1338 May 24 2022 [Local Calendar]
Paris, France
I'm jolted into consciousness by rhythmic clacking. Blinking away my sleep I notice a few things, first: I'm not wearing my armor, second: I'm on a train, but it's the third thing that confuses me.
"Bonjour, il est actuellement 6h43, nous arriverons à la gare Ermont - Eaubonne dans 2 minutes. Si telle est votre destination, veuillez récupérer vos bagages et proceed to the nearest exit. Thank you for choosing Startrain." The electric voice of text to speech interrupted my thoughts, thankfully allowing my Communication Talent to get a handle on the language, while I was staring at thing number three.
That's the Eiffel Tower. I was in Paris. I don't know many things that are set in Paris. Bourne, Ratatouille, and Assassin's Creed Unity were the only ones I could think of off the top of my head. Looking across the skyline I was unable to see the massive sign for Gusteau's that should have stood out like a sore thumb, so probably not in a Disney-Pixar movie. None of the advertisements around had anything like the expanded triangle of Abstergo Industries, so I don't have to deal with the struggle between the Assassins and the Templar. There was unfortunately no real way to tell if this was from the Bourne series other than the fact that he was only in Paris in the early to mid 90's and it was past 2010 based on the digital billboards I could see.
Where the fuck am I? I think, looking around before a blue dialogue box appeared in front of me.
Welcome to Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir
Quest: Miraculous Miracle
Objectives:
Collect the Miraculous: 0/19
Hidden Objectives:
???
Time remaining in reality: 6:23:55:07
…
…
…
The fuck is this? I've never heard of this… whatever the hell this is. I pushed my stress defense to the limit as I was forced to accept the fact that I was off the beaten path at this point. These jobs could show up and send me to whatever reality the Archdeity desires, even ones I don't know.
I take a deep breath. Panicking will solve nothing, I just need to get some information about the setting and I can go from there. Now calmer and with a goal in mind I decide to go for a walk and see what I can find out.
—
You know, for such a popular tourist destination this city seems pretty empty. I think to myself looking around, the streets definitely aren't completely empty but I'd honestly expect them to be way more crowded. I walk into an open plaza with a glass pyramid. 90% of the images I've seen of the Louvre have this plaza absolutely swarming with people, but right now I see maybe 30 people going about their lives.
Shrugging my shoulders I decide that if I'm in Paris I might as well see some of the sights. Before I make it three steps there's what sounds like giant footsteps in the distance. Damn it. I lower my head in defeat before turning around and pausing.
Why the fuck is there a guy with a green bubble shield around his head? Why is he 60 feet tall? How is he throwing punches? And that's literally what he was doing: throwing his arms around like he was punching things only for his hands to separate from his arms and only be connected by glowing gold arks of energy.
I have so many questions right now. I rubbed my temples before I used my psionics to boost my running speed to quickly make my way to the Notre Dame where this guy was. Based on the news helicopters flying around this wasn't an everyday occurrence.
As I run I see two tiny figures standing on the roof of a building next to the courtyard where the man who is wrecking shit. I can't make out too many details but it looks like one is wearing red clothes and the other is wearing black. Before I saw anything else they jumped down to engage the figure. I slow down as I approach the street entrance to the courtyard and peak around the corner to see what's going on.
I was correct in the colors as I watch two young women doing some damn good acrobatics. The woman wearing red has black spots in a ladybug pattern across her body, and the woman wearing black has blonde hair with green highlights topped by a pair of black cat ears. Oh and they're both wearing domino masks to conceal their identity.
As I'm watching the cat themed one shouts something that is just out of my earshot, but the result causes a miasma to form around her hand as she makes contact with the green shield to no effect.
I tuck back around the corner and look around to find that there aren't any cameras in my line of sight. Taking a quick breath I try something that I haven't before, opening up my Pocket Space app on my HUD I select my MJOLNIR armor and try to just equip it directly. To my surprise it works and I feel myself being encapsulated in titanium-A armor.
"Now, let's see what I can do about that big bastard."
Turning the corner at a run I almost trip as the one 60 foot bastard has somehow become three identical 20 foot bastards. Damn, there's jack shit I can do with just my physical capabilities even with my armor. I double down on my sprint, my legs pumping as concrete turned to dust behind me. 50 feet from the giant I notice the girl in black use some kind of pole to propel herself over a building and out of sight. The woman in red started walking in a blazé fashion before turning and noticing me speeding towards the back of this guy, she reached her hand out like she was going to warn me off but it was too late.
I used the power of my mind to push down while I sprang up, between it all I lept 30 feet into the air. As much as I wanted to just ax kick the shit out of this guy, I knew it'd do next to nothing, so I did the next best thing.
At the peak of my arc I grabbed ahold of my connection to my psionics and pulled.
Alya Césaire, currently known as Scarabella, watched in confused horror as a figure in green metallic armor was running at ridiculous speeds towards Kouki's back. She reached up her hand to tell them to get out of here, but before she could they jumped. She wasn't entirely sure how but they jumped so high, hard, and/or fast that there was a noticeable dust trail following them into the air easily clearing Kouki's oversized teddy bear looking mug. Maybe they're a Miraculous holder? She thought to herself before their next action all but confirmed it.
The individual went into a flipping roll at the apex of their trajectory, as the figure began to fall they quickly began to grow. In the three seconds it took them to come into contact with the green barrier around Kouki's head they had gone from a slightly oversized human to a massive dragon covered in golden plates that stood taller than the giant Akumatized villain, and they used the momentum of their flip to bring the massive tail down like a weighted whip.
Kouki didn't see the attack coming and was caught off guard. While the attack didn't make direct contact, the laws of physics didn't particularly care as the weight and speed of the hit caused the giant of a man to stumble forward barely catching himself on the smaller structures lining the plaza. Before he could recover, the dragon landed on his feet, and she realized that the dragon was male because of one massive ahem reason… she was totally thinking reason. The dragon's head and neck shot forward like a viper and managed to sink his teeth into the left bicep of the villain before he could stand up.
Alya flipped backwards as one of Kouki's clones threw his fist where she'd been standing while the other one had turned around to help the main iteration with his foe. Well at least I'm not dealing with all three on my own. She thought to herself as she avoided another punch. Hurry up Kitty Noir.
This guy hits like a damn freight train. I think as I take another strike to my right forelimb. Checking my HUD I find that there's only 15 seconds remaining before my capture is complete. Looking over his shoulder I see the red suited girl bobbing and weaving around the third clone like she's a damned ballerina that participates in MMA. My distraction costs me another blow to my left shoulder, in response I open my jaws wide and release a pressurized wave of psychic energy knocking him off balance. Then the capture completed and I was really surprised.
Captures Complete!
Kouki - 6
Wayzz: Kwami of Protection - 1 IMG ticket
Kaalki: Kwami of Teleportation - 1 IMG ticket
Stompp: Kwami of Determination - 1 IMG ticket
Roaar: Kwami of Exaltation - 1 IMG ticket
Mullo: Kwami of Multiplication - 1 IMG ticket
Quest: Miraculous Miracle
Objectives:
Collect the Miraculous: 5/19
Wait, what? I rear back, narrowly avoiding a strike aimed at my snout. Why did I get five additional captures? And extremely dangerous ones at that.
Too focused on my opponent and my inner turmoil, I was caught off guard when a massive water balloon fell onto the green shield of the primary iteration. He began to freak out because of an inability to see and decided to drop the barrier to remove the paint. That, apparently, was what the red-clad hero was waiting for since she threw a… is that a fucking yo-yo? As the black-clad heroine landed a little ways away from my left foreleg in a defensive stance against me, the toy flew true and in an act that broke the laws of physics it wrapped itself several times around the helmet of the villain and yanked it off before slamming it into the ground, shattering it.
Confused, I continue to watch as from the remains a pitch black butterfly that was crisscrossed with purple stripes flew as though to run away from the heroes. Still very confused, the ladybug themed woman ran her fingers across one of the circular sides of her yo-yo causing it to turn white. "No more evil doing for you, Megakuma. Time to de-evilize!"
I blink and begin to return to my human form. At this point I'm beyond the point of being able to even form coherent thoughts. The bug heroine swings the toy in a wide arc that is perfectly aligned to snatch the butterfly out of the air before pulling on the cord and catching the… I don't know, yo? Is that the technical term? Whatever. "Got ya." She then reopens the side of her tool and releases a pure white butterfly. "Bye-bye little butterfly." She finished, waiving at the insect before turning to find me, in my armor, having a standoff with her partner.
Even as she closes in on me I watch a black miasma engulf the prone figure of the downed villain before it cleared to reveal a normal, if gaudily dressed, man.
Before I could have a talk with the heroes about what had just happened five chibi figures flew out of the guy's ring and flew in front of me. "Master! We are so pleased to be free." The one in the center said, bowing in respect, a gesture that is copied by the other four in short order.
Why the fuck is there a chibi turtle talking to me? "Uh… you're welcome?" I replied, not sure what else to say. I looked at the five figures to see a tiger, an ox, a mouse, and a horse in addition to the turtle. "Can someone please tell me what exactly is going on? I'm really confused."
The heroes looked equally as shocked to see the chibi's in front of me but their shock felt less like 'what are they?' And more like 'why are they here?' The turtle drifted forward again and nodded genially. "Of course Master, though this is a conversation better had in private." He looked around and the chibi's all hid as a news van pulled up on the street.
The ladybug themed heroine snapped out of her shock before she nodded her head. "Unfortunately Wayzz is right, this isn't the time or place for this kind of talk." She glanced at her partner before looking back to me. "I'm Scarabella, and she's Kitty Noir. Meet us on top of the Arc De Triomphe tonight at midnight, we'll explain everything then." She said, I noticed that her earrings were red and had two black dots on them, even as I was watching the number of dots dropped to one. Scarbella took the tarp that had been used as a water balloon and threw it into the air, calling out. "Miraculous Scarabella."
To my amazement the tarp became a single point of red light before scattering into a swarm of ladybugs that flew over everything and fixed it all. "If you don't want the media's attention on you, you might want to bounce before they can ask any questions." The black-clad Kitty Noir told me nodding her head to the side where the crew of the van that had just pulled up was quickly running our way.
"Yeah that's a good idea." I said before looking behind them to the Lez river. I turned back to Kitty. "Could you give me a hand with your staff?"
She turned to follow my gaze before she smiled. A beeping sound from her hand caused her to look down before she extended her staff a good ways. "Yeah, but make it quick." She held it horizontally and I ran the 30 feet to the end before grabbing ahold.
We nodded to each other and I made a psionic infused jump and held on as she pivoted her body and flung me much farther than I had anticipated. Instead of just making it to the shoreline I ended up diving into the middle of the river. I allowed myself to sink deeper until I was maybe twenty feet deep, I was swept up in the current and swept downstream.
After a minute or two I planted my feet and began to slowly move towards the shore. Once I was able to make out specific shapes through the rippling surface I looked further down river and found what looked like a bridge. Taking a few more minutes I walk under the structure and then pull myself out and onto the cement walkway.
Looking both ways and seeing no one around I store my armor back in my Pocket Space and begin walking back the way I had come with my hands in my pockets. Okay, now I just have to lay low and wait for night, I wonder if there's any… good… hotels. I stop walking as I realize a massive glaring hole in my plan. "I have no money…" I said to myself in slowly growing disbelief.
This had never been a problem before, in the first world I had been given everything I'd needed and on top of that Kasumi had been doing her own thing, the second world everything had gone to shit, and in Stargate I'd been living in the SGC and didn't really need money. The hell am I going to do now? I tried to brainstorm a solution, the only answer I could find was to just straight up rob a bank, but that wouldn't go well. If only I had… my thoughts revolved around my companions who I had foolishly signed a deal saying that they couldn't come with me, only what I had in my… Wait.
I pulled up my inventory on my HUD. There's no way it'd be there.
…
…
…
"Holy hell, it is there." I was so surprised to see what I was looking for that I actually spoke out loud.
"Uh… what's where?" A feminine voice asked from behind me.
I turned around to find a tiny blonde haired girl wearing a pink shirt and jeans who was looking at me in concern. I suppose that I'd also be worried if I came across a random guy talking to himself. Behind the blonde was a black haired goth girl who looked extremely uncomfortable to be intruding on anyone. There was something in me that felt extremely excited to see her.
I opened my mouth to respond but before I could everything around me froze. The girls temporarily halted breathing, the water stopped flowing, and there was a bird that had been caught mid takeoff. "What's going on?" I asked the empty air, my body returning to combat readiness.
"Peace, Master." The chibi turtle said as he and the others appeared. "I apologize for the sudden situation, rest assured that we have not frozen time, rather we have accelerated your mind and we are speaking within your mindscape. It only looks like the outside world because that is what you were observing when we initiated this communication."
I glance around at the tiny animals and then further afield to my surroundings, everything that was behind me relative to how I had been standing was slightly blurred, like looking at something through squinted eyes. "Alright, if you've gone through this much trouble I assume you did so with a goal in mind."
"Correct Master." The same one spoke, his head dipping down. "First of all allow us to introduce ourselves; I am Wayzz the Kwami of Protection."
The horse floated forward and spoke with a haughty tone. "I am Kaalki the Kwami of Teleportation."
The bull gave a snort and a small head shake. "Stompp. Kwami of Determination."
The tiny tiger rolled mid air before pointing to herself. " I am Roaar, the Kwami of Exaltation."
And finally the tiny mouse looked at me skittishly before squeaking her response. "Mullo, Kwami of Multiplication." After which she hid behind Stompp.
"Okay… and what does that mean?" I asked, looking between the five of them before stopping on Wayzz.
He nodded in acknowledgment of the question before he answered me. "There are a series of artifacts known as the Miraculous, each Miraculous has a Kwami bound to it." He paused before looking at his companions. "Or should I say 'had'. I do not know what you did to release us but it seems that when you did it also severed our connection to the physical Miraculous." His expression told me that he was worried about something to deal with the connection being broken.
"Is that a problem?" I asked, regaining his attention.
"I do not know, Master." He said, holding his chin in thought. "A Kwami is not supposed to use their own abilities, they are meant to be paired with a human holder and give their powers to them. This is due to the extreme strength of our powers, and the Miraculous is the tool used to ensure a stable connection between a Kwami and their holder. However since you freed us from Monarchs control we have all felt our powers stabilize within ourselves, which should not be possible." He explained, trying to make sense of how it could be possible.
"And Monarch was the big guy who was in the courtyard, right?" I asked leadingly.
The turtle shook his head in the negative. "No Master, that was simply an Akumatized man." He lowered his head in shame. "Monarch is in possession of the Butterfly Miraculous which is bound to Nuroo: Kwami of Transmission. In the proper hands, that Miraculous would be used to help prevent evil by recruiting anyone who meets the criteria as laid out by the holder. Monarch chooses those who are in extreme emotional distress to turn into villains and wield their powers against Ladybug and Chat Noir so that he can get their Miraculous'."
"Okay." I said, bringing the mental projection of my hands together and tapping the joined index fingers against my lips in thought. "Okay, so let me get this straight: the Miraculous each have a Kwami. The holder of a Miraculous is meant to use its power for good, but this Monarch guy doesn't care about the greater good and is doing his own thing? Why is he so focused on these two specific artifacts? And how did that villain have your powers? I didn't see anything that could be considered as artifacts on him after the battle."
Wayzz looked at me before looking at his companions for support. After a minute Roaar spun forward to get my attention. "Unfortunately that is one of the closest guarded secrets of the Miraculous, if you want the answer you need to ask the current Guardian: Ladybug."
I interlock my fingers and run my conjoined hands over my scalp and cup the base of my skull in an attempt to relieve the tension that was quickly building into a headache. "Okay, but she wasn't at the fight. So where is she?"
There was another silent conversation among the Kwami before Wayzz spoke again. "We know where to find her but we cannot take you there. A holders greatest possession is their anonymity."
"Fine, then let me guess, she also won't speak to me without being in disguise?" Getting a set of five near identical nods I sigh out a single word. "Fantastic." I bow my head in thought for a moment before I look up at the four creatures in front of me.
Wait.
Four?
Counting again I realized that I am one Kwami short of my current roster. "Where's Roaar?" I asked myself before looking around. Since this was in my mind she couldn't have gone far, and I was right.
Roaar was floating in front of the face of the goth girl who had been behind the very flamboyant girl who had caught me talking to myself. She looked longingly at the girl before she noticed my gaze. "Sorry Master, I just got distracted by my Chosen. I normally wouldn't have said anything about her being such, but I could tell that there was a bit of feedback when I saw her and you were able to feel some kind of connection to her."
"She's your holder?" I ask her while I look at the girl closer.
"Not my sole holder, but she is my Chosen holder. Anyone may use our strengths so long as they know the phrase that we respond to and hold our Miraculous." She explained as she placed a paw on the face of the mental projection we were observing.
I blink for a moment taking in the information that was just given to me before the metaphorical light bulb illuminated above my head. "So let me get this straight: anyone who knows your favorite words and have the object that you're bound to gain your powers and have their identity obscured?" I ask, looking back to Wayzz only to receive a confused nod. "The objects that you are no longer bound to?"
Dawning realization came over Wayzz's face as he got the point I was trying to make. "One of us could give our power to Ladybugs holder and she would be able to attend the meeting tonight and answer the questions that we cannot." He deduced with a smile before it was replaced with a look of deep thought. "But who would we send?"
"That's easy." I said turning to the horse Kwami. "Kaalki, I sure hope that your title is more than just for show."
The horse in the room looked at me in surprise before it was quickly replaced with a look of pride. "Of course it is, there is nowhere that I can't go." She said smugly.
"Good, then once this little powwow is over go to Ladybug and convince her to come to the meeting tonight." I replied with a smile.
I love it when a plan comes together.
A/N: there we go. Now please put away your torches and pitchforks, but especially the torches… Fire bad… I acknowledge that I made a mistake in the deal and I intend to rectify that error as soon as I'm back in Stargate. So please stop with the… okay, why does that guy have a massive wooden cross? Anyway I wanted to apologize for the wait, this is actually the first time I've almost completely rewritten an entire chapter. The first iteration just felt wrong and I didn't like it so I tried again from when the MC got off the train and this is what happened. For those interested the timeframe for this chapter is "The Kwami's Choice."
Once again I acknowledge that I made a mistake with the deal, but thanks to a couple of your comments I realized that the main reason I chose to do it was stupid: I wanted to show that Drake was strong without his allies, but I forgot about the most important aspect of strength: knowing when to ask for help. So after this side-arc I'll fix it, thank you all for setting me straight.
Read. Follow. Review.