearts had stopped in the longest and terrifying time the smoke took to dissipate. Marinette almost cried when she saw Louis with a magic shield protecting her lover and her aged-up friend. Adrien, who had closed his eyes at the impact, opened them to find the raven hair man before him, shaking from all his limbs.

"L…Louis, are you alright?"

No, he wasn't. He was pale, his eyes as wide as toasters and his breathing shaky and uneasy, fastening by the second. By how much his legs were shaking, it was a miracle he was still standing.

"Oh my god…oh my god….oh my god.." he was frantically repeating to himself, in a sort of mantra.

"Bro, you did it! You've activated the magical charm! It's time to run, you need to run, hurry!"

Hugo knew when he saw the shield fade that it was purely by instinct his brother had succeeded in protecting them both. But his mental state was very frail around akumas and he feared there wouldn't be a 2nd time. He needed someone to snap him out of the crisis.….But he didn't have time to think, the multi-legged akuma had already landed and the shooter was aiming again, at them this time, quite furious to have his shot countered.

" Dusuu, Spread your feathers!"

"Xuppu, Show time! "

" Fluf…"

"nOT sO fasT…" said a deep snake-sounding voice from the bald akuma who had remained silent until now. He had tried to cut in half the redhead, and if he failed, he prevented her from transforming.

"Shit! I can't transform with these guys around!" winced the superheroin, getting up with incredible resilience and trying to distance herself from her enemy.

"Leave it to us! We will take care of them Bastards!" Billie roared, darting toward the sworded legs, while Feather's Empress drew a new weapon from her side, a beautiful sword. She wasn't smiling anymore, and that in itself signed the seriousness of the situation.

"Girl, we need to run too!"

"B..But, what about them? About Adrien! And Louis!"

'We need Ladybug right now Mari!' reasoned Alya despite the chaotic battle start, and begrudgingly Marinette followed, not without screaming!

"Boys, run!"

"Don't worry, I'm gonna protect them until Ladybug and Chat Noir's appear!" screamed back Hugo, directing himself toward his dad and brother.

Adrien on his side was trying to get Louis, who had collapsed on his knees, to stand up again by shaking his arm.

"Louis please, we need to go.."

"I…I can't…I…"

The one who looked so confident earlier, like a quiet force of nature, was on the verge of crying, staring at the floor and gapping like a fish lacking his oxygen. The magical charm had fallen on the floor and he was hiding his face behind his hands, as if not seeing the akuma would mean he couldn't be seen either. The monkey teen voluntarily turned his back to the akuma, occulting him from his brother's view, and taking each side of his brother's face between his gloved hand.

"Hugo, what's happening? Why is Louis like this? I can't talk to him.."

"He's having a panic attack! Louis, listen to me…..you remember the therapies right? I don't really know what you do usually uhm ...Concentrate on me and try to breath or something. The akuma's far away and he isn't after you. You can run ok? Breath slowly. You don't have to fight him, you only have to run, please!"

"He's undergone therapy for that?!"

"It's 'cause he's akumaphobic! He's been for a long time so normally he is always extra-careful and always goes away as far as possible from akumas! I can't even believe he's used a magical charm directly facing 3 akumas, it's insane for him! No wonder he's in that state!"

Akumaphobic. What irony could it be for a superhero's son?

"Dad! You need to run, I'm taking care of him!"

"Hugo, Behind you!"

Without warning, the second set of beams launched, fortunately deviated by a ultrasonic beam from Cutie at the last moment. Perfect Shooter changed target again, annoyed by the pesky creature and the peacock holder who used Shiny to climb up his numerous canons, slaying as much as she could in the process. Less precise than the guns on his hands, the cannons still shooted everywhere, causing collateral damages all the side of the Seine and buildings around. This distraction allowed Hugo and Adrien to help Louis get up and come back to his senses, enough for him to be dragged by the model out, for a safer place. Hugo remained on the battlefield, and tried to harass the mage who was constantly teleporting before Alix and trying to absorb her in one of his portals. He didn't seem to have any other powers than teleport, but he was annoying to catch at the same time and Hugo knew he was no match for him, especially as his portals could help his 'friend' throw a sword strike at him out of nowhere. He wondered what he could do except from dodging with his agility, until he heard the genuine heroes of Paris' voices.

"Ladybug, Chat noir!" he smiled behind his mask as they both joined the fight.

"My Lady, you couldn't fall much on point! Hey, am I dreaming or do they all have a problem with the number of limbs…"

"Chat Noir, we've got no time to joke around, these ones are like the one from yesterday we fought, be careful! I'm taking the one with the most legs though!"

She paused, seemingly looking for someone.

"

Did you by any chance…see if Adrien and a raven haired boy evacuated from here? I spotted them around the Plaza from far away but I can't see them anywhere… "

"Ah uhm, I've actually encountered them on my way! They were fleeing the scene, do not worry about them! I'm taking care of the shooter, he's the most annoying of the bunch!"

As said as done, the duo separated, Chat joining Haruka in an airborne fight, not quite succeeding in catching his adversary since he was very nimble but damaging his ego pretty badly with caustic jokes of his own.

Ladybug joined Billie who had already been cut multiple times but was healing fast.

"Shit, I can't seem to approach him Auntie! And he isn't dumb too…"

"I'm tHe CaRVEr. I'vE suFfeReD sO muCH siNcE mY acCidENt, i'Ve lOst mY faCE aNd boDY, mY faMiLy and evERytHinG I chErisHeD! mY onLY reASon tO liVE iS By PaNDOrA's coMmAnd ! iF I kiLL laDYbuG aNd bUnNYx, sHe WilL bE oVeRjOyed…"

Marinette bit her lower lips. Akumas who had a serious reason to be akumatized, like very depressed, were the worst, she had noticed over the years. Not exactly the most powerful, but the ones who weren't hesitating to cause casualties , as they thought they had 'nothing to lose'. It never was completely true, but it was already difficult to treat a depressed person, so an akumatized one… Pandora's symbol was almost complete on his forehead, she noted, and if she remembered correctly, it meant they didn't have much time left to save him. Maybe he would get less difficult to fight as he would lose his mind under the madness-inducing curse of the butterfly's miraculous, but she didn't want to bet on the irreversible brain damage it could cause. Listening to him talk was already a huge indicator of how long his sanity had been devoured already….

"Ok, let's try something! "

"Roger Auntie!"

They both parred with the man, avoiding vital blows although he was bruising them. It seemed he could use multiples of his legs at the same time and even protect his head with it. To her dismay, it didn't seem like the object with the akuma was visible outside. The swords couldn't cut her yoyo's strings , but she didn't succeed so far to be able to tie all his legs together with it like she had planned too.

However, the akuma's seemed to have more and more trouble moving correctly. He had noticed too, and it didn't seem like it was supposed to happen. Suddenly, he halted himself, his head grimacing violently in rage as he screamed.

"yOU snEAkY liTtLe CoacKroaCh! GeT aWAy fRoM mE! I KnoW yOu're TherE!"

His moves became erratic, and his swords directed at… himself, or more precisely towards the mechanical part of his transformation.

It was a desperate attempt, as his design wasn't conceived for him to be able to harm himself.

"Has he gone crazy?" Ladybug wondered, but then she saw a little blurry image jump out of the mechanical part of him and wind a sort of lasso around his limb. The figure was so tiny from this far she couldn't decipher the form, but she understood soon that there wasn't only one of them. Multiple gray blurs appeared and disappeared, progressively trapping the villain into a web until all limbs were joined together. The akuma collapsed, incapacitated ,and the gray forms slowed down and amassed, fusing to form a unique slim entity that was now topping him in a triumphant gesture, her lasso on the hand, which was in reality a skipping rope attached to her hips. If the woman was unknown to her, Marinette recognized once again a miraculous that wasn't supposed to be here.

"Multimouse?"

The girl was nothing like Mylène, she was slim, had long blond hair with two round buns at each side covered by the mouse ears costume. The costume in itself didn't look much different than when she had worn it in the past. But who cared about the design right now? This girl had an uncanny resemblance to Billie, and it was soon confirmed by the latter when she grinned.

"Cousin! Long time no see! You've been trapped here like us too?!"

The girl grinned back widely, as the last version of her smaller self brought her back a pendant. Without a second regard to the akuma, she jumped, made a triple somersaults, an aerial rotation and back handsprings until she had reached them, finishing in a gymnastic stance.

"Billie! I've told you my hero's name is Missy Mouse! And nope! I've actually followed these guys with the others and tried to find that one's akumatized object by sneaking inside his metallic body. He just happened to teleport here….Oh my god! So the rumors were true!"

Ladybug blinked when she saw the newcomer changing for an ecstatic state the moment she noticed her presence.

"Oww you're so cute! Good old ladybug for ya! I can't believe I'm seeing you like that, that's so awesome! Oh wait, we've got business to finish, we can talk later! Rules, always the rules! "

"Uhm..ok?"

"Billie, could you break that thing for meeee! "

"Breaking things is my second name! Kyahaha! "

Billie grabbed the pendant and bit it with her razor-like tooth. Like previously, she catched the death moth with her bare hands. Still astonished by how fast it went, Ladybug machinally de-evilized it. The fight wasn't over though, and for her relief she didn't have to use her miraculous powers yet, meaning there were still margins left. She turned to the blond overexcited woman who had already changed expression, watching as another battle unraveled near them.

"No way! Is that Hugo fighting I spot over there? Why does he have a miraculous?! Mom's gonna be SO mad!"

"Haha, the shrimp wanna grow up too fast! But hey, he got him, look!"

"No…that's not like it. The (wizard) akuma just stopped in mid air and that butterfly mark…I've seen that so many times when Monarch contacts his victims. But that's not him who worries me the most.." mumbled Ladybug.

And to illustrate her statements, all the teenage girls dodged laser beams from canons over their heads. A quick glance and she noticed Chat and Feather's empress still at bay, trying to dodge the lasers too. The akuma in the air had created a barrier of lasers around himself, covering every corner. Many cannons had been cut by Haruka's sword, but there were still a lot of them, moving like predator drones. A few had even popped up anew?

"yOu wILl nOt caTCh mE beFOrE i kIll yOu aLl, HahahaHAAhaHhAA!"

The cannons on which the 2 superheroes were standing suddenly exploded, and both were ejected. Shiny grabbed Haruka before she could reach the floor, and so did Ladybug, jumping on a tree and catching Chat with her yoyo.

"Are you alright?"

The black cat hero winced.

"Yeah…Wasn't expecting that. That guy kinda prefers to be left alone I guess. And these lasers, what does he think he is, a precious painting in a museum? " He heard a squeak and turned toward the new face.

"Wait, who's this?"

" Oh uhm…no idea haha! She was hiding in one of the akuma we've fought."

"You've already defeated one! You're so strong my Lady!"

"Not cool, I did all the work! It's been like one hour I'm on the case…" pouted the blond girl, but soon, the same pattern repeated when she got a closer look.

"...But hey! You're so tiny and cute too! I love your green cat eyes, it gives such a nice vibe! The costume seems kinda cheap and edgy a bit but I guess we all have a teenage phase at one point or something!"

"Uh? Thanks?"

Movement was heard and not before long, Hugo was stepping besides them .

"O..Okay, I think I've managed to…Emma?!"

"Shhhh! MISSY MOUSE, you idiot! How many times did we tell you to use the Hero nickname, dammit! " She whined, gesturing a finger on her lips . She would have bonked his forehead if he wasn't wearing that stupid mascot head. But damages was already done and both the past heroes stiffened. Emma? Wasn't that…

"Oupsie…sorry." Her brother apologized meekly "But what the hell are you doing here, does that mean backup's coming?"

"Of course they are, we've been looking for all of you for hours now! There's still some akumas left, but we've mostly got rid of a good part of them! Since I don't know how much time passed since I've infiltrated the enemy, I would say these ones must be among the last we will have to fight!"

"Then we've almost reduced their number to one! I got one of them when he was discussing with Monarch!"

The monkey pointed to an indeed confused akuma who was opening erratic portals and teleporting half and left, mirror's indicating an interrogation mark instead of Alix's face. The mouse miraculous holder deadpanned.

" Are you serious? He's much more difficult to catch now! How are we supposed to follow him if he goes all around Paris or beyond? "

"Oh come on! That's so simple to say for you! May I remind you that I don't exactly KNOW what my powers will result in! I'm just messing with their powers! "

"Be quiet you two, Perfect Shooter is preparing something big.." interrupted Haruka, and the whole hero unit all looked up to see the cannons congregate, almost masking the sky's light.

"HahAHaHaHA yOu pEsKy bUgS! yOu tHINk yOu'Re tOO fASt fOr mE ? I dOn'T eVEn nEEd To aIM tOWaRdS yOu tO dAmAgE soMeOne!"

Aligned, the cannons started to emit light, signifying they were charging energy. Most of the heroes paled at this. It wasn't time to ponder on family reunion.

"Oh no, I can't imagine what distance he can decimate with that much force…" Ladybug mumbled. " You don't think he could hurt civilians on purpose right?" Her concern only grew by checking on the time travelers' faces.

"Okay then " she breathed harshly " I think It's time for…LUCKY CHARM!"

She threw her yoyo up, all the ladybugs magic concentrated in one point and she received..a clock . A simple clock, that looked exactly like the time miraculous.

"If only it could work like the true one…" stated Chat Noir with a disappointed sight.

"Does that mean…We have to trust in Bunnyx?"

"But where is she?" pointed out Hugo.

Indeed, she was nowhere to be seen in the now devastated place, and they all hoped that no news was good news.

"I'm sure she's succeeded to escape and transformed already! We just need to hold up until she sends him back to where he belongs I guess!" tried to reason Marinette, despite the lingering worry she had. She always had a gift to catastrophize about every little thing and yet to remain calm in needed moments.

Now, the question was : How could they face this army of Cannons and avoid as many casualties as they could?

"Then I guess our option is to continue destroying them? " proposed Chat, but quickly added " However It would be useless for me to use Cataclysm on one…"

"Why don't you cataclysm them all?" asked Emma, curious.

"Because I can only use it once before detransforming?"

"Waa, really? That's a thing? How did you defeat so many in the past that way?! You're both so incredible!" the girl squealed in amazement.

Ladybug and Chat looked at each other but left the incoming questions pending. Marinette didn't have another plan, and since everyone agreed, they all launched themselves in different directions, trying to reach for the enemy. With their pet bats, Haruka and Billie were the first up in the air again, but a string of beams targeted them and it almost pierced Shiny and Cutie in the heart, forcing them to go backward. All the heroes that tried met the same fate, and none could even hope to climb one of the cannons, as there were dedicated ones specially for anti aerial purposes.

"..It seems it got harder to reach for him."

"Hey ugly, not even able to aim correctly at that cat? It's not Perfect Shooter but Perfect Loser!" taunted again the catboy on the side near the Pont au Change that was facing the place. It was better if the damage were there than on habitations. But it was a lost cause. The akuma only laughed at their faces in response. The light on most cannons suddenly turned green, the positive color that was announcing the incoming attack .

"iT iS tIMe! sAy yOur fAReWelLs eVerYoNe!"

"Bonk!"

…Bonk?