Chapter Eighteen: Showtime

Gabriel could hardly move. Could barely speak. He had seen other versions of himself before, but the one that stood before him was barely recognizable. And yet, it was unmistakably himself, only twisted beyond all resemblance to the man he once was. What Alix had said about that being him plus time had suddenly returned to the forefront of his mind…

"What's the matter? And here I thought you would be happy to see me after all this time!" He turned from Bunnyx to face the others, who were likewise frozen by his appearance. "How about the rest of you? Are you all stunned by my presence? There's really no need to fear–I'm just like the rest of you, after all." He made his way from the edge of the alleyway to in between both groups, seeming to melt through the air itself as he went. "Just a lost soul, meandering through the worlds, seeking a greater purpose!"

"You…" said Time-Hopper, her initial shock slowly dissipating. "You're the one, aren't you? The source behind the Ripplers. The one destroying universes."

Death's Head bowed before the Hunters. "The one and only! I must say, you've all been looking for me for so long, I'm quite surprised it took you this long to find me! And as for you four…" He turned to face Gabriel and the others. "Why, it truly is an honor to finally meet all of Alix's friends!"

He disappeared in a blink, leaving only a ripple in his place. After a tense moment, he suddenly reappeared right behind the four, startling them all. Marinette and Gabriel readied their weapons, as he was no doubt about to try something.

"Ah, Marinette, Ladybug herself! To think that, after all these years, the Miraculous of creation was so close to my grasp…" He reached out towards her ears, even though they had no earrings. She swung her bat, only for him to vanish before she hit her target. "And Alix, it's good to see you again! I know we parted ways on shaky terms, but let's let bygones be bygones, shall we? After all, it isn't every day we get a chance like this, is it?"

Bunnyx was still too stunned to think clearly, let alone respond to him in an expected way. "Ch-chance for what?" she asked.

He grinned from ear to ear, quite literally. Gabriel realized, with some discomfort, that gashes had been cut into his cheeks to extend his smile. On closer inspection, this seemed to have been caused by a localized Cataclysm. "Why, a chance to make amends!" he answered, as though it were obvious. "For instance, now that you're here, I can finally finish what I started all those years ago. But first…" He warped over to Adrien. "Hello, my son! How long has it been, hmm?"

Adrien took a step back. "I heard what you did to your son," he said, scowling. "I'm not him, nor would I want to be."

With a disappointed sigh, Death's Head turned away. "So be it. Here I thought you would be overjoyed to see your father again. Instead, you settled for this pale imitation." Disappearing once more, Gabriel could feel his breath on the back of his neck. "For the apparent 'main' Gabriel Agreste, you certainly gave up on our dream remarkably quickly. You had Ladybug at your mercy, with both Miraculous in the palms of your hand, and you chose what she wanted over what we wanted. How can you call yourself a Gabriel?"

"What we wanted?" Gabriel whirled around, swinging his sword at his twisted counterpart, only to hit nothing but smoke as Death's Head vanished. "You killed your own son! How can you even claim to be in any way like me!? I made the wish I did so that Adrien could be happy, even if we were apart–all you wanted was to secure your own power!"

Death's Head frowned. "Oh, now, don't be like that. Sure, I may have killed my Adrien, but the wish will make that all better, won't it? Yes, once I make my wish, this will all be better! The Agreste family, together again. Now and forever."

Growing impatient, Killer Bee stepped forward to unleash a flurry of bees towards the barely-human shape. "Chloe, wait!" shouted Time-Hopper, trying to stop her, but she was a moment too late. The bees collided with Death's Head, succeeding in doing nothing but attracting his attention.

"Wait for what?" Killer Bee asked impatiently. "For him to destroy more universes!? We've got him right here, why not take the shot!?"

But when they looked back, Death's Head was nowhere to be found. Gabriel and the others were looking around as well, having lost sight of him. "That's why," said Time-Hopper, looking around anxiously. Seeing their leader so shaken unnerved the other two, who looked around to try and find their foe.

"All business, are you? I suppose that's fair." His voice once again echoed all around the crater, with no indication of its source. "Though I am just the smallest bit miffed that you all deprived me of a perfectly good wish. Since you're so insistent, I suppose we can get right to it!"

Before anyone knew what was happening, Death's Head appeared behind Darner, materializing out of the shadows. He grabbed her on the shoulder, but that was all. Once she turned to face him, he was gone again. But no sooner had he vanished that Sabrina began to see the effects of his powers.

She was looking around, wondering why he had gone so suddenly, when she noticed that the spot he had touched was turning black. "Huh?" Initially just a discoloration, it soon escalated to losing feeling in her arm. She raised it up to find that, to her horror, the parts that had turned black had begun to crumble away.

In wordless panic, Darner could only stare as the blackness spread to the rest of her body. Time-Hopper and Killer Bee were similarly helpless to do anything, though the latter at least ran to her side. "No! Sabrina!" She held onto her friend, but could not stop the Cataclysm from taking effect. "Do something!"

Time-Hopper was frozen in place as Darner continued to dissolve. "Alix? Alix, what's happening?" she asked quietly. Despite Killer Bee trying to hold her in place, she slowly stepped towards her leader. "Please…help…" The effects soon spread to her legs, and she was unable to stand any longer. Darner fell to the ground, fully succumbing to Death's Head's powers, leaving nothing but ash behind.

There was a stillness in the air, as everyone was in shock from what they had just witnessed. Even Gabriel could hardly believe the casualty with which his counterpart had just murdered the girl. "Hmm, seems she didn't have what I was looking for," came the croaking voice of Death's Head. "You wouldn't deprive me of the very thing I came here for, would you?"

Crouching over the spot where her friend had become dust, Killer Bee rose to her feet and began firing bees wildly in all directions. "You killed my friend!" she bellowed, shooting with wild abandon anywhere Death's Head could be. The team took cover from the barrage, likewise keeping an eye out for the new threat.

"Did…did that really happen?" asked Marinette. "H-he just killed her. Just one touch, and she was gone!"

"I can assure you, it happened," said Bunnyx, looking shell-shocked. "That's exactly how my Ladybug died. And so many more like her…" She tried to collect herself, gripping tightly to her umbrella. "Focus–don't let that happen to you!"

Not wanting to get in her way, and still processing things herself, Time-Hopper stood to the side as Killer Bee continued firing wildly. However, this left her exposed to attack: a black stain appeared on her chest just moments before a hand emerged, piercing her through from behind.

"Thank you for cooperating!" said Death's Head, as Chloe stared in horror at his hand. He took hold of the two Miraculous she had taken from Bunnyx, holding them up triumphantly as she dissolved. "Just a little top-off on my journey to my ultimate reality!"

Just as the people had, the Miraculous dissolved in his grasp. As the ring of the black cat was reduced to its component atoms, dark energy seemed to flow from it and into him. Strangely, the same was not happening with the earrings, which were simply turned to dust.

"What? What is the meaning of this?" Death's Head asked, confusedly looking through the grains that remained. "What happened to my little pick-me-up? I'm only feeling Plagg in there, where's Tikki?"

Gabriel wasn't sure what he meant, or why what had happened had happened, but he knew that the madman was distracted, at least for a moment. Before he could vanish into thin air again, he unsheathed his sword, launching himself at Death's Head. Just as he swung the blade, his counterpart vanished in a puff of smoke. "Ngh! Again!"

Death's Head reappeared beside him. "Now, I can understand why the others might be upset with me, but why you? You of all people should understand wanting to achieve your dreams at any cost."

Gabriel cared little for what Death's Head had to say, repeatedly swinging his sword at his counterpart, who phased out of the way of each swing. "And what sort of dreams did you have, that did not include Adrien!? What wish could you possibly make, now that you've cast aside anyone who would ever stand by you!?"

"That's the beauty of it!" cackled Death's Head. He vanished, reappearing atop the wreckage of the zeppelin. "The wish I have in mind would create a paradise for you as well as I! Imagine it: Gabriel, Emilie, and Adrien Agreste, all together again. And not just here–but in every universe where the Agreste name is spoken! The three of us, a family, across all time and space! Now, how can any of you object to that?"

"I'll tell you how." Death's Head turned to see Bunnyx standing beside him, pointing her umbrella at him. "I saw the kind of destruction you caused. This wish you wanna make? All it'll do is keep your family locked in a cage. What makes you think your Emilie or Adrien would want anything to do with you after what you've become?"

Gliding silently through the air, Death's Head floated towards her, his grin ever-widening. Her steadfast pose faltered, and her outstretched arm began to quiver. "That's the beauty of it, my dear. They won't want anything more than what I plan to give them. None of us will ever be separated from the others. Nobody will ever tear us apart. We will be happy, just as we were supposed to be. And there will be no Ladybug or Cat Noir to get in our way! And by extension…no Bunnyx, either."

Bunnyx froze as he reached his hand out towards her, his palm seeming to radiate dark energy. "No!" Blackbug threw himself towards her, but he would not reach her in time. But just moments before Bunnyx could share Darner and Killer Bee's fate, Death's Head was thrown aside. Time-Hopper had launched herself at him, and subsequently launched him with a powerful two-legged kick. Now standing where he had been, she watched as he crashed down into the crater.

"Get your team to the outskirts of town and wait for reinforcements," she said. Her eyes were fixed on Death's Head, burning with rage. "I'll stay here and keep him busy until they arrive."

"What? No, we're not letting you fight him by yourself," said Marinette. "After everything he's done, we have to stay and fight!"

"If you stay and fight, then all three of us will have died in vain!" Time-Hopper shouted. "Go, now, that's an order! And don't let him catch you…"

With one last somber look, she leapt down into the crater as Death's Head rose to his feet. The two of them faced the other, ready to come to blows.

"I've been waiting a long time for this, you freak," growled Time-Hopper, pounding her fist into her palm. "You want the earrings? All you gotta do is take 'em from me."

Death's Head glanced momentarily up at the others, wondering if she was hiding something. "Why, certainly! But why should we have all the fun? Why not let the good people of Paris participate as well?"

With that, he removed his top hat, turning the opening skyward like a magician. An entire flock of Akumas flew out, moving upward as they scattered. Although they looked like what the four were used to, these Akumas, like their creator, moved with an unnatural jerkiness. They seemed to emit a chorus of shrieks as well, the air filled with the chilling sounds as they approached their targets: everyone.

The Akumas descended towards the heroes, looking to make them into Death's Head's puppets. However, they seemed to ignore Marinette–as Miraculator, she had already been Akumatized. "Everyone, behind me!" she ordered. The others huddled together, with all the Akumas heading towards them doing so similarly clustered, making them easy pickings for her club. Time-Hopper, meanwhile, simply sprang around the arena to evade the ones after her.

The civilians who had come to see the wreckage of the zeppelin, however, were not so lucky. Those of them who hadn't fled upon Death's Head's appearance did so now, as the blackened butterflies descended upon them en masse. Rather than an object on their person, the Akumas dove directly into them, with those affected falling to the ground and writhing as their bodies were transformed into shadowy masses. Before long, a new battalion of Ripplers turned around to join the fight.

Adrien had witnessed the distressing scene in its entirety. "All those people…" he said. "All the Ripplers we've destroyed, they were people." When the numerous entities descended upon him, he fought back with decidedly less vigor than he usually had. It took Alix cutting through a group of them to snap him out of it.

"And there's nothing we can do for them right now," she said, having regained her cool. "What we can do is get these as far away from him as possible." She briefly revealed a set of spotted earrings, before leaping over the zeppelin and heading where Time-Hopper had indicated.

Gabriel, Marinette, and Adrien followed. "Aren't those the Lucky Charm you got from your Ladybug?" asked the former. "Or…" Suddenly it hit him.

Bunnyx grinned. "Figured it out, huh? I swapped these out with those before Killer Bee grabbed 'em. I'm not sure why that monster wants 'em, but we need to make sure he doesn't get his hands on any more like them."

However, simply running away was not going to be easy, as the Ripplers weren't about to let them leave. More of the once-human creatures blocked their path, trying to corral them in. "Let us carve a path," said Gabriel, unsheathing his sword.

Time-Hopper continued to leap all around, almost literally running circles around Death's Head. He reached out a few times to try and grab her, but was mostly content with merely observing her movements, calculating the optimal time to strike. A few Ripplers hopped down into the crater to assist, but she made quick work of them.

"You know, I was hoping you'd put up more of a fight," she said, landing a kick square into his jaw. He teleported to the other side of their arena, and she gave chase. "For all the destruction you caused, I figured you were a lot more powerful! But I guess that was all your Ripplers' doing, huh?"

Death's Head only laughed, unaffected by her taunting. "Now, can any of us say we've made it all on our own? Sure, I may have gotten a little help from my Ripplers, but you're hardly a lone wolf yourself. Would you have made it this far if you hadn't piggybacked off of my Alix? And what about those friends of yours? THey seemed more than willing to lend a hand. I wonder how things will turn out for you now that they're gone?"

Time-Hopper snarled, hurling herself at Death's Head's smirking form. She delivered a kick to his abdomen with such force that he slid back a few feet, though his sneer didn't fade. "And let's see how things turn out for you now that you can't run away!"

"Ah, yes, the warp-blockers," he said dismissively. "That was a nice touch on your part, I must admit. Unfortunately, once backup arrives, I will already be long gone, with everything I want." He began evading her strikes with much more efficiency. "You see, each time I've devoured a wish's energy, I grow closer and closer to the exact moment that universe is changed. And before long, I will have become precise enough to reach the Genesis Point."

"The Genesis–!?" This statement surprised Time-Hopper enough for Death's Head to break through her momentum, grabbing hold of her leg. The appendage instantly dissolved away into nothing, as its owner crashed to the ground and into a wall. Her powers fading, she struggled to pull herself up as Death's Head approached.

"So you see, everything will turn out fine in the end," he said as he slowly drew closer. "A happy ending for everyone involved–possibly even you. Now, be a good girl and hand over the earrings, would you?"

Despite her dire situation, Time-Hopper couldn't help snickering. "You idiot–I never had them! For someone who supposedly sees everything, you sure are gullible. But I guess that's to be expected from any Gabriel Agreste, am I right?"

Death's Head frowned. Wasting no time, he reached down, gripping tightly to Time-Hopper's face. In a matter of seconds, she was nothing but dust. "I am not just any Gabriel Agreste," he said coldly. "Now then, thank you for playing along, but I believe someone else requires my immediate attention…" He warped away, heading in the direction of Bunnyx and the others.

Rippler after Rippler attempted to impede Gabriel's progress, and each one was sliced apart in turn. "I hope your counterpart had a plan in mind," he said. "I am hesitant to rely on the ITAA for backup."

"Better to take our chances than face him alone," responded Adrien, as he leapt across the rooftops. "He tore Sabrina and Chloe apart just by touching them! How are we supposed to fight that?"

"Now you see why I didn't want to believe he was still alive," Bunnyx said. She blocked a few Ripplers from approaching with her canopy. "If they have some sort of plan, now'd be a good time to spring it!"

Her words did not exactly fill Marinette with confidence. "So, it's just hope for the best now?" she asked.

"Pretty much!"

It wasn't long before the Ripplers began to thin out, roughly coinciding with when they left the city. But as one problem ended, another began: as though a cloud had passed in front of the sun, a slight darkness seemed to envelop the surrounding area. He started appearing in brief flashes, only visible for moments at a time as he made his presence known.

"Is this what the heroes have been reduced to?" His voice echoed all around them. "All that time spent searching for me, only to run away like scared little dormice! What happened to all that bravado? All that talk of being stronger than the ITAA? Maybe your minds simply cannot handle the inevitability that is my victory."

Death's Head appeared before Marinette, with her narrowly avoiding his hand by sliding through the dirt. She turned to strike him with her club, only for him to vanish. "You're the one who keeps running!" she shot back.

Once again, he appeared, this time floating in the air above them all. "Oh, would you rather I stayed still for you, then? I suppose I can manage that." He slowly lowered himself to the ground. "Who wants to strike first? Go on, I'll give you one free hit!"

"How about this? Cataclysm!" shouted Adrien, rushing forth. He thrust out his hand, letting a wave of destruction wash over Death's Head. He simply allowed it to pass, as it affected him no more than a gentle breeze. Any other target would have been atomized, but he was completely untouched. "W-what…?"

He grinned. "Silly boy, destruction cannot harm destruction! Plagg's power flows through my very soul, don't you remember?" He held up his hand, the air above it rippling. "You, on the other hand, are more than vulnerable to my touch!"

Death's Head dashed at Adrien, palm outstretched. "Shell-ter!" Before he could reach him, a green barrier appeared between the two, taking the brunt of his attack. At his touch, it crumbled away, giving Adrien enough time to make his escape. "This time, why don't you try standing still?" said Marinette, leveling her club at him.

This got a small laugh out of Death's Head. "I see why the two of you are so smitten with each other–both equally foolish! Have you forgotten that I, just as your friend, possess the powers of transmission?"

He held out his hand again, this time with the intent of pulling something towards him. That something appeared to be Marinette's club, but she held on, refusing to let him use her own weapon against them. But this was not his plan: Gabriel's Akuma was pulled from the club and into Death's Head's hand, where it was then mutated into one of his own. No longer Akumatized, Miraculator was no more, with Marinette and her bat transforming back to normal.

"Marinette!" Gabriel rushed to her side to get her out of danger if need-be. Death's Head seemed content to simply bask in what looked like an easy victory. Everyone was wary of approaching him, and although they had him outnumbered, he had shown that was no guarantee for a victory. "Everyone, fall back!"

"Oh, there'll be no need for retreat, Caterpillar," Death's Head said, letting the Akuma crawl over his arms. "We've had our fun, but now I think is the time we parted ways. But no worries: you all will be instrumental in my conquest, as loyal footsoldiers! I'll let you decide amongst yourselves who's first!"

He sent the Akuma flying towards the group. Thinking quickly, Gabriel grabbed Marinette's bat, preparing to swing. But he didn't need to: out of nowhere, a flash of blue shot by, neutralizing the butterfly before it reached any of them. Everyone was surprised, Death's Head especially.

"Hmm. That doesn't usually happen," he said. "Perhaps I should try again? It could be something to do with the atomic vibrations of this timeline, not all of them are at the same frequen–"

Death's Head cried out as a tether of the same color shot out from an unseen source, sending energy coursing through him. The projectile was followed by another, and another, until he was on his knees, completely immobile. The sources of these projectiles revealed themselves: a number of different Bunnyxes, each holding a gun-like device sending out a blue stream of light. Several more appeared, ready to fire if necessary. Reinforcements had arrived.

"It seems like Time-Hopper's theory was right on the money." Recognizing the voice, Gabriel turned to see Director Bunnyx approach, flanked by even more ITAA members. "Glad to see you four made it out unscathed!"

Relief washed over the group, as Alix allowed herself to fall to the ground. "Never thought I'd be relieved to see you guys," she said.

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say the same, but at least this proves you two can work together," said the Director. She held out her hand, helping Marinette up. "Now, come on, let's get you all fixed up."

Death's Head had at long last been captured. The four of them were safe, thanks to Time-Hopper's sacrifice. The terror, at least for now, was over.