Here it is, the 128th full chapter of Miraculous Quirks released on time as always. Hero work is never over and despite the recent excitement Fate isn't done with Adrien and Marinette as before they can leave Majestic's jurisdiction a new problem arises that they get roped into thanks to the agency they're doing their work study at only this time there is a slightly bigger issue than the day before. Anyway, that is all the administrative stuff that I have for you, however, and there are no guest reviews to respond to or questions to answer so I will end this note here. Do keep the reviews coming as I enjoy hearing from y'all. That is all I have for this pre chapter note so that means that it is time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the 128th full chapter of Miraculous Quirks.
Disclaimer: I do not own either of these great works of fiction.
Chapter 128: Forced Secret Reveal
"Well this is another fine mess that we've gotten ourselves involved with, what is it with this jurisdiction?"
Adrien and Marinette just shrugged at that as Mage looked out the blacked out window in the corner office they'd commandeered glad that no one could look in as they helped set up the necessary gear that might be needed to sort out the situation that they'd been dragged into. His comment wasn't unfounded though, they weren't supposed to be here at all this time so it wasn't their fault that this was going down but apparently Mage had pissed off Fate recently it seemed and she was determined to keep him busy here.
The plan had been to go back to Tokyo that morning after spending the night in Majestic's jurisdiction following the botched mission the day before. The mission had worked out in the end thanks to Lucky Charm telling Marinette to get Momo as they needed an ally to complete it and said ally needed to use a Miraculous. That is just what they did and Momo, armed with the Horse Miraculous and the code name Cavalerie, had been the key to finally breaking the stalemate and bringing the villains to justice.
However, they'd still allowed for the whole thing to devolve by failing to initially apprehend the fugitive they had come to arrest which allowed him to reach the building and hole up there with the gang he was affiliated with. Majestic shared some blame as well as his agency didn't fully notice the defenses the gang had or that they were tied to the fugitive but it was still a mess up.
As such they all had a lot of paperwork to deal with, Mage more than anyone else given his invocation of a foreign hero from the Guardian's Paris agency who was a special status hero. It also didn't help that Mage claimed she wasn't available for any form of debrief or paperwork due to excessive Quirk use of a powerful Quirk and no knowledge of Japanese so he'd do it all while she recovered and then she'd sign a statement before she returned to Paris when she was all rested up.
It had really annoyed everyone involved because of how long it took to sort out and thus caused them to have to stay the night in the jurisdiction. In the end that was fine as Majestic put them up and they had a good time with him, his sidekicks, Momo and Tokage, before they left in the morning to get back to the Guardian Agency in Tokyo and whatever was on the agenda there.
Unfortunately, it was as they were about to get to the station to take the bullet train back to Tokyo when a call came in from Majestic that Mage was needed again and this time the situation was different but fell within his jurisdiction so he had to handle it. That had annoyed Mage but he turned them around and they went to get the report and learn what was going on and why Mage was needed. What was going on wasn't pretty.
It turned out that unbeknownst to anyone, an international criminal syndicate that specialized in the procurement and selling of high value intellectual property and corporate secretes to the highest bidder, as well as corporate espionage and blackmail had made a notable company in the area their latest target and had employed a top tier thieving outfit associated with them to try and rob some high value secrets from the company. The mistake that the criminals made was that the company was a subsidiary of one of the branch tech companies Technus ran and as such had the latest security that shut everything down.
That should have been enough for a quick resolution but the time of the heist had actually taken this into account and made sure that there were hostages so the thieves were able to secure several and now there was a hostage standoff. The robbers were professionals who'd done this before and wanted out in exchange for the hostages but of course they weren't getting that as all points of egress and ingress were blocked off by the cops and pros. In the same vain they'd set up hostages to prevent a raid so there was a stalemate again and this one was different from the day before.
As this not only had affiliations to an international group that was on the Guardians' most wanted list but also had attacked a company they technically owned at the end of the long, complicated, paper trail, they had to be involved. To make matters worse Mage was certain that the stalemate was to actually a ruse to get into the vault in the company where the hard drives that had the info these villains sought were stored and that they no doubt had a Quirk or Quirks on their crew who could ensure they escaped as they'd gotten out of similar jams in the past without losing a single member of their crew.
To try and delay this Mage had ordered the power to the building be cut so they couldn't use tech to get in and had to cut in instead which might damage what they were trying to acquire. However, the most annoying thing was that this company wasn't high enough on the list of companies Technus owned and was thus fairly independent so he had no remote access to it thus leaving them in this situation.
"Hard to say." Adrien said in response to the question. "This seems like bad luck."
"Luck ain't got nothing to do with this." Mage grumbled. "That old hag's got it out for me, I know it. Problem is I've pissed her off so many times I don't know what it is that I did this time to annoy her."
"Do you know anything about these people?" Marinette asked deciding to ignore Mage's grumblings about Fate and just address the issue they were facing. "Are they affiliated with the Vengefuls?"
"Probably, that woman has her fingers in many pies and this syndicate did pull off the only successful thief from one of Technus's main facilities which almost certainly couldn't be done without the Vengefuls playing a part." Mage said. "Naturally, we hunted them down and captured the group they used so the best isn't out there anymore but still the syndicate has been a thorn for a while."
"Can't you go after the syndicate itself?" Adrien asked.
"We want to but the problem is all we know is that they're a cabal of about 12 individuals from 12 different nations who don't know who the others are and who coordinate things through groups like this master thief group we're dealing with via intermediaries and proxies." Mage said. "The lengths they've gone to show us that they're powerful, wealthy, and highly connected individuals on both a domestic and international scale but that is it. Therefore, even after we catch these thieves, they won't be much use to us in the long run as none will be able to lead us to the syndicate and the intermediaries that were used are either dead or unknown to the thieves."
"That's not good." Adrien said. "So now what? We've done some hostage rescue but this is very different to the limited training we've had."
"The Eri scenario you had was good for a single high value kidnap scenario as well as dealing with minor hostages though that part was just Bakugo's part of the class." Mage said. "This isn't that, this is a professional thief group who won't hesitate to kill to get what they want or even just delay us as they make their escape once they've got what they came for. We're in a true stalemate and need a trump card. I hate to ask this, especially so soon after yesterday, but can you check Lucky Charm Ladybug. If there's ever a time for an ally and a Miraculous, now would be it because we we're dealing with a group that we might need one to defeat."
"Yeah, one sec." Marinette said understanding and raising her hand to create an item and a flash of pink appeared in the air before the item appeared and Marinette caught it. "Let's see…oh."
The item was a large, plush, bear thing in a ladybug print. The moment Marinette saw and caught it she knew who's it was as it was an exact replica of the plush bear only with a ladybug pattern and the moment Marinette realized who the ally was she also knew which Miraculous would be perfect. It was obvious to her why this person was ideal. Problem was, of course, that the person wasn't in the know.
"I take it that's familiar." Mage said. "And that we need to get one of your friends."
"Yeah and unlike Momo this will force us to explain some things but given the situation it's unavoidable as I don't mind having to explain my past if it means that we can win this without any loss of life." Marinette said with a sigh. "We need Toru and I know just the Miraculous to pair with her Invisibility Quirk."
"Ok but if I recall she's not in this jurisdiction so now we have the added issue of getting her without raising a concern." Mage said thinking on it. "So how…oh right, not my brightest moment."
"Yeah we need Momo here and this time I know just the excuse." Marinette said. "Given the Miraculous I need to lend Toru, Creation will of critical assistance to us. Between all that we can take out these people in one fell swoop I'd say."
"I see I think I got what you're saying, one moment." Mage said pulling out his coms device. "Hey, Majestic, I need Creati again."
"What for?" Majestic's voice said over the device. "I can spare her, this isn't exactly a situation that her talents are going to be front and center but I'd like to know why you need her again."
"I've figured out a way to take all these bastards down in one go but I need Creation to help me." Mage said as Marinette coughed. "Right, er, Ladybug figured it out but she's insistent that Creati aid us and I agree, if we pair Creation with our plan I think we can ensure no casualties at all."
"Ok but how?" Majestic said. "I'll send her over, she's already leaving actually as she overheard that Ladybug needed her and just left as I know she trusts her friend's judgement, but what's the plan?"
"That may have to remain classified for now as this is a different kind of hero I'm going to be calling in and given their tech savvy nature they may be monitoring coms." Mage said. "But let's just say that in addition to a special service hero like Cavalerie, who still being around is great as I need to get the person from Paris again so she's going to be pissed at using more of her power but whatever, the Guardians have a classified hero division. I can't say more over the com though."
"Fair enough." Majestic said though he was clearly intrigued by the hero in question. "Creati's on her way, let me know when the go sign is."
"I'll patch you in so you can see what is going on, this will be a show you don't want to miss." Mage said before cutting the call off and looking at the couple. "This does actually work, we do have a classified unit, two in fact, one of them is reserved for stealth and espionage missions that need to be carried out by heroes not accessible through public records which is where this falls in. The other classified unit, well, er, that I won't say."
"Best not to ask?" Marinette asked.
"Best to completely forget about it." Mage said.
"Alright will do." Adrien said. "So now what?"
"Now I will lend Momo the Horse Miraculous, we contact whoever Toru is doing her work study with, and we get precise coordinates to her location so that Cavalerie can make a portal for her." Marinette said before realizing something. "Er, on that, who's Toru interning with again?"
"I don't know." Mage said helpfully.
"Yoroi Musha Adrien said. "She's with Ashido and Aoyama as well."
"Great, that guy, Mr. fake humility and honor who'll quit at a moment's notice." Mage said with a sigh as he pulled out his phone and hit a button before putting it to his ear where it rang for a few moments. "Oh come on, just because you're a top 10 hero doesn't mean you can ignore me."
Apparently it did as the phone rang for a few more moments before finally it was picked up. The moment it did Mage started talking while Marinette and Adrien just listened curiously to what was going on.
"Hey, Yoroi old buddy how's it going?" Mage asked. "Huh…what that's not a crack at your age I'm older than you…yeah I know I don't look it but I am…huh, oh right it's Mage, you know the guy running the Guardian Agency …yes I'm an actual Guardian you senile old…damn it no I do not owe you for that so stop bringing it up…gah this is getting me nowhere, look I need to request the aid of one of your work study student…which one? The invisible one…yeah Invisible Girl, I need her specific skills…what? No I'm not in town I've got a special pro who can set get her here in a split second…ok good to know now send me your precises geospatial coordinates…because my sidekick has a warp Quirk that's why you old bat I thought split second travel implied warping or teleportation…thanks I'll send her soon."
At that Mage hung up and sighed as Adrien and Marinette blinked at that. Then he turned to them just as there was a knock and Momo entered without confirmation, Majestic's own command post was in the same building just a few floors up so she'd been able to get here pretty quickly and knew that if Marinette wanted her here she should just enter.
"Mage, you wanted me again?" Momo asked as she walked in.
"Right, sorry, Musha and I go back a bit and don't have a great relationship mainly because I see through his bull and fake honorable persona." Mage said. "Right, everything is in order, let's get to it."
"What's going on?" Momo asked as the door closed and she looked at Marinette and Adrien.
"Basically same kinda problem as yesterday, we need an ally to resolve this situation." Marinette said and Momo perked up at that as Marinette opened her yo-yo and pulled out the box that Momo hadn't expected to see again so soon. "Slight issue is that the ally we need precisely isn't here and isn't in the know about anything related to Mage, the kwamis, or Adrien and mine's past. So, Momo, you've got to use the Horse Miraculous to set up a portal that will collect the ally we need."
"That's fine but who are we going to get?" Momo asked.
"Toru." Marinette said as she handed the box to Momo who opened it while a notification went off on Mage's phone. "She's vital to succeeding due to her Invisibility Quirk and the power of one of the Miraculouses so we need to get her."
"Right but, er, she's doing a work study with Aoyama." Momo pointed out. "So he might…"
"Don't worry, we'll just have Toru jump through the portal so if he's there it won't be an issue." Marinette said. "That will avoid any problems with him realizing that you don't speak French with any kind of French or French colonial accent. Now I presume Mage has the coordinates."
"I do." Mage said. "I'll send them to the horseshoe once Creati has changed into Cavalerie."
"Right well best be quick." Marinette said as Momo opened the box and the ball of energy burst from it before forming into Kaalki. "We need to sort this out soon, hostage lives are at stake so we need to get Toru as soon as possible."
"Of course." Momo said as she put the glasses on and they changed into their camouflage mode.
"Well this was faster than expected." Kaalki said. "But I am exceptional so I can understand it."
"I'm glad too Kaalki and I even have some carrots for later as I like to prepare for the unexpected which now includes needing to team up with you without warning." Momo said with a smile at the kwami. "But right now speed may be our best advantage so I need you aid."
"Of course Momo, you are a noble rider after all." Kaalki said.
"Thank you, now Kaalki, Full Gallop!" Momo said and swiftly she transformed into full outfit of Cavalerie again.
"Right, let's make this quick." Mage said as he pressed a button on his phone and there was a vibration in the horseshoe on Momo's back. "Just sent the coordinates to your weapon. That is where Hagakure is right now so picture those coordinates in your mind as you make your portal."
"Ok, I'll get on it then." Momo said as she pulled the horseshoe off her back and looked at it, the magic telling her how to use it to show a display screen on it and she found the message, memorized the coordinates, and then put the horseshoe back on her back and held out her hand. "Voyage!"
Toru was in the common area of Yoroi Musha's agency along with Mina and Musha himself while Aoyama was out with some of the sidekicks on a mission that required his Quirk and would thus be good training for him. The plan for the day had been for the girls to go out with Musha and patrol in the morning, stop for lunch at a place Musha like mainly because it was run by big fans of his and he ate there for free, and then accompany him on various PR gigs in the afternoon be it charity functions, endorsements, openings, and whatever else he was needed for. Basically today was going to be a standard day.
That was until Musha got a sudden call and told them to wait up so the girls just stood around and listened to a strange conversation where Musha seemed annoyed at whoever he was talking to but then confirmed that Toru was there, questioned something, and finally relented. Only when he'd put the phone away and sighed did he turn to the girls.
"Change of plans." The old pro said to them. "Pinky, you're with me all day. Invisible Girl, you've received a special request for your assistance in a certain matter from another agency."
"I have?" Toru asked confused. "That can happen?"
"It's not common but as you're a specialist is stealth I'd say that you'll get this more as a pro than most." Musha said as he typed out a message on his phone with the precise coordinates of his agency along with a street address. "Often times there are missions that come up in which a specific Quirk or kind of Quirk is needed and that pro gets a special request for assistance if he or she isn't part of the agency involved. The most common one is Eraser Head's Erasure but that is a unique Quirk. The only oddity about this is that the request came for your presence at once. It seems there's an ongoing situation that requires you specific skills."
"Damn Toru, that's impressive." Mina said clapping her friend on the back. "Only a first year work study student and already catching the eyes of seasoned pros who want you to assist them, I'm jealous."
"Thanks but, er, if it's ongoing then how I am to get there?" Toru said. "Because that is an issue if it's not local."
"No, the requesting agency was the Guardian Agency and it seems that their resources are as impressive as ever." Musha said causing the girls to blink at the agency reference though of course only Mina's blink could be seen. "They have a hero on staff somewhere in the world with a warping style Quirk who is coming to get you, which for them is something I should have figured out. I am sure you're aware of the international agency, right?"
"Yeah, two of our classmates, one of whom is the girl we look up to as our de facto group leader, are doing their work studies there and a third did her first one with them but opted to do her second with Majestic." Mina said. "And the guy running it teaches Quirkless combat at U.A., he's who directed me to learn capoeira."
"Ah I see, that explains why you train in it in your free time." Musha said stroking his beard. "I wasn't aware that their agency head was teaching at U.A., most impressive as Japan is one of the few countries honored with an actual Guardian running the agency, there are only so many of the highest ranking members around and most serve the US, Europe, and South America. Only Singapore has one in this region other than us."
"It's got something to do with some special transfer program that they're a part of." Toru said. "Two classmates…"
Toru didn't finish her statement when suddenly a perfectly circular ring with a glowing blue edge to it appeared in the room that interrupted them. The old pro and two work study girls turned with a jump to it and looked at what was clearly a circle in reality as on the other side was an office room somewhere else in the nation and standing in it was a woman that none of them had seen before.
The woman was tall, only a few inches shoot of 6 feet, and seemed on the younger side, likely late teens to early 20s if the girls had to guess, with pure white hair in a high ponytail with the rest flopped to one side. Despite her youth she had a mature posture and well developed physique that the skintight, white brown and black costume fully showed and both Mina and Toru felt had to be constricting on the impressive bust that the woman had as it was clearly one that could rival Yao-Momo's or Hado's in size.
That was until they got a closer look at the costume itself. It seemed to be a lot like the ones Marinette and Agreste wore given the way it hugged her body but also seemed to be breathable which made sense seeing as she was a hero for the agency they were doing their work studies at so likely the costume wasn't constraining at all. That said neither girl could figure out why the woman was wearing sunglasses inside or why there were 5 blue lights on the bottom right curve of the right lens.
As they processed the scene, Marinette appeared next to the girls and pointed at Toru and gestured at her to come through. She was confused, as where the others, when Musha's phone went off that he answered and put on speaker.
"Hey, old man, send Invisible Girl through it." A male voice that the girls recognized as Mage's said over the speaker when Musha answered. "Kinda forgot to mention a strange aspect of this Quirk you're seeing. A tradeoff to the power that Cavalerie wields with Voyage is that it can only be used for one purpose at a time, one travel through so to speak, so we can't send anyone through or else it will close and there's a cool down period before it can be used again. Invisible Girl has to be the one to come through. Those Quirk Marriages in France produced some seriously strong Quirks but human limitations exist and there are tradeoffs to the power of designer Quirks like this one."
"Right, should have told me." Musha said with clear annoyance in his voice as he hung up and looked at Toru. "Go on Invisible Girl, this is a formal request and you are needed to help so do your duty as a hero."
"I will." Toru said with a nod before she walked forward and with a small jump leapt through the portal that closed behind her as she did leaving a stunned Mina alone with Musha for the rest of the day.
Toru didn't even land on the ground before the portal closed behind her but she looked around as she did to see that Mage and Agreste were also present just off to the side and moved once the portal closed. It was a strange experience for sure and now Toru was in what looked like an office with a sofa on one side, some chairs, a large desk with a computer on it, a few monitors on the walls and blacked out windows. It was a big difference from where she'd just been and many miles away she bet.
"Invisible Girl, I am sorry for the sudden request." Mage said looking at her. "But there is a situation right now where your stealth skills are the best way to resolve it without incident. In fact, based on how they were requested we believe that you are the only one who can aid us."
"Come again?" Toru asked confused. "I'm the only one? How?"
"That would be my doing." Marinette said getting Toru's attention and as she looked up to her French friend it meant a lot that Marinette was saying it. "Toru, one strange aspect of Lucky Charm is that even when I can't figure out how to use the item I got to complete the goal I had in mind it's still working just in a different way."
"It is?" Toru asked confused. "I mean I think you've said as much but clearly you've never needed it."
"I haven't since coming to U.A., or at least I hadn't until yesterday when a botched mission required it." Marinette said. "And apparently today as well it seems."
"What do you mean?" Toru asked.
"Well, currently we are dealing with a hostage situation with multiple hostages and professional criminals who work for an international syndicate that are trying to steal corporate secrets and intellectual property so right now we can't rescue them without risking the lives of the hostages." Marinette explained. "As such, I used Lucky Charm and rather than give me an item to solve it, it gave me a replica of something I'd know was in your room on campus. That's how Lucky Charm works when I can't complete a goal directly, it shows me the ally I need via an item. Back in France it was associated with my, er, mentor I guess but due to an incident a while back now I get an item from that person's room."
"I'm a little lost on the last part but honored that I can help." Toru said as beeping sound came from behind her that she ignored and which was one of the lights going off on Momo's glasses showing how much time she had left. "And you said that you needed it yesterday so it's happened already I take it."
"Correct which is why I know that it's changed from my mentor's place to an item from the specific ally I need." Marinette said with a sigh as she looked through Toru and at Momo. "Cavalerie, you've got 3 minutes left it seems so you may as well take them off now. It will speed things along if Toru sees who you are."
"Speed things along?" Toru asked now really confused.
"Toru, there is more to why I need an ally than just needing that person as I need to also lend that person something specific that is vital to accomplishing this goal." Marinette said with a sigh. "However, what I need to lend you is rather complicated and unbelievable so I ask that you trust me right now. I promise that when this is over we'll all explain everything to you because if you're to aid us you deserve to know the full truth behind what I'm lending you. What I'm about to ask of you will be a lot to take in and I'll repay that help with telling you what it all means but for now please trust me."
"Of course Marinette." Toru said surprised by the seriousness in Marinette's words and the odd heaviness to them that she'd never heard in her friend's voice before. "You know I do. We all trust you and you hold that trust closely, even willing to beat us up and choke me to silence us when we pester you to violate it, so I do trust you and you can trust me."
"Very good." Marinette said with a smile as another beep went off showing that time was running out for Momo but Marinette was glad that Momo was waiting for Toru to show that she trusted Marinette. "Cavalerie, do it."
"Of course." The woman behind Toru said in Japanese getting Toru's attention and causing her to turn to the woman as she added a single word. "Dismount."
To say that Toru yelled, leapt in the air and was totally stunned would be an understatement. One moment there was the tall, unknown, white haired woman wearing a skin tight body suit and sunglass. The next there was a flash as the costume vanished and standing there before Toru in her normal hero outfit with a pair of half rimmed glasses over her eyes was Momo Yaoyorozu. To add to it there was now a floating, anthropomorphic, horse that looked tired and was only 4 inches tall next to her that Momo proceeded to give a carrot that she pulled out of a compartment on her belt.
"This is much better than yesterday's vile fat cube you gave me." The horse said in a feminine, very upper class voice as, which Toru now presumed was female, spoke Japanese. "Thank you Momo."
"Of course Kaalki." Momo said with a smile at the horse. "I wasn't expecting your aid again so soon but I was prepared just in case, I always will be going forward."
"I know, I've seen you study." The horse, apparently called Kaalki said. "It's tediously boring if you ask me but you are very dutiful at it which shows your noble heritage."
"Ok what is going on?" Toru asked as she looked around her eyes wide, not that anyone could tell, and at the rest who were treating this as if it was perfectly normal. "What did Yao-Momo just do? She doesn't have a warp Quirk so how did she make that portal. She did make that portal, right? I'm not losing my mind over here am I?"
"No she doesn't and she wasn't using a Quirk but rather magic associated with the kwami that is with her right now." Mage said calmly causing Toru to blink more and look at him. "And yes I assure you that magic is very real Miss Hagakure and I should know seeing as I am the immortal Guardian of it."
"I, I'm lost." Toru said as she tried and utterly failed to process everything that she was hearing. "I don't even know where to begin understanding this."
"That's understandable Hagakure, I was like that as well when I found out." Momo said with a smile. "Though I kinda unraveled everything on my own and came at it from a different angle so I didn't know about the magic at first."
"It's true." Kaalki said. "Momo is very smart, as I'd expect from any who would be entrusted with my Miraculous, she deduced things on her own."
"I, er…" Toru said still failing on processing what she saw, though she did find the talking horse thing unbelievably cute. "You're a kwami? What is a kwami? You look like those cute plushies Agreste had when we saw his room."
"Oh they aren't plushies." Adrien said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "They are the male kwamis from the Miraculous Box that contained the Miraculouses Marinette and I used. They were being funny that day for some reason that I entirely blame on Plagg. I used to use one myself but we can tell you all when the mission is over Hagakure. We need your aid and you need to use a Miraculous to save all the hostage lives."
"Toru, please trust us now." Marinette said kindly as she opened her yo-yo and pulled out a brown box from the glowing interior that made no sense to Toru and just added to the growing layers of confusion she was dealing with. "I promise on my honor that we'll tell you everything when this is over, things Adrien and I can't tell others. Momo only knows because she found out on her own from pulling on a lose thread that no one had realized was there and only really she could pull but this has been forced upon you and I am sorry for that. I really need your aid and our secret isn't worth the lives of hostages, we wouldn't be heroes if we failed them. I promise I'll repay your trust in me with the full truth."
"Truth?" Toru asked.
"Toru, everyone has secrets, things in their past they don't want other to know, that they guard at all times, and the beauty of a new high school is that for the most part no one knows you." Marinette said as she held out the box to Toru. "Mine and Adrien's secrets are just more earthshattering and unbelievable than most. For now, I ask you to trust me as your friend and classmate and I'll repay it."
"I, well, there's a lot to take in but duty does come first and you said this situation was dire which is why you've requested my aid in it." Toru said with a gulp as she looked at the box in Marinette's hand. "Does, does that contain one of those kwami things."
"Hey, I'm a noble steed not a…" Kaalki began.
"Not now Kaalki." Momo said kindly. "Hagakure is still processing things so please give her some leeway at the moment."
"It does." Marinette said as she looked at where she presumed Toru's eyes were. "Toru Hagakure, this is the Miraculous of the Mouse, which grants the power of Multiplication. You will use it for good to complete the mission we face. Once the mission is over you will return it to me. Can I trust you with it?"
"You always can Marinette, I trust you and thank you for the trust you show in me so I'll put aside all my questions until this is over because this mission does come first." Toru said as she picked up the box from Marinette's hands. "I take it I open it now."
Marinette nodded and Toru did just that getting a glimpse of a gray coin-like pendant charm with 5 pink markings on it in a circle around it that was on a pink string before a ball of energy shot into the air and reformed. Toru had to contain her squeal at the cute, light gray, anthropomorphic mouse with adorably large mouse ears on its head. It wasn't one of the ones she recognized from Agreste's room though so it was likely a female one which she presumed stayed with Marinette though that horse, Kaalki, seemed to know Yao-Momo really well.
"Hello, I'm Mullo and I'll be…" The mouse said in a distinctly feminine voice while speaking Japanese before blinking and looking around with an adorable look of confusion on her face. "Er…where's the holder?"
"Oh, right, hi, I'm in front of you." Toru said raising her gloved hand and causing the mouse kwami, Mullo, to yelp and fly up. "Yeah, my Quirk is Invisibility, it's a mutant class Quirk that is always active so the best way for me to be a here is to kinda be naked so when I'm in my hero costume it's hard to see me."
"Ah I see, you must be Hagakure then, Marinette has told us female kwamis all about her new friends and how grateful she is to have another wonderful group of girls to hang out with." Mullo said floating down to where she thought Toru's head was. "I apologize for my reaction; I am still getting used to this age of Quirks and the mutant class ones tend to throw me a little."
"That's fine, mine is pretty extreme I'll give you that though it's very useful for stealth." Toru said before remembering the mission at hand. "But, er, we don't have time to chat so if you could tell me what to do…"
"Right sorry should get on that, if Marinette needs aid from us in this era then it's pretty serious though Kaalki working with Momo I understand." Mullo said. "Basically the instructions are simple. Put the necklace on, that pendant is my Miraculous by the way, and say 'Mullo, Get Squeaky', and I'll merge with the Miraculous and lend you my power. For reference, my power is called Multitude which allows you to shrink down while creating copies of yourself to complete your goal. Then, when you're done you all reform back into yourself and say 'Unsqueak' and you're back to normal. Also, as you are a minor, once you reform after the power is used you'll have 5 minutes before the transformation is forced to end."
"I, er, don't get most of that I'll admit." Toru said as she put the pendant on, noting that it turned from the gray it was to a solid light pink that matched the string and was very much Toru's color and style. "But I am sure that all this will be properly explained to me when this is over."
"It will be." Marinette promised.
"It's fine, a lot will come naturally when you change." Mullo said. "Magic is wonderful after all and Mage did forge the Miraculouses well."
"I'll take your work." Toru said as she steeled herself for what was to come as she had no idea what to expect from it. "Alright then, Mullo, Get Squeaky."
Mullo smiled as she was sucked into the Miraculous and it changed back to normal before the costume took hold. Like all costumes it was unique to Toru and different from when Marinette had used it that one time shortly before the incident and then again to show Momo how a Miraculous worked when Momo learned the truth about Marinette's past.
In Toru's case her costume had light gray hands and lower forearms, along with her feet and lower calves, before going into dark gray and then light pink with the usual diagonal lines as the break between the two light colors. The pink covered the rest of her body up to the neck where a black collar formed as the Miraculous rested on her upper chest and a pink hood shot over her head with gray mouse ears to cover her hair and face though those were still invisible. The final thing to form was a jump rope weapon of the Mouse Miraculous which wrapped around her waist.
It all took a moment and then Toru was there fully transformed and blinking at it. She had a costume fully on so she was no longer naked though now it felt like it was part of her own body, she didn't even feel her gloves and boots anymore, and looked at it her eyes wide as she flexed her fingers. What's more, she felt stronger, more durable, and she knew just how to use the jump rope around her waist and the power that came with the Miraculous. It was an odd sensation but oddly she felt at home with it as well.
"The magic of the Miraculouses help you stabilize the boosts and understand the weapons forged with them as well as the power that each has as part of the abstract concept that is at the core of the Miraculous which each kwami represents." Mage said simply as it ended. "But it still may take a moment."
"I do feel stronger." Toru said. "And I know I'm swifter, more durable and agile now. It's like how I picture Marinette and Agreste normally. I've felt their strength so I understand it somewhat, both from being carried and, er, beaten and choked by Marinette."
"It's about as strong as we were when we started at U.A. but we can get into that later." Marinette said looking at the outfit which she'd not expected as the whole point of this was the usefulness of Toru's Quirk. "Toru, can you think of your Quirk for a moment. You were needed for a reason and I'm sure that Invisibility is that reason."
"Oh, er sure." Toru said and she thought about her Quirk and the moment she did there was a ripple in the costume and it changed to become fully invisible like she was without her clothes on only now she was wearing something that completely covered her body. "Wow, did I just…"
"It would seem that Miraculouses are compatible with Quirks no matter what they are." Mage said. "I know it worked with Creation but this is different as I didn't think that a mutant class Quirk like Invisibility would do this. It would seem that you can extend invisibility over it. Fascinating and just what we need."
"I would say that you created this but then again your magic tends to be more of a living element than most." Kaalki said. "So you honestly shouldn't be surprised."
"It's really weird." Toru's voice said from the air as she moved around though no one could see that. "Like I can still feel it on me as if it's part of me even though I'm now fully invisible. I'm not complaining, I'm not naked anymore though I was pretty used to that drawback of my Quirk by this point."
"This is just why we needed you." Marinette said with a smile as it all come to her. "So the plan is simple now that I see the final piece of the puzzle. Momo, make a few dozen tiny cameras and neuro tasers and hand them to Toru. Once she has them, use Kaalki again and create a portal to the top of the building. Toru, use that portal to get there invisible and then use Multitude to shrink down and infiltrate."
"Ok that I understand." Toru said. "But what is the point of the cameras and tasers?"
"To know what is going on and take those villains down in one go." Marinette said. "We'll use the cameras and the com device that's in your jump rope, all multiples will get it as your weapon also multiplies when you use Multitude, I should know I've used that Miraculous before, to communicate with you. Once you've located all the targets and confirm how many there are. Then use your size and the clones to climb onto the villains, plant the device on the backs of their necks, and then get clear and back to the roof. We'll fry them all at once, knock them out, and then you can come back via Voyage while Mage and Adrien lead the cleanup. From there I'll tell you everything with Momo's help."
"Sounds good to me." Momo said having already made the items as Marinette spoke. "Kaalki, you ready to go?"
"I'm fully recharged thanks to that carrot." Kaalki said as Momo handed the items to a still invisible Toru by holding her hands out so that Toru could take them with one hand taking the tasers and the other the cameras that had a sticky patch that could be put on Toru's body. "So just say the words."
"Kaalki, Full Gallop!" Momo said and Toru watched as Momo changed into the person from before though now she knew it was Momo and not some random woman.
"Right, I just need a name before you go." Mage said to them. "This plan is one that can work and we can monitor and direct Hagakure from here as Technus has sent me the blueprints to that building while the computer is set up to receive the video, and I'll patch a feed to Majestic. To explain you away, you're a classified stealth specialist that we have on staff in Paris who's very existence requires a high level security clearance to know about. I'll use the time you're working to set it up."
"You can do that?" Toru asked surprised. "Sounds illegal."
"I prefer to call it creative problem solving." Mage said which didn't make it sound any better. "And I can, all will be explained later, I promise."
"Very well but I'm not sure about a name." Toru said. "Any suggestions?"
"Soura." Marinette said. "Back when I used it to sort out an issue I went by the name Multimouse, I'll add that story to my tale as it's a complicated one, but that won't work for you so I'd go with Soura. Souris is mouse in French so Soura adds a feminine spin to it and you are the invisible mouse now."
"Alright, that sounds cool to me." Toru said. "It's got a cute ring to it and honors you in a way Marinette so I'll use it."
"As we're going to make you French it also works in that sense." Mage said. "Alright, let's do this and be quick with the portal Cavalerie. It's best that we don't keep it open for too long."
"Right, ready Soura? Momo asked and Toru nodded not that they could see. "Er…"
"Oh yeah forgot, yeah I'm ready." Toru said to give away her presence and showed her common habit of forgetting that she was completely invisible all the time.
"Good then Voyage." Momo said and created a portal that was above the roof of the target building, she'd made sure to know how to get to it just in case and was glad that her planning paid off. "Head on through and let's rescue those hostages."
Toru didn't hesitate as she leapt through the portal and fell down a few feet to land in a crouch on the building her hands still holding the items Momo made. It was time for her to use this new power Marinette had entrusted to her and while Toru was still confused as hell with everything that was going on she was going to complete this mission as instructed and then get her answers.
"Multitude." Toru whispered and she felt the strange sensation of shrinking and using a power that wasn't her Quirk but which she seemed to understand how it worked as she began to break up into multiple, invisible, clones of herself and smiled because this was going to really be useful with her stealth skills.
In no time Toru had reduced herself to 2 dozen miniatures of herself with each one holding a small camera and the special taser thing that Yao-Momo had made for her. As soon as she was ready, she affixed the camera to her chest just below the Miraculous thing there with the adhesive on the back, all her clones mimicking her, kept the stun item in her hand, and removed the com device from the jump rope and put it in her ear.
"Hey, can you guys hear and see?" Toru asked quietly her voice oddly unchanged and using her real body and not any of the clones, which she could control and were already making their way the vents in a very odd sensation that she figure must be like a hive mind kinda deal. "This is really strange but somehow I know what all my clones are doing."
"Loud and clear Soura." Mage's voice came in over the com. "Ladybug's got an item to scan the building and is doing so while Cat Noir has the blueprints on the screen so that he and Creati can go over them. Between that and the camera feed we saw we confirmed 15 villains in there but with you now we can see if there are more. Start by scouting it out and for every villain you find leave a clone with each one. If any look like they'll need more than one taser to take down send as many clones as necessary to that person."
"Understood." Toru said.
"And don't speak from now on, best for you to be radio silent while we direct you as best we can and you search on your own." Mage added. "Best of luck Soura, we're counting on you."
Toru nodded, it was a little strange to be referred to by a different hero name but she understood why and set off after her clones to begin her work. To say that the whole experience was strange and yet natural would be an understatement for her. She had complete control over all her clones and yet they could act independently as they all made their way as a swarm of little, invisible, well, Toru-mice she guessed into the building and down to where the hostages were and made sure that she found them all.
It took a bit of time, some independent work by her clones, and plenty of directions from the others who had scanned the building and worked off the blueprints but in the end Toru found all 15 confirmed and 5 more unconfirmed villains in the building. Those 5 were a mix of the getaway driver, a few that had been out of camera range, the clear excavationist who was set to dig a tunnel for them to escape, and the inside man for the job who Toru learned when one of her clones overheard the truth by accident.
Even after that Toru took a little extra time to make sure that there were 20 and stationed all her clones there with a few extra for the ones who looked like they could take the stun device to await orders. Her central body, the queen of the hive mind she guessed, was commanding it all and had the clear leader of the villains in sight so she'd place that taser personally.
"Alright that should be all of them, the devises are designed to stun at the right level, some high tech stuff Creati can make." Mage said after Toru had exhausted everything and they were certain that they had everyone in place. "Now put the devises on their necks right on their spines, that will ensure that they go down. All of you should have the same abilities so it's doable just be careful."
Toru nodded and mentally gave the command to her clones, to do that as she leapt down from a vent at her own target while the others all moved at once. For the most part they swung down from the ceiling on the ropes and landed on shoulders, ran, placed the devices, and left right away though some had to leap from the ground with two climbing larger targets and one using a desk.
Thanks to the invisibility factor they were detected and most of the villains just interpreted the instances as flies or itches and shrugged it off. Well, the ones that did notice as the rest didn't notice at all and soon Toru had all the villains tagged with the special tasers before she headed back to the roof with all her clones.
It was only once she was there did she end her transformation and reform into her full self, another strange feeling as she grew back to full height and had all her clones accounted for, did she radio in once again. It was time to finish her part of the mission.
"I'm back to full height." Toru said as a beep came from the charm she was wearing that had given her this power which was the same tone as she'd heard from the sunglasses that Momo had been wearing earlier. "So do it."
"This will be fun." Mage said through the com device. "Creati, hit the button and then transform again."
Toru didn't hear it as she was on the roof but she could almost feel it as 20 villains were suddenly taken down simultaneously from the tasers on their necks discharging and collapsed much to the shock of the captives who hadn't seen it coming. She then heard the activation command from Yao-Momo meaning that she'd put her costume thing on again and a second later the Voyage circle appeared with Mage and Cat Noir in it, both carrying multiple manacles, and waiting.
"Alright together." Mage said still speaking through the com device in her ear. "Cat Noir can see you by the way, he's got some infrared lenses in so just walk up and nod when you're in position."
Toru did just that as she walked up to the portal and nodded. The moment she did Mage gave the command and she leapt through it as Mage and Cat Noir did the same from the other side. The rest was now in their hands as Mage gave the order to Majestic to move in from the entrance and basement while he and Cat Noir swept down from the top to secure the unconscious villains and get the hostages to safety.
"Well done Toru." Marinette said with a smile as the final part of the mission began and Momo let her transformation fall once again. "Now, release your transformation by saying the deactivation phrase."
"Oh right that's, er, Unsqueak." Toru said and the moment she said the word her transformation fell and the kwami shot out of her necklace so that she was just in her original hero costume with a tired looking Mullo in front of her and the pendant around her neck now back to the cute pink color it took while on Toru and not active. "Er, are you ok, um, Mullo was it?"
"Yeah just drained, using my power does that." Mullo said with a smile. "I need food to recover and it's just one bit of food and I'm recharged."
"I'm sorry I don't have any but that does sound like what Marinette and Agreste's Quirks need." Toru said as Momo produced some carrots for Kaalki and Mullo to enjoy. "Don't you need food to recharge Marinette? You did back at the start of the year at least."
"I do as I use my body's energy to use my Quirk though now I've reached a point where I can use Lucky Charm within a certain period of time that is dependent on my own current level of stamina, item complexity, frequency and change and what not so it's not as extreme as it was when I started at U.A." Marinette said. "But yes, back then I needed food after one use, which only lasted 5 minutes at the time, and it makes sense seeing as back then Lucky Charm had only just become my Quirk."
"Come again?" Toru asked her eyes wide as yet another shock hit her. "Marinette, what are you saying? Were you born with Lucky Charm or not because it sounds like you weren't."
"No I wasn't born with it and neither was Adrien born with Cataclysm." Marinette said as she put a hand on Toru's back and led her to the sofa so that she could sit on it, on a plastic sheet Momo made given Toru's state of dress which Toru understood and didn't mind as it was rude to sit your naked behind on a sofa that wasn't yours. "I was born Quirkless because when I was born Quirks didn't exist."
"Wait what?" Toru asked now utterly stunned as the shocks just seemed to keep coming. "Ok that I really don't get."
"Momo, can you make me some cloths for when the guys come back just in case I can't activate it again in time." Marinette said. "I don't mind Adrien, he has seen me fully naked after all, it's Mage who I'd rather not see me in that state of dress."
"Of course." Momo said as Marinette reached to the belt buckle thing on her costume and pressed it.
Toru was still trying to process this as the costume fell from Marinette by retreating into the item that held it and her belt hit the ground leaving Marinette in just her special bra and panty shorts, she'd not bothered with the special socks today as she didn't need them when she knew she'd be wearing her costume all day. She then lifted her hands to her mask and took it off to and let it fall to the ground before she looked at Toru and Toru was shocked at seeing tears swimming in Marinette's blue eyes.
"My piercing." Marinette said as she put a hand on her abdomen drawing Toru's eyes to the navel piercing that Marinette had which she was now used to after the surprise when the nice, sweet, French girl who was a special transfer student revealed she had such a piercing. "Originally it was a set of earrings, part of the cover we needed required it being changed and this was the best alternative Mage could make so that I could still use the costume I had back before it was changed."
"Er, I don't get it." Toru said which she felt applied to basically everything that had happened since she'd stepped through that portal. "What do you mean changed?"
"This piercing is my Miraculous, the Ladybug Miraculous entrusted to me by the Great Guardian of the Miraculouses over 230 years ago." Marinette said and Toru heard a deep sadness in Marinette's voice that she'd never heard before which distracted her a little from the whole 230 years ago part. "It is one of the two most powerful ones alongside the Black Cat Miraculous which is Adrien's ring and didn't need to be changed so as to create a convincing costume. My kwami is called Tikki, she's back in my room so I'll introduce you to her another time, and her power was Lucky Charm."
"I…" Toru said unsure how to speak as she looked at Marinette and it all started to hit her, the sadness in Marinette's voice and the tears in her eyes really drove it home to Toru. "Marinette, does this mean that…"
"That I'm not of this era and neither is Adrien." Marinette said as she blinks and tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "And yes that means that all my friends from back home that I mention and have pictures of, are long dead and they died never knowing what happened to Adrien and myself."
"Marinette, if you don't want…" Toru began as she started to understand what Marinette was going on about even if she didn't understand how it all worked.
"No, I promised you the truth Toru and I will give it yo you but I do ask you to not speak this to anyone outside this room." Marinette said as a few more tears leaked out. "Momo knows because she found out on her own and of course Adrien knows, he'll back me up, and Mage will have his own story to tell you but before I start my tale I need you to swear on your honor that you'll keep this. Adrien and I aren't ready to tell but as you saw today our hands have been forced by my Quirk and the situation at hand. I trust you Toru, more now than ever before after you trusted me when I lent you the Mouse Miraculous so I'm willing to tell you, I just need your word."
"Of course, I swear on my honor." Toru said seriously. "I'll keep this secret but I do have to ask, you knew about all this Momo?"
"I did and have known the full truth of Marinette and Adrien's since the dorm move in day." Momo said surprising Toru. "It's actually why I started using Adrien's first name, after the trust he showed me I had couldn't not use it. I honestly didn't mean to find it out, it was a serious of near implausible circumstances that led to it but I learned enough to be highly certain even if I didn't understand how so I confronted Marinette and had it all confirmed to me. I've held it since then and when the time comes I'll tell you how I learned but my role in this tale is not until the end. I do ask that you keep an open mind, what Marinette will reveal about her past is nothing compared to the secrets Mage will tell you."
"Ok." Toru said confused by the last part but leaving it at that for the moment. "I can tell that this is hard for you Marinette and thank you for trusting me. You have my word that I won't mention any of this."
"Thank you Toru." Marinette said with a smile as Momo made her a handkerchief to wipe her eyes which Marinette used and then held onto before starting. "I'll start at my beginning and my tale begins over 240 years ago in Paris. My actual birth year is…"
From there Marinette began her tale with Momo's help before Adrien and Mage came back, Mage had radioed ahead so Marinette was able to reactivate her costume in time, and they too helped tell Toru the truth. After that Mage had his own story to tell and secrets to reveal that were even more earthshattering than Marinette's and Adrien's one.
Toru just sat there and listened to it all as she took it in, asked questions, and got all the proof she needed to believe it. It was a long talk, and they'd have a shit ton of paperwork to finish afterwards, but in the end a second classmate learned the truth behind Adrien and Marinette and accepted them for it which would be vital in the times to come as they all moved ever closer to the war that would shake Japan and the world.
A little bit of a surprise by a fan suggested that Toru get the Mouse Miraculous and it really stuck with me as it is perfect for her so I decided to go with a forced reveal of their secret via Lucky Charm during the time skip arc and this was the result. Now Toru too is in the little club of knowing the truth of Adrien and Marinette's past as well as Mage's true nature (which Izuku and Bakugo know) and about the kwamis (which Izuku, Tokoyami, and Kuroiro know a little about though they don't really believe it). I am sure this will come up in time but for now they have a new confidant and that may prove useful as the time skip slowly draws to an end and we gear up for the coming Paranormal Liberation War. That is all that I have for this chapter though so I will leave it off here. As always, if you like it or have any questions please let me know in reviews or PMs, I will try to answer them as best I could and post any questions asked between uploads at the start of the next chapter and do follow and favorite this, so you are alerted to future uploads. Do keep the reviews coming as I like hearing from y'all as you enjoy my work, it motivates me to keep producing the best work I can for y'all to enjoy. Until next time.
Stringdog
