Shatter Point
By: EDelta88
Rated M for language, violence, adult situations and concepts, and graphic imagery
[Insert disclaimer here]
Chapter 8: Initiative Lost
The Burrow...
"Well, hey there Mini Me…"
Alix whirled around, eyes the size of saucers as she saw a woman in, clearly her future self, leaning casually on her pearly white and blue umbrella as she watched… herself? Older self? Alternative self?
By all the little gods, this was confusing.
The elder Bunnix just grinned as she watched her younger self grimace. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."
Alix sighed in relief. If Bunnix was here that meant… well, she wasn't sure what it meant but help was help and she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Oh, thank god," she breathed. "I need to find—"
"You're looking for a jump point where you can stop Marinette from being akumatized," Bunnix interrupted. "Good thought, but that's a dangerous game. Lesson 1: it's always safer to let the past stay as it is and work on fixing the future."
"But-but Marinette doesn't deserve this!" Alix protested. "And if it's so dangerous, why don't you just help me?!"
A wicked grin slowly spread across Bunnix's lips. "…Who said I was here to help?"
The Louvre Museum…
Chat Noir was pacing, his brow creased in thought as he considered Tisserande's change in tactics. On the one hand, the change was terrifying (even if he knew she couldn't succeed). On the other hand… "This is good," he decided, nodding his head. "If she's not focusing on us, we have the initiative. And if she follows her pattern, we can control when and where we fight. Pegasus, can you predict where she's going to go?"
"I can."
"How accurately?"
"To within a block or two unless something changes. More accurately than that under certain circumstances."
It was like an old Real Time Strategy game, Chat Noir realized. She'd follow her pattern until the landscape forced her to take a certain path. This was perfect! "Find me ambush points along her route," Chat ordered.
Pegasus nodded.
"Ambush?" Pigella wondered. "That doesn't sound very nice."
Chat Noir grunted. "She started it," he muttered mutinously. "Remember? She nearly took my eye out. She hadn't even introduced herself yet!"
There were no further protests.
"Alright, while Pegasus is doing that…" Chat Noir turned to the group as a whole, surveying them thoughtfully. "Well, we're going after the raid boss, might as well do it properly."
The others glanced at each other.
"Tigress, Minataurix, you're tanking," Chat started, pointing to the disguised Juleka and Ivan. "I want you two to be the first in and try to keep her attention. Minataurix, your power will protect you from just about everything. So, if you can get ahold of her, activate it so she can't use her tricks to throw you off. Then I want Tigress to use her power for a decisive blow. If we're lucky, you'll knock her out before the rest of us even have to do anything.
The Ox and Tiger-themed heroes nodded.
"King Monkey," Chat Noir said, turning to the ape-themed hero.
"Yeah?"
"You're with me," Chat Noir told him. "We'll be right behind Tigress and Minataurix. Our job is to try and get her on the back foot or step in if it looks like she's going to get an advantage on our front line. Stay close to me and do not use your power unless I tell you to, got it?"
"Sir, yes sir!" King Monkey replied with a jaunty salute.
"Queen Bee, I want you circling around the fight harassing her," Chat Noir said as he turned to the Bee hero. "It doesn't have to be game-changing, I just want you to split her attention. I want her constantly looking over her shoulder to keep track of you. Trip her up if you can. If she comes after you, you use Venom immediately. See if you can get the drop on her. Can you do that?"
"Child's play," Queen Bee sneered.
"Good," Chat replied. "Tigress? If Bee manages to wrap her up? You use Clout and you knock her out."
Tigress nodded.
"Everyone else? You're the back line," Chat Noir turned to Viperion. "Provide support and relief wherever you can. Viperion, you'll be in charge of everyone hanging back," Chat Noir explained as he started to pace in thought. "The second the fight starts I want you to activate Second Chance. Experiment with the support powers to get us any advantage you can."
Viperion nodded seriously.
"Right, okay," Chat muttered to himself. "What else? Other than myself, Pegasus, and Viperion, everyone stay off the coms unless it's important. Oh! Check your weapons real quick," he told them as he snatched his baton and began fiddling with it.
The others all picked up their weapons, watching carefully.
"Okay, so green," Chat said, tapping a button causing a green indicator light to flash on their weapons. "Green means go. I'll use this as the signal to start whatever plan we're in the middle of. Red." The indicator flashes with a red light this time. "Red means abort and regroup. Retreat," Chat Noir emphasizes, eyeing them all seriously, "Not run away. Retreat. Stick together and make sure she doesn't pick off stragglers. Got it?"
"Seems simple enough," Polymouse answered as the others nodded in agreement.
"Makes sense," Tigress agreed.
"You're really not taking any chances, are you?" King Monkey observed, looking unusually thoughtful.
Chat Noir nodded. "I'd rather be lucky than skilled, but that's off the table today," he explained. "So, we are going to be as well coordinated as humanly possible and plan for everything we can think of because, if we don't, she's going to slip through the cracks and pick us apart."
King Monkey nodded. "Makes sense," he agreed. "What do we do if something happens to you?"
Everyone was silent for a beat.
"Pray?" Queen Bee suggested, successfully managing to break the tension with a little gallows humor.
"Well, hopefully, this setup will minimize her ability to get at my miraculous," Chat answered. Because it wasn't his style to hang back like he was, but if Tisserande got his ring… well, there would be problems. "However, if something does happen to me? Prioritize the ring. Ladybug and Tikki can bring me back but if the enemy gets ahold of Plagg? Even without Tikki to perform the Wish, things will get ugly really fast. So, get the ring and regroup."
"If we are planning for the eventuality of your incapacitation, we should also establish a chain of command," Pegasus pointed out, never looking up from the holographic screen of his horseshoe.
Chat Noir nodded in agreement. "Viperion, if I'm not available, you'll have the most perspective so you're in charge. If Viperion is incapacitated, Carapace is in charge."
"Wait, why is turtle boy in charge?" Queen Bee demanded.
"Because, of the most experienced users here, he's the most level-headed," Chat Noir explained. "But, if you and Rena wouldn't mind advising him, I'd appreciate it."
"I suppose…" Queen Bee grumbled, more or less mollified. She didn't like the idea of being so far down in the pecking order, but Chat Noir's reasoning made sense at least.
"Does anyone else have anything to add?" Chat Noir called.
"Yeah," Carapace said. "Why in the world am I in the back? I am literally the designated tank."
"I was wondering about that too," Pegasus admitted.
Chat Noir nodded. "Two reasons," he began. "The first is that you can shoot shelter into the fight if needed and Viperion will be able to tell you when and where to do it."
Carapace nodded. "Okay, yeah, that makes sense. What's the other reason?"
"The second reason is, while everyone I have fighting is pretty well equipped to protect themselves, you are the best equipped to protect others and I need that to keep our more vulnerable members safe in case Tisserande decides to dive the back line."
"You are really leaning into the League of Legends lingo here."
Chat was unphased. "As someone who has seen Marinette jungle? I'd say my metaphor is completely appropriate."
"League of what? What are they talking about?" Pigella muttered.
"Team-based arena game that Marinette plays when she needs to cause chaos and yell at random strangers," Rena Rouge explained. "Jungler is a position where you're out of sight most of the time except when you're jumping out of nowhere to ruin somebody's day."
"Oh… so like an assassin or something?"
"Or something," Chat Noir agreed as he tried not to think too deeply about all the times he'd watched Marinette's character wreak absolute havoc the few times they'd played together. "Any other questions?"
No one said anything.
"Alrighty then," Chat Noir breathed. "Pegasus? Where's that first ambush point?"
Pegasus selected one of the tabs on his screen and flicked it, sending it straight to Chat Noir's staff.
Chat Noir nodded in thanks. "Alright. We move in the same order that we attack in," he explained. "And pay attention on the way there because I'm going to explain everything I know about her powers so far."
Ambush Point 1
"Here she comes," Chat Noir warned.
"Second Chance," Viperion whispered. A moment later his face fell.
"What is it? What happened?" Chat Noir demanded.
"Absolutely nothing."
"What?"
"She um… went around us," Viperion admitted.
Chat Noir blinked owlishly at the snake-themed hero.
Well, that was anticlimactic.
"Talk to Pegasus," Chat Noir sighed. "See if you two can figure out why we missed her."
Ambush Point 2
After narrowing down Pegus' model and two more failed attempts, it was go time.
"Here we go," Chat Noir muttered as he got ready to pounce. "Viperion, you're up."
"Second Chance," Viperion whispered. A moment later his face twisted into a grimace. "Abort," he sighed, disappointed.
"How many times?" Chat Noir asked, watching as Tisserande passed them by.
Viperion shook his head. "Close to a hundred. The street is too narrow, we keep tripping over each other."
Chat Noir nodded, flicking the light on his baton to red and everyone quietly slipped away, trying not to show their disappointment.
Ambush Point 3
"Everyone, get ready," Chat Noir whispered over the coms as he set the ready light to yellow.
"Second Chance," Viperion whispered. A moment later his face fell, looking tired. "Abort."
Chat flicked a button on his staff, switching the indicator light to red. "How many times?"
Viperion shook his head. "Three hundred, give or take. The overhangs are a good idea. We keep boxing her in, but she turns it against us and almost always manages to take someone out."
Chat Noir hissed, flicking the light on his baton to red. "Everyone pull back," called over the coms. "Pegasus, get me a new area where we can cut her off. Preferably with similar buildings."
Ambush Point 5
"Here she comes," Chat muttered.
"Second Chance," Viperion whispered. A moment later he cursed under his breath. "Abort."
Chat Noir blinked at the reaction. "What happened?" he asked as he flicked the light from yellow to red.
Viperion shook his head. "We need to avoid areas like this in the future," he whispered harshly as Tisserande zipped through the intersection below. "It's small enough for her to use her abilities effectively but wide enough for her to manage to separate us if she focuses on mobility. She just keeps leading us around until she can get one or two of us away from the others and takes them out."
Chat Noir hissed. "Everyone regroup," called over the coms. "Pegasus, did you get all that?"
"Loud and clear."
"Awesome," Chat Noir responded. "Adjust your search so we don't run into this again and get me a new area where we can cut her off." Then, so that only Viperion could hear him, "How bad?"
"She kept getting the drop on King Monkey," Viperion admitted. "I'm… not sure how injured he was."
Chat Noir just nodded, making a note to talk to Kim before the next fight as his staff pinged with a notification for the next ambush point. "Let's move."
None of them noticed Tisserande pause in her search as she caught sight of them disappearing.
Ambush Point 8
"Here we go," Chat Noir muttered as he got ready. "Viperion, you're up."
"Second Chance," Viperion whispered. A moment later his face twisted into a grimace. "Okay, good news is that we might actually have a chance at this if we do it right."
"And the bad news?" Chat Noir asked as he watched Tisserande approaching their position.
"The bad news is that I run out of time before I can see what happens," Viperion explains.
"Go back and tell us what to do. If it goes to plan, go back again, give the instructions, and recharge," Chat Noir ordered. "Use your Second Chance again somewhere between three and four minutes into account for any changes."
Viperion nodded. "Second Chance!"
Then he was back.
"Chat Noir," he called on the coms.
"What?"
"I think I have a plan, but we'll be without Second Chance for a few minutes."
Chat Noir frowned, glancing at Tisserande as she quickly approached them. "How many attempts?"
"Not sure, but this is the one to verify the first half of my plan works."
"What do we have to do?" Some plan was better than no plan.
"Our most successful attempt so far is where we follow your plan of attack until we're four minutes in. Then she'll try and catch Queen Bee. You need to destroy her strings after she's caught Bee and committed to the attack," Viperion explained. "Bee will miss with Venom, but it will put her on the back foot. Warn Tigress not to use Clout."
"Anything else?"
"I'll let you know the next time around," Viperion replied.
Chat Noir grinned and flicked the indicator light to green.
Viperion watched carefully as the fight unfolded for what seemed to be the thousandth time… it might very well have been the thousandth time, in fact. But this time was different, it felt different.
It felt like they had a chance.
"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir cried as Tisserande descended on Queen Bee.
"Venom!" Queen Bee cried even as Tisserande hurled a needle with a red thread at a nearby wall and used it like a grappling hook to pull herself out of harm's way.
Perfect.
"Second Chance!"
Showtime!
"Chat Noir," Viperion called on the coms.
"What?"
"I have a plan, but we'll be without Second Chance for a bit."
Chat Noir glanced at Tisserande as she quickly approached them. "What do we have to do?"
Viperion quickly gave his instructions and slipped away to feed Sass. "Sass, divide!" he commanded as he pulled out a hardboiled egg.
"You are taking an awful risk with this," Sass pointed out.
"I'm being as careful as I can," Viperion pointed out. "I'll start again at three minutes so I have enough time to make adjustments."
Sass nodded. "Very well then. We must go."
Viperion nodded. "Sass, Ziggy, Unify!" he commanded before returning to his position and checking the time. A minute later he activated Second Chance as he watched the battle progress almost exactly like it had before.
This time was going to be different, it felt different.
It felt like…
"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir cried as Tisserande descended on Queen Bee.
Viperion's smile dropped. No, he was too early!
"Venom!" Queen Bee cried.
But Tisserande had too much space to react and hurled a needle with a red thread at the ground and used it like a grappling hook to pull herself down until she was nearly flush with the ground and launched herself under Queen Bee's attack…
Viperion's eyes went wide as Tisserande's needle plunged into Queen Bee's chest with a wet thump.
"Clout!" Tigress roared in rage.
"No!" Viperion cried. Hadn't he said not to-
But Tisserande was already moving, her powerful fingers grasping Queen Bee's wrist as she looped a noose around Tigress, redirecting her into Minitaurix.
Boom!
The two heroes were thrown in opposite directions as Chat Noir was knocked off balance… and right into the Queen Bee's still-active venom.
"Second Chance!" Viperion hissed.
The next hour of aborted time was spent in a loop of continuous frustration as Viperion experimented with different uses of everyone's powers, but no matter what he did, Tisserande would manage to capture Queen Bee and turn it against them in the confusion that followed.
Over and over, he tried.
Over and over, they failed.
'They're too overconfident,' he eventually realized. For some reason they thought they had already won and, just like Chat Noir had warned them, Tisserande was slipping through the cracks.
There was only one thing left to do.
"Second Chance," Viperion sighed before reaching for his com. "We need to abort," he told them.
"But you said—" Chat started, but cut himself off gritting his teeth. "Fall back," he ordered as he flicked the indicator light to red.
Tisserande blinked, too surprised to pursue as her opponents suddenly stopped fighting and started to vanish into the city.
Why had they…
Ambush Point 12
"Everyone, get ready," Chat Noir whispered over the coms as he set the ready light to yellow.
"Second Chance," Viperion whispered.
They all watched as Tisserande approached their position… and then she stopped.
Chat Noir blinked. "What the…"
"What is she doing?" King Monkey wondered.
"I don't know," Chat Noir admitted. "Viperion?" he called over the coms.
"She knows we're here," Viperion replied. "If we don't attack, she comes after us in about thirty seconds and herds us toward the alleys. It… doesn't end well."
Chat Noir sighed. "Rewind us and abort, Viperion."
"Second Chance," Viperion commanded. "We need to abort, she knows we're here."
Chat Noir hissed, flicking the indicator light to red.
As they ran away, Tisserande watched them go with a thoughtful frown before dropping cautiously into the street below where they had been waiting for her. Then…
Nothing.
The akuma stood alone, her pensive gaze sweeping over the area, passing over civilians who had hurriedly taken cover or were scrambling to leave like they were inconsequential, little more than dust drifting in the wind. She didn't like what she saw. The street was somehow too cramped and too open at the same time. There were too many places to hide. The buildings were just tall enough to obscure the rooftop but just short enough to jump to. Slowly, the longer she looked around, the more her thoughtful frown turned into a scowl.
Something about this was wrong.
She leaped onto a nearby building for a new perspective.
What she saw was good high ground with open lines of sight. It would be so easy to see someone coming. The street was open enough for groups of people to move through with some effort but too narrow for more than one vehicle...
What she saw… was a trap.
"Tch," Tisserande sneered.
Ting!
Fwiiip!
Then she was gone.
Ambush Point 13
"Everyone in position?" Chat Noir asked as he switched the indicator light to yellow amongst a flurry of affirmatives. "Alright, be ready to move fast, we don't want her to be able to get too many strings out in a space like this."
So, they waited for Tisserande to appear.
And waited…
And waited…
"Where is she? She should be here by now," Pegasus once she was more than ten minutes past his predicted time of arrival.
Chat's eyes flicked side to side as a leaden weight settled in his gut. Something about this felt wrong. Something had changed. "Viperion, activate Second Chance and keep a lookout. After she saw us coming last time it's possible she's going to turn this against us. Pegasus, check for akuma sightings; if she's changed her pattern, update your chart. Rena, you and I are checking social media. Someone saw something, let's find it."
"She has definitely abandoned her search pattern," Pegasus mused moments later.
"Not much useful on the fan sites," Rena Rouge reported with a frown. "Last sighting was in Montmartre, heading… south."
"If she had searched beyond that point, she'd be nearly to the city limits," Pegasus realized. "So, it's possible she realized that Chat Noir had done something to prevent her from finding her kwami." It was the most probable explanation, however something about this nagged at Pegasus.
"I'm sensing a 'but' here," Chat Noir prompted.
"She knew we were there last time," Pegasus explained. "And, in hindsight, our behavior must have seemed strange when we ran away in our previous skirmish. If she noticed us any of the other times she could have inferred that we had discovered what she was doing and adjusted her strategy."
Chat Noir frowned, thinking of the way Tisserande had stared after them. It wasn't hard to believe that she might have figured out what they were doing but he would have hoped that they'd get more time. "Viperion?" he asked when he heard the bracelet hit the four-minute mark.
"No sign of her," Viperion responded with a frown. "We even spent a couple of loops sending out scouts to see if she was hiding nearby or something. Absolutely nothing."
"Well, crap," Chat Noir sighed. "Okay, take a minute and recharge."
Viperion nodded and then wandered off to the side to feed Sass.
"New sighting," Rena Rouge called out a minute later. "She's at the Palais Garnier."
"What's she doing?" Chat Noir asked even as a cold, sinking feeling settled in his gut.
"Nothing," Rena Rouge replied with a worried frown. "She's just… waiting."
"Putain de bordel," Chat Noir muttered.
Tom & Sabine's Boulangerie Patisserie…
Tom and Sabine huddled in front of the little TV they kept in the back of the bakery as they waited for the latest update on their daughter's situation.
"Welcome everyone to an update on today's akuma!" Alec Cataldi crowed as they returned from a commercial break. "So far, we have been able to gather that today's victim is called Tisserande and boy is she an odd one! She is a young female with some kind of warrior theme, but all her powers seem to revolve around needles and thread. Guess she popped a seam and decided to stick it to someone, am I right? Our reporter, Nadja Chamack is on the scene. Take it away, Nadja!"
"Don't be bemused, it's just the news!" Nadja answered with a winning smile as the helicopter hovered in the air. "We are currently above the Palais Garnier where Tisserande has positioned herself in the middle of the intersection outside. Police have evacuated the area and are remaining at a safe distance to observe but have advised that they have no plans to engage the akuma."
"Interesting," Alec responded. "Has she made any demands? If she was akumatized she must be looking to turn someone into a pincushion."
"No demands as of yet," Nadja answered. "In fact, she's unusually quiet for an akuma. She hasn't even called for the presence of Ladybug and Chat Noir."
"Really?" Alec wondered, bemused. "Then what is she doing?"
"She just seems to be waiting, Alec."
"For what?"
"I don't know. Today's akuma has been particularly difficult it seems," Nadja observed as they circled the scene. "We've already had multiple reports of skirmishes between Ladybug's allies and Tisserande, but there has been -Wait!" Nadja cried as she leaned out and pointed at something. "I see Chat Noir!"
The camera panned away from Tisserande to show Chat Noir dropping down from the rooftops to the streets below.
"No sign of Ladybug yet but…" Nadja trailed off as another hero appeared on the scene.
And another…
And another…
And another…
A/N
So… I was originally planning to show a lot more of the Second Chance shenanigans. Then I realized that if I showed a fraction of the aborted timelines that are going to play out through this fic I would lose my mind keeping track of everything and trying to make each one unique while repeating nearly the exact same scenarios. So, we will NOT be doing that. Outside of truly relevant loops, I will only be showing things from the perspective of those not in possession of the Snake Miraculous.