Chapter 05: Oblivio

She frowned as she came to, groaning as she sat up to regard her surroundings... It looked like an elevator, with a very roughly drawn caricature of a phone and a tortoise on the wall. From what she could gather, she was supposed to... call the tortoise?

"How ridiculous." She huffed.

"What's ridiculous?"

Startling at the unfamiliar voice behind her, she swiftly turned around to see two other people. The voice seemed to belong to the sole male with them, a blond guy dressed in a black bodysuit with a cat motif while the other girl was dressed more to resemble a ladybug.

Or at least, that was what she could assume with all the red and black polka dots. "Who are you two supposed to be?"

"That's my question." The guy replied, turning his gaze to the polka dotted girl. "Who are you girls?"

"I, uh..." The polka dotted girl tried to answer, a ladybug-themed lipstick dropping from her fingers as she worriedly pressed them against her forehead. "I... don't know... Why don't I know?! Why can't I remember my own name?!"

She stiffened as the guy confirmed what she herself had feared. "So, that makes three of us with our episodic memories lost."

"Episodic memories?" The guy questioned, only for a loud beeping noise to ring out from his... ring? "Huh? Why's this flashing?"

"Not just him." She pointed at the polka dotted girl. "Your earrings are doing the same thing."

"We must shop at the same jewelry store." The cat boy guessed.

"Does that mean we know each other?" She frowned. For some reason, that struck her as... strange. Not a bad strange, but just... "Weird."

"I'd be surprised if we didn't." The cat boy affirmed just as their jewelry made one final beep before their costumes (along with the fallen lipstick) suddenly dissipated into motes of strange energies, the polka dotted girl's being whitish pink sparkles and the cat boy's being green electricity with black particles.

Furthermore, two mouse-sized entities flew out from the jewelry to lay down on the ground in clear exhaustion, prompting the formerly polka dotted girl to hide behind the closer shield.

Which was her, who was still in a costume that had yet to disappear.

"Giant bugs!" The pigtailed girl, now dressed in simple but homely fashionable clothes, shrieked as she used one of her furled wings as a shield. Not that she could blame her, because when did vermin get this big and colorful unless clearly mutated?! "Mice?! Bug-mice!"

"Woah, I'm starving right now." The black one spoke as the two creatures seemed to come to.

She and the pigtailed girl hugged each other closer. "The bug-mice can talk?!"

The guy, now dressed in clothing that was somehow expensive but surprisingly plain(which curiously made him look inverted in both fashion and demeanor to the pigtailed girl), had zero sense of danger as he approached the two and picked up the black one. "Hi there. What are you two exactly? Genies like the ones in the lamps?"

"If I'm a genie, where's my lamp?" The black one crossed it's arms in rebuttal. "Besides, where am I? And who are you?"

"Firstly, I'm mostly sure that your... 'lamps' might be their jewelry." She pointed out, getting all of them to focus on her. "Secondly, we... Alright, something's happened that's caused us to lose our episodic memories. And assuming that've I got one like these two had you guys, that makes six amnesia victims here and now."

"Amnesia? That's impossible. I'm..." The ladybug-like creature started off, only to pause in panic when it simply couldn't find the necessary knowledge to finish it's sentence. "...huh? I don't know what I am?!"

The ladybug-like creature's stomach grumbled, causing it- No, them to grab it. "But I do know that I'm very hungry."

"Aw, poor little... ladybug thing..." The pigtailed girl muttered as she cradled her own 'genie' For lack of a better designation, she would identify them as such. "So what did you mean earlier by 'episodic memories'?"

"Ah, right." She stood up and turned about, looking down at the others. "What we call 'memories' are actually many things. Common knowledge, which is acquired by studying or day-to-day experiences, is called semantic memory. That's how despite supposedly losing all your memories, you guys still know what jewelry is and that they're specifically gotten from jewelry stores."

"Oh!" The guy beamed in realization. "I never realized."

"I guess that makes sense." The pigtailed girl nodded. "That's how he was also able to call them genies, and we both never questioned him about it?"

"Yeah. There's also the memory of bodily movements, which we're basically using by moving around, which are called procedural memories. Thankfully, whatever took away our memories didn't take those, otherwise we'd have forgotten how to breathe, which is just about the worst memory that could've been taken from us."

All of the other flinched, as they rightfully should. She didn't think that it was a coincidence that all of them had chosen to hunker down in this elevator, with that lipstick drawing being the last clue the pigtailed girl had probably managed to leave behind before succumbing to their shared memory loss.

"And um, what about episodic memories?" The pigtailed girl finally asked after some uncomfortable silence.

"Right, episodic memories are what we're missing." She informed them as she crossed her arms in frustration. "Our names, familial relationships, personal experiences, anything and everything that basically connects to the idea of 'identity' fall under episodic memories."

"Oh..." The pigtailed girl mumbled sadly, causing the guy to look at her worryingly before standing up as well.

"Okay, we've got a good idea of what we've lost and what we haven't." The guy said seriously, his image almost hampered by the black genie sniffing his shirt curiously. "But until we're proven wrong, we're all superheroes. We must've been fighting whatever's taken our memories for all of us to be here together, but whatever caused our... transformation to run out seems to be unconnected, otherwise you'd be unmasked too."

He gestured to her, prompting her to awkwardly pat the visor hiding most of her face from them. Grasping at it, she struggled to pull it off, only to shake when the entire elevator suddenly shook as well, causing it to drop a few inches.

"Wh-What is it this time?" The pigtailed girl stood as well, all of them gazing up at the glitching light before a sudden dent punched in from above. Then a second hit made the dent bigger.

"We can't stay here." The pigtailed girl decided.

"Agreed." The two of them rushed towards the closed doors and struggled to pry them open.

"Wait, let me try." Gesturing for them to back away, she forced her own gloved fingers and was almost startled by how easily the doors separated. "Well, last stop."

All of them rushed out just in time as something crashed down through the elevator roof, bringing out lots of dust and smoke. However, before the debris cleared away, the elevator doors closed behind them.

"Let's get outta here!" The boy declared before leading the charge towards the unfamiliar building's staircase. Rushing downwards, they kept at it until they ducked out into a lobby.

A very ruined lobby as she and the others walked through the wreckage until they reached what had formerly been the entrance.

"As strong as I... think I am, I don't I could clear all of that quickly enough for all of us to escape whatever's chasing us." She reluctantly admitted.

"There's gotta be another way out." The pigtailed girl muttered before they all startled at the sound of a nearby elevator being hit with enough force to dent it's doors from the other side. "It's caught up with us!"

"Over there!" The boy grabbed both their wrists before leading them towards a bathroom. The girls' bathroom as she noted the lack of urinals.

"Okay, we're stuck in the building with amnesia while being chased by a-a thing that's got a grudge for us." The pigtailed girl panicked as she walked back-and-forth.

"Which may or may not be the one responsible for our memory loss." She added. "Assuming that it's acting alone."

"Not to mention the two, or three," The boy gestured at her with that last bit, "genies that are connected to our costumes."

"Excuse me, but the 'genies' are hungry." The black genie flew over to the boy. "Would you mind opening up your shirt to see what smells so good?"

The boy ruffled through his shirt and pulled out a piece of camembert cheese, causing her to step back in disgust.

"You had that in your shirt?" She blocked her nose. "Unpackaged? How utterly ridiculous can you get?"

The boy himself looked surprised by it's presence in his clothes. "Camembert?"

The genie however showed no hesitation in swiping it away from him, holding it in adoration. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"But that's just cheese." The ladybug-like genie muttered, only for their own stomach to growl when the black genie ate the cheese in one quick swallow.

The pigtailed rummaged through the purse she'd been wearing all along and pulled out a macaroon. "Will this do?"

"Thank you!" The genie eagerly accepted the treat, prompting her to wonder if she had similar food on her if her own transformation decided to run out and leave her with her own exhausted genie.

Rummaging through her purse some more, the pigtailed girl gasped in excitement as she pulled out something much more important and valuable: her ID. "Marinette! My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"

'Chinese ancestry?' She hummed as she studied the girl's features and then her shirt. "Makes sense, I suppose."

"Oh." The boy had fished out his own ID from his pants. "Adrien Agreste."

Expectantly, the two turned to face her... who was still in a costume.

"We can't be the only ones with names." Adrien decided. "We'll have to give you one."

"No." She immediately refused.

"C'mon, don't be shy." Adrien teased.

"Wait." Thankfully, Marinette raised up something that did well to distract the both of them. "We still have our phones."

"Brilliant!" Adrien fished out his own phone as well, only for the two to immediately run into the same problem with simultaneous groans. "Password..."

A loud crash shook the entire floor, enough to startle the red genie into dropping their half-finished macaroon. Flying forward and sticking their apparently intangible head through, they quickly retreated after a brief pause. "The thing's coming this way!"

While the other two panicked, she clenched her fists with hesitant determination. "I'll distract it. You two find a way out."

"Wait!" Adrien grabbed her wrist to stop her. "You can't take that on alone! Not when three of us apparently weren't enough before."

"Maybe, but I am clearly the superhero here. I can at least hold it off for a while." Seeing how his worry for her hadn't lessened in the slightest did weird things to her heart, so she patted his cheek and pried her wrist free. "I'll be fine. Now go! We'll meet up five floors above!"

Without waiting for a reply, she charged forward and tackled the entity just as they kicked open the door.

"Aera!" The entity said as they got slammed into a wall. She grimaced to realize that they barely only resembled a human being in terms of bodily form. Other than being a purple silhouette that was somehow solid, their only distinctive features were a gray glove in their right hand and a laser cannon on their left hand-

"Merde!" She dodged aside just as they fired at her, the shot splashing seemingly harmlessly against a wall. Backhanding them, she then spun about to kick them with full force, the strike sending them completely through the wall. "Had enough?"

The rubble on top of the entity suddenly dropped through them as the entity suddenly phased them to grab her by the throat and lift her up. "I could say the same to you, Aera. Now give me your Miraculous!"

"Miraculous?" Barely noting the name she'd been identified as twice now, 'Aera' stared down as the entity tried to figure out which part of her clothing housed her own genie. 'Probably my visor. It refused to come off when I pulled at it. Also, just now, did they become intangible? But how was I then able to hit them...? Of course, they can't be both intangible and tangible at the same time! ...but that makes no sense! Why all of the rampaging if they could choose to not let walls be obstacles to them?! ...unless, they're like us! Maybe not the memory part, but they haven't had their powers for long either!'

Aera kicked hard at the entity before dropping as they stumbled back, allowing her wings to unfurl with the slightest of mental commands and lift her upwards out of her grip.

Not allowing them even a second to recover, Aera dived down and tackled them with enough force to break through the floor and into a basement. Not done yet, Aera grabbed the weakened supervillain and flung them through three walls.

"And stay down!" Aera shouted after them, before huffing as she tried to fly back up through the hole she'd created.

Then she got a table thrown at her.

"Getting pretty shaky, huh." Adrien joked weakly as the tremors shook the building now and then. Having managed to escape the building, they'd at least gotten some more information.

They'd been the superheroes Chat Noir, Ladybug and Aera, but they still had no ideas who the genies were. Also, his genie had just left after an argument with the other one!

*CRASH!*

Aera came smashing through the wall and rolled to a slow stop before them. "...ow."

"Aera!" Marinette knelt down to help her up, Adrien immediately helping as he put one of her arms over his shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Even though the visor hid her eyes, there was no mistaking the 'look' Aera sent Marinette.

"Right, just got thrown through a wall-"

"Two walls."

"-two walls, not okay." Marinette hastily looked around before pointing at a spot. "Over there!"

They made it there and hid themselves just in time, as the supervillain stalked through the hole they'd made.

"Aera, we know that you're in here. You won't get away this time." The supervillain, a purple silhouette with a voice that had a weird oscillating effect and gauntleted hands, called out mockingly. "Thanks for the warmup, actually. With every bout, we learn how to use our powers as Oblivio even better than before. So let us thank you so that we may finish up with Ladybug and Chat Noir."

'Oblivio, huh... Sucky name, scary abilities.' Adrien frowned as he pondered that. 'Why does it feel like we often have deal with that?'

"I'm guessing that guy's the reason for our amnesia, if he means what I think he means by 'finish up with Ladybug and Chat Noir'." Marinette whispered. "We can't let him see us like this. Since we're the only people in the building for now, he'll automatically know our secret identities. Or our faces at least."

"We need a diversion. If we could just make it to the emergency stairs again..." Adrien decided, pushing down Aera when she tried to get up. "No, not you. It's our turn to save you, this time."

"Yeah!" Marinette agreed before looking around their surroundings, her gaze landing on several objects before landing on Adrien's phone and then physically grabbing it. "Sorry, but I need this."

While Oblivio began tearing the office area apart while searching for them, Marinette grabbed a nearby tape dispenser and wrapped its tape around his phone, lengthening it immensely. "I'll call this phone from a distance and when he goes after it, we'll make a run for it. The tape will help in pulling your phone back. How's that for a plan?"

"No wonder I fell in love with you." Adrien complimented, liking how Marinette's cheeks reddened immensely.

"This is adorable, but such a ridiculous time for flirting." Aera commented, causing them to snap out of it. Proceeding with the plan, it went off without a hitch, allowing them to make it to the stairwell.

"They'll hear the door." Aera noted as she felt good enough to stand on her own.

"That's what this is for." Marinette handed the half-filled coffee mug she'd taken with her to the red genie, heading upwards with the others while the genie left obvious coffee stains down the stairs. They barely made it up a floor before the emergency door banged open.

"You're trying to fool Oblivio again, but it's not going to work this time!" Oblivio stated as he began making his way upstairs, only for the sound of the emergency door below causing him to change tracks. "Or perhaps we gave you too much credit."

Waiting until Oblivio had left, Aera patted the genie's head. "Good job... Ladybug genie."

"Thank you, Ladybug genie!" Marinette was a lot more affectionate with her gratitude. When the two made to head upstairs, Adrien held them back.

"Let's go back to where we were." Adrien suggested. "He won't think to check there again anytime soon."

"Good idea." Aera agreed.

When they were back inside, Marinette returned Adrien's phone while removing the little tape still stuck to it. "Sorry, your phone's out of juice."

"No worries." Adrien put away his phone. "I like how we're doing pretty well, even without our powers."

"That's true." The red genie commented. "You three make a pretty effective team."

The three regarded each other appraisingly before Marinette spoke up. "Yeah, but if we really want to beat this guy, we need to learn how to use our powers again."

Aera cast a wary eye at the wrecked surroundings, remembering how much damage her only bout with them had caused. "Agreed. I'm not comfortable with either of you going up against someone who can smash you through walls as you are now."

"Maybe we can gather some hints by watching some news footage." Marinette brought out her phone, holding it so that the other two could see the screen. "Hopefully, there're some records of what happened before he erased our memories."

Thankfully, they managed to learn quite a lot. Oblivio had apparently been active for a good while now throughout Paris and then into Tour Montparnasse, which was good to know, as Adrien hadn't been sure of what to think of the building being so empty of workers until he now saw them evacuating.

Finally, they could see themselves fighting against Oblivio, showing that they'd actually been a good match up, but had only begun to lose after Oblivio had scored a lucky shot onto Chat Noir. While Ladybug yanked him away and into an elevator with her yoyo(?), Aera acted as a shield with her great wings blocking every shot until another lucking one hit her right in the face, which unfortunately left Ladybug open for a third shot that hit her side just as she finished drawing something and the elevator doors closed.

"The drawing!" Marinette realized. "There was a drawing on the elevator wall! It was a-"

"Tortoise." Aera spoke up. "With a phone being drawn next to it, does that mean we're supposed to call...?"

Marinette checked through her contacts and displayed it to them, the turtle icon being placed before someone named 'Fu'. "Here's the turtle!"

"You left yourself a message." Adrien realized. "So smart."

Calling the number, they soon an old man's voice speaking through it. "Hello?

"M. Turtle?" Marinette replied.

"Marinette, is there a problem?"

The three of them perked at how quickly Marinette had been identified, before the latter quickly spoke into the phone. "Listen. I can't remember who I am or who you are. Oblivio has erased our memories, but I think I'm supposed to call you."

"You did the right thing." Fu assured her. "Is Chat Noir or Aera there with you?"

"We're all here." Aera said. "I'm the only still in costume, though."

"I see. That means that you're the only one who hasn't used their Power yet. Considering the clear weather, I should've guessed as much."

"Power?" Aera stiffened. "Is that why their costumes basically timed out? Using our... Powers inflicts a time limit? Is that why their genies were so exhausted?"

Adrien and Marinette's eyes widened at that revelation, which the former acknowledged to make some sense. Just as he thought that, the phone however reminded them of it's low battery.

"M. Turtle, you'll have to tell us quick, because I'm almost out of battery!" Marinette rushed out.

"Are your kwamis - the genies, I mean - with you?"

The three of them glanced up at the now identified kwami. "The red one, at least. The black one took off."

"该死的，普拉格。." Fu muttered in a foreign language, causing Marinette to blush for some reason. "Listen, the red kwami's name is Tikki and the black kwami's name is Plagg. The transformation phrase for Ladybug is "Tikki, spots on" and the same for Chat Noir is "Plagg, claws out". Once you've both done so, you will find emergency user guides in your armaments, which can mimic the form of phones if you wish. Remember, you cannot transform if your kwami isn't close enough to hear you-"

The phone chose that unfortunate moment to die completely.

"...okay, user guide." At that moment, Aera started as something appeared before her like a HUD, the interface showing the user guide as she'd wanted. "Oh, I guess this is my 'armament', right?"

The building shook again, causing them to look outside in alarm when the incoming light suddenly tinted purple. Looking upwards, they all saw the massive orb of energy that was slowly growing in size.

"LADYBUG! CHAT NOIR! AERA! IF YOU THREE DO NOT SHOW YOURSELVES AND SURRENDER YOUR MIRACULOUSES, I WILL HAVE THIS GIANT BUBBLE ERASE THE VERY MEMORY OF PARIS FROM THIS WORLD!"

"...merde." Adrien cursed.

"...merde." Adrien cursed.

Marinette quietly agreed before before turning to her... Kwami. "Are you ready?"

"Of course." Tikki chirped.

"Time to bring back Ladybug! Tikki, spots on!" Marinette grinned, causing the kwami to be sucked into her earrings.

Caressing her eyes and jaws, the transformative energy sparkled as a polka dotted domino mask formed before extending down her jawline to evoke the appearance of mandibles. Raising her hands up and twirling as she snapped her fingers, the energy quickly spread over her body in the form of a red bodysuit. Then black polka dots appeared on her hands, legs and waist before expanding to engulf those areas before red polka dots appeared upon them. Her collar became swan-necked with red lining and a small ladybug zipper connected to the front of her costume. Similarly, ladybug zippered pockets appeared over her front as well. Not being done yet, the unaffected red-with-black-polka dots area gained thin, flexible plates over them, resembling a specially modified plate mail. Then her hair transformed as well, bursting free of it's pigtails to become tied into a bun at the back of her head. Finally, the last of the transformation took shape, revealing a hip-mounted yoyo.

"Wow!" Adrien gushed. "That was amazing!"

"Thanks, but I don't feel like a superhero at all." Marine- Wait, she should be Ladybug, now... No, that felt weird. Marinette felt better.

"You've already proven that you are one, with or without your costume." Adrien protested.

"And just in case, punch this." Aera extended her palm. "As hard as you can."

Marinette stared at the offered palm before cocking her fist. Then she twisted her hips and punched forward with all the force she could muster, totally not expecting the resulting shockwave from the impact as Adrien was nearly knocked off his feet.

"Do you feel super now?" Aera grinned.

"...so super." Marinette stared down at her fist in disbelief before shaking her head and raising up her yoyo. "Okay, this is my armament, right? Um, phone mode? Emergency user guide?"

One half of the yoyo suddenly slid off, revealing a screen within that immediately highlighted what she was looking for. "Wow, that's convenient. Let's see, yoyo features... capturing the Akuma... One-time Power: {Lucky Charm}- Ah?!"

Marinette suddenly freaked out when her yoyo burst into a swarm of glowing ladybugs, tossing it away as the device transformed into... a ladybug-themed kettle?

Catching it awkwardly, Marinette regarded it with some doubt. "What am I supposed to do with this? Make tea?"

(Off to the side, Aera noted how it had operated on merely voicing it and swore to never even speak her own Power by accident.)

"Maybe it's part of a puzzle or riddle?" Adrien suggested, which caused Marinette to reconsider.

"You're right. But if this is one part of the puzzle, then what are the other pieces?" Marinette wondered.

"I'm not sure, but I'll at least buy you guys some time." Aera walked up to the glass and kicked it apart, unfurling her wings as the air rushed in. "We don't know how patient Oblivio's going to be, so I'll go engage him now. Plus, my Power needs open skies for proper usage. Speaking of which, thanks for letting us know that our Powers are voice-activated, so we don't speak it accidentally."

Aera paused a little before giving her final words. "Good luck."

"You, too." Adrien immediately replied.

One smile and a heavy flap later, and Aera soared outside before flying straight up.

"...alright, let's do this! Adrien, try to make your way out and find Plagg." Marinette instructed before rushing off. "Fish him out with that stinky cheese and a fishing rod if you have to!"

Rushing into the stairway, Marinette resumed reading her user guide as she headed upwards as fast as she could.

"Miraculous enhances all physical abilities... Well, we've already confirmed that." Marinette muttered as she came onto a portion of the stairwell that had been destroyed and easily proceeded to leap over it with little issues. "What else... My yoyo can be spun to manifest a shield... Oh, saying these words will fix all of the damage! Now, that'll come in handy... but it says it's best to use after defeating the Akuma..."

Coming up to the roof, Marinette balked at the immense amounts of fog that had engulfed the entire area. Not to mention the conflict she could hear from it.

"Stay still, you stupid bird!"

"How about you aim better?" Aera called back from somewhere. "Oh, wait! You can't!"

'I see. Aera's somehow gotten Oblivio into a disadvantage with what must be her own Power, but now she's on a time limit like me.' Marinette put the kettle down and looked around for what she could use. Thankfully, she could still somewhat see through the mist, allowing her vision of their movements and the environment.

'Let's see. An Akuma has to be in a physical object, but Oblivio can make himself intangible... but the only unique things on him are his glove and that hand cannon he keeps firing. So, it's in one of them at least.' Reaching her conclusion, Marinette focused her gaze back on the kettle, then at Oblivio's own armaments, then at Aera herself. "I got it!"

"You got a plan?"

Marinette almost squeaked when Adrien spoke next to her, causing her to regard his new look with surprise. Or rather, his old costume. "You found Plagg!"

"More like Plagg found me, but just in the nick of time!" Adrien beamed as he raised up a silvery baton which suddenly extend into a staff. "So whats the plan?"

"The Akuma has to be in either the glove or the hand cannon. I'll trap his glove hand while you and Aera destroy the hand cannon." Marinette relayed. "Go tell Aera, I'll get started. Hey, Oblivio!"

She heralded her shout with a massive leap, clearing several meters in one go before futilely phasing through him. But it at least got his attention, allowing Adrien to rush towards Aera.

"Ladybug, there you are!" Oblivio began firing at her immediately. "Have you come here to surrender?"

"Do I look like I'm in a surrendering mood?" Ladybug shot back as she dodged as much as she could, enjoying her newfound speed and agility. Even better, Aera flew up to behind Oblivio and gave a particularly powerful flap with her wings, unleashing a gust of wind that not only staggered Oblivio but masked Ladybug's approach as she snagged her yoyo onto their glove.

"I've got the glove!" Marinette shouted as she trapped his hand into the kettle, smirking as they were unable to remove it all or even shoot any more memory erasing blasts. "Now, guys!"

"[Cataclysm]!" Adrien's clawed hand instantly grabbed and destroyed the hand cannon, disintegrating it and exposing the corrupted butterfly. "Is that the Akuma?!"

"Apparently so." Aera muttered. "Go for it, Ladybug."

"Right! No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma. Time to de-evilize!" Marinette said as she opened the elytron-like top of her yo-yo to kickstart it's purificative powers and started to swing it for momentum before sending the weapon forward, the elytron-like hatch closing around the corrupted butterfly with a snap. "Gotcha!"

She then opened it up, letting the newly purified butterfly flutter away to freedom. "Bye bye, little butterfly!"

Oblivio was immediately covered by a wave of dark miasma before it faded away to release two bespectacled teenagers that fell down disoriented, the ladybug kettle falling down without further use.

"Wait, Oblivio was two people?" Adrien gaped in disbelief before joining the superheroines in looking up at the massive orb still glowing ominously above them. "Now, what do we do about that?"

"This is where my other Power comes in." Marinette walked over to pick up the ladybug kettle. "It fixes everything back to how it was originally."

"Wait, are we..." Having grabbed Marinette's wrist before she could throw it, Adrien spoke up with some hesitation. "Do you think we'll probably remember all this afterwards?"

Before Marinette could reply on how unlikely that was, Aera spoke up first. "Of course, we will. It's supposed to fix up the damage, right?"

"Yeah?" Marinette tried to not to hold on to the rising hope within her.

"So how do our memories of this fight count as damage?" Aera smirked cockily as she crossed her arms. "It seems utterly ridiculous that we'd forget all about this, considering that the actual damage is just what's blocking our episodic memories. New memories and old memories should simply just merge together. Having us lose the memories of the past hour just feels like a bad plot for needless suspense."

"...yeah, you're right, Aera." Adrien sighed in relief as he backed away. "Fire away, Ladybug."

Marinette beamed at her comrades. "See you all again in the next few seconds."

Exchanging nods with each other, Marinette- No, Ladybug tossed the kettle up into the air, the {Lucky Charm} transforming into a mass of energy in the form of ladybugs that recreated all of the surrounding damage to a point before the conflict started.

It happened gradually.

The memories of the day slowly settled down into her other memories, steadily fitting into coherent spots until it all fit with an inaudible click in the middle of the night.

For someone like Chloé Bourgeois, this changed very little as she was already afforded with knowledge that the day's challenge did little to upheave.

For others, a certain boy sprang out of bed with the sudden realization his lady's civilian identity.

And a certain girl sprang out of bed with the sudden realization of her crush's superhero identity.

However, they both came to the same conclusion after noting just many times their third teammate had spoken a particular word without the conscious need to hide her identity even if she'd never been unmasked like they had been.

"How ridiculous."

"You had that in your shirt? Unpackaged? How utterly ridiculous can you get?"

"This is adorable, but such a ridiculous time for flirting."

"It seems utterly ridiculous that we'd forget all about this, considering that the actual damage is just what's blocking our episodic memories."

"Chloé?!"/"Chloé?!"

KingVessel: Well, here's one unique way to handle an identity reveal.