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Chapter Text

The Gotham students stepped out of the airport and immediately had to squint against the sudden bright light of the mid-morning sun. Already the differences between Gotham and Paris were making themselves known causing every single Gothamite to scoff, laugh, and shake their heads at the Parisians' apparently unwarranted paranoia. There was absolutely no way Paris was more dangerous than Gotham. And yet for some strange reason the Parisian administrators of the International Friendship Conference petitioned to have the conference in Gotham? It was pure insanity.

Even the smallest child knew that having over a dozen schools from five different countries gather together in one place was a recipe for disaster in the city where the opening of a new bank could be the precursor for a terrorist attack. And yet Paris was insistent, that Gotham take its turn hosting the celebration, saying that it was “Too dangerous.” Everyone had laughed at that, literally. There was not a single Gothamite who had heard the news and not laughed. Even now driving the buss to their first location, even Damian “Ice Prince” Wayne was fighting an amused smirk and a soft chuckle, as his peers laughed at the naive and clueless Parisians walking the street below.

In Paris, the sun was shining. In Gotham, the sun barely ever broke through the smog and the rain. In Paris, pedestrians chatted amicably while walking at a leisurely pace. In Gotham, if you didn’t rush to your next location with your head down then you were asking to get mugged. In Paris, police directed traffic and waved to children. In Gotham, the police were always running from one armed robbery to another. Damian scoffed. Paris was like Metropolis, shiny and clean. Gotham was dark and dirty.

“It was probably a prank,” one of the Gotham High students said to his fellows. “You know a joke to get on our good side!”

“Ha!” one of the Gotham Academy students scoffed, “They should know that unlike Two-Face we don’t have a good side.” The bus was filled with laughter, and even Damian’s smirk twitched into a brief smile at the words.

It was no secret that the class divide in America's most dangerous city was as wide as the Grand Canyon. In fact, the only reason the students from the public high school were able to afford this trip was because of the Thomas and Martha Wayne Scholarship Foundation, which—among other opportunities, provided money for Gotham High Students to attend international trips with Gotham Academy. Damian could appreciate the elegance of the arrangement. The spoiled brats, that were unfortunately his peers, could jet off to Paris for the weekend whenever they wished and cared little for school functions where they could not display their wealth. But students from lower income families would probably never leave the city. So why not have them tag along on one of the prestigious rich school field trips where half of the students would opt out of going anyway?

Now, usually this meant that the trip was split into two very distinct groups with each side antagonizing the other, while Damian scowled in the middle. But whenever anyone said anything bag against their shared city, the class divide vanished. Suddenly they were one group united against the outsider who dared insinuate that Gotham was anything but superior in every way. So at that moment the bus was filled with rich and poor laughter as another student said,

“Can you imagine what would have happened if these people had actually come to Gotham!”

“They would’ve folded to Condiment King!”

Damian saw that even the chaperones were smiling softly at the front of the bus. They were probably predicting their easiest trip yet, and Damian found himself agreeing with them. He liked Paris. He had gone here on a mission with his mother. It had been one of the more pleasant ones, considering he had not had to kill anyone. And it was a beautiful city full of art, culture, and history, and since the class seemed to be united, Damian predicted a nice relaxing vacation with no troubles whatsoever. He found himself actually a little excited.

Eventually their laughter was cut off by the fact that they had arrived at their destination. Collège et Lycée Françoise Dupont was the host school for the conference, and they had requested that all of the attending schools participate in a brief assembly with their corresponding classes before going to their hotel and seeing the city. Damian’s class filled into a large classroom with teared desks facing a chalkboard with a projector in front of it. Two teachers were waiting for them. One was a stern looking woman with sharp features and sharp eyes, and the other was her exact opposite. One look and every Gothamite silently agreed, the second woman would not last two minutes in their home, while the first might last long enough to run screaming.

Damian found his way to the back of the class and glared at anyone who got too close, but he needn’t have bothered. The GA students knew him too well, and the GH students were subconsciously separating themselves from the “rich kids.” Once everyone settled the soft teacher cleared her throat and spoke in a sickly sweet voice that made all of the Gothamites cringe against the unfamiliarity of such a tone. No one in Gotham spoke with that level of cheer, unless they were brainwashed…or a villain…or a brain washed villain.

“Greetings everyone!” she said in English, “I am Mme. Caline Bustier, and this is Mme. Mendeleiev. We are the French chaperones for this trip. For the next week you will be partnered with our advanced English Class as you tour the sites and participate in other Conference activities. But before we begin, our class representative and her co-representative have prepared a little presentation to ensure that your time in Paris is as safe and as enjoyable as possible.”

The Gothamites snickered quietly as three girls entered the room each carrying a stack of binders which they stacked on the teacher’s desk at the front of the class. Damian narrowed his eyes at the three girls and found them…strange. They were just too different from each other and yet they moved together with familiarity. It didn’t make sense to him. First there was the blonde girl dressed almost entirely in yellow and black. With her perfect posture, designer clothes, and her narrowed eyes looking down her nose at everyone, she could easily fit right in among the Gotham Elite. Damian assumed that she would take the presenters position, but all she did was narrowly examine everyone with too knowing eyes and scoff, before sitting on the teachers desk and pulling out a nail file.

The second girl who entered the room, had all the appearance and attitude of a lacky. The first word that popped into Damian’s head was lapdog. But the demure girl with auburn hair and round glasses simply giggled at the first’s antics and took her position in front of the teachers with a confident yet shy smile.

That left the third girl. However, Damian did not get a good look at her before she glanced around the room, blushed, and promptly tripped over nothing sending all of her binders flying. The Gothamites snickered as the second girl rushed to help the third. Damian internally groaned at the blatant incompetence. But everyone was silenced by a sharp, “Hey!”

Everyone’s attention snapped to the first girl who was now glaring at them with the intensity of Poison Ivy when someone touched one of her plants. “If all you can do is laugh at someone when they fall, then you wont survive two minutes in Paris. Now apologize to my friend, and—”

“Chloe,” the third girl said and despite her flushed face and her nervously darting eyes her voice was clear and calm, and almost commanding despite the fact that it was also soft and melodic. “It’s ok. I’m not hurt, and it wasn’t their fault. It was an accident. Just take a breath, and help Sabrina pass out the binders. Please?”

The rich girl, Chloe, grumbled under her breath but obeyed (even if she slammed the binders in front of the students who had snickered). As this was happening, the clumsy girl brushed herself off and took her place in front and center. Now that Damian could examine her, he found that she was even more different than the other two, and he could not comprehend how she could have possibly commanded this Chloe. She was small, with black hair pulled back in pigtails like a five-year-old. Her bright bluebell eyes and blinding smile screamed innocence and naivety. Every single Gothamite thought the exact same thing,

“She would have died in Gotham.”

But despite her earlier clumsiness and the thoughts of the visitors, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Damian stared in fascination as a change came over the girl. Her posture straightened. Her shoulders squared. She lifted her head, and when she opened her eyes, there was nothing but confidence and clarity in them. Damian huffed in consideration and leaned back in his chair suddenly very interested in what this girl had to say as the other one, Sabrina placed his binder in front of him with a smile.

“Hello,” the girl up front said in near perfect English. “My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I am the class representative for Lycée Françoise Dupont Troisième Class. Or as you would say, sophomore year, same as all of you. This is my co-representative Sabrina Raincomprix.”

“Hello!” Sabrina waved as she took her place at the front of the class. “It’s nice to meat all of you. By the way this is our friend, Chloe Bourgeois. She’s a little overprotective.” Chloe just huffed and retook her seat on top of the desk, electing to ignore everyone else.

“Any way,” Marinette continued with that same blindingly bright smile. “Due to the current state of Paris, we felt it only fair to walk you through a ‘How to Survive Paris Crash Course’ before the conference gets into full swing.” The Gothamites stared at the small Parisian girl in astonishment. She wasn’t serious was she? Didn’t she know who they were? Where they were from?

Apparently she was because she ignored their incredulous stares and pulled up one of the extra binders and presented it to the class. “You were all handed a Paris Survival Guide made by the student council for the conference. In it you will find everything you need to know about our villain, our heroes, and the protocol for surviving their battles, including a map to the akuma shelters near the conference’s various locations, and a list of apps that you will be required to download in order to ensure you and your friends safety. Now if you all open your guides, I will briefly go over the most important information before turning you back over to your teachers.”

“You can’t be serious!” Damian saw Chad, one of the GA students, stand up and stare at the girl in amused disbelief. “All this for a villain? Singular? You know we’re from Gotham right? We can handle whatever cutesy little trouble maker you throw at us. We have the Joker.”

 While no one particularly liked Chad, Damian thought he was an idiotic prick, the students couldn’t help but mutter and nod in agreement. But Damian only raised his eyebrow as a change came over every single Parisian in the room. They all stood up straighter, their shoulders tense. They watched the Gothamites with a mixture of fear, frustration, and annoyance. But before any of them could speak, Chloe leapt from the desk and stomped up to Chad.

Everyone fell silent, before the fire in her eyes and the fury in her step. She slammed a hand on his desk forcing him to flinch back in his seat so that she was looming over him in a storm of black and yellow. “Oh, you think you’re so clever, huh? Oh we have the Joker! We can survive anything!” she said mockingly, “Well Monsieur ‘I’m from Gotham,’ I wish we had the Joker. Do you know why? Because—”

“Chloe!” Everyone snapped back to Marinette. Her voice was suddenly as sharp and as cold as her expression as she glared at her friend. Damian unconsciously flinched at how closely this small girl’s ferocity resembled his father’s patented expression. And everyone recognized the quiet command she held, as even those who had continued to snicker at Choe and Chad were silenced into rapt attention.

“Take a breath, Chloe,” Marinette said a bit more gently. And Damian watched in amusement as the other girl visibly relaxed as she made her way back to her friends. Once her view was unobstructed, Marinette studied the Gothamites and sighed. She set down her binder and fell into a more relaxed posture as she leaned against the desk. She then turned her gaze on Chad. From his position behind the other boy, Damian saw yet another thing in the girl that threw him into confusion. Exhaustion. “What would you do,” Marinette asked Chad calmly, “If the Joker was robbing a bank and you told a tourist to avoid that street, but they just laughed and continued walking?”

“Um,” Chad said, his eyes searching desperately for support, “I would wish them a speedy death, cause that’s all they deserve for being so stupid.”

The Gothamites chuckled, and Marinette nodded with a soft, understanding smile. “Exactly,” she said. “In your city, you respect you villains and the danger they pose, and you ask everyone to do the same. All we ask is for the same curtesy. Is that too much to ask?”

Damian found himself impressed as he watched his peers silently straighten in their seats, and begin fingering their binders. With one question, she had gained the attention and the consideration of an entire group intent on mocking her. Now she was in complete control, as she nodded and straightened. She turned, opened her binder, and said, “Now, Paris only has one villain and his partner, however, he is probably the worst villain you will ever encounter outside of Gotham. The reason is simple, he enslaves people.”

Everyone jerked up, confusion filling the classroom as Sabrina picked up the thread, “If you will all turn to page one under the section marked ‘Heroes and Villains,’ you will see the latest picture of our villain, Hawkmoth, as well as a list of his powers. On page two you will see a picture of his partner, Mayura. The rest of the chapter is a list of the heroes currently fighting them.”

“Right now Paris is at war,” Marinette said, her calm seriousness perfectly contrasting with Sabrina’s light lecturing. “But the soldiers are not willing henchmen and crooks like in Gotham. They are people, normal people just going about their lives, until Hawkmoth strikes.”

“The magic item he wields allows him to create akumas,” Sabrina said over the sound of pages turning. “Akumas are magic purple butterflies that possess Hawkmoth’s victims transforming them into villains that will do his bidding. But do not be alarmed, in order for Hawkmoth to possess you, certain qualifications must be met.”

“Negative emotion,” Marinette said, her exhaustion seemed to seep into her words as she said it. “Anger, sadness, fear, pain. These are the thoughts and emotions that Hawkmoth uses to possess his victims. Should you at any moment feel any of these emotions then you are at risk of being akumatized. And once that happens you will only care about two things. The first, will be the thing that caused the negative emotions. Be they a person, or an action, you will become obsessed with fulfilling the need the negative emotions created. The second is obeying Hawkmoth’s will without question or choice.”

“Section two in your Paris Survival Guide,” Sabrina said with unwavering cheerful professionalism. “Has a list of the most common akuma, their negative emotion, and the actions that created them. Section three has a list of self-calming techniques, as well as meditation apps, and the number for the Self Care Hotline in case you need immediate assistance. If you do not have a phone, one will be provided for you curtesy of Wayne Enterprises.”

Damian felt all eyes glance at him, but he ignored them as Marinette continued. “Akumas vary from person to person. The only thing they really have in common is bad fashion sense. But you never know how dangerous they are going to be. Some will only cause a traffic jam. Some…some will make you think the world is ending.”

“A complete list of every akuma to ever appear,” Sabrina declared, “Is listed on the website miraculousparis.gov, as well as on the only hero approved blog, SpotsOn.com. On both sites, the akumas are organized by their danger level. The weakest being a level one, the strongest being a level ten. On both sites there is also a list of protocols to survive each akuma, which can also be found in section four of your guides.”

“Your going to want to download the Akuma Alert App,” Marinette said with an almost bored air, “It is the most efficient way to avoid and survive akumas since it will alert you of their location, threat level, and which protocols to follow. Teachers, you are required to have the app, and to report on it whenever one of your students are akumatized.”

“Due to the number of visitors here for the conference, and Hawkmoth’s patterns,” Sabrina said her cheerfulness giving way to something akin to sternness. “It is very likely that we will be experiencing at least one akuma a day. Our calculations have predicted, that at least one of you will be akumatized before the end of the week. All of you will be caught in at least three akuma attacks, and since you’re from Gotham, should any of them be higher than a level six, then at least half, if not all, of you will die.”

All of the Gothamites dropped their jaws on the floor before Marinette continued with a half-amused smile, “Try not to worry too much about dying though. If you look at our main hero, Ladybug, on page three you’ll see that one of her powers is the Miraculous cure. She reverses any damage done during an akuma attack, and yes that includes resurrecting the dead. But still, do try not to die. Dying sucks, and you will remember it. If not when you’re awake, then at least when you sleep, and nobody wants a nightmare akuma, anytime soon. They suck!”

All of the Parisians stared at nothing, as they nodded in unison, before Sabrina continued in her chipper tone, “At the back of your guide there is a list off all of the apps and websites we just mentioned. We recommend you study them thoroughly before you begin your tour of the city this afternoon!”

“But please,” Marinette said almost pleadingly, “Above all else remember this, the people who are akumatized, are not the enemy. They are the victims. They will do terrible things to anyone who get in their way. But they will remember none of it. No matter who they hurt, or what they destroy, they will never remember the things they did while akumatized. It does nothing to blame them except create an opportunity for another akuma. They are not at fault no matter what happens. The enemy is Hawkmoth and Mayura. They are the villains of this city. The only villains. Please keep that in mind, and do your best to be kind and respectful to others. You do not want to be the cause of an akuma.”

“Anything else you need to know is in your guides and on the sights mentioned,” Sabrina said closing her book with a snap.

“Welcome to Paris!” Chloe said with a scoff, and with that, the girls left.

Chapter Text

Once all the Parisians were gone, the mutterings began. It seemed to Damian that the class was divided into three groups. One was the group who were actually taking the threat seriously. The other was the group that still thought this was all some sort of massive joke, or prank. And then there was the group in the middle, who simply didn’t care. “We’re from Gotham!” a girl from this group said. “We can handle whatever magical bullshit this is. Whether it’s a prank or not doesn’t matter! Just download the apps and let’s go.”

Everyone obeyed as the teachers handed out phones to the under privileged students, and then they filed back to the bus. As they moved amid a series mutterings, scoffing, and nervous glancing, Damian Wayne had drawn in on himself in contemplation. On the one hand, this whole situation seemed ridiculous. Magic Butterflies? Seriously? But then again, Damian had seen stranger. His ex-girlfriend was a half demon from a magic dimension. His best friend was half alien. Magic butterflies turning people into villains was not outside of the realm of possibility. No, what really bothered him, was the Justice League.

Assuming for a moment that this “Hawkmoth” was every bit as dangerous and threatening as those girls had described, then where was the Justice League. Why hadn’t they gotten involved? Did they even know about this? He doubted it, but his father did not tell him everything. It made him furrow his brow in confusion. There was just something not adding up here. And Damian had to be prepared for whatever it was. So he pulled out his phone and began to peruse the websites, his survival guide recommended.

 The first conclusion he came to, was that this was not a prank. There was too much information, and too many details for Hawkmoth and Ladybug to be fake, even if they did seem a bit ridiculous. Just looking at the government site, Damian could tell that the “powers that be” were taking this very seriously, and were doing everything in their power to mitigate the dangers. Akuma shelters being made a new building requirement. Guidance counselors being placed in every school. Akuma victim support groups. Whatever was happening in this city, it was real.

But how real? Damian wondered as he opened the blog, SpotsOn. Are they overreacting? Is it some sort of mass hallucination? Where is the Justice League?

Damian’s eyebrow arched in surprise. It was the only external sign he gave that he was effected by what he saw. The government site had given him the basic information, the miraculous, Hawkmoth’s goals, Ladybug’s powers, her roster of heroes, and the most common akuma protocols. SpotsOn.com on the other hand was a virtual treasure trove of what was happening in the city. It had all of the government’s info, but also videos of the akuma battles, uploaded by the citizens, and a complete list of all of the known akumas organized by threat level.

Damian went to this list immediately, drowning out his peers, and came to the immediate conclusion that everyone was overreacting. The threats were categorized by the damage done, so while there were many akumas that seemed to have a great deal of power, they never did any real harm to the city. For example, Mr. Pigeon was the most common akuma with a power that could be terrifying if used correctly. But his page read like this…

Akuma: Mr. Pigeon

Threat Level: One

Power: The ability to control all pigeon, and pigeon adjacent birds in the city.

Akumatized Object: The birdcall around his neck.

Damage: Traffic Jams, Defamation of Statues and Monuments, Kidnapping of Police and Park Personnel.

Action Caused: Messing with the pigeons.

Akuma Prevention Note: DO NOT MESS WITH THE PIGEONS! RESPECT THE PIGEON! BE NICE TO THE PIGEON! DO NOT MESS WITH THE PIGEONS!

Battle Videos: Link

It was almost enough to make Damian laugh, as he perused the list. He could see where some of these creatures could become dangerous. Like this level four akuma, Bubbler. He looked like a bad toy design made by someone high on LSD, but his ability to trap all of the adults in bubbles and send them into the stratosphere was concerning. It was a legitimate threat, but in the end, he hadn’t killed anyone. None of the level 1-4s had, and they were the most common.

Damian set down his phone as they reached the hotel. He didn’t get a chance to look at the level fives, but he was satisfied in his appraisal. The threat was real, the government and this ‘Ladybug’ had it under control. Those girls had just been overly dramatic, probably because they had been akumatized before (The victims were never listed on either the government or the blog). But there was no need for this to disrupt his vacation away from his practically insane family. He could spend the entire trip just sitting on Seine and drawing. He’d tell his father about it when he got home, so that the Justice League could put an end to all of this tom foolery. But until then, he just wanted to focus on his art.

They didn’t stay at the hotel long. Now that everyone had a phone, a trip group chat had been made. And once everyone was settled in their perspective rooms, plans for their free evening began to take shape. Soon a text went out from the teachers saying that they were going to stave off jetlag by going to get lunch and traveling to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was an arrangement that pleased Damian and promised a fruitful trip. The top of the Tower was said to be spectacular, and he packed his sketchbook just in case. As it was, he spent most of the first day by himself despite being surrounded by peers. So he took the opportunity to watch the civilians and judge his fellow students, and both surprised him.

What surprised him about the Parisians was how the walked. They weren’t like Gothamites who rushed about in silence with their heads down. But there was a wariness to their steps, and a tension in their shoulders. And though they talked free and easy, with smiles on their faces, every now and then they would glance up at the sky, their eyes darting and their smiles wary.

What surprised him about the Gothamites was that the class divide was almost non-existent now. Instead, the groups had mixed into the three groups from before. And none of them were content to let the subject drop until they had come to a consensus.

“You can’t honestly be thinking this!” Chad exclaimed gesturing at the sun washed streets and the laughing families in the park. “Is more dangerous than Gotham?”

“Of course not!” said a Gotham High student, Damian remembered that her name was Kathryn. “Nowhere is more dangerous than Gotham. But that doesn't mean these villains aren’t a threat.”

“Just because Clue Master, is less dangerous than Riddler,” a Gotham Academy boy, Arthur said, “Doesn’t mean his games aren’t deadly.”

“But it’s just too…childish!” a Gotham High girl said, “I mean butterflies!”

“Condiment King,” Kathryn stated dryly.

“Touché,” the second girl said.

“Does it even matter?” It was the girl who had gotten everyone moving to the bus. She was from Gotham High, and Damian thought her name was…Alice. Poor girl, Damian thought, I wonder if I’ve ever saved her from the Mad Hatter. Alice seemed bored by the whole talk, as the line for the Tower moved forward. “Threat or no threat. They’re not here now, so can’t we just enjoy the day! I mean the sun is shining! The sun never shines in Gotham.”

Chad opened his mouth, probably to say something idiotic, when suddenly everyone’s phones went off with a distinct chime like a bell. In that heart beat every single Parisian froze and pulled out their phone. Then in the same breath they all seemed to relax, and as one moved calmly, but quickly, away from the park and the Eiffel Tower. A park employee stepped forward and called out in heavily accented English.

“My apologies madams and monsieur’s. But an akuma has been sited, and Ladybug has requested that the Eiffel Tower be evacuated as quickly as possible!”

“What?” Chad and several other “This is all a joke” students began to grumble, as everyone else pulled out their phones.

Damian did likewise, but he was distracted by what was happening around him. It had seemed that for a moment, all of Paris had operated under a strange hivemind, the moment the Akuma Alert had gone off. But they weren’t behaving like he had expected them too. If these people were really overreacting to the threat, then they should be running and screaming in terror. Instead, the park employees were gently and professionally herding the tourists through the park, as half the students argued that, “They would be fine. They were from Gotham.”

Damian took that time to look at the alert. His entire screen had been taken over by a black page with red letters that cried,

AKUMA ALERT: LEVEL 5.

Akuma: Gigantitan

 Local Evacuation Protocol in effect! All citizens in the Champs de Mars and Rue Desaix evacuate to a three block radius, or to your nearest Akuma Shelter.

Ladybug: ON THE SCENE

Chat Noir: MIA

Temporary Heroes:

Miss. Hound: ON THE SCENE

Bumble Queen: ON THE SCENE

Ryuko: ON THE SCENE

Damian furrowed his brow. He looked up as the guides ushered them behind the line of police cars that were blocking the park. He saw that a number of people and news outlets had lined up to here, and were waiting almost eagerly to see what would happen. “You can stand here and watch,” the park employee said, and Damian narrowed his eyes at the strained frustration, and almost vindictive smile she gave them. “But unfortunately, this is as close as anyone gets that isn’t a Miraculous holder. Even if you are ‘from Gotham.’”

Damian hid a groan at the implication. There was so much wrong with that statement it was physically grating, the least of it not being the sheer stupidity and incivility of his class mates. But he put all thoughts aside to focus on the park in front of him.

It was quiet. The entire park, that had once been bustling with tourists and families, laughing, and playing, was now quieter than a Gotham alleyway at night. From their position they had a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower, and Damian focused on memorizing this moment for his sketchbook later. It was so serine and beautiful, and…

The ground began to shake, and the reporters fell silent. Damian braced himself as the loud footfalls of something enormous echoed through the quiet city and shook the very buildings around them. A loud cry echoed through the streets, and Damian had to cover his ears against the high-pitched whine. He scanned the area with the practiced vigilance of his training, searching desperately for the creature. Then he saw it.

Damian’s eyes bulged and his mouth dropped, and he stared in wordless astonishment at the giant purple and green baby head towering over the buildings to his right. It was so…bizarre. Damian barely even processed the three figures running around it. They were just so small compared to the being that was easily four stories high, but their own colorful costumes made them stand out on the Paris roof tops.

Damian recognized the three heroes from his research, and shaking off the wonder of the giant toddler, focused on them and their actions. The heroes were quiet, practiced, and efficient. Ryuko danced in front of the akuma drawing him out of the streets and into the open space of the park. The creature cried again, with what Damian now recognized was an unbearable, ear shattering, child’s wail. And as he did so the giant flung out his arms in a tantrum breaking the buildings and sweeping them aside as one would sweep away Legos. Bumble Queen and Miss. Hound dove after the debris, but they were still preoccupied with herding the creature.

Damian stared as the creature stepped out into the park. The three heroines carefully and efficiently driving it towards the tower. Then the creature cried out in joy and picked up one of the abandoned cars on the street. Damian could only stare as the baby began playing with it as if it were a toy as he danced around his new play pen.

Now the three heroines were focused on keeping the giant child inside the park. It was easily the strangest battle Damian had ever witnessed, as the baby didn’t seem to care for anything except for his new toy, while the heroes dodged his feet and directed his path with literally anything the could get their hands on. But where was…Damian blinked as he spotted a small bright red figure leap off of the top of the Eiffel Tower. As the figure fell, a bright, shiny, red cloth with black spots encased the tower until it was completely covered.

“Hey Gigantitan!” The figure yelled. Her commanding voice echoing through the park causing a everyone to straighten and turn towards her, even the giant baby. The baby in question cooed, and then screamed in delight. That was when Damian understood. The hero had made the Eiffel Tower look like a giant piece of colorful candy. And now the baby was stomping towards it in joy.

Unfortunately as he did so, the child decided that he didn’t want his toy anymore and tossed the car…right at the Gothamites. Damian braced himself as people screamed. He closed his eyes as the vehicle got closer and then…

“Cataclysm!” a new voice yelled. Damian blinked as a shower of rusty ash fell on his head. A boy in a black cat suit now stood on top of the police car watching the fight.

“Chat Noir!” Bumble Queen yelled landing beside the new hero in a storm of black and yellow. “Where have you been?! The battle’s almost over!”

“I’m sorry Queenie,” Chat Noir cried, as he played with his tail looking like a kicked puppy, “It took me thirty minutes just to get away! Now where does my Lady need me?”

“Nowhere,” Bumble Queen huffed, “She’s got it sorted. See!”

Damian’s attention turned back just in time to watch the giant toddler open his mouth and bite down hard on the metal structure as if he were eating a candy bar. But even as the child stared in confusion at the building for not turning into a chocolaty treat. The red figure threw something and broke the bracelet on the child's wrist. Something black came out of the broken jewelry, but it was quickly caught by the hero. The child was then encased in a black and purple substance, and the next moment the monsterous child vanished. The Tower’s wrapping as pulled down, and a clear calm voice shouted out, “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Damian watched in wonder as a cloud of glowing ladybugs descended on the city and began repairing all the damages. The roof tops were fixed. Injuries were healed, and in just under one minute, it was like nothing ever happened. The heroes gathered together under the Eiffel Tower and the park employee began ushering the students back to the park saying, “The Eiffel Tower will reopen in thirty minutes, best get back in line now. Thank you, for your patience, especially if you’re from Gotham!”

But before Damian could move, he saw a random businessman check his watch, curse, pull out his phone, and say, “Hey, yeah it’s me, look I’m going to be late. Akuma attack blocked the Champs de Mars again…no yeah the tower’s fine. It didn’t even get knocked over this time…yeah sure I can pick up some cheese on the way home…is there anything else—"

Damian followed his class in a kind of dazed horror. What kind of city was this that a giant baby attacking their signature monument gets spoken of in the same manner as bad traffic? He had thought that kind of casual compliance with villains only happened in Gotham. And yet…

Damian’s phone pinged. It was the Akuma Alert, only this time it read in green letters…

AKUMA DE-EVILIZED.  

Total Damages: €5,000,000

Injured: 50

Casualties: 16

Percent Cured: 100%

THANK YOU, LADYBUG!

Damian shoved his phone into his pocket, as he watched Ladybug return a perfectly normal child to his mother, then vanish among the roof tops. He moved like a zombie through the streets as he was completely consumed by two thoughts. One, where was the Justice League? And two, I’m never going to get a quite vacation.

Chapter Text

The moment Damian had learned that he had a roommate, he knew that he would have trouble sleeping. Granted, the Gotham High student, Will, was quiet and unobtrusive, so at first Damian thought that it wouldn’t be too much of a sacrifice to share a room with him (but only if he kept a knife under his pillow). However, after seeing the giant baby trying to eat the Eiffel Tower all thoughts of sleep were quickly thrown away in favor of hours upon hours of research while his roommate slept. So it should have come as no surprise to anyone, that Damian walked up to the Louvre with bags under his eyes and a scowl to curdle milk. He sipped his hotel coffee in distaste as his peers gave him a wide berth, as they waited for their French guides. Yet despite his exhaustion, and the distance of his peers, he was able to overhear their conversations and gauge their intentions for the rest of the trip.

“You can’t be serious!” Kathryn was yelling, “After what we saw yesterday you’re not freaking out? I’m freaking out! We almost died!”

“You live three blocks away from Crime Alley!” A Gotham High student who was on the “Parisian’s are overreacting” side exclaimed. “You almost die every day!”

“Yeah,” Kathryn said, “From muggers and henchmen. You know, people I can kick in the family jewels. Not magic giant babies! I can’t kick magic giant babies! And if you had bothered too even read the survival guide, you would know that that particular akuma happens like, a lot!”

“But it doesn’t matter!” Chad cried, “I mean their hero has a magic reset button, so…”

“Ok,” Alice said sardonically, all of the "Who cares" Gothamites were now firmly on the "It's a big deal" side, “So you’re suicidal. Great.”

“I’m not—”

“Students!” Mr. Robinson, their chaperone and French teacher, called. “Our liaison class is here, so be on our best behavior!”

Damian took a swig of his coffee as they moved towards the glass pyramid in the center of the courtyard. He was tired, and he did not want to deal with whichever idiotic child they pared him up with, but he needed to know more. He had been researching all night, but he still didn’t know why the Justice League hadn’t been called in yet. And considering how many akumas had almost ended the world, he had a feeling that they should definitely know about this.

 But there was one more thing that was bugging him unceasingly, Hawkmoth. His motivation was clear, he wanted a wish, but he didn’t know the reason behind that motivation. And his strategy was baffling. Just from reading the blogs, it looked like Hawkmoth’s plan was to akumatize as many different people as possible and then hope one of them would be able to defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir. It was ridiculous, idiotic, and completely ineffectual…And yet Ladybug had not been able to catch him. It made no sense. From the videos it was clear that even when Ladybug had been at her least skilled, she had always been competent and efficient. Now two years later, she had experience, training, and competent and effective team members. So why hadn’t she eliminated the threat?

His thoughts were aggravatingly interrupted when they reached the chattering group of teenagers in front of the pyramid. When they saw the Gothamites, the Parisians instantly quieted and lined up with plastered smiles, and bright, scanning eyes. It was…disturbing and pulled all of the Gothamites up short and had them frowning and scanning for any hidden dangers. It was almost comical, the line of bright, colorful Parisians facing off of the dark, scowling Gothamites. Damian just sipped his coffee and began memorizing the faces. He paused when he was the small group of people not joining the lineup.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Sabrina Raincomprix, and Chloe Bourgeois, and two other girls stood on the opposite side of the line from the teachers and little apart from their class despite the fact that two of their members were the class leaders. Marinette was sipping on a large cup, but her small welcoming smile seemed a hundred times more genuine than the toothy grins of her classmates. Sabrina was standing beside her, and she seemed to be fidgeting with excitement as she waited for the teachers to finish talking. Chloe was the only one who was not smiling, instead she was completely consumed with her phone and only huffing when her friends spoke to her. Damian couldn’t get a good idea of the other two girls, as one of them was hidden behind Marinette, and the other was…roller blading around the courtyard completely ignoring everyone.

Eventually, Mlle. Mendeliev cleared her thought as she began handing out papers to her class, with the Gotham teachers mirroring her with Damian and his peers. “Now,” she said sternly yet not harshly in English, “It has come to our attention that you all were caught up in the akuma attack yesterday. That is good, perhaps now you will take this threat seriously, and do everything in your power to avoid creating or becoming akumatized.”

“That being said,” Mlle. Bustier said quickly with a pointed look at her coworker, “We are glad none of you were harmed, and hope that it never happens again!”

“Hm,” Mendeliev said before snapping her attention to both classes commanding their attention like a general surveying their troops. “You have each been paired up according to those whom we have deemed least likely to cause akumas. French students will speak in English. English students will speak in French. Complete your work sheets by the end of the day to receive full marks. There will be no switching!”

Damian noticed her sharp eyes falling on a girl dressed in an awful shade of orange, with sausages disguised as hair framing her face. Said girl just smiled innocently, before her eyes fell on him, and he groaned. The sudden flash of predatory glee that she had eyed him with made his skin crawl. He wanted nothing to do with that girl, but he knew her type far too well. She was like his mother, desperate for power and willing to do anything to get it. At that moment Damian was the most powerful person there, and she knew it.

He prepared himself for an aggravating and unsatisfactory morning as he waited for the opportunist to corner whoever he had been partnered with him and “convince” them to switch partners despite the teacher’s mandate. Needless to say, he was surprised when the person who had extracted themselves from the mass of congregating students to find him, was not the sausage girl, but Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Her smile when she saw him was so bright and genuine, it had Damian squinting his eyes in suspicion as she moved toward him. But she maintained a respective distance and spoke formally in English as she said, “Hello, I’m Marinette. You must be Damian.”

“I am,” Damian said in perfect French straightening as he looked at his work sheet for the first time. Sure enough, Marinette’s name was right beside his at the top of the page. “Although, I should warn you that this exercise will not be very beneficial for me. As you can see, I am already quiet fluent in your language.”

Damian expected the girl to become annoyed or aggravated at his briskness, but apparently dealing with an emotional terrorist everyday gave her a higher tolerance for his behaviors than the majority of his peers. She just tilted her head with a cocked eyebrow and said in Mandarin,

“I understand. If I’m being honest, I’m in the same boat. As I am fluent in more languages than I’ll probably ever use.”

Damian raised his eyebrows in surprised, but he couldn’t help the smirk playing on his lips as he slipped into Arabic saying, “Well, that is unfortunate. But if you do not think you will use them, then why learn?”

“I plan to travel,” Marinette said in perfect Hindi. “I plan to go into fashion, and I wish to be able to reach as many people as possible. What about you? Why do you know so many languages?”

“I am expected to take over my father’s business,” Damian said in Russian. “It is an international company and possibly intergalactic if the treaty with Mars and Tameran goes through.”

“I hope it does!” Marinette said in Spanish, “I believe that intergalactic relations will improve international ones, as we will have to be united in order to effectively interact with the greater galaxy.”

“Interesting,” Damian said in Africaans, “Not everyone has such an optimistic view of human nature.”

Marinette said something in Greek, and Damian winced. Her smile grew in victory as she found perhaps the only Earth language he had yet to fully master, but Damian would not be quelled. So, before she could capitalize on her victory, he switched to German and said, “Unfortunately I have yet to master Greek. It seems you have the advantage of me.”

Damian’s smirk returned as Marinette winced. But her smile remained as she said in perfect Japanese, “My German is almost non-existent. So I guess that makes us even unless…”

“I speak Japanese,” Damian said in the same language. “Perhaps this enterprise, will not be as fruitless as I thought. If you are willing to assist me in Greek, then you might even be an adequate companion.”

The moment the words left his lips, Damian knew that he had probably offended her, which would have been awful. She seemed to be the only person here who wasn’t a complete imbecile, and brushing up on his Greek was the only way this exercise wouldn’t be a waste of time. But instead Marinette just laughed bright and clear, and said,

“Adequate. That’s a new one, but I’ll take it. You know you remind me of Chloe, she doesn’t complement…well anyone.”

“Considering she is your friend; I will assume you meant the comparison to also be complementary.”

Marinette shrugged with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Why don’t you meet her first, and then you can decide if it’s a compliment?”

Damian nodded in appreciation and a little wariness before they were interrupted by a shrill voice crying, “Marinette!”

The unwavering class president wavered, which sent a shrill line of tension through Damian. He scanned the crowd for the person responsible for causing such a steadfast presence to flinch and found an overly excitable girl with round glasses running up to them with a too bright smile. Damian recognized the Gotham Academy student following her as one of the students who had retained very little of the French lessons, and could barely introduce herself in the language. This newcomer must have been under the impression that all of the Gotham students had a similar level of incompetence because she began to speak in rapid-fire French as if Damian couldn’t understand a word she was saying.  

“Marinette,” the newcomer said, “You have to switch partners with Lila. She’s desperate.”

Marinette took a deep breath as if she was actively steeling herself against something unpleasant and said, “Alya, that’s not going to happen. Mlle. Mendeliev, and Sabrina spent hours on these partners so that there would be as few akumas as possible.”

“But Lila—”

“Is a liar!”

“I know! But seriously Marinette, Adrien’s right. It’s not like she does any harm saying she save Jagged’s cat. No body actually believes her. Besides she has a disease! She can’t help it!”

“Yeah!” Marinette said perhaps a little snappishly, “A disease she is doing nothing to cure, and all you're doing is enabling her!”

“What?! I am not enabling her! I am trying to help a fellow student who is suffering from a mental illness, and trying to prevent akumas! Which you used to care about. Honestly Marinette, it’s almost as if you want this conference to be ruined. I think you’ve been spending too much time with Chloe.”

“Well, at least Chloe is trying to make amends! What does Lila do whenever she causes an akuma?”

Alya shook her head in disappointment, as if Marinette was the blind one here. “She’s just trying to get her Miraculous back. That girl couldn’t be genuinely kind even if she was hit by a personality reversal akuma. Just switch partners with Lila! It will be best for the whole class.”

“But not best for me,” Damian said in French with as much sternness as he could master. He did not miss the suppressed vindictive smirk from Marinette as Alya stared at him in shock. But Damian simply tilted his chin to the interloper with as much distain he could manage. “Now what ‘illness’ does this Lila claim to have that we must cater to her every whim.”

“She’s a compulsive liar,” Marinette said hiding her satisfaction under a lecturing tone, and a gentle smile. “To quote her words exactly, ‘It’s a disease and I can’t help it. So please be kind. I don’t intentionally want to hurt anyone, but there’s something wrong with me, and I need help!’”

Damian growled in distaste. He assumed that Lila was the girl with the sausages for hair. She had obviously seen the situation in Paris and decided to use it to her advantage. Whether she actually had a mental illness or not, was clearly not the issue, because she was using it to convince her class to cater to her ever whim. “Do everything I say or else I will call a supervillain to curse us all," she was basically saying, "But don’t blame me, I’m sick and can’t help it.” It was something his mother would do and immediately put bad taste in his mouth.

“Alya,” he said giving her the full weight of his “Ice Prince” persona. He took no small amount of satisfaction from her almost fearful reaction. “I can guarantee, that if I was to be paired with this Lie-la, then I will be akumatized within five minutes of our meeting. And if you ask any of my peers, I think you will find that me being akumatized is the last thing you want. So please return to your…friend, and tell her that under no circumstances will I take any partner other than Marinette. Now leave us alone, you aren’t wanted here.”

Alya turned to the other girl with a sort of desperate pleading, but Marinette just sighed and said gently, “I’m sorry Alya. But after that speech, I think we can all agree that it’s for the best.”

Alya shook her head in disappointment, and there was nothing but pure disappointment in her voice when she said, “And to think you used to be our ‘Everyday Ladybug.’ Now…now your just selfish.” She spun and marched off before they could respond.

Damian glanced at Marinette and froze. She looked as if she had just been stabbed. The words had meant nothing to Damian, but they had clearly meant everything to her. But before Damian could offer his support, Marinette closed her eyes and began taking deep breaths. An expression of complete and total calm passed over her. It was as if every negative emotion the confrontation had caused was melting away through her figure tips.

When she opened her eyes, she turned back to Damian with her gentle smile. But there was now a new sense of exhaustion in her clear blue bell eyes that said this was not the first time her “friends” had hurt her, and it would not be the last.

In that moment, Damian came to some very important conclusions about this Marinette. One, she was strong. She lived in a city under constant siege, and she still stood tall and genuine, with a smile that breathed kindness and compassion with every laugh and word. And two, these people did not deserve her. It was obvious that they were sheep, from the way a large group of them gathered around Lila and were now pandering to her to stop her from lashing out. They had traded a kind and gentle leader, for a mountain of fool’s gold. Pretty to look at but ultimately useless. And they had done it with their eyes open. It would have been better if they had fallen for her lies.  

“I’m sorry about that,” Marinette said in English with what Damian assumed was her signature cheerfulness, just as he addressed people with his signature superiority, “Things…well, let’s just say that the akumas have caused a lot of damage, not all of it physical. Make’s it hard to know how to…interact with people, and behave rationally. I hope you understand.”

Damian nodded as he said, “I can not say that I understand completely. But I can say that I know what you mean. I have some experience with liars and manipulators, and I can see how this situation could be very beneficial to them. However, if you’re classmates had any form of actual intelligence then they would not pander to that girl the way that they do. So, I cannot garner too much sympathy for them.”

A light returned to Marinette’s eyes as he said this, as if he had amused her instead of insulting the people she probably knew and trusted far more than him. “Ok, I have to keep you and Chloe apart. It’s the only way, I’m going to be able to prevent actual murder from happening!”

“Hm,” Damian said, his smirk returning. Perhaps a little brighter than he intended, but still too small to communicate any actual pleasure. “Now I must insist on meeting her. Perhaps we can cull the herd and bring some intelligence back into this city.”

Marinette laughed, and Damian thought it sounded like bells. But they were interrupted when the red haired girl on rollerblades zoomed up to them with a worried expression. “Hey Mari,” she said gently, “I saw you talking to Alya. Are you ok?”

“Yeah, thanks Alix,” Marinette said her smile brightening even more at her friend. “All good here. But where’s your partner?

"Oh, she’s over there!” Alix gestured to the side and Damian saw Kathryn leaning against a statue while she played with her phone. “I’m so glad her French is better than my English. But if you’re ok, then I’ve got to go. I promised to get her my extra blades from my dad’s office. We’re going to have so much fun!”

“I am already regretting the fact that you two were paired together,” Marinette said with a fond shake of her head. But Alix just laughed and raced off. Kathryn running beside her through what appeared to be an employee’s entrance to the Louvre.

“Her dad’s the curator,” Marinette explained. “She’s been racing through there since she was five. They’ll be fine as long as they don’t break anything important.”

Damian nodded, as the teachers called the students to order. It was time for the first activity to begin. A Louvre scavenger hunt, which will end with lunch and then a "getting to know you party" back at the school. “I hope you know you’re artifacts as well as you know languages," he said openly studying her compitence.

A playful smile spread across Marinette’s face, as if she had some great hidden secret that she was daring him to discover. “Oh, don’t worry,” she said, “As long as luck’s on my side, we can’t possibly fail. Our biggest competition will be Alix.”

“Because of her father?”

“Sure,” Marinette said still with that playful smile brightening her face, “Let’s go with that.”  

Chapter Text

Despite what his brothers might say, Damian did not hate fun. He just hated their idiotic brand of fun that usually found them needing Bruce and the WE PR team to bail them out of jail while Barbara laughed at them from the other side of the bars. (He would never forgive Todd from stopping him from freeing the Zoo Animals. They would have gotten away with it if he had just followed orders.) Still, he planned to have fun on this trip, especially at the Louvre. He had always wanted to see the inside of this place, the art, the history, maybe even correct some of the factual errors. A scavenger hunt would not interfere with that, even if it was tedious and pointless.

But then Alix and Kathryn had skated by waving a half-completed work sheet shouting, “You’re falling behind!” Apparently, they had gotten a head start by going through her father’s office. Mendeleiev just groaned as manic grins spread across multiple students’ faces, including Marinette’s.

 And so it was, that before any of the teachers could stop them, the Parisians had grabbed their Gothamite’s hand and took off running through the halls of the most famous museum in the world. Damian didn’t know how to react as Marinette pulled him through wing after wing, her hand holding his in a vice grip, until they stopped in the Egyptian hall. He was surprised to see that she wasn’t panting, even though she had to be running at full speed in order to stay ahead of him.

Instead she just skidded to a stop and began to say in very broken German, “Ok…the first…question…is about…”

Damian cleared his throat, and said in French “You want to win this, right?” Marinette cocked her head but nodded. “Then I think it will be best if we stick to our fluent languages. We can help each other after we finish demolishing your insane classmates.”

Marinette grinned and then said in English, “Very well, but what about your classmates. Won’t they be a problem?”

Damian glanced at his work sheet and raised an eyebrow. “I doubt they will be much help. After all I’m not even sure what this first question means. Is it some sort of riddle?”

Marinette laughed and pulled him deeper into the wing. “Sabrina and your class representative, no you call it president, made this to encourage us to ask questions about each other,” she explained, “‘The scroll that awoke the Pharaoh, and revealed the secret of the Bug,’ is a reference to the akuma Pharaoh. He was a researcher here at the Louver whose theory on resurrection magic was dismissed, so he was akumatized in order to prove it worked. He tried to sacrifice Alya to the god Ra.”

Damian squashed a quip about how that would not have been the worst thing, instead settling on the more pressing question, “And the secret of the Bug?”

Marinette stopped in front of an old papyrus scroll, her smile fond and almost nostalgic as she looked at it. She pointed at the image of a woman with a yoyo in a spotted robe fighting the Pharaoh. “It was during this fight that it was revealed that Ladybug was over five thousand years old.”

Damian nodded as he looked at the scroll with consideration. “I thought the SpotsOn blog said that the title of Ladybug was a mantle passed down.”

“It is,” Marinette said as she scribbled on her work sheet. “But it was this scroll that set the question in motion. Since then scholars have been scouring the artifacts looking for people who could have a Miraculous Holder.”

“So why is it on our work sheet?” Damian asked.

And Marinette once more smiled as if at a fond memory. “I was with Alya when she found this. I got turned into one of the hundred mummies meant to aid in the sacrifice. Believe it or not we were actually good friends back then.”

Damian opened his mouth to say something, but Marinette clapped her hands and spun towards him with a smile. “Alright, the first one was for Paris, the second one should be for Gotham. Alix and Kathryn, have a good head start, but if we run, and take a few short cuts I know, then we should be able to catch up and beat them!”

Damian stifled a grin with a smirk. Her competitive spirit was infectious, and it pulled at his own instincts to push them to victory. And he was so tempted to give into it. He was the Son of the Bat after all, there was no way they could lose. But Grayson was always warning him that he overdid it, so he fought the urge to string trip wire everywhere and looked down at his sheet. His smirk turning devilish. “Are there any bat artifacts in the Chinese Wing?”

Marinette nodded briskly, “Tang Dynasty, this way!” And with that she had grabbed his hand and was once again pulling him through the Louvre at a devastating pace. And as the game went on, Damian stopped denying the genuine and bright smile that was slowly growing on his lips. But even as he gave into his more competitive instincts, he noticed a few interesting details about the Parisians.

For example, the Museum had obviously prepared for them, because they had roped off designated running lanes so the students could go wild without breaking anything or disrupting the other guests. And as they zoomed past, while the tourists stared in shock, the employees and locals laughed and cheered them on. It was strange considering that in Gotham they would have had security called on them ages ago.

Another thing was that all the Parisians were strangely athletic. Even the ones who should have been out of breath at the first sprint, vaulted and laughed as if it was nothing. At the pace he and Marinette were keeping, he expected that she would have to slow down after the first three questions. Instead, she only seemed to gain speed as she pulled him after her in a rush of adrenaline. And she never slowed down. Even when her classmate, the tall Chinese one, barreled toward them with his partner on his back, Marinette never slowed. She just pulled Damian down so that they slid down the slick floor, as the boy vaulted over them with ease.

Leaping to her feet, Marinette continued to pull Damian along even as her peer shouted, “I’m going to get you Mari!”

“In you dreams Kim!” she shouted. She beamed with pure joy, and Damian felt his own adrenaline muddling his senses, because he found himself mirroring her.

“What was that?” He demanded when they reached the Enlightenment Room.

“Hm?” Marinette said even as she searched the artifacts, “Oh, have you ever played the floor is lava?”

Damian grimaced against the memory. Grayson had thought it was a good idea to yell that phrase in the middle of Titan’s Tower, resulting in Jon scooping him up and hovering over the floor. Everyone had laughed as Damian thrashed like a kitten in the bath. It was one of his more embarrassing memories. “Once or twice,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Have you ever played it with real lava?”

Damian cocked his head at the question then nodded his head in understanding, “Lava Boy, he was a level 10 right?”

“You read the list,” Marinette said with a smug smile.

“Tt,” Damian said has he scanned for their opponents. “Of course, I did, I’m not an imbecile.  But what does this have to do with the fact that your entire class seems to be experts in parkour?”

“Not the entire class,” Marinette mused as she jotted down the answer. “Just those who know to pay attention in gym. Parkour became a curriculum requirement after Lava Boy. Every Parisian school teaches it as apart of our Physical Education. Or as we like to call it, ‘Running from Akumas 101.’”

Damian nodded his understanding. It was smart. It made him wonder why Gotham schools didn’t teach self-defense. But then again, maybe they did. He never really paid attention in class. But he had no time to ponder, because Marinette was grabbing his hand again and pulling him to the next artifact.

They ran into Alix and Kathryn twice, and saw that they were catching up, as the pair debated if they should be going towards Modern Art, or Ancient Greece. Which was when Damian noticed something else about Marinette, she was smart. When she had competed with him in languages, he had known that she had intelligence. But now she barely had too look at the clues to know the item they were talking about. And they really were some of the strangest clues, for example, “This Queen’s spear is lauded as Luck’s greatest hand.”

“That could be anything!” Damian exclaimed.      

“Queen Hippolyta’s spear was donated by Wonder Woman back in 1983, as a gift to her adopted city,” Marinette stated and then dashed off.

“Wait how did you know that?” Damian cried as he chased her.

“Hippolyta was the first named Ladybug, although technically she was the second holder. The first was the Oracle of Khepri, although her name was lost to time. We saw her scroll like ten minutes ago.”

Damian just shook his head and followed her without question. And that was another strange thing that he noticed. He didn’t mind following this girl around. Under normal circumstances, he would have demanded the lead. But Marinette just pulled him along as if her leadership was the most natural thing in the world. And as of yet, Damian could not begrudge her for it. And so it was in less time than he thought possible, they were racing back to the teachers with Alix and Kathryn hot on their heels and gaining. Then Marinette pulled out a bag of marbles and scattered them on the floor.

“Hey!” Alix yelled as the two girls were forced to slow down, “That’s cheating!”

“No rule against it!” Marinette shouted back as Damian laughed.

Mlle. Mendeleiev was pinching her nose as the pair skidded to a stop in front of her and handed her their completed work sheets. “I hope,” she said in her stern voice, “That the two of you got to talk at least once during that…escapade?”

“Yes Mlle. Mendeleiev,” Marinette said with her signature bright smile growing even as Damian sunk back into his signature scowl.

“Oh, and what did you learn about each other,” Bustier said with her signature plastered smile and too sweet voice.

“That Damian knows a lot about bats but not a lot about bugs.”

Damian couldn’t help the amused snort, even as the teachers rolled their eyes and took their sheets. But it was one of the Gotham teachers, Miss. Faustus who said, “You finished three hours early. Why don’t you two go back through the museum slower this time? Or perhaps spend time at the museum’s café?”

The two nodded their assent and then waited for Alix and Kathryn to turn in their sheet. “Well,” Marinette said, beaming so brightly, Damian was sure he was going to go blind. “We won!”

“You cheated!” Alix cried in mock annoyance as she skated up to them.

“Tt,” Damian said, “You were the ones with a head start, not to mention you were on skates. If anything, you were the ones that cheated, and yet we still were victorious. I do not know if that proves the depths of your ineptitude or the height of our excellence, but either way, you cannot argue with the results.”

Kathryn face palmed, as Alix stared at him in shock. Suddenly Damian was very aware that offending the wrong person in this city could result in a villain chasing him down. But he refused to back down as he tilted his chin to the girl, daring her to question him. Instead, Alix just turned to Marinette who seemed completely unfazed by his attitude.

At her friend’s questioning look, Marinette smiled gently. “Imagine if Kagami and Chloe were one person, and male. That’s him,” she said jutting her thumb at Damian. He furrowed his brow at the comparison, but faced Alix undaunted all the same.

She however just said “Oh,” as if that made perfect sense and then studied him more critically. Then her face split into the widest, most mischievous grin, Damian had ever seen (and he lived with Jason). A little nervous he took a step back even as Alix leaned forward and said, “We kill Lila!”

“Alix, no!” Marinette cried.

“Alix, yes!” Alix cried grabbing Damian’s shoulders before he could even begin to process what was happening as she said in a hissing voice, “Come! We have murder to plan!”

“No murder!” Marinette cried, even as Damian threw her hands off of him.

“First,” he said coldly, “Never touch me again. Second, I assume you have a strategy?”

Alix cackled and led him to the café even as Marinette screamed in frustration.

“So,” Kathryn said once they were all seated at the Museum’s outdoor café, “Who is this Lila and why are we trying to kill her?”

Damian remained silent as he watched the Parisians. They had only ordered drinks, because apparently the best bakery in Paris was catering their “Getting to Know You Party” later. So he sipped his as he watched Marinette tense, and Alix huff in frustration. It seemed, that now her adrenaline from the game was spent, the roller blading menace was ready to be serious. But it was Marinette who began the story.

“Lila,” she said simply, “Is a compulsive liar in our class. The only way to ensure that she didn’t akumatize anyone from Gotham was to pair her with the worst French speaker in your class, because she doesn’t know a lick of English no matter what she might claim.”

“When she first came here,” Alix said anger dripping from her every word, “She would tell all of these crazy stories about the places she’s been, and the celebrities she’s met. Of course, none of us actually believed her. We actually personally know a lot of the celebrities she likes to name drop so we always knew she was lying. We thought it was just some sort of game she liked to play, so we entertained her. It wasn’t doing any harm.”

“I never liked the game,” Marinette said as she stirred her coffee. “So I asked her to stop, and she threatened me. It was the only time she’s ever been completely honest.”

Alix took a deep calming breath, an action which Damian was quickly learning to associate with deep negative emotions from the Parisians. “That’s when her lies became a little less obvious,” she said, “She started sneaking subtler lies in with her obvious ones, slowly turning the class against Marinette. Started framing her for stealing, cheating, and bullying. Things like that.”

“She almost got me expelled,” Marinette said into her cup. And Damian couldn’t stop the shock from spreading across his face.

“Are you saying that your teachers believed her?” Damian demanded. He had only known this girl for an hour and a half, but already he felt that her being anything other than a model student was just preposterous.

But Marinette didn’t seem to register his outrage as she just shrugged and said, “The principle is more worried about funding and press than justice,” she said, “And I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but Mlle. Bustier is a bit naive. Mlle. Mendeleiev is great, and she doesn’t let Lila get away with anything. But Mlle. Bustier…”

“That woman needs her license revoked,” Alix said in a huff, “And she probably would have by now if it wasn’t for Hawkmoth.”

“So?” Kathryn said leaning forward, “What happened?”

“Adrien,” Marinette said with a sigh of exhaustion, “Another classmate. Apparently, he talked to her, made a deal with her to back off. He told me about it as if it was this grand gesture on his part. But basically, it boils down to, he lets her do whatever she wants as long as she doesn’t directly target me.” Marinette rolled her eyes, “His heart's in the right place, but his arrows don’t always hit their marks if you know what I mean.” The Gothamites nodded and then gestured for the girls to continue.

“So anyway,” Alix said, “Later, Lila comes forward and admits that she lied. Claims she has a mental disorder that forces her to lie. Only, that night Marinette goes home and does a crap-ton of research on mental illnesses and lying and guess what?”

“There’s no such thing,” Damian said with a sneer.

Marinette just shook her head, “Compulsive lying is a symptom of many different illnesses, mainly OCD and psychopathy. But neither force the individual to lie. The person is always conscious of what they are doing, and can chose differently given that they are actively working towards their mental health.”

“And when Marinette presented her research,” Alix said, “The class basically split in two. The enablers who think the best way to help Lila is to humor her. And the intelligent people, who are just sick and tired of her crap.”

“Me, Chloe, Sabrina, Alix, and Juleka are the most outspoken members of the Intelligent,” Marinette explained. “Alya, Rose, and Mylene are the most outspoken of the Enablers. Everyone else falls on a sliding scale in between. But of course, none of this would even be a problem it is wasn’t for Hawkmoth.”

“Yeah,” Alix said sipping her coffee, “Hawkmoth has everybody thrown out of whack. I mean how do you in good conscious call someone out for being an idiot, when they’re enough of an idiot to let that akumatize them.”

“Next thing you know,” Marinette said, “You're running through the city with a horribly dressed flying fox demon on your tail.”

Both girls groaned and sipped their drinks, as Damian exchanged a look with Kathryn. Finally, Damian asked the question that had been plaguing him since the moment he had heard the name Hawkmoth, “What about the Justice League? Why hasn’t anyone called them in?”

“Screw the League,” a harsh voice called out, and the party turned to see Chloe and Sabrina with Alice and Will following behind.

“Chloe,” Marinette said instantly brighter, “You’re done early. I thought you would be dragging your feet in there.”

“Chloe helped me make the scavenger hunt so she can’t participate,” Sabrina said sliding into the chair beside Marinette. “So, we decided to do a walking tour with our partners instead.”

Everyone then introduced themselves, with Damian being introduced to Chloe last. They stared at each other with narrowed eyes before huffing simultaneously and sipping their drinks. The rest of the group giggled at that before Alice said, “What do you mean, ‘screw the League?’ I know some of them are blowhards, but they do have some powerful magic users. They can help.”

Chloe sniffed derisively, but the rest of the Parisians became somber. They looked to Chloe almost as if asking for her permission before she nodded. Then Marinette cleared her throat and said,

“It was three years ago, at the beginning of this…mess. At first all of the akumas were level 1-4s. Powerful and scary but not dangerous. No casualties, and they always had limited goals. It was very rare for them to effect more than ten people. Then…then we got our first level eight, Dark Cupid.”

“I saw him in my research,” Damian said stiffly, “I couldn’t understand why he was put so high, all of the other level eights had a death count in the high thousands, but his wasn’t even in the high hundreds.”

Sabrina nodded emphatically, her face contorted with pain, “Yes. The akumas are categorized by the damage they do. Which means that the higher akumas are rated by their death count. 5 is 1-1,000. 6 is 1,000-5,000. 7 is 10,000-50,000. 8 is 50,000-100,000. 9 is 150,000 to 1 million. and 10 is anything high than a billion.”

“But there are other kinds of damage that rank just as high as death,” Marinette said as she reached over to grip Chloe’s hand which was starting to shake. “When those akumas happen on a wide scale, they are usually ranked higher.”

“And Dark Cupid was one of those?” Kathryn asked.

“I read about him too,” Alice said leaning forward. “There weren’t any fight videos of him on the blog, but it said that he made people feel the opposite of their true emotions. What does that even mean?”

The girls took a deep breath and looked to Chloe again. She just nodded as she stared numbly into her coffee. It was Alix who spoke, “Dark Cupid was a boy whose Valentine humiliated him. So he made people feel the opposite of their true emotions. Love turned to hate. Hate turned to love.”

“I don’t see the problem,” Damian said, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Oh!” Will cried, horror etched over his face. “Oh, that…that’s awful!”

“What?” Kathryn demanded.

Marinette sighed and looked them in the eyes. There was something hard and cold in her gaze, and it seeped into her voice as she said, “Imagine the person you love the most. The person you trust the most, parent, sibling, partner, spouse, being struck with a black arrow and then turning against you. They are consumed with a burning obsessive hatred for you and everything else they love. What do you think would happen?”

Damian paled at the thought. He could imagine it. He didn’t want to, but he could see it happening. His family sitting down to dinner, suddenly struck from behind…and then turning on him. It was a horrible image and he wanted to forget he ever saw it, but Marinette was not done.

“Now, imagine the person you hate. You’re worst enemy, and the same thing happens to them. Except now, with love. Or perhaps more accurately…lust. You’re enemy filled with an obsessive drive to ‘love’ you, just as your loved ones are filled with an obsessive drive to hate you. What do you think happens then?”

Damian was suddenly very glad that he had not eaten anything, because he was going to throw up. The images that Marinette was painting for them. They were horrible. They were gruesome, and disgusting on so many levels. And…and they had lived through that. He looked up and saw it. All four of these girls had faced that. Spouses turning on their partners. Parents turning on their children. Friends turning on their friends. All on a day when they were supposed to be celebrating their love and trust. And then to add their enemies into the mix…

“Only 136 dead,” Sabrina said solemnly, “But over three million reports of assault and battery, and over ten thousand reported rapes, and sexual assaults. And those were just the people who came forward.”

“We called the Justice League,” Chloe said as a single tear fell down her quivering jaw. “We broke their website begging for help, once the Miraculous Cure passed through. But they never answered.”

“Three more akumas were created because of that,” Marinette said squeezing Chloe’s hand as Sabrina wrapped her arms around her. “Eventually Ladybug gave a press release saying she got in contact with an International member, but she didn’t say whom. Here,” Marinette pulled up a video on YouTube and showed it to them. “You can watch that later. It basically says that miraculous matters are miraculous matters, and the Justice League will not be coming unless it’s a level 11 akuma.”

“Level 11?” Kathryn squeaked.

“Yeah,” Alix said with an amused huff, “Otherwise known as the ‘How in God’s Name are You Still Alive!’ Protocol.”

“If either Ladybug, or Chat Noir ever lose their Miraculous to Hawkmoth. Then the other is to retreat and go into hiding, while every citizen still alive in Paris spams the Justice League's number until someone shows up,” Marinette said with a small smile. “It hasn’t happened yet, but we’ll be prepared if it does.”

“Were you?” Alice looked at the shaking Chloe, her voice hesitant and soft. “I’m sorry but you told me that you used to have a lot of enemies. So…were you…um…”

Chloe sniffed and straightened, she was as rigid as a board, but her chin was up and her jaw was set. Her eyes had not lost their fire as she scoffed and said, “Kwami no, no one touched me during Dark Cupid. I was the bitch who caused the whole thing.”

The Gothamites blinked. “What?” Damian demanded.

“You heard me,” Chloe said firmly squeezing Marinette’s hand. “Dark Cupid. The most emotionally scaring akuma aside from Sand Boy. I caused him. I was the dumb bitch who humiliated the boy and made Valentines day banned in Paris! It was my fault.”

“Chloe—” Sabrina began, but the heiress silenced her by leaning forward and growling,

“I caused more akumas, and suffering in this city, then Joker has probably done in a year. Everyday I wake up knowing that I am probably the most despicable being on the planet. But you know what? Everyday I wake up and decide to change that. It will never be enough. I will never undo the damage I did to Paris. But damn it, I’m trying! And I’m not alone.

“This is Paris. If you haven’t been an akuma, you’ve caused one, and no one is immune. Not even angels who are too good for this world like, Sabrina and Marinette heaven help them! So everyday we wake up knowing that we are villains! But every day we wake up and we swear we are going to do better. We make amends and we try. We’re all monsters, but we all have one enemy, and that’s the idiot who thinks he can put chains on monsters and not get bit!”

Chloe was seething now. Her teeth bared. Her eyes wide. But she was still in control, and she stared them all down with the deadly force of a lioness. It quelled any arguments, pinning the Gothamites to there seats. As she roughly wiped the tears from her eyes, she declared,

“So yeah, screw the Justice League. As far as I’m concerned, they can all go and suck it! This is Paris, and we clean up our own messes. Besides even if they did show up, there’s nothing they can do. Ladybug is right, this is a Miraculous problem to be solved by Miraculous Holders.”

“Besides,” Sabrina said in a far gentler tone, “Do any of you really want to see an akumatized Superman? Or Batman?”

Everyone shivered at the thought, even Damian. He then drew in on himself as he thought about everything they had said. Lila. Hawkmoth. Dark Cupid. Chloe. The Justice League. Not all of his questions were answered, not by a long shot. But then he remembered the scavenger hunt. The pure joy radiating off of the Paris Class as they ran through the Museum. The genuine laughter of the employees at seeing their antics. The bright smiles of the civilians as they walked with their heads held high down the streets. They had been through hell, like Gotham never had. But where Gothamites scurried and scowled they…smiled.

Even now as he looked up to study the four girls before them, they were smiling. Bright, genuine, pure smiles. They laughed as they pulled the Gothamites out of their horror. They cheered as more of their friends joined them from within the museum. It was strange. It was confounding, confusing, and impossible for Damian to comprehend. It was…miraculous.

And so Damian whispered to himself in his heart, "I swear on my mantle as Robin, and on my title as the Son of the Bat, and the Demon's Heir, I will do everything in my power to defeat Hawkmoth."   

Chapter Text

Everyone froze when the Akuma Alert sounded and looked at their phones. However, this time the information provided was significantly less helpful than the first time.

ALERT UNKNOWN AKUMA

Possible Level: 1-3

Location: 15th Arrondissement

Suspected Power: Transforming Victims into Teacups

Avoidance Protocol in Effect

Ladybug: MIA

Chat Noir: MIA

(If you have more information on the akuma submit it here: Link)

Damian looked around and saw the Parisians visibly relax, and then move about their day as if nothing was happening. Which made sense. This was a low level akuma on the other side of town, the odds of it affecting them were decidedly low and, according to the government site, simply turning around when you see the akuma would keep you safe. 

Still Marinette stood up. “I’m going to check with the teachers, make sure this doesn’t interfere with our schedule,” she said before leveling a finger at her friends, and for some reason Damian, saying, “No killing. I’ll be right back!” 

She wasn’t even gone five seconds before, Chloe steepled her fingers like a Bond villain and said, “So we’re killing Lila. Who’s in?”

“Chloe!” muttered the silent Juleka who had joined them with her GA partner, Matt, a few minutes ago. “Marinette said–”

“That we shouldn’t kill anyone,” Sabrina said cheerfully, “She didn’t say anything about planning to kill someone!”

Juleka muttered something as she hid behind her hair, as if that would abscond her from their criminal ways. But before any real murder plans could be concocted Kathryn asked, “I don’t get it. I mean if everyone knows she’s lying, and only the Enablers are pandering to her then what’s the big deal? She’s not causing any serious harm, is she?”

“It depends on what you mean by serious harm,” Sabrina said gently. 

“Example!” Alex shouted, “Here, she said this literally five minutes before you all turned up.” Alix cleared her throat dramatically and then clasped her hands together, and in a voice reminiscent of a 1950s Disney princess said, “‘Oh you know, I spent a summer in Gotham! Yeah, I helped Batman stop the Riddler by solving one of his puzzles. It was so hard. And afterward Batman and Robin invited me back to the cave for a tour! It was so cool, and Robin was so sweet! I’d talk more about it, but I’m so parched. Alya can I have a sip of your coffee? I’d ask Marinette, but you know how selfish she can be.’”

She turned to Sabrina who giggled and mimicked Alex saying, “‘Oh, of course Lila! Here just take the whole thing. I’m finished with it. So, what did Batman say when you solved the riddle?’”

Every single Gothamite at the table cringed, and Damian scowled deeply, but it was Alice who spoke, “If you guys had come to Gotham, and she had said that, then she would have gotten killed!”

Alex waved her hand dismissively, “Lila’s not an idiot. If we had gone to Gotham, I doubt she would have said anything that would have put her in danger. Unless…Damn it! Why couldn’t we go to Gotham?! We could have gotten one of the Rogues to do the dirty work for us!”

“The point,” Chloe said pointedly, “Is that Lila reinforced the idea that Marinette, who is an angel, is selfish and hates her. And Alya gives Lila her coffee every morning, and today Alya was using her limited addition Heroes Day Travel Mug. They made a hundred of them, but only twenty were sold due to…complications during the celebration.”

“Akuma,” the other girls said in unison. 

“Level ten,” Juleka muttered. 

Chloe moved her phone so that they could see a picture of said mug, and she continued, “Resell price is €100, but would go for three times that at auction.”

“But Alya’s mug would start at €10,000,” Sabrina said, “And go for five times that, because it was signed by Chat Noir and Ladybug. We don’t know how she managed that because Ladybug almost never gives autographs.” 

“And Chat Noir?” Damian asked.

“Hands them out like candy,” Chloe said reclaiming her phone. “The point is that mug was irreplaceable. And because Alya idolizes the heroes, to her it’s priceless.”

“And she’ll never see it again,” Alex supplied, “And probably get akumatized when she realizes it’s missing. She probably didn’t even realize that she had brought it today. I’ll bet you five euros, Lila only ever asked for Alya’s coffee so that she could get that mug.”

“No bet,” Chloe said as the Akuma Alert pinged to let them know that Ladybug and Chat Noir had arrived on the scene, “I’d rather bet on this akuma. Ten euros says it’s a little girl whose tea part got canceled.”

“Mm,” Alex said, “No, I bet that no one showed up to her tea party.”

“The parents of Paris know better by now,” Sabrina cried, “Fifteen says someone at her tea party said something mean.”

Juleka muttered something, about them all being awful which was quickly echoed by Alice crying, “Seriously? That’s a little girl! You people bet on this?”

“Oh!” Chloe scoffed, “Like you don’t bet on which Wayne gets kidnapped every time they have a Gala!”

The Gothamites blushed and very pointedly did not look at Damian. He just rolled his eyes, “Of course we do,” he said, “In fact Todd owes me ten dollars, from the last Gala. But I am more curious about Hawkmoth’s obvious idiocy. I mean, does he truly believe a little girl turning people into teacups is going to achieve his goal? It is ridiculous!”

“Utterly ridiculous,” the Parisians cried giggling, but Chloe just rolled her eyes. 

“It’s not ridiculous,” Chloe scoffed, “When you consider the numbers.”

Damian raised an eyebrow and Sabrina explained, “Year one of the Miraculous War saw Hawkmoth akumatizing one person per week, with a level 10 happening every other month. Year two, one akuma per day and a level 10 occurring every other week. We are now on year three, and on average there are two level 1-5s every day, and one level 6-10 every week. Although if there is a level 10, we only get one akuma the next day.”

“He’s wearing you down,” Will said, “Wearing the heroes down.”

The Parisians nodded their exhaustion seeping into their expressions. It was Juleka who spoke, “Ladybug and Chat Noir are getting stronger, but so is Hawkmoth. Every now and then he’ll enact a plan that almost succeeds. Queen Wasp, Heroes Day. But when those plans fail, he goes back to torturing the city. In the end, something will break.”

 There was a silence until Marinette returned with the good news that the day would go on as planned. But as she ran over to them, she tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. She would have face planted if Kim, who had just left the Museum, had not caught her, before joining his own friend group as if this was a perfectly normal occurrence. 

“That necklace,” Damian said, pointing to the smooth, grey, circular stone pendant with five mice icons on it. “You weren’t wearing that before.”

The Gothamites ignored him, but the Parisians narrowed their eyes. It was strange, But Marinette just brushed it off, “I got it in the gift shop on the way back. I thought it looked nice. So, what did I miss?”  

They didn’t have time to answer her questions however, as the last pair left the museum. It was time to return to the school for the “Getting to know you party.” Damian was not looking forward to the mundane and trivial socializing that this would entail. So, he stayed close to Marinette and her friends, whom he deemed to be of adequate intelligence. And it was a good thing too. 

For some reason, Marinette had suddenly become dangerously and inexplicably clumsy. She still had that spark of intelligence and competence that had convinced Damian that she was worth the time spent getting to know her, but every third step she seemed to trip on her own feet, fumble her phone, or run into a random object or person. It would have been humorous, if Damian had not seen her racing through the Louvre, dodging classmates and artifacts with almost inhuman grace and skill. In the end, it just made Damian suspicious.

But he did not have time to dwell on it too long, because they separated to drive back to the school. Once there, they were led into the art room, where banquet tables of Paris’s finest pastries and sandwiches were prepared, and popular music was playing. The teachers stepped to the side so that the teens could mingle. And once everyone had their food the party began. 

Damian turned to Marinette hoping to engage her in conversation when their phones went off. The green letters read. 

AKUMA DE-EVILIZED

Akuma: China Doll

Threat Level: 2

Power: Turning enemies into China Cups and friends into China Dolls

Akumatized Object: A Decorative Spoon teaspoon. 

Damage: None

Transformed: 50

Injuries: None

Casualties: None

Action Caused: No one came to victim’s tea party.

Akuma Prevention Note: Parents should encourage proper and healthy socialization in their children. Teachers should prevent alienation and bullying in school. No Tolerance!

Damian turned to discuss this with Marinette, but she just smiled and set down her plate. “I’m sorry,” she said. “But I have to get something from my locker. Excuse me.” And with that she was gone. 

Damian sighed, and prepared himself for a tedious afternoon as the Parisians exchanged the bet money, and the Gothamites exchanged the new information about the akumas and the class. Damian turned to disappear into a corner of the classroom, or perhaps examine some of the students’ projects, when he came face to face with the last person he wanted to speak to.

“Hi,” Lila said holding out her hand, “I’m Lila Rossi. You’re Damian Wayne, right? Oh my gosh, I’m such a fan. Alya told me you speak French. Please say you do; my English is dreadful!”

Damian narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance, but said in French, “I do. Please excuse me.”

“Whatever Marinette told you,” Lila said stepping in front of him, her pinch faced in simpering embarrassment. “Please know it’s an exaggeration. It’s true I do have a lying disease, but I am trying to get better. It’s just Hawkmoth, you know. He makes everything so hard.”

“Perhaps,” Damian said his scowl deepening, “But that does not mean that I must listen to your useless drivel. Please, excuse me.”

He shoved himself past her, but before he could even make it three feet away, a second annoying voice shouted, “Hey!”

Damian silently groaned, as he turned to face the scathing voice of Alya Cesaire. She stormed up to Damian, slinging her arm around Lila’s shoulders and fixing him with a glare, which might have been threatening, if he hadn’t been so assured of her incompetence. “She was just trying to say hi! No need to be rude!”

Behind her several Gothamites shook their head in exasperation. Even the students who had never seen him before, were well aware of his reputation. Chad stepped forward giving the girls a smile that would often get him slapped or fawned over (depending on the girl) and said in French, “Oh don’t bother with the Ice Prince. He’s always like that.”

“Just because he’s ‘like’ that is no excuse!” Alya cried. “He should apologize!” 

“Ten euros on Alya getting akumatized,” a harsh whisper reached Damian’s ear.

“No way, do you see his face, fifteen on the Gothamite.”

“Oh, you’re on!”

“Guys! It hasn’t even been ten minutes!” A third voice whined. 

Damian’s scowl deepened. This was ridiculous! But he was better than that. He was better than them. The moment he had decided that the akumas were real, he had resolved against ever joining their list of victims. His training and obvious risk aside, the idea of someone controlling him was grating. So, he attempted the deep calming breath he had seen Marinette and her friends do and tried again. 

“I have no need to apologize,” Damian said icy but calm. “I did nothing wrong. It is your ‘friend’ who cannot take a hint. I suggest she leave me alone. I have no interest in engaging with liars and manipulators.”

“You jerk!” Damian turned toward the new, slightly squeaky voice stomping up to him. A small girl in pink was storming up to them in a fury, and Damian thought she looked like a small kitten for all the good her threatening expression was doing for her. “Lila has a disease!” She cried. “You need to apologize! Can’t you have compassion for someone who is sick and unable to help themselves?”

Damian scowled, as Sabrina and a tall blonde boy dashed between them. “Everyone—" the boy began, but before he could continue, Damian sneered,

 “If Miss. Rossi was incapable of helping herself then she would only just be above the rat she actually is. However, since she is completely capable of controlling her own actions, I think it’s fair to say that she’s not even worth the consideration of a rat.” Everyone gasped as Damian fixed the full weight of his glare on the small blonde girl. “As it is, her ‘disease’ is inconsequential.”

The small girl’s gasped, her eyes watering as Lila began to cry into Alya’s shoulder. Damian tilted his chin up in victory, but then looked around to see everyone else, including the teachers looking at him in absolute horror. Marinette was standing in the doorway, fixing him with a look that could only be translated as, “Seriously!” 

Damian was confused only for the five seconds it took for a purple butterfly, that glowed with its own dark light, to fly through the window and vanish inside the blonde girl’s bag. “Right,” Damian thought, as a glowing butterfly mask appeared over the girl’s face. “Emotional Terrorist.”

“Run!” Someone shouted, and the class dissolved into chaos. Damian took a defensive stance. He had caused this akuma, it would want him. He needed to face it to keep the others safe. 

He watched in horrid fascination as the girl’s soft features transformed into a scowl. “Yes Hawkmoth,” she hissed, as the teachers violently began typing something on their phones. She reached into her bag and pulled out a perfume bottle that was glowing the same, purple black as the butterfly. A hand grabbed Damian’s wrist and pulled him away with a force that had Damian stumbling, even as he turned back to see a black and purple (for lack of a better word) goo encase the girl. 

All around him people’s phones were going off with a notification that read,

AKUMA ALERT: LEVEL 4

Akuma: Princess Fragrance

Gas Mask Protocol and Local Shelter Protocol in Effect. Everyone within the 12th Arrondissement put on gas masks and evacuate to the nearest Akuma Shelter. More instructions to follow.

 Ladybug: ON THE SCENE

Chat Noir: MIA

Damian turned to the person who was dragging him through the school. The young woman was dressed in a black body suit with red body armor covering her torso, arms, and legs. The red was patterned with small black polka dots, which should have looked ridiculous, but was somehow natural. Her black almost blue hair was done up in pigtails, which had screamed innocence in her pictures. But when she looked back, she fixed Damian with such a scathing glare, the Demon’s Heir flinched. But he understood.

He had been hoping to contrive a way to meet Ladybug during this trip, but he had not wanted it to be like this, running from an akuma of his own making. But he had no time to process the implications of that as a strange noise started echoing down the hallways behind them. It was the sound of a dozen voices singing, “At your service Princess Fragrance!”

Damian looked back to see a pink cloud chasing them down the hallways. The shapes of students and teachers, bent down to a distorted silhouette of a girl. Her maniacal chackling sent a shiver down Damian’s spine and spurred him to run faster, even as the cloud surged forward with quickening speed.

“Brace yourself!” Ladybug cried, and Damian barely had time to snap his head forward, before she had pulled him against her, and thrown them out the window in a shower of glass and metal.

If Damian had been anyone else he probably would have screamed. But since he was him he only hissed, as the spotted hero swung them on top of a nearby building. “Ok,” Ladybug said. As she released him, she flicked open her yoyo and began typing hurriedly on it. Damian stumbled as he regained his balance and focused on his savior.

The way she stood made her seem taller than she actually was, which surprised Damian. All of the pictures of her were all from a distance, or from bellow, so to see that the “Savior of Paris” was actually quite short threw him for a moment. Especially since, her face was still fixed in that withering glare that honestly could have rivaled the Batglare. It made him pause and reevaluate all of his opinions on her. But it was her eyes that gave the look potency.

Her eyes were so blue they practically glowed. No, they were glowing. It was clear to Damian, that the miraculous had given her some enhancements, but even with them she was still probably physically weaker than other meta he knew. And yet her eyes glowed with a power that she did not use, fixing him to the spot. And yet there was still something about her that he could not comprehend. She was young.

Damian was certain of it, Ladybug could not have been three years older than him, if not younger. And yet here she was leading a team of heroes in the protection of her entire city. As the Demon’s Heir it grated on his pride, that someone of his age with less experience was in a position of power, when he was not. But as the Son of the Bat he respected her all the more for it. It was a strange war in his head, that he had been fighting for a long time. But for today, he felt that it would be best for Robin to win, so that he wouldn’t get in Ladybug’s way or alienate her completely.

“You do realize,” Ladybug said in perfect English, obviously annoyed but not angry, “That it hasn’t even been ten minutes since the last akuma? What did you do?”

Damian stiffened. If he was going to convince this woman to let him help her fight Hawkmoth, he had to make a good first impression, “A liar in our host class attempted to manipulate me against my associate. I put her in her place, and her friend was akumatized.” Damian paused tilting his head. “How did you get here so fast?”

Ladybug sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, “I was on my way back home, when I saw the butterfly. I would have purified it immediately, but I had to recharge…ok, we need to move before Princess Fragrance sends her zombies after us. Once I get you somewhere safe, I’ll be able to stop the akuma. Are you ok with me carrying you?”

“I’d prefer to run on my own,” Damian said. Hoping beyond hope that she would not force him to endure that indignity. His brothers would never let him live it down.

To her credit, Ladybug just raised an eyebrow and said, “Are you enhanced?”

“No, but I do have training in parkour and martial arts,” he said.

“That may be, but unless you have enhanced strength you won’t be able to keep up with me. Especially when I’m swinging and you’re just running.”

“I’m from Gotham,” Damian insisted.

“That means squat here,” Ladybug said with a furrowed brow. “Haven’t you talked to your hosts. Surely they would have instructed you on that by now.”

Damian opened his mouth and then closed it, remembering the images that Marinette and Chloe had painted in his mind. She was right, him being from Gotham was worth about as much as the air he used to say the words. So, he closed his mouth and glowered, which for some reason made Ladybug smile and say,

“You’re quiet a prickly one, aren’t you. I think I’m going to call you Spikes.”

“Spikes?” Damian demanded with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep,” she said, “Like your hair. You’re spikey.” As if to prove the point, she reached up to ruffle, Damian's carefully gelled hair. He reared back from her in complete bafflement which caused her to laugh, and shake her head. “Look Spikes, Princess Fragrance might just be a level four, but that’s one level away from being deadly. I need your complete cooperation on this, if you don’t want to get brainwashed and forced to do whatever twisted deed she has in mind.”

Damian sighed, “Very well, but first—”

He never got to finish that sentence, as Ladybug slung him over her shoulder like he was a bag of flour and took of across the city. Damian growled but didn’t fight her, as the sound of singing zombies grew louder and louder and the pink fog spilled out of the building. But before they were too far away, Damian looked up to see a girl with long pink hair, green skin, and a black dress march out of the building with a perfume bottle in her hand. She laughed shouting something that he couldn’t hear. But then a horde of brainwashed citizens spilled out of the building, smiling like they were on Joker venom and chasing them through the streets of Paris.

Ladybug didn’t set him down until they were completely out of sight of the zombie army and their Princess. She did have the grace to put him down on his feet, and so he easily turned to see that they were on top of a skyscraper. Based on its billboard, this particular building was dedicated to a news station. Ladybug flipped open her yoyo again, but she closed it as three new heroes jumped up onto the roof.

Viperion and Ryuko were both tall and imposing figures, but one glance told Damian, that they were just as young as Ladybug. As young as him. But they all carried themselves with a presence that Damian only saw around the adult heroes. It was something that Damian associated with true power and responsibility. It cloaked them, as it cloaked Ladybug, and there was no doubt in his mind that these were members of a coherent and well established team. Even their costumes had a uniform like quality to them as thy all fit into the same style as Ladybug's. Monochrome body suits with patterned body armor styled after whichever animal their Miraculous was named for.

 Viperion’s suit was black, and his armor had a teal scaled pattern, with a yellow diamond on the chest. Meanwhile, Ryuko’s suit was red, and her armor had black scales. A golden symbol of the three elements water, wind, lightening was embossed in the chest piece, and she had two golden horns, to complete her dragon look. Compared to them, Chat Noir looked very decidedly out of place.

His suit had not changed one bit in the three years he had been active. It was still the same leather black cat suite with the strange golden bell at his neck. And though his green cat eyes glowed with the same power that Ladybug had, there was something in his relaxed and easy posture that made him seem separate from the others. He was tall and obviously strong. But he clearly did not have the presence that the others carried.

Ladybug, Viperion, and Ryuko had the dignity of leadership and strength beyond their age. Chat Noire seemed obviously hindered by his. This fact seemed to be proved when the cat hero snorted at Damian and said,

“So, this is the one who caused Princess Fragrance. Looks like we got another Chloe on our hands, milady!”

“That’s enough Chatton,” Ladybug said stepping beside Damian. “We do not judge, remember.”

Chat Noir seemed properly chastised as the other two stepped forward. “What happened?” Viperion said calmly, strumming a…was that a lyre?

Ladybug sighed, “Lila.” All three heroes nodded understandingly, and no more questions were asked on the matter. Damian gritted his teeth at this reaction, and his hatred for the liar only grew. But he remained silent as Ladybug outlined her plan.

He listened intently as they spoke, half expecting that he would need to interject, point out a flaw in their plan, or come up with a better one. But no. Ladybug was clearly very strategic and experienced as she laid out a plan that was both simple and fool proof, provided that everyone did their part.

Damian’s eyes trailed to Chat Noir. He was clearly the weak link, but if the hierarchy of Miraculous that the SpotsOn blog detailed was correct, then Chat Noir was supposed to be equal to Ladybug, her partner and balance. Instead, he acted like a side kick, lazily swinging his leather “tail” and giving Damian narrowed looks. When he did speak it was to make a pun or joke, and Damian had a hard time figuring out what exactly he added to the group, except a place to fill. One thing was clear to Damian, if anyone was going to break ranks and cause the plan to fall apart, then it would be Chat Noir. He did not want that to happen considering it was his neck on the line.

Damian cleared his throat drawing all of their eyes towards him. “Your plan is good but it’s going to fail.”

“Excuse me?” Chat Noir demanded.

“What do you mean?” Viperion asked.

“It is too reliant on individual members. If so much as one person breaks rank, then the whole thing falls apart, and you will have to use your luck charm…is it wise to use two lucky charms in a day?”

Ladybug tilted her head examining him carefully, “So long as Cataclysm is used to act as a balance it's fine. Besides I need the charm for the cure, it's part of the spell. How do you know one of us will break rank?”

Damian looked Chat Noir up and down, and couldn’t help the sneer at his blatant childishness before facing Ladybug and saying, “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Hey!” Chat yelled and tried to charge Damian, but Ryuko held him back.

“Ladybug,” Viperion asked with a hint of amusement, “Where’d you find this one?”

Ladybug sighed, “Imagine if Ryuko and Bumble Queen were the same person and male, that’s him.”

She jerked her thumb at Damian as she said this, giving Damian a strange sense of déjà vu, but he shook it off as the boys nodded their understanding with soft “Oh’s” while Ryuko studied Damian far more carefully than before. Finally, the Dragon Hero said, “What exactly do you have in mind?”

“Your lucky charm,” Damian said turning to Ladybug, “Does it only work for specific situations, or will it always work no matter what?”

Ladybug smirked at him placing her hands on her hips. “Specific situations,” she said, “And if the situation randomly changes than it can become worthless.”

“Then—”

“Wait!” Viperion cried and then did something to his bracelet so that the snake carving on it began to glow. He then nodded for Damian to continue.

Damian arched his brows at that but continued anyway, “Then set the trap in an area completely under your control. But do not give specific instructions until Princess Fragrance is right in front of you. Once she is, command everyone as you see fit. It is the most efficient way to use your Luck Charm.”

“Ladybug!” Chat Noir demanded, “Are you going to let him talk to you like that?”

Damian sighed in exasperation but said nothing as he met Ladybug's gaze. He understood where Chat Noir was coming from. There was something in his tone of voice, that had most people believing he was arrogant and entitled. Which to be fair, he was, or at least he used to be. But he had lived six years with his father, three older brothers, two sisters, one almost brother, and one technically sister. And though he would never say it to their faces, they were all incredible warriors who had put him in his place as soundly as any of Ra’s trainers.

The arrogance might still be there, but the entitlement had been drained out of him with every spar lost, every prank war engaged in, and every birthday celebrated. But that didn’t stop people from hearing his tone and assuming the worst. He could only hope that Ladybug would look past this and see the logic of his plan, even if he was offensive about it.

The hero in question just looked at him with those glowing blue eyes, that seemed to pierce him even without the power behind them. A sly smile played on her lids as she shrugged, “I don’t know what you mean Chatton. He’s right. The only problem is our time limit. Once my lucky charm is used, we will only have fifteen minutes to defeat the akuma, and purify it.”

Damian blinked in confusion, “The Government site said your limit was five minutes.”

Ladybug’s smile became a smirk as she said, “And you think I tell the government everything? Viperion, what do you think?"

The snake hero paused for a count of three before grinning slyly and saying, "We didn't need second chance."

'The follow me," she said, and before Damian could protest, Ladybug slung him over her shoulder again.                

Chapter Text

Ladybug set Damian down on the deck of a rather messy houseboat, and began assigning positions to her team. Damian could see the value of this location. It was an open area that was easy to quickly isolate and defend should the shore be over run, with many hiding spot and easy escape routes should the boat be taken, provided they all could swim of course. There was only one problem. “Should we tell the inhabitants to evacuate?” Damian asked as the heroes cleared the space for fighting.

“The family’s out,” Viperion said as he stashed some instruments. “We often use their boat for traps, because it’s so versatile.”

“Besides,” Ryuko said moving Damian into position on the far side of the open deck. “The Government gave us acquisition rights. If, during an akuma fight, Ladybug or any of the heroes require something from the citizens, then they are all obligated to follow her orders.”

Damian furrowed his brow as Ladybug swung away with Chat Noir to draw Princess Fragrance to them. “Isn’t that rather dangerous? I can see many ways that can be taken advantage of.”

“Maybe in Gotham,” Viperion said with a sly smile. “But Ladybug knows what she’s doing. Besides, once the Lucky Charm is thrown it’s best to just roll with it and don’t ask questions.”

“Speaking of,” Ryuko said pointing. And sure enough there was Ladybug and Chat Noir running over the rooftops. There was no sign of the zombies or the akuma, but Damian knew they weren’t far behind. The plan was for Ladybug to trick them into following her, not to drag them kicking and screaming.

“That didn’t take long,” Damian said as Ladybug landed.

“Didn’t think it would,” Ladybug said with a huff. “She's turned half of the arrondissement at this point. You sure you’re ok with this? You will be in direct danger. And if we fail to protect you—”

“You have not failed Paris yet,” Damian said simply as a matter of fact, “And I have seen the lists. You will not fall to an enemy this weak. I have faith in your abilities.”

“Oh my kwami,” Viperion muttered, “He really is like Ryuko.”

Ryuko elbowed the snake, but Ladybug ignored them studying him curiously, “Even the meagerest foot soldiers can fell the mightiest General, Spikes, for a blade is a blade and cares nothing for whose flesh it mars.”

Damian blinked in surprise, “That’s an Amazonian saying.”

Ladybug’s brow raised under her red mask. “It’s rare to find a male well versed in Amazonian proverbs.”

“I have had a very thorough education,” Damian said with his usual coldness. And before anyone else could comment a shrill voice rang out through the streets.

“Come out! Come out! My sweet Ice Prince! Don’t you want to thaw that frozen heart! Please! Come on out now!”

With a quick nod from Ladybug, Ryuko and Viperion vanished as she and Chat Noir took up positions in front of Damian as if they had just been cornered. Damian could easily see over Ladybug’s head, but in some ways, he wish he couldn’t. The small blonde ball of pink that had yelled at him in the classroom had transformed into something inhumane. Her skin was a monster green while her hair had turned into the color of chewed up bubblegum. Almost her entire body was covered in a black body suit that was puffed in places to give the illusion of a ballgown. Damian wanted to throw up. She looked like some maniac had smashed the Wicked Witch of the West and Cinderella together and tried to make it “modern.” It was so disturbing how wrongly demented she looked, that he had to say,

“Is part of Hawkmoth’s plan to burn the eyes of all of Paris, and thus ruin the fashion industry forever?”

Ladybug actually snorted as she tried to stifle her giggles, “You got an eye for design, Spikes?”

Damian shrugged, “I’m a Wayne, and my mother was very particular that I always knew how to dress appropriately for every occasion.” He left out the part where “dressing for the occasion” meant being able to go undercover in any environment and culture, but he seemed to get the point across, as Ladybug smiled and said,

“I can see how that would be useful. And for the record, when we do find Hawkmoth, I plan to strap into a chair and force him to watch fashion tutorials twenty-four seven.”

“It’s the least he deserves for forcing us to look at that,” Damian sneered.

“Hey!” Chat Noir said, “I can’t believe I’m the one saying this. But shouldn’t we be focusing?”

“Right!” Ladybug said, “Thanks Chaton, sorry. Now, Princess Fragrance!” She cried as she sped up her yoyo until it was a blur or pink and red light forming a solid circle.

The akuma saw them and Damian, and she cried, “My Prince! Get him!” Easily three hundred people filed out from behind cars and building and onto the street. They were all smiling like they were on Joker venom, as the sang in unison, “As you wish, Princess Fragrance!”

The zombies surged, but clearly unlike the zombies of a more undead nature, these had not lost any of their physical abilities. They rushed the boat in a swarm, spurred by their now instinctual desire to serve their Princess.

Viperion pulled the boat out onto the river, even as the first brainwashed victim reached the dock. That didn’t stop the swarm however, as most of the creatures leapt into the river and attempted to swim to the boat. Damian winced as a young man hit his head on the railing, but panicked as he fell backwards into the river. The training of his father, screamed at him to save him. To stop him from drowning, but Ladybug caught his wrist.

Damian looked up and saw the pain in her powerful blue eyes as she shook her head. Even as she stopped him, Damian saw the reality. Trying to save that person was pointless when the greater enemy was still baring down on them. Not to mention the fact that the cure would revive him once the battle was done. It was cold logic, assassin’s logic, that his family had been trying to coax out of him for six years. But this was a war, for the very fabric of reality.

Ladybug had never spared the public on the necessity of keeping the Miraculous away from Hawkmoth. In her very first press conference which Damian had watched three times, she had explained explicitly why no individual, no matter how good a motive, could ever be allowed to make a wish. Her speech during those first interviews had gotten the inter country on her side as no one wanted to see what a mad man willing to brainwash children wanted to alter reality for.

In the grand scheme of the fight, a single individual who would eventually be resurrected, was a price they had to pay. And as Damian withdrew his hand he could see, that it was a choice that Ladybug had had to make too many times in her tenure as a hero. He returned to his place, and waited for the akuma to eventually catch up with them. He didn’t have to wait long.

As they came up on a bridge, a figure of black and pink dropped onto the deck. She rose in the shadow, cackling as she raised a twisted black gun, and pointed it straight at Damian. “Time to feel the love, my Ice Prince!”

Damian was glad that they had chosen such a messy house boat, because he was easily able to flip behind a stack of boxes as Chat Noir nocked off the Princess’s aim. A puff of pink smoke dissipated into the river, and the akuma shrieked as she fought with the Cat. Damian peeked out when Ladybug called on her Luck Charm.

He could only stare in confusion and disbelief as a deflated balloon fell into her hands. “What are we going to do with that m’lady?” Chat Noir called out in a teasing voice, “Throw a party.”

“Keep her distracted Chat, I’ll—”

“Ryuko!” Viperion yelled as he came out of the cabin, “Zombies are incoming. Ladybug that goes on the perfume. Spikes, you’ll need this.”

Damian blinked as he caught the long thing that the Snake hero tossed him. He had no idea why Viperion was suddenly taking charge, there was virtually nothing about him on any of the websites. But the heroes jumped to obey him, as within ten seconds of him speaking they came out from under the bridge and twenty zombies landed on the deck.

“Get my Prince!” the akuma shrieked. And they charged. Damian looked down and saw that he had caught a shinai, a bamboo sword used in kudo. Who was the family that owned this boat, that they just had this lying around?

He didn’t have time to ponder as Ryuko drew her own sword and stood side by side with Damian creating a wall between the zombies and the other heroes. Damian only took the time to be momentarily impressed with Ryuko’s skill as they swung in tandem against the zombies. Knocking them down, and throwing them into the river. Unfortunately it didn’t matter how skilled or in-sync they were, because the zombies were so single minded, that they stood with broken bones and bleeding heads, trying to catch Damian and help their Princess, and all with those demented smiles on their faces.

Damian thought the smiles were the worst part, because they weren’t like Laughing Gas smiles. No, you could see the pain in the eyes of the Joker’s victims, even as their mouths were twisted. But these zombies didn’t show any pain. Even as Damian cracked one’s knee with a sickening snap, it looked at Damian as if he were the happiest creature alive, not even a flicker of pain. They lunged for him with the strength only the unhinged possessed, even as their leg twisted the wrong way underneath them.  

The only way to get rid of them was to throw them over board, which Viperion helped with even as he shouted out warnings. Damian didn’t dare look back to see how Ladybug and Chat Noir were doing, but the Cat’s unending chatter was beginning to grate on his nerves even as he tossed the last zombie overboard.

“No resting,” Ryuko called out, as she pointed to the second bridge coming close. Sure enough, another group of zombies were waiting to leap.

“Chat no!” Ladybug cried, and Damian spun to see Chat Noir get a face full of perfume as he pushed Ladybug out of the way. The perfume cloud dissipated, as the hero straightened and sang,

“At your servi—Mmph!” Viperion tackled Chat and wrestled him to the ground as Princess Fragrance swung her gun to Ladybug. Ladybug slid the balloon onto the end of the gun, right as she pulled the trigger. The balloon inflated into a impossible size, lifting the akuma into the sky.

“Ryuko!” Ladybug shouted. The dragon hero lunged with her sword and pierced the bottle shattering it. A black butterfly flew out as the akuma dropped back onto the deck. Ladybug caught it in her yoyo.

Damian sighed as the akuma was purified and the cure was released. He sat down on one of the many boxes as Viperion rolled off of Chat, and Ryuko went to comfort the small girl who was looking around dazed and confused. “Oh no!” she said, “I…I did it again! Oh Ladybug, I’m…I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to…I just…I just…”

“I know Rose,” Ladybug said gently kneeling beside the girl who was now crying into her hands. “I know.”

“I just want everyone to get along! And be nice!” she cried, “Why can’t we all just be friends?!”

“It’s not always that easy,” Ladybug said gently, as she rubbed the small girl’s back. “I wish it were. But it isn’t.”

“But what do I do!” Rose moaned staring up at Ladybug with pleading eyes.

“Find the people who are true,” Ladybug said gently, “And cling to them. They’re the only opinions that matter. Ryuko’s going to take you back to school now. Are you ok with that?”

Rose nodded, and the Dragon hero swept her up into her arms, like she was carrying a child and, with an inhumane leap, began carrying her back. Damian expected the same treatment since all of the other victims had been swept away by the magic ladybugs, when Chat Noir sauntered up and said with a cocky grin and a swishing tail, “Another successful mission m’lady! Pound it!” He held out his first in celebration. Ladybug scowled. Damian suddenly wanted to jump off the boat.

Damian had survived the Batglare. He had survived his mother’s stare, his grandfather’s sneer. He had only barely escaped Alfred’s frown. But nothing could have prepared him for Ladybug’s scowl. The unearthly power behind her eyes was fanned into a wildfire, as her lips curled into a growl. And Damian felt his skin curl as it did when Superman’s eyes turned red. She stared down her partner as she shoved a finger into his face. “How many times have I told you not to sacrifice yourself for me?”

“But m’lady!” Chat whimpered, his ears falling down in dejection, “You told me to take this more seriously.”  

“Yes!” Ladybug cried, “As in follow my lead! Anticipate my movements! Not jump in front of every bast and get yourself brainwashed or killed!”

“Wait!” Chat Noir cried, “This was not my fault, Viperion said we wouldn’t need Second Chance if we used the brat’s ‘improvise’ plan, and that was clearly a lie!”

“I said that” Viperion said crossing his arms, “Because during one of the other times, when I told the truth, you refused to do anything he suggested, and it got you killed.”

There was a deep silence as Damian processed exactly what Viperion's role was. And suddenly, Ladybug's perfect record made sense. Every hero had an off day, where they just couldn't make it in time. But Ladybug couldn't have one. She couldn't fail, because of the importance of the war. So she didn't let it happen. She didn't let her self fail by controlling time itself. It was terrifying both in it's necessity and its effectiveness.

“How many times?” Ladybug asked quietly.

“Three,” Viperion said simply, “We tried your plan once, but we just ended up switching to this one in the end. Thought we’d save time and lives by just jumping to the chase.”

“And the other two times?” Ladybug asked her expression as guarded and as cloudy as the Batman’s.

“Zombies over ran the boat. Second time they killed Chat then you. Third time, Chat Noir tried to save you, got spritzed, killed you.” Damian hissed, as Chat Noir shrunk in on himself like a child trying to hide from his parents.

“What changed?” Ladybug asked.

“Spikes found the sword,” Viperion said simply, pointing at Damian. The heroes turned to him as if just realizing he was still there. Damian looked down at the shinai, and sighed. He stood and said, “My name isn’t Spikes, it’s Damian, Damian Wayne. And I was trained in many forms of combat from a young age…I am sorry this happened, I did not mean to cause that akuma. I have been told that, I should be more…guarded with my tongue. I’m just glad I could help fix the damage I did.”

Ladybug nodded at him consideringly, “Thank you, Damian. You were a great help today. I’ll take you back to the shore. But I don’t think I’ll be able to take you back to the school, my time’s almost up.” As if to prove her point her earrings beeped, as one of the dots disappeared.

Damian nodded his understanding, as Chat Noir stepped forward fiddling with his tail. “M’lady,” he said desperately, “Please I am trying! You know I am. And I’ve gotten better, right? Please, Chat Noir is the only thing I have anymore.”

Damian watched neutrally from the side, as Ladybug’s face contorted into pity as she looked at her partner. He was taller than her, and by all appearances stronger to. But from the way he dipped his head and slumped his shoulders you would have thought he was a child being chided by his parents. And like a doting mother Ladybug sighed and said gently,

“Chaton, I’m not taking your miraculous. You’re my partner, and I trust you more than anyone. But you need to trust me! You need to follow my lead. Pay attention to the others, and work with the team, instead of just throwing yourself in the way of danger. Can you do that?”

“Of course, I can!” Chat insisted.

“Ok,” Ladybug said with a nod. “We’ll talk about this more tonight. Now go home, you’re about to transform.”

As the Black Cat bounded away, Ladybug seemed to slump in defeat as she watched him leave. Viperion stepped forward laying a hand on her shoulder. “He is a good hero,” he said, “Always has been.”

“I know,” Ladybug said in a whisper Damian could only barely just hear. “But he’s not a good cat.”

“Perhaps a different miraculous would suit him better?”

“Not until I have a replacement. Have you talked to Fluff?”

Viperion shook his head, “Young and Old are being very cryptic on the matter. But I think Young is just doing it to be annoying.”

“Figures,” Ladybug muttered, but there was a small smile on her lips. She then clapped and turned back to Damian who was pretending that he hadn’t been listening, by putting the bamboo sword away. “Alright Spikes let’s get you back to shore. Viperion, can you take the boat back to the docks? Excellent. Spikes, once I’m gone you should contact your partner, but don’t expect them to answer immediately. It’s the crying hour after all.”

“The what?” Damian asked. But he never got his answer, as Ladybug caught him up by the waist, and used the nearby bridge to swing them back to shore.

Chapter Text

The first thing Damian did was check his phone. His teachers confirmed that there were no more activities for today, and so the Gothamites were free to explore so long as they stayed in groups of three, or with their Parisian escorts. Damian immediately texted Marinette his location and then looked around. 

It was a beautiful day in Paris, and he was on the banks of the Seine. Terrifying random villain aside, things weren't awful, and he got to see Paris's heros in action. All in all, he was pleased. They were exactly as their blog had claimed them to be, efficient, careful, and intelligent. Chat Noir was…yet to be determined, but he decided that Ladybug would not appreciate the opinion of a random outsider regarding her team's roster. 

So he decided to put that line of thought to the side for the moment and process the more troubling aspects of the day by finding a bench and sketching. Fortunately he still had his pocket sketchbook and pencil, which he had brought in hope of drawing some artifacts in the Louver. 

Damian smiled at the memory of their chaotic race, as he began to sketch the river. He wasn't two strokes in when he was double checking his phone. Marinette still hadn't texted him back. He furrowed his brow. She didn't seem to be the kind of person to neglect a responsibility, but Ladybug had said something about a crying hour. He still didn't know what that was, but he wanted to know she was alright since the attack. 

He debated for a moment between finishing his sketch and texting her again when a voice called to him. He looked up and there coming forward was a tall boy with blue hair and an easy smile waving to him. Beside the boy was… Damian had to look again. Yes, that was Kagami Tsurugi, the Parisian fencing champion and favorite for the Olympics. In other words, Damian's favorite fencer was walking towards him. 

Damian composed himself and rose to meet the two teens with a brisk nod and a furrowed brow. It was the boy who spoke first saying, 

"Hi, I'm Luka. You're Damian Wayne right? Marinette sent us."

"Yes," Damian said slowly, "Might I ask why?" 

"Oh," Luka said, "We'll it's the crying hour."

He said it was if that was all the explanation needed, but fortunately Kagami was there to explain as briskly as he would have. 

"It is well known," she said, "That Hawkmoth can only release two akumas a day. So until that changes, the citizens of Paris use the hour after the second attack to vent all of their pent up emotions. It's not a formal requirement, but Parisians know to take advantage of it when they can."

"I see," Damian said, his brow furrowing deeper. "Should we be worried about Marinette?" 

"No," Luka said casually, "She'll be fine. She just has a lot of responsibilities. Plus she has to deal with Lila and her Enablers all day, so you can see why she might need this more than anyone." 

Damian nodded his understanding, and allowed the two to lead him further down the river as they chatted amicably. 

"The others will be at the boat by the time we get there," Kagami said, "And I believe they are bringing their Gotham friends." 

"Perfect," Luka said, in that calmly easy way of his, "And later we can show you all the best Paris has to offer." 

"Is it possible to see the Louver again?" Damian asked, "I would like to see it when I'm not being dragged around at a breakneck pace trying to solve childish riddles." 

Luka laughed as Kagami nodded her understanding. They went on like that only for a few minutes before they came across the very same boat that Ladybug had used in the fight earlier. Damian mentioned it and Luke quietly chuckled and said, 

"Yeah, the Liberty has been through a lot, but she's a good old ship and we're proud of her. Besides, Mom loves to brag to all of the other captains that Ladybug uses her ship to save Paris. She's cool like that." 

Damian let that thought roll around in his mind as they approached the gangway. The "others" turned out to be Chloe, Sabrina, Alix, Juleka, Kim, and three other boys Damian had yet to meet. One was a dark skinned boy with glasses and a robot floating over his shoulder. The second was a boy of mixed heritage and hoodie and baseball cap. Damian remembered seeing him hiding from Alya at the Louver, so he figured that he must have at least some modest intelligence. The third was the tall blonde boy who had his face plastered over half of Paris. He was also the one who had tried to de-escalate the conflict before the akuma arrived. 

They were introduced to Damian as Max, Nino, and Adrien. The robot was apparently Markov, and was sentient. So Damian made a mental note to never introduce them to Barbara and Tim, lest the four take over the world. 

The Parisians had commandeered the leftover pastries from the failed lunch, and so they had their own "Get to Know You" party right there on the Liberty. Damian thought it was far more pleasant than the school sanctioned event, as he spoke at length with Kagami about swordplay and other forms of combat. At one point, Kagami tried to pull Adrien into the conversation. However they had barely been speaking for five minutes when his phone went off. 

Adrien's cheerful, pretty face twisted into a scowl as he said, "Sorry guys. I have to get home. See you later?" 

"Adrien," Kagami said softly, and the gentleness of it surprised Damian as she continued, "I wish you would let us help you. You know what your father is doing isn't right, don't you?" 

Adrien smiled a broken smile as he shrugged " He loves me," was all he said as he ran off nearly colliding with Marinette as she made her way down the bank. Damian watched as they spoke briefly then turned to Kagami for an explanation. 

She sighed and said, "Adrien's father, Gabriel Agreste, is in violation of more child labor laws then I care to mention. And that isn't even touching the severe neglect and emotional abuse he has put Adrien through. Naturally we have all tried to help him–"

"But you can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved," Chloe scoffed bitterly as she chomped on her quiche with the ferocity of an alligator snapping its jaws. 

"It sucks, man!" Nino said bitterly. "The guy won't even let him have a birthday party!"

"Can't anything be done?" Alice asked. But the Parisians shook their heads mournfully. 

"Not unless Adrien presses charges, anything we try will mean nothing," Alex said bitterly. 

"What are we talking about?" Marinette asked as she swiped a croissant from Luka's plate. 

"Adrien," Luka said, swatting her hand away from his plate. 

Marinette stiffened and then sighed dejectedly. She shook her head and said sadly, "We can only talk to him so many times. Now," she clapped her hands and gave everyone her award winning smile, "Let's not let this Hawkmoth free afternoon go to waste! Where should we take our Gotham guests?!" 

Damian didn't know how it happened, but within five minutes everyone was bustling down the Seine, chatting as the Parisians began their locals tour. Damian found himself at the back of the group per usual, only Marinette had contrived to walk beside him as they walked. Since he doubted that she enjoyed being at the back of the group when she was so clearly an extrovert, he turned to her and said, 

"You can go and speak with your friends. I promise I will not be offended. I am used to being on the outs of most social gatherings." 

Marinette looked at him as if he were an idiot, and then sighed and said, "They don't need me holding their hands. Besides! I like being at the back after days like today. Not to mention I'd be a terrible host if I just abandoned you, right?" 

Damian took in her bright but tired small smile and nodded. "Well, your company is not the worst. So where exactly are your friends leading us?" 

"There are a few parks and cafes that we frequent, that I think you all will like. But we'll probably end the night at Andre's Sweethearts Ice Cream. It's kind of a tradition whenever we're showing people around." 

Damian wanted to ask more questions, but refrained as Marinette turned the conversation to his hobbies and other interests.

It was strange. In the back of his mind Damian was running through all of the serious conversations they should be having. The Justice League, Ladybug, the Akumas. But instead he found himself engaging in the easiest conversation he had ever had. There was something about Marinette that drew him in. Her easy enthusiasm was contagious, much like Kent's, but it was softer. And she seemed genuinely interested in everything he had to say, and knew just what to reveal about herself to make it seem they had far more in common than they probably did. 

They talked about his art, and she shared her designs with him. He told her about his swordsmanship, and she revealed that she had recently begun studying martial arts and gymnastics. He told her about his pets, and she gushed about how she longed for a hamster. He showed her pictures of his favorite spots in Gotham, and she directed their group to show him her favorite spots in Paris. 

As it was, by the end of the day Damian's throat was sore from talking so much. And yet he couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed. In fact, if he thought about it, he realized that he had…fun. Which was odd. The only time he had ever really had fun was when he was with his family, or being Robin. So he was oddly regretting the fact that they were drawing closer to the ice cream cart that signaled the end of their day. Random villain aside, it had been the most normal and relaxing day that he had had in a long time. It was nice. 

"Ah!" The large Ice Cream Vendor cried. "My favorite customers! And I see some new faces as well! Let's see what I can get for you!" 

"I'll have–" Kathryn began but Alix stopped her. 

"Andre is a meta!" She explained, "He chooses your flavors based on your soul mate!"

"Non, non, non!" Andre cried, "Mademoiselle! Do not misrepresent me like that! You must not! I do not see 'soul mates!' I see partnerships! Compatibility! I see your perfect partner, not your predetermined love! Love is a choice! Not a destiny!" 

The Parisians snickered obviously used to this speech, as they lined up to get their flavors. Damian found himself tentatively curious as he and Marinette got closer and listened closely to each prescription the man gave the teenagers. He always gave them riddles, describing physical, and personal traits that made no sense unless the person was standing right next to you. For example, Sabrina's and Chloe's were obviously meant to describe each other, while Will's ice cream seemed completely random, although he did seem to enjoy the flavors. Alice blushed when she got her ice cream, so Damian figured she knew who it represented. But Luka's was so vague it literally could have been anyone. 

Marinette explained that it was because Luka hadn't met his "perfect partner" yet. 

"But it doesn't have to be romantic?" Damian asked, and Marinette shrugged. 

"That's between you and your partner. Oh! My turn! But don't expect much, mine are always super vague."

But the moment she stepped up Adre gasped dramatically and cried, "Oh Marinette! How wonderful! Your flavors are so much more clear now!" 

"Really!" Marinette gasped almost desperately as Andre began to scoop and deliver her riddle. 

"Mint chocolate for the green of his eyes, and the black of his hair. Lemon yellow for the light he'll bring to your life. And last but not least red strawberry on top, for the passion and secrets he carries inside." 

Marinette beamed as she took her ice cream cone. Damian blinked as he tried to process what he was seeing. Was it a coincidence that those were Robin's colors, his colors? What did that riddle even mean? It could describe him. But only if you knew his secret, and there was no way this overweight Parisian street vendor he had never met before knew that! 

Suddenly hesitant, Damian stepped forward. Andre smiled at him knowingly and declared, 

"Blueberry blue for her eyes, so bright. Strawberry red for the secret she hides. Dark chocolate chips for her midnight hair and the sweetness she'll bring to your life. And one more thing, before I forget, a sugary wafer, fragile but firm to remind you to cherish her and keep her safe from harm." 

Damian accepted his creation and turned to see Marinette staring at his ice cream. Her bluebell eyes were wide in shock and there was a faint blush on her cheeks. Damian blinked, and tried to decipher the look, as her friends snickered behind her. He supposed there were parts of the riddle that described her, but what was that about a secret, it was almost an identical phrase to…

"So!" Marinette spun around and began leading them down the bridge to a nearby park. "Does anyone want to tell me, why my 'perfect partner' is a traffic light?" 

Everyone laughed, and Damian hid his blush in his cone. " Damn you Grayson!" He thought. " Why? " 

"Hm," Kathryn said, staring at her cone intently, "My first thought was Robin. You know the Gotham vigilante." 

"Just your luck, Mari!" Luka said, bumping her playfully, "Your perfect partner is a vigilante, an ocean away, that dresses like a traffic light." 

"The colors are a tradition," Damian grumbled, "I think the current Robin is trying to tone them down." 

Marinette opened her mouth to say more, but at that moment, Alix dropped to the floor and started howling with laughter. "Is she ok?" Will asked nervously. 

Chloe shook her head, "Let's just say that Alix has an…interesting relationship with time. You could say she's a low level psychic, so sometimes she sees things about the future that don't make sense…well, until they do." 

"Ok?" Will said, "So what did she just figure out?" 

"No clue," Sabrina said, her spoon resting on her lip. "But I bet it will be interesting, when the rest of us catch up." 

So they stood there harmlessly chatting, as Alix rolled on the ground, until the sun had set and the two groups had to part. That night, once Will was asleep. Damian put all of the civilian events out of his head for the moment, and pulled out his phone. 

"Father," he said once Bruce answered, "We need to talk about the situation here in Paris…yes…I am beginning to think we should have stayed in Gotham."

Chapter Text

Batman folded his hands under his chin in contemplation. There was a lot about his phone call with Damian that had him disturbed and concerned, but also strangely hopeful. The first thing was that Damian had apparently made a friend. Marinette Dupain-Cheng seemed like a bright intelligent girl, and if she had gained Damian's respect in such a short amount of time, then she was certainly a girl worth meeting once, for better or for worse. 

But then there was the…Ladybug of it all. When the Paris representatives of the International Friendship Conference had insisted on the dangers of their city he had dismissed them like everybody else. After all, if Paris really was that dangerous then the League would have at least known about it. But apparently, the Justice League was not just blind to what was happening in France, they were completely ignorant. He had never heard of these "Miraculous Jewels" before. Still, if Damian's report was to be believed, and Bruce had no reason to doubt his son, then there was at least one person who might know something about this mess. 

"Hello Bruce," Wonder Woman said cheerfully from her end of the phone. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" 

"What do you know about the Paris situation?" Bruce said gruffly, but straightforward. 

There was a very telling pause, and Bruce could hear the tension in his friend's voice as she said, "What Paris situation?" 

Bruce's brow furrowed and said simply in a tone that brokered no argument, "Damian is in Paris and was caught in a villain attack. According to the local sources, it was caused by something called an akuma and was defeated by a hero called Ladybug. According to Robin's research, your mother once held that title. What else do I need to know?" 

Again there was a very telling pause, but Bruce could only guess what the woman on the other end of the line was thinking before she said firmly, "I'll be there in ten." And then hung up. 

This did not bode well for Bruce. If the situation was simple, Diana could explain over the phone. If it was urgent she would arrange for them to talk with Superman at the Watchtower. To insist on a private meeting as quickly as possible, suggested a range of possibilities from world ending to personal embarrassment. Right now Bruce didn't know what to believe, so he reserved all judgment until Wonder Woman was walking through the Zeta Tube in the Batcave and telling him the truth. 

When she did enter the cave, Batman tensed because she was tense. The Amazonian warrior was wound as tightly as he was some time. And she looked at him as if he had just insulted every scrap of her honor. It cemented that this was a conversation that needed to happen, and he would make sure that the Princess knew that he did not appreciate being kept in the dark. 

He stood silently watching her with carefully schooled features until Wonder Woman was right in front of him. Finally she sighed and said, "Right, where will we not be over heard?" 

Bruce let his silence speak for itself as he led Diana up to his office in the mansion. It was designed so that not even Superman could overhear him in here. And he had proven it, when Clark had given him the satisfaction of assuming he had been kidnapped, when his heart beat disappeared. That memory still brought a smirk to his lips, but not as he and Diana took their seats on opposite sides of the large oak desk, as Alfred contrived to serve them tea so that he could monitor what was shaping up to be a long, tense conversation. 

Once Alfred had done his duty and taken his post by the door, Diana spoke clear and confident as always, but with a level of tension and ferocity that sent chills down Bruce's spine. 

"I want to start by saying, I never wanted to keep this from the League. Unfortunately these events are out of both of our hands and so these discussions are rather a mute point considering there is nothing we can do to help or hender the situation without making things infinitely more difficult for the heroes currently working in Paris." 

"And what is happening in Paris?" Bruce asked gruffly.

Diana took a deep breath and said, "A Miraculous War." 

Alfred visibly tensed at Wonder Woman's words and abandoned his strict sense of priority to move forward and said, "Are you sure?" 

Wonder Woman raised an eyebrow but nodded gravely and said, "For the past three years the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous have been active in fighting the Butterfly and Peacock which have fallen into the wrong hands." 

Alfred's composure crumbled into a look of unmitigated grief as he collapsed in the spare chair. Bruce stared, completely floored. Alfred never broke like this. Even when one of them was hurt his go to emotion was anger and disappointment. The last time he had been like this was when Jason died. He looked to Diana for answers, but she seemed just as confused, but only for a moment as realization dawned as her face. She leaned forward laying a gentle hand on the old man's knee and softly said, 

"Who was your Kwami?" 

"Duusu," he said his voice weighted with grief, "The peacock." 

Diana hissed as if she shared his pain, but continued to comfort the aging butler in his grief. Bruce couldn't take his curiosity any more, but he did attempt to be gentler as he cleared his throat and said, "I'm going to need some context." 

The best part of Marinette's day was falling asleep. Partly because her days were only increasingly exhausting, but also because of what happened when she dreamed. Marinette doubted Master Fu had known, the Kwami said that he only ever talked to Wayzz. But a week after she had become the Guardian, Marinette had started having dreams. At first they were confusing, just flashes of fights and magic that she had never been in and never done. But then it happened. She dreamed of a beautiful island that she had never seen before, and had met one of the most incredible women Marinette had ever known. 

Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, greeted her warmly and celebrated her, lifting a great weight off of her shoulders that had been beating down on her ever since she had first found the magic earrings in her bedroom. She was not alone. She had help. There were people in this world who knew the truth and could help her better than anyone else. There were people she could trust. 

Granted most of them were dead and only existed in her head, and Hippolyta was on the other side of the continent. But they were still there. Every night since then she had been traveling all through time and space, training with all of the Ladybug's of the past. She learned their languages, their skills, and their magic. They gave her their wisdom, and their love, and Marinette had never been more supported in her life. Especially once they convinced her to trust her team. Only, Kagami, Luka, and Alex knew the truth for now, but soon Sabrina and Chloe would be given permanent status like the others, and then her circle would grow! 

The only person she couldn't trust with the secret was Chat. It broke her heart, but everytime she thought of it, Luka, Alex, future Bunnix, and her dream mentors, all told her to…reconsider. The fact was Chat Noir was not a true chosen because he had not had the dreams once she had taken Guardianship. All of the other, permeant holder had had the dreams, but not him. That was part of the reason she was so anxious to fall asleep tonight. 

Andre had said she had found her perfect partner, and Damian had gotten her ice cream. But her flavors only seemed to partially match his. Of course he wouldn't know it was hers unless he knew the truth of the Miraculous. So maybe Damian had his own secret that would make his flavors make sense. Alix had been very unhelpful, chosing to simply snicker and give her pointed looks. But Alix being stubborn wouldn't stop Marinette from getting the truth. And maybe her nightly friends could be more helpful. 

With the help of magic, melatonin, and meditation, Marinette slipped into her dream word and smiled in confusion when instead of landing in a German Forest, where she had been previously training, she was back on Themyscira facing a stressed but sarine Hippolyta smiling gently at her. 

"Marinette!" Her first and favorite mentor called. "It is good to see you again!" 

"You too!" Marinette said bowing in the Themiscyra fashion and then embracing her old friend. "But I'm confused, I thought our lessons were finished?" 

"They are," Hippolyta said, leading her further into the island, "But something has happened in the world of men that demands our combined attention." 

"What happened?" Marinette asked tensely. 

"Batman has learned of your war in Paris." 

Marinette hissed. "I had a feeling this might happen. Although I thought it would be after the international conference. When the students got home and started talking." 

"It appears," Hippolyta said with a mix of admiration and distaste that she always used when speaking of the men in the Justice League, "That a member of Batman's brood is attending the festivities. He was apparently directly involved in one of your fights." 

Marinette blinked as she let the information roll over her. Of the Batclan, only Robin was the right age to be attending the conference. And she knew all of the Gothamites, so she most definitely had already met him! He would have to be smart, skilled, with good instinct, and he… dressed like a traffic light…was involved in an akuma attack…with a deep personal secret so his flavors wouldn't make sense if you didn't know it…

"Damian Wayne is Robin!" She shouted, "Does that mean Bruce Wayne is Batman?!" 

Hippolyta smiled proudly and said, "How did you come to that conclusion?" 

"My ice cream flavors," Marinette said in a daze of shocked wonder. But upon seeing Hippolyta's confusion she explained Andre and his abilities. The Queen considered every word, and furrowed her brow in concentration as they moved through the empty streets of her kingdom. 

Finally she said, "It seems there is more at work here than the politics of man. If I were to guess the Fates have grown impatient and contrived to put the true Black Cat in your path. Whatever the case, this is a development that you cannot ignore. Especially if you wish to end your war before your enemy gains even more power." 

"But what about Chat? I know he's a true holder, but I still don't know for which jewel he is meant for! And I can't just take the ring from him, after everything we've been through together he deserves more than that." 

Hippolyta shook her head and faced her protege head on. "I cannot tell you what to do, Marinette. This is your war and I cannot interfere directly. Either way, the Miraculous of the Black Cat needs to be in the hands of a true chosen, it is the only way this will end." 

"So," Bruce said rubbing his temples as if that would soothe the growing migraine of righteous anger and wounded pride. "We have no choice but to leave unmentored children to fight a cosmic war for all of the universe alone, because one of us might be tempted by jewelry we have no access to." 

"They are not unmentored," Diana said indignantly.

"And they are not alone," Alfred said now fully composed once again, "They have the Kwami." 

"Yes," Bruce said dryly, "The dream training and pocket gods. We can't just leave these children to deal with things on their own. Alfred, after all the lectures you've given me about the boys, surely you can see the need to get involved." 

Alfred shook his head clearly conflicted but resigned to what he perceived as reality. "Unfortunately Master Bruce, when it comes to the Miraculous, all conventional rules of conduct must be tossed out the window. So to speak." 

"The Miraculous want to be used," Diana explained seriously. "Obviously the Kwami have preferences on who use them, but the power itself calls to be freed however it can be. This is why they must be guarded at all cost. For true holders the danger is slight. But for everyone else…" 

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," Alfred said firmly. "Isn't that why you have all of those contingency plans for the future of a rouge Justice League?"

Bruce scowled at the united front of the two most logical, powerful, and respectable people he knew. "It still feels wrong." 

"Then find another way to help," Wonder Woman said standing and effectively ending the conversation. "Without entering Paris. Too much has happened there for the League to even be welcome there for a long time." 

"What haven't you told me?" Bruce said, narrowing his eyes. 

"I suggest you read the Ladybug forums," Wonder Woman said, "Maybe then you'll appreciate the true delicacy of this situation." 

With that Wonder Woman left with Alfred escorting her, leaving Bruce to brood on the absolute shit show that he was now calling "The Paris War" in his head.

Chapter Text

Damian still had not gotten enough sleep, he had spent most of the night on his hotel room balcony hoping to catch a glimpse of Ladybug and failing that, waiting on his Father's call. The phone had rung before the Bug had come, but that did not put Damian's mind at ease. According to Father, there was a good chance that Ladybug now knew his identity since Wonder Woman seemed very clearly on her side and basically ordered Batman to stay out of Paris. But Ladybug had not confronted him yet, so that left Damian in a gray area of indecision trying to decide if he should push for her identity, or unsure about if she knew his. Either way he needed to talk to her again. Unfortunately, the only way he knew how to do that was to cause an akuma, which he doubted would go over well. 

So it was the third day of his "vacation," he was slowly turning into Drake where coffee was his life blood, and he was knee deep in a magic war that he knew next to nothing about. Yes, he knew how the Miraculous worked, but he still didn't know the players well enough to satisfy the detective instincts he had inherited. He finished his coffee with a growl as the bus stopped in front of the famed Palace of Versailles, but he couldn't drum up enough energy to be inspired by the opulent palace. Instead he brooded on how this was a waste of time, when he could be searching for Ladybug. 

Damian flinched as a steaming to-go cup of what smelled like coffee was thrust under his nose. He turned to see Marinette gulping down her own cup as their classmates found their partners around them. Damian stood frozen until Marinette lowered her cup with a sigh and said, "Insomnia's a bitch." 

"I agree," Damian said, accepting the full cup as he tossed the second. "But how did you know I needed one?" 

"Do not question the ways of the Master of Friendship," Alex said dramatically, as she skated circles around them, "She knows all! She sees all! She will smother you with care and companionship until you are drowning in her affection!" 

Marinette rolled her eyes as the rest of her friends giggled behind them. "Let's just say, I know a fellow late night gremlin when I see one." 

"Thank you," Damian said as he sipped at his surprisingly good cup of coffee. "So what is the plan for today?" 

"All of the participating schools and classes basically have free run of the Palace for the day. Aside from a mandatory tour, and lunch in the gardens, we can pretty much do whatever we want." 

Damian nodded as he watched the dozen or so tour buses unloading in the parking lot as an idea came to him. According to his observations, Ladybug and her team were around his age. Which meant there was a high possibility that she or one of the other holders were on this tour. And if not, then perhaps there was a student who was connected to them. He turned to Marinette who appeared to be searching for the mysteries of the universe at the bottom of her empty coffee cup. 

"How many Parisian schools are participating in the conference?" 

Marinette shrugged as she stared rather intently at the distant palace. "Not sure, I know they had to pull in more so that all of the foreign classes could have a partner class like ours." 

Damian nodded at the logic, "Do you know any of them?" 

"Just Aurore's school. She's an amateur reporter. Actually she's responsible for the SpotsOn blog." 

Damian spun to Marinette who was still staring everywhere but at him, but he barely processed that as his brain raced for a way to broker an introduction. "Really?" He said, "I would enjoy meeting her. Her blog was very informative, and helpful. Does she ever interview the Miraculous holders?" 

Marinette seemed slightly tense as her eyes flicked everywhere but at him. "She does," Marinette said, "But it's very rare. Ladybug only gives interviews if a major development occurs, like roster changes. Why do you ask?" 

Damian did his best to shrug and look casual, as he said, "Who wouldn't be curious? I think the only hero who gives less interviews and public appearances than your Ladybug is Batman." 

Marinette's eyes finally flicked to him, with a piercing understanding that had Damian tense. He then registered that this was the first time she had looked at him this morning which was throwing him off. In their brief acquaintance, Marinette had always held his gaze unflinchingly, but now she almost seemed skittish. Damian's mind spiraled trying to figure out what he had done to make her uneasy, but just then their teachers called for their attention and began leading them through the Palace. 

During the tour there was not much room for conversation as Marinette was kept busy herding their classes with Sabrina and the teachers. This left Damian to continuously be distracted from the guides as his mind swirled with all of the conflicting problems in his head. He needed to find Ladybug. He needed to find a way to get "Robin" into the city without raising suspicion. He needed to watch literally everything he said for fear of causing another akuma. And he needed to know why Marinette refused to look at him. 

It was disconcerting, the way she seemed to flit about without settling anywhere, especially since she seemed so grounded yesterday. He just wanted to grab her by the hand and force her to stand still for five seconds, so she could breathe. The way she dashed from person to person solving problems that no one had even noticed yet, was both impressive and exhausting to watch. Before he could do anything about it, it seemed her friends had caught on. Chloe practically slammed her hand down on Marinette's shoulder, pinning her in place. They had a whispered conversation, as Marinette glanced between Alex, Damian, and Chloe, before the other girl let her go. 

When lunch rolled around, Damian was extremely dissatisfied. One of the most beautiful and opulent displays of art and architecture in the world, and he could barely pay attention to any of it because of work and…acquaintances. He wasn't about to call Marinette his friend, they had only just met. But he felt that he might like to be her friend, if only she would talk to him. 

Lunch was being held in one of the court yards, and was being catered by a variety of restaurants from around the city. But Damian barely paid attention to the other schools and tables as he maneuvered his way to be right behind Marinette in the food line. She jumped a little when she saw him, but she still smiled, so he figured he hadn't done anything too awful. 

Still, he hardly knew where to begin this conversation before just blurting out, "Have you been avoiding me?" 

"What?" Marinette squeaked, "No! I mean–yes–I mean kind of, I thought, you know it's just complicated, and the akuma, and the ice cream and then there's you, and you know, and–" 

"Mari!" Alex said from in front of them in line. "Breathe!"

A flash of anger in Marinette's eyes had Damian almost taking a step back as she spun on Alex with a glare that could kill and said, "You know this is your fault!" 

Alex smiled smugly saying, "I have no idea what you're talking about." 

Marinette sighed and seemed to slump in defeat as she turned back to Damian, "After lunch. There's…something I need to talk to you about." 

Damian nodded but accepted the answer as it was their turn to select their food. As it was, lunch turned out to be a lot more like their boat party than coffee by the Louvre. The Gothamites and the Parisians talked casually about everything and nothing, only this time Damian did not feel nearly as included as the last time. He had a feeling that had to do with Marinette, because she spent a great deal of time on her phone. Sabrina said that she was coordinating one of their events with the teachers. Yet Damian couldn't help but notice that Sabrina, Chloe, and Alex kept glancing at their phones as well. Occasionally one of them would glance at him, except for Alex, who just leaned back with a smuggly amused expression on her face. 

By the end of lunch Damian was bursting with curiosity, but he could be patient. So he waited. True to her word, Marinette was soon leading him away from the group and deeper into the gardens. At first they just walked in silence, as the birds and bugs sang in harmony and the sun shone brightly on the perfectly manicured hedges and the blossoming flowers. Damian was tempted to just sit and sketch the beauty around him, and thought about how Poison Ivy would love this place. But that would have to wait as Marinette stopped. 

They were in a forgotten corner of the expansive gardens. Forgotten, not because it was left to the flowers, but because there was no one there. The cobblestone pavement was devoid of cracks. The hedges were perfectly square. The only sound was the falling water from the gilded fountain, and the birds singing from the branches of the old maples in the four cardinal points. Damian's eyes were immediately drawn to the fountain and the statue dancing in its water. The woman in a flowing robe gilded with gold was frozen in a moment of flight as her gilded wings stretched out behind her. Her skin was a black stone that reflected the light of the water that poured from the needle in her uplifted hand. 

It was a beautiful place, and Marinette made her way through it with familiarity. He took a seat next to her under the smiling gaze of the angel, and watched Marinette mindlessly fidget with the strap of her pink handbag. Damian tried to think of something to say but then Marinette blurted out, "Did you know that the Miraculous have been here before?"

Damian blinked, confused at the sudden change of topic, but said, "I think I read on the blog that Joan of Arc was a previous Ladybug holder." 

A slight smile played on Marinette's lips as she said, "She was…but she wasn't the only one…you see each power has a purpose. Like the Bee miraculous, it holds the Kwami of Subjection, so its purpose is to call people to obey. So in times of war the Bee is used to depower enemies, while in peace it's used to empower true leaders. In fact," she stood and gestured to the angel behind them, "This is the statue of a Bee Holder who empowered Louis XIV to lead his people through the age of enlightenment." 

Damian blinked silently, a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information Marinette had just spewed out as she stood in front of him smiling nervously with her hands behind her back. There were also the implications of that information, and the nature of the Miraculous. More pressingly was the question, 

"How do you know all of this?"

Marinette took a deep breath and said, "I know this, because…because…um…I'm Mulitmouse! The superhero! And I know you're Robin, the vigilante."

Damian froze. 

Chapter Text

Marinette will forever blame her poor decisions of that day on the exhaustion. And she was exhausted. She had awoken from her conversation with Hippolyta and had almost immediately begun to panic. Everything was just simpler in her dreams surrounded by that confidence and power of the Ladybug's before her. Even those who had held the jewels in times of peace were leaders and sages, and they promised that she was worthy to be among them. But when she opened her eyes to a darkened room filled with scattered half finished projects and a long drawn out war, doubt was easier than strength. 

Fortunately, she was used to this jarring transformation of emotions, and immediately set about dispelling the gloom by getting to work. She picked up a dress she was making for Clara Nightingale and lost herself in the embroidery while her brain whirled and alighted on a plan. In just a few hours she was going to have to confront Damian Wayne, one of the richest people on the planet, about being Robin, one of the most well known and influential vigilantes on the planet. She was going to need back up. Plus…plus she was going to have to take away Chat's miraculous…But that was a problem for another day, so she put all her worries to the side and got to work. She spent the rest of the night visiting her allies, stopping a petty crime or two, and processing all of the new information. 

One worry off of her plate was actually one she didn't expect! Apparently Chloe and Sabrina had discovered her secret not long after becoming friends with her. So when Ladybug alighted onto Chloe's balcony and woke the two girls, who were practically living together at this point, they were able to get right to the point. Marinette was not walking into the future chaos of the "Wayne Dilemma" with just Alex for back up. She loved Bunnix, she really did! She was reliable in a serious situation, but she was currently way too amused by all of this to be helpful. 

Fortunately, Chloe and Sabrina had good heads on their shoulders and were able to roll with the punches. Sadly, that didn't mean that they were able to finish planning and preparing at a reasonable hour. Oh no, they had to debate everything from the clothes she was going to wear, to what specifically she should tell him. In the end, they were up until about three am "planning" and the only thing they could agree on was that Marinette had to tell him that she was Ladybug, but not the other member's identities. 

And yet when the time came all she could say was…

"I'm Multimouse! The superhero! And I know you're Robin, the vigilante."

Now, Damian was just staring at her stone faced and cold as Marinette's thoughts spiraled into panic. And of course they did! There was so much to panic about! She'd messed up the plan. She said the wrong persona, and now her potential new friend was frozen in…what? Anger? Fear? Hatred? She wanted to open her mouth and start babbling, but she forced herself to refrain. She had probably just shattered his world, he needed time to process. So she waited, and panicked, and waited, and panicked, until Damian cleared his throat and said, 

"Multimouse?" 

"Mhmm," Marinette said fidgeting relentlessly, "I'm the secret weapon! Basically if things fall apart it's my job to get the Miraculous out of Paris as quickly as possible, while sending clones to try and help the others escape." 

"A solid plan," Damian said, but Marinette could see that every line in his body was as tight as taut thread. Which again, she had to admit made sense, even if it did send her into a panic. "I'm assuming," Damian continued, "That is why Ladybug entrusted you with my identity?" 

"Uh…yeah," Marinette said, already regretting her little half truth, "I guess you could say that Ladybug trusts me more than anyone." 

"So then," Damian said and to Marinette's eyes he seemed to be trying to physically force himself to relax, although it wasn't very effective. "You can broker an introduction." 

"No! I mean…sure…I mean I could! But there's this thing…So you see…" Marinette wanted to kill herself. Why was this so hard?! Talking to him yesterday had been so easy and now she was fighting to be coherent. And here she was thinking she had grown out of the babbling. Some gentle nudges from Tikki grounded her and she took a deep breath. Damian was still staring at her silent and still, with eyes too cold, and hands too tense, for a body too relaxed. She realized that he was gearing up for a fight. She needed to de-escalate this, now! Damian Wayne could not be akumatized.

"I could introduce you," Marinette said as calmly as she could. "But I need to know why. Didn't…your father explain the situation?" 

"He did," Damian said rather tersely, "But that doesn't change the fact that I am here now, and am willing and able to help. I don't need a Miraculous, or even to be Robin. Just tell me how I can end this war." 

Marinette felt as if she could breathe again. For a moment she thought she would have to fight Robin, and through him Batman . Batman! But this…she could work with this. She still needed to deal with the Chat Noir of it all, but that was a problem for tomorrow's Marinette who would doubtlessly be more awake. Exhausted and relieved, which only made her more tired, she plopped herself down beside Damian on the edge of the fountain and breathed. 

"Thank you," she said as sincerely as she could manage. "You have no idea how crazy these last three years have been." 

"I can imagine," Damian said and he seemed to relax too, although he still seemed to be fidgeting with his sleeves. "So…you're a superhero." 

Marinette had to fight not to groan. This was going to be a pain for future Marinette, but future Marinette would be awake and could deal with it so instead she said, "Um, yeah! Multimouse! I can clone myself, only the more clones I make the smaller my stature see!" 

"Where's your miraculous?" 

"Um…" (It was in her yoyo) "I keep it close by, it wouldn't be good for someone to recognize it right!" 

"I thought the Miraculous could disguise themselves?" 

"They…can, but…you can't be too careful right!" 

Damian seemed to accept this, but he was still staring at her with that sharp, piercing gaze that made his vivid green eyes seem almost venomous in the gold reflected light. It made Marinette internally groan. She never could keep her head around attractive people. And why was he still staring at her? Did he know she was only telling him half the story? Was he going to figure it out? Had he already? What exactly had Diana told Mr. Wayne? 

"Have you been trained?" Damian asked, shocking her quickly spiraling thoughts, and Marinette shook herself out of the mental whiplash. 

"Oh! Well, no…I mean yes…I mean kind of? It's a little complicated. Basically the magic of the Miraculous…imbues…yeah imbues you with the experience and skills of the previous holders. But that doesn't mean you know how to use them. It's mostly instinctual. But when you're a true holder, and you are in possession of your true miraculous, then you'll have dreams of the past holders who can train you." 

"Are you a true holder?" 

"Yep! Most of the Miraculous Court are! It was really lucky that so many of us were here in Paris when the war started. Ladybug thinks the Fates might have been involved." 

Damian nodded and said, "What about Chat Noir?" 

Marinette cringed and she knew Damian saw it but she said, "You'll have to talk to Ladybug about that. There's a lot you're going to have to get caught up on." 

"So, she's going to let me help?" 

Marinette felt herself smile. Damian Wayne might be as guarded as Kagami, but he still had emotions. Marinette had spent years helping emotionally stunted people become more open to the world. She could hear the desperation and hope in his voice, and it was so encouraging that she just had to let some of her Ladybugness shine. 

"Yes," she said gently, laying a hand on his arm, "I think you're going to be just what she needs to end this war."

Chapter Text

Damian had a lot of questions. The first of which was this. What was Marinette hiding? It was obvious that she had not told him everything, not that he could blame her. From what he understood about the Miraculous, the Holders, and the people who guarded them, the entire world of the miraculous was both secretive and powerful. Ladybug had probably only authorized her to give him specific information. Not wanting to ruin this chance at establishing a good relationship with the hero, Damian decided that it was best not to push. He could, and would learn more once he was face to face with Ladybug. 

So instead he turned to Marinette questioningly and asked, “What do you mean?”

Marinette sighed as she carefully considered her words. “The miraculous are powerful. The more attuned you are with them, the more of their power you can channel. But the longer you use one the more attuned you become…according to the Guardian, the butterfly and the peacock have been missing since World War Two. Which means depending on Hawkmoth’s age—”

“He has had eighty years at the most. But given his probable age, it is more likely that he has had around twenty to thirty years. Unless there is a possibility that he is one of the true holders you spoke of.”

Marinette snapped her gaze towards him with a glare that bordered on murderous and made him flinch. “No true holder would dare use a miraculous in the way Hawkmoth is. The kwami…we are connected to them…it’s hard to describe, but…in a way they are part of us…you’ll understand once you get your miraculous.”

Damian started but he hid his surprise with the careful control that had been drilled into him since birth. He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and incredulously ask, “Excuse me?”

Marinette smiled knowingly and said, “The Guardian and Ladybug believe that you could be compatible for a miraculous. Ladybug will explain more when you meet her. Until then you need to know how important it is for us to find every true holder we can.”

Damian thought about it and then nodded, “You have only held the miraculous for three years. Even if you are true holders and therefore have the advantage of understanding your power better than Hawkmoth, he has had his miraculous for at least a decade and therefore can channel more power than you. The more he uses his power, the stronger he becomes…You need as many true holders as possible to make up the difference and hopefully breach the power gap.”

Marinette’s smile became gentle, and her features seemed to soften into a shining light as the sun reflected from the golden statue onto her face. “I’m glad you understand. So, are you willing to help us?”

Damian did not smile. The gesture was not natural to him, so he did not insult Marinette by returning her expression. Instead, he nodded to her in deference and said, “I will do all I can to help you win this war. And I will not leave Paris until I do. My father will understand.”

“Good!” Marinette cried jumping up, her genuine, easy cheerfulness returned. “I’m glad. Now let’s get back to the others. I’m sure they're looking for us.”

Damian nodded and followed her out of the small section of the garden. “Will I meet any of the other holders?” 

Marinette's smile became far too smug and knowing, as she said, “Well, technically you’ve already met them. You’ll officially meet them once you have your miraculous, but until then, I wonder if you’ll be able to figure any of them out?”

Damian thought about it and asked, “Does magic protect your identities?” 

Marinette shrugged and said, “Yes and no. It’s a subconscious power. It keeps people from looking for the connection, but not from making it…This should be interesting.” 

Damian accepted that answer and began thinking of all he knew about the current heros of Paris. Granted, it wasn't much, and he barely knew the people who potentially could be their alter egos, but he could be patient. It was his training after all. And yet…he caught Marinette's eye and saw the challenge. She was testing him. Measuring his capabilities, but not in a cruel or dismissive way. Instead she seemed to be saying, 

"You want to stand beside me? Then show me what you got!" It was friendly and teasing, and it ruffled his competitive spirit. So he smirked and said, 

"Well my father is the world's greatest detective. I would be remiss as his son not to even attempt to look for the connection." 

"Alright," Marinette said playfully. "No hints from me though. So let's see what you got!" 

Now Damian was strangely eager to be surrounded by the drivel of their classes. And for the rest of the day he amused himself by silently studying the Parisians as he looked for any clues to the truth of their powers or lack thereof. Even when Marinette was busy herding her class or talking to the teachers, he was entertained by the challenge before him. 

It was easy enough to see that Chloe was Bumble Queen. Her tenure as Queen Bee and general attitude made the connection so obvious he was surprised no one else recognized it. After all, it was no secret that Chloe had held the Miraculous at one point, but he supposed that because of the drastic costume change, and because there had been a third Bee Hero in the past, no one thought to even try to make the connection. He also got the impression that the way Chloe had acted in the past, especially considering the events that led to Hero's Day, meant most people thought she was incapable of the commanding yet selfless heroism that Bumble Queen demonstrated daily. Damian was not fooled. 

This led him to pay close attention to Sabrina. Where Chloe went, so too went the co-president. And where Bumble Queen fought, Miss. Hound was not far behind. Their dynamic was so painfully similar and familiar that Miss. Hound could reasonably be no one else. It was hilarious really, how easy it was to distinguish them. Then again, they were technically the newest heroes, and were still learning to fight in tandem with the others. The oldest heroes however, had been at this for years and doubtlessly knew how to be far more subtle about their identities. 

Viperion, for example, Damian had no idea how to distinguish him. He was too in the background. Too silent, and too composed to determine anything about his identity, other than he was probably a musician. His quiet consistency almost reminded him of Batman. Yet where Batman's identity was steeped in hardened determination, Viperion seemed covered in cool reasoning. Where the world rolled over Bruce, because he was too hard to let anything in. The world rolled over Viperion, because he was untethered to it. Nothing could hurt them because they did not let it. It was a contrast that both encouraged and disturbed, Damian and convinced him that he would never learn Viperion's identity, unless the snake himself removed his mask. 

Ryuko was another matter. In some ways she was like Viperion, in that she was so reserved it made identifying her difficult. But there Damian had the advantage! He had fought alongside Ryuko against the Perfume Zombies. So he had witnessed her distinctive style of sword play that was almost identical to his favorite fencer, Kagami Tsurugi. It was the distinct mix of eastern and western fencing techniques that gave her away. It filled Damian with pride to know that he had fought alongside such an accomplished warrior. 

This left Purple Tigress, Bunnyx, King Monkey, Pegasus, Half Shell, Ladybug, and Cat Noir. He didn't even try to identify Rena Rogue, Vespera, Carapace, and the other heroes that were so infrequent their existence was more rumor than fact. Of the listed heroes, Damian doubted he would be able to find them. However, he had a feeling that due to the identities of the others, he suspected that they all ran in the same social circle. Still they weren't going to be easy to find. 

Purple Tigress was as frequent as the others, but her personality didn't fit any of the classmates that Marinette frequently associated with. Bunnyx seemed to be two completely different people sometimes, one older, one younger. Although both claimed to be Bunnyx and seemed to take joy out of confusing the press. And yet their appearances seemed to be incongruous, and Damian couldn't understand their purpose. They seemed to just show up at random, talk with Ladybug, laugh at the press, and then vanish. It was just too strange for Damian, and because their power wasn't listed, he had no idea where to begin identifying either of the women. So he let it be and moved on. 

While King Monkey, Pegasus, and Half Shell were not as frequent as the others, they were not infrequent either. Because of their racial markers they were the most distinctive. Marinette's class was fairly diverse, but it was not so diverse to make those individuals with the same features as the heroes stand out. Not to mention, there were certain personality features that aligned perfectly with Marinette's classmates. Max's intelligence easily matched the dark skinned Pegasus. Kim's boisterous and childish attitude was identical to the Asian King Monkey. Nino's distinct vocal cadence, and his unique childish yet protective demeanor marked him easily as Arabic Half Shell, and the former Carapace. Although why the sudden change from Carapace to Half Shell, Damian couldn't say. 

That left Ladybug and Chat Noir. Here Damian paused. Should he attempt to discover the heroes' identities? He doubted he could. As far as he could tell, they had gone three years without anyone ever getting close to their identities. Even the most cut throat reporter was put down by Ladybug when asked about her personal life. And while Chat Noir seemed to live for the spot light, he was well adapt at saying nothing while appearing to say something. The only deviation was early in their career, when Chat Noir apparently didn't know the meaning of the word "no." Although that too had changed in recent years with Chat actively shielding Ladybug from the press's prying questions and denying any romance between them. 

Damian could respect the cat for that. He did still find his vainglorious attempts to chase the press and be the center of attention immature and unprofessional to the nth degree! It seemed in every combat situation Ladybug was constantly holding Chat's hand, and Damian found it cringe worthy. According to Wonder Woman the two should be equals, and yet they weren't. 

Damian was just pondering this when Alex skated up to him and leaned against the table he was sitting at. An akuma attack was happening across town, and Marinette had disappeared to confer with the teachers. He was now sitting on a bench watching her friends as he scoured the internet for info. Still he debated if he should actually try to discover Ladybug's identity or not. 

Damian gave Alex a disinterested glance as she smirked at him. "So," Alex cooed, "You and Mari were gone for a while…alone…together…what were you up to?" 

"Nothing of importance or concern to you," Damian said as blandly as he could. 

"Oh really?" Alex sang her smug grin growing until it was Cheshire in size. "So where did you go?" 

"The gardens," Damian said hoping his annoyed and disinterested tone would drive her away. 

"Well isn't that…romantic?" Alex said knowingly. 

Damian sighed and set down his phone. Clearly he was not going to get rid of her without playing her game, but the fact that she was implying that he and Marinette were…Well, it annoyed him that he couldn't escape unfounded, foolish rumors even a country away. People just couldn't stop trying to "tame" him with "love!" It was aggravating. He wanted to say something withering, but he had learned his lesson. 

"Marinette is simply my partner and companion for this journey," he said, "I don't know what juvenile fantasies you are engaging in, but they are completely unfounded." 

"Unfounded?" Alex cried as if he had just said the funniest thing in the world, "Really?" Damian nodded, and Alex's smile was, if possible, even wider. "Well in that case—"

"Sorry I'm late!" Marinette cried. She ran up and then promptly tripped on air. Instinctively Damian caught her before she could hit her head on the table. "Thanks Damian!" She said with a bright smile. 

Damian then noticed that she was wearing the same stone necklace from yesterday. Realizing what it was he glanced at it pointedly and then looked at her. She blushed and winked as she took her seat. Damian turned and Alex was staring at them looking positively smug, in the most annoyingly knowing way he had ever seen. As Marinette began chatting with her other classmates, Damian met Alex's stare with confusion and growing frustration. And then he remembered.

Alex was a meta. She could see the future. Marinette had gotten his colors of ice cream. The websites didn't have any pictures of Multimouse. Only mentioning her as a reserve fighter. But if there was red in her costume then…his ice cream…his perfect partner…

His eyes snapped to Marinette as she laughed brightly at something Nino was saying. He looked back to Alex whose expression never faltered, and he felt his face go pale. 

Chapter Text

Damian was not too proud to admit that he was nervous as the day wore on and the night drew closer. The idea that he had found his "perfect partner" assuming such a thing existed, had thrown him. The people of Paris seemed to completely believe in the concept, and while he found the mental exercise mildly entertaining, he couldn't say that he actually believed in it. But now that the riddle had been presented to him, along with the answer, Damian couldn't stop thinking about it. 

He abandoned his search for the other holders, and found himself almost exclusively watching Marinette. Trying to decide if she would fit this nebulous description of the "perfect partner" and what that would mean for him. What did he even want out of a partner? 

He wanted someone intelligent, as well as competent. Someone capable of matching him physically and mentally. Someone who could defend themselves with enough independent thought to act without him while considering him…He wanted someone kind. His mother thought kindness was weakness, but he had seen enough people with it and without it to know that it was the opposite. People with kindness were stronger than anyone else because they ignored their own instincts to do what is right. People without it were weak. They were predictable and foolish because their only motivation was themselves and their own advancement. They were pathetic and easily defeated, while the kind… the kind would never fall unless they were driven to their knees by powers beyond them. The kind, like Dick, Jon, and the rest of his family were made of steel stronger than titanium. 

Damian was not kind. If there had been any kindness in him at birth, then it was brutally beaten out of him in the mountains of Tibet. He only cared about himself, his inheritance, his goals. Even if his family had wormed their way into his list of concerns, Damian knew in his heart that he would still choose himself. His father had worked hard to teach him the kindness and morality he had lost. Damian still felt as if he was faking the change. He behaved morally because it furthered him, not for its own sake. No, when Damian examined himself compared to his family he saw and he knew. He was weak. He was not kind. And the only reason he was alive was because he was surrounded by the strong. 

As Damian thought it through, he realized that these things described Marinette. She had already proven her mental capacity. If she was physically on the same level as the rest of the Paris Heroes, then she was more than physically capable. From everything he had seen of her class, she was kind. She always considered everyone and their opinions. She worked hard to make everyone comfortable and safe. She was trusted by the heroes. Her work went almost completely unnoticed, but, if her interactions with Lila and Alya were anything to go by, then she never let anyone push her around. 

By the time they left the Palace and made their way to dinner, Damian had realized that Marinette was indeed everything he could ask for in a partner. Of course, he barely knew her. His initial assessment could be completely off, and only time would find the truth. However, his instincts had pointed him one way, and he trusted them above everything else. So, on the drive to the restaurant he came to an important resolution. 

If Ladybug was going to give him a Miraculous. Then he would only accept if he could be partnered with Marinette. 

So when Marinette approached him at the restaurant, pressed a note into his hand and winked. His apprehension rose. It told him to be at his room's balcony at exactly midnight, and Ladybug would speak to him. He tensed and watched everyone warily. Things were moving too fast, and he wasn't ready. It wasn't helping, that the day was wearing on and the second akuma had yet to arrive. All of the Parisians sat tensely and their smiles had become plastered. It was like they were waiting for a storm, but could do nothing to prepare. 

Damian took to saying nothing. He did not want to cause another akuma, as he needed Ladybug to trust him with her most trusted ally. The anticipation, combined with the revelation, and accentuated by trepidation, saw Damian pacing his balcony a whole hour early as he reviewed everything he knew about the Miraculous and Ladybug. 

The clock struck midnight and Damian froze. He waited and then there was a thump behind him. He spun and saw the hero Viperion slinking out of a crouch, small smirk on his lips, lyre on his hip. "Where is Ladybug?" Damian demanded coldly. 

"Waiting on you," Viperion said calmly, "You have your suit?" 

Damian blinked, and he held up the case Ladybug had asked him to bring. Viperion nodded with a smile and said, "You can change when we get there. Until then do I have your permission to carry you." 

Mentally, Damian appreciated the Snake's consideration, but outwardly he maintained his stoicism as he nodded silently. Viperion did not do anything as embracing as a fireman or princess carry, but he did feel a little foolish as the taller man wrapped an arm around his waist and lifted him into the air pressing him to his side. Still the journey was fast and kept to the shadows. No one saw them, and Damian felt that he could give the Bats a run for their money in terms of parkour stealth. In the end it took less than ten minutes for Viperion to set him down on the top of the Eiffel Tower and usher him into the room at the top. 

Robin changed quickly, and stepped out with a deep breath. The first thing he noticed was the heroine standing a little to his right. She was leaning against the railing, looking over her city. She was releasing and pulling back her yoyo as if it was a regular toy. The sound of her catching it and releasing the thread created a hypnotic beat to the ambient music of the wind and the city. Viperion seemed to agree as he relaxed against the Tower and began to strum a melody in tune with the night and his leader. 

Robin took the silent invitation to join Ladybug at the railing, and look out over the city. The view was breathtaking. Paris truly was the City of Lights as the glowing rivers of life shaped the word below him. He wanted to paint it, but now wasn't the time. Still it was an eerily still moment, until Ladybug said with a sigh, 

"Sometimes I never look twice at it. I'm too busy chasing one thing or another. Then I come to moments like tonight, and it just hits me all over again…this is one hell of a view." 

Robin nodded considering, "I find the view from the top of Wayne Tower is the same." 

"Which one's better?" Ladybug said, looking at him slyly. 

Robin tilted his head and considered both views in his mind's eye before saying. "I do not know. The beauty in Gotham is in its tower architecture cutting into the night. Here the beauty is in the complex patterns created by the sprawling city scape. They are too different to properly compare." 

"Spoken like an artist," she said curiously. 

Robin shrugged non committedly as he watched her lazily release and catch her yoyo out of the corner of his eye. "What happens if that falls off your finger?" 

"Then it will fall and I will have to retrieve it," Ladybug said, still looking out over the city. "But that won't happen."

"Because you are skilled, or because it's magic?" 

"Both," Ladybug said with a smile, "So what can Paris do for Gotham?" 

"I think," Robin said as politically as he could, "The proper question is, what can Gotham do for Paris?" 

"Oh?" 

"Yes, Batman is very eager to end this conflict. I am here for as long as you need me. The full weight of the Justice League is at your disposal." 

There was a zipping snap as Ladybug caught her yoyo and ended the rhythm. Silence echoed over the Tower even though the city was never silent. It did not last long as Viperion gave a silent chuckle and continued to strum his lyre. Ladybug was now watching him with a mix of incredulity and amusement as she turned her back to the city. 

"The Justice League would not help us before. What's changed now?" 

Robin tensed, but was ready for this response, "There is no excuse for our neglect of you and your plight. Please, on behalf of the entire League accept our apology and allow us to help you. There is now nothing more important than ending this war and protecting your citizens." 

Ladybug shook her head and leaned back still a tired smile gracing her face. "There's nothing to forgive. The fact is, the League would just make things worse. The best thing they can do for Paris is stay away." 

Expecting this Robin was able to remain calm but he still had to ask, "May I ask why?" 

"Because," Ladybug said staring at the empty sky, "Absolute Power corrupts absolutely and that's what the Miraculous are. Absolute power. Or at least, the promise of it. Just the thought of someone like Dr. Fate in the presence of an unclaimed miraculous…" she shivered. "It's hard to explain, but the reason Holders must be chosen is because we have to be able to equally use and resist the powers given to us. The Miraculous want to be unleashed, and if they are not released in the proper way, then we will be faced with nothing but death and destruction. Even then, our virtue is not guaranteed. It is not an easy task." 

Damian nodded. He understood completely, but his father had insisted that he offer. He had offered and so now it was time for what he wanted. "Yet Marinette suggested that there was something I could do for you." 

Ladybug nodded and turned to look at him. "I believe you could potentially be a true holder. Our proper title is Conscience of the Gods, but that doesn't roll off the tongue as well." 

Damian stiffened, thinking back on his life, "I am nobody's conscience." 

Ladybug chuckled, "Gods like the kwami don't need to be told right from wrong the same way humans do. Their instincts are for the forces they control and embody. Creation can be good in that it brings life, but it can be evil as it can overwhelm the other forces until they are desolate. My job as the Holder, as the 'Conscience,' is to temper that power. Limit it and show Tikki the value of Destruction.

"You see, humans have a unique ability. We can choose. We can choose to stop, to change. The elemental forces of this world. They are the same, and will always be the same. Until the world ends.

"So Robin, what I'm asking you is actually quite simple. Should the Guardian give you access to one of the fundamental powers of nature? Should I put a god in your pocket and give you full access to its power and nature? Would you be able to say no? Could you temper their wrath and channel their anger? Could you say no to power?" 

There was no physical change in Damian. No shift of expression, or change in position, but internally he was shivering. He looked into the glowing blue eyes of the heroine and saw the power contained within them. The power, and the exhaustion. He now fully comprehended what she was asking of him, and it was terrifying. In the end, he could say nothing but the truth.

"I do not know," his voice deceptively analytical and emotionless, "It would depend on the power. I am not a good person, but I understand some concepts better than others. I think I could help you, but do not give me any power that you are not certain belongs to me. Of all of my family, I am perhaps the most corruptible." 

The music stopped, but Ladybug smiled, gentle and kind. Kindness that radiated off of her in warming waves, "The fact that you said that makes me think that you are perhaps the most dependable." 

Damian froze. That kindness, it was so familiar, and that smile was speaking to him in a way he barely understood. He thought he could recognize her, he should recognize her, if only he could make the connection. In fact, if he didn't know any better, Damian would have thought that…

Ladybug interrupted his thoughts with a wave of her hand and said, "Of course, right now I don't have a miraculous to give you. The Guardian has their ideas, but nothing will be confirmed until a decision is made. How long will you be in Paris?" 

"As long as Hawkmoth is in power," Damian said simply. 

Ladybug smiled and said, "Very well. In that case, I suggest you be on your best behavior tomorrow. Hawkmoth has broken pattern so we can expect a rough day of akumas." 

Robin nodded and then said his good byes. He went to bed with his roommate being none the wiser all together satisfied with the events of the night. 

Young Bunnyx and Old Bunnyx rounded opposite sides of the tower, as Viperion vanished with a "de-transformed" Damian Wayne. Ladybug turned to them slumped with exhaustion but with a desperate hope in her eyes that sent pangs through the time travelers' hearts. Their leader deserved better than this burden. Still they stayed silent until she asked. 

"Well," her voice pleading quietly, "For better or for worse?" 

"He said the right words," Young Bunnyx said eagerly and cheerfully. 

Old Bunnyx nodded more sedately, but no less pleased, "There are still many ways that this can go wrong…but, it looks like you're on the right path." 

Ladybug sighed in relief as she slumped against the railing. One problem solved, ninety nine more to go, but it was something. Still there was something she could not ignore, no matter how happy she was to find her true Black Cat. She turned to Old Bunnyx meeting tired stare with tired stare and asked, 

"What's coming tomorrow?" 

"The final nail," Old Bunnyx said seriously, "In which coffin…that is undecided. Mini-me and Baby Snake need to be hidden until the fight is over. This is going to be a tough one Mini-bug. You will get through this! Trust your team and trust yourself. This war, it's about to change." 

Ladybug nodded and straightened to look out at her city. It was her city. She was going to protect it. And Hawkmoth…well, he could go fuck himself. 

Chapter Text

It was now the fourth day of the Conference, and despite the dangers of the akuma, everyone from Gotham was having fun. The true Gothamite levels of apathy were showing as they quickly established that if they just kept their heads down, didn't make a fuss, and obeyed the safety procedures, then they would be fine. It was just like home! None of the Gothamites now dared to say that the Parisians were fools for fearing Hawkmoth. There was something about being mind controlled to hunt down their classmate by a monsterfied peer, that took all doubt from them. 

Unfortunately that made the differences between Paris and Gotham that much more glaring. The sun shined in Paris, while the smog and rain of Gotham put the city in an almost perpetual twilight. The Parisians held their heads high in defiance of their villain. While the Gothamites bowed their heads low so as not to draw attention. It was strange to watch such fortitude from people not from Gotham, and it was almost…shaming for the Gothamites to witness. 

Gothamites took pride in their ability to overcome hardship. They delighted in shocking people with their cold apathy for danger and the world. They scoffed at others for flinching at lesser dangers that they lived with everyday. From the richest to the poorest, the Gothamites were proud of their ability to survive. Yet they walked with their heads bowed, skirting in and out of shadows. But the Parisians…the Parisians walked with straight backs and false yet strong smiles. It was as if they were daring Hawkmoth to take them. They looked at the danger of their city and their impending doom and laughed. It was strange and Damian couldn't understand it. 

So he watched them. He watched the city and he noticed a few things that disturbed him. One, was that the Gothamites in an attempt to cope with their reality had decided to completely ignore the dangers and act as if nothing was going on. However, they were fidgeting with their phones and constantly glancing up at the sky. Two, was that the Parisians were not nearly as nonchalant as they were the day before. Yesterday they had the brazen carelessness that the Gothamites had come to envy. But this morning the straight backs were ramrod straight. They tensed and flinched at loud noises, and their smiles were more plastered grimaces. 

When the bus stopped in front of a large arena not far from the school, Damian went straight to Marinette. She and those around her did not pretend to be happy and carefree. Instead a deadly serious was around them separating them from the rest of their peers. They watched the sky warily and their expressions were dark and hesitant as they watched the people around them with calculating eyes. 

Observing the teenagers he now knew to be the heroes of Paris, Damian felt his own spine stiffen as he turned to Marinette. She met his gaze with determination and fear, saying softly, "Hawkmoth has broken his pattern, and Ladybug just issued a warning. Something big is coming and all of us need to be ready." 

"For?" 

Marinette shook her head and Damian once again saw the deep seated exhaustion that hid behind her bright smile. "That's one of our biggest disadvantages. We have no idea what could possibly come next. It could be anything, a level 10, a mass akumitization, anything. But all the signs point to Hawkmoth making a big move, so…just be ready." 

"My suit is back at the hotel," Damian gruffly whispered, "And I don't have a miraculous." 

Marinette looked at him so softly, Damian froze trying to decipher what it meant. Only Selina, Bruce, and Alfred looked at him like that, as if he had just done the greatest thing in the world, but he had no idea what he had done. Gently she said, "Thank you, for being ready to help, but don't worry. Just stay where we can find you quickly and privately, so Ladybug can call on you when you're needed." 

Damian nodded silently as he scanned their location with all of the stoic training of his childhood as the many buses of the many schools from the many countries slowly unloaded their charges. It seemed that the other foreigners were faring in Paris just as well as the Gothamites. Damian doubted that they had been involved in any attacks yet. Still there was a general air of anticipation and anxiety that was distracted as the teachers began explaining the day's event. 

"Today is the Host Fair!" Mr. Robertson declared. "As is tradition, the host country if the conference has gathered vendors from all over their country to represent the many different aspects of their culture. Artists, musicians, chefs, athletes, politicians, religious leaders, and the like have all been gathered to the Fair so that we can learn from them."  

"Stay with your partners!" Mlle Mendeliev cried, "And you will be free to peruse the many vendors and stalls as you like. Remember, you are not the only school here, so mind yourselves and be on your best behavior." 

"Or in other words," Alix whispered to their little gaggle of peers, "Don't cause any akumas."  

The Parisians sighed dejectedly, and Damian understood why. Saying don't cause an akuma while going into a high profile event with literally hundreds of hormone and anxiety riddled teenagers was like asking the Joker not to attack a Wayne Gala. Still everyone was pleasantly excited to begin the Fair as they moved into the grand arena. That didn't mean that they could escape Mlle. Bustier's lecture about the location and the importance of the event. Of course the only thing that was actually useful in her tirad was that Ladybug and Chat Noir had fought their first battle here. Still the main focus of everyone there was the Fair. 

The field had been conquered by a grid of tents, carts, and tables turning the arena into a miniature city. And milling between the lanes were the students looking like a swarm of ants from the top of the stadium. Still there was nothing amiss. The vendors hawked quality goods that were native to France. The various celebrities were kind and encouraging to their fans. Even the politicians were on their best behavior, as everyone seemed to be intent on making this Fair the most pleasant experience possible. 

Damian spent the time with Marinette and prepared himself for a rather dull evening of perusing while they waited desperately for Hawkmoth's next move. Instead Damian's expectations were once again overthrown. As it turned out Marinette Dupain-Cheng was known to a great many celebrities. Who upon seeing Marinette demanded to take her aside and speak with her. It was a very surreal experience for Damian Wayne, who was used to being the center of attention when surrounded by the rich, powerful, and famous. Instead, he was practically ignored as Marinette was warmly greeted by the likes of Clara Nightingale, Jagged Stone, Nadja Chamack, and Mayor Bourgeois. 

He watched her as they moved away from Nightingale's stage. Marinette was practically glowing from the warm praise of the internationally acclaimed singer, and there was a cheerfully bounce to her step as they moved to look at some of the artwork on display. 

"What did you do for her?" Damian finally asked. 

"Oh! Clara?" Marinette said as she casually examined a painting. "I just designed some dresses for her." 

Damian raised an eyebrow in surprise and skepticism. "You're sixteen." 

"Yes," Marinette said casually. 

"And you designed outfits for Clara Nightingale?" 

"As a matter of fact I designed outfits for almost everyone we've talked to today," Marinette declared smugly. 

"Really?" Damian said doubtfully.

Marinette smiled slyly as she turned to him. "I assume you have heard of the elusive designer MDC?" 

"Of course," Damian scoffed, "My family has been on their waiting list for months. Drake is quite obsessed."

Marinette smirked knowingly and Damian froze. She laughed at his expression and said, "When I was thirteen, I had the opportunity to design some sunglasses for Jagged. They were the most gaudy and atrocious thing I had ever created, so of course he loved them! Things kind of snowballed after that." 

"Why not use your real name?" Damian asked, still reeling.  

Marinette's smile turned fond as she said, "My parents insisted. They wanted me to focus on being a normal teenager and going to school, so they helped me set up my business on the condition that I stay anonymous and only do commissions so I can focus on school." 

Damian thought on this for a moment and then smirked saying, "How's that normal teenager plan working for you?" 

"Terribly," Marinette said with a sigh and a smile. "But they don't need to know that." 

Damian smirked in amusement and finally began to relax as they made their way through the Fair. Little did they know what was happening on the other side of the arena, where Mlle. Bustier was speaking with the other teachers. It was during their conversation that some of her teaching techniques, especially those concerning discipline were called into question. 

She became defensive and scared as the knowledge of Hawkmoth lurking weighed on her mind. The fact was that she loved her students, and she wanted them safe. Yet everything she did only seemed to hurt them, or akumatize them. It was painful. It was terrible. It hurt her and it hurt her kids! She just wanted to help them. She just wanted to protect them! Why couldn't everyone just be NICE!! 

While Mlle. Bustier fought her spiraling thoughts. Lila Rossi left one Will from Gotham shocked on the stairs. He of course had been warned away from her, but that didn't stop Lila from cornering him, once Sabrina was in the bathroom and whispering lies in his ears. Lies that prayed on his insecurities, his poverty, his doubts. He had fought to rise above his situation and his no good parents, and this trip was proof of that. He had earned his place in the Martha and Thomas Wayne Foundation Scholarship Program! Somehow that didn't seem to matter as Lila pressed every one of his buttons to drive him into anger and doubt.

Marinette and Damian moved blissfully through the stalls. Adrien Agreste and his partner were chatting up a vendor. Young Alix was moving towards a forgotten corner of the arena while Kathryn was distracted with a stall. Mlle. Bustier and Will were standing frozen on opposite sides of the stadium lost in their emotions. Two glowing purple butterflies were silently falling from the sky to touch their victims. Far away across Paris, Hawkmoth laughed as he created two separate high level akumas. Independent of each other, and under his own power. No one was enhancing his strength. Nothing was supplementing his weaknesses. It was all him. 

The butterflies landed gently on a single stick of lipstick, and a chipped but precious key chain. And a voice echoed in the minds of the innocents. 

"Zombizu, Equalizer, I am Hawkmoth."

Chapter Text

When the akuma alert went off, everyone froze. The Parisians pulled out their phones, but none of them had a chance to check the notice as a scream tore through the air. Understanding rippled through the crowd like a stone tossed in water emanating from the location of the akuma. Suddenly the whole arena was sent into a storm of screaming and rushing people as the world descended into chaos. In the middle of it Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Damian Wayne stood as still as stone statues, hard and unyielding. Before moving, Marinette, and therefore Damian, checked their phones. 

AKUMA ALERT: LEVEL 8

Akuma: Zombizu

Total Evacuation Protocol in Effect: All citizens head to the nearest Akuma shelter. Anyone unable to reach shelter, hide until the Miraculous cure goes out. 

Special Notice: Avoid all Zombies. Do not touch the Zombies.

Ladybug: MIA

Chat Noir: MIA

Marinette looked up with a slightly panicked look in her eyes but she hid it well under a cold venier of determination. "Make your way to the locker room!" She demanded pointing in the general direction of the stands. "Ladybug will find you if she needs you. Now go!" 

She brooked no argument and Damian barely thought to question her before he turned and ran. The jostling of the crowd was intense as people desperately searched for any way to hide or escape, but Damian was a trained assassin, who spent his childhood dodging blades and bullets. Ducking and diving through the spaces in-between people should have been easy, yet it was difficult. Outside of Marinette's vague direction, he really had no idea where he was supposed to go. 

A slight vibration in his pocket had him coming up short. He jumped in-between two abandoned stalls, and checked the message to make sure Marinette didn't need him. When he saw the message every muscle in his body froze. 

ALERT UNKNOWN AKUMA

Possible Level: 6-10

Location: Paris International Futbol Field

Suspected Power: Unknown

Total Evacuation Protocol in Effect

Ladybug: ON THE SCENE

Chat Noir: ON THE SCENE

Temporary Heroes:

Bumble Queen: ON THE SCENE

Miss. Hound: ON THE SCENE

Purple Tigress: ON THE SCENE

King Monkey: ON THE SCENE

Pegasus: ON THE SCENE

Half Shell: ON THE SCENE

(If you have more information on the akuma submit it here: Link)

Damian cursed. It seemed that Ladybug was pulling on every available member of her team. And it made sense! Two high level akumas with one of them a level eight. This meant a mass target and thousand-millions of victims. And one of them was unknown. A terrible situation in the best of circumstances, but in this?

Damian slammed his phone into his back pocket and took stock of his situation. The chaos was only growing, and it was now at the point where Damian had no idea what was going on further than five feet around him. His scowled deepened, and he wanted to scream. He was needed. Ladybug could be looking for him at that moment, but couldn't find him because everything was in pure chaos. 

He picked a random direction and thought to make a run for it when someone grabbed his collar and like a misbehaving kitten and yanked him back into the cover of the stalls. Damian growled and followed the momentum so that he was able to twist out of the grip and spin to face his attacker. He froze in his battle stance and blinked. 

Before him was a Miraculous user. It had to be. The costume was too perfect a blend of functionality and whimsy to be anything else. The clear yet subtle animal motifs of the costume seemed natural on the young hero, and identified them more clearly than anything else could. And yet there was something unique about this user, something "other" in them that had Damian standing straighter in respect. 

The blue suit with white plated body armor just seemed more…complete than the other users. Her blue bunny ears stood up starkly in her short red hair, but there was nothing silly or clumsy about them, like Chat Noir's ears. Instead they seemed as natural and cohesive as if she were born to them. It was like…It was like this hero was complete. Where Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the others were still growing and transforming into their roles, this woman had fully realized her place and her power and was preparing to use it. 

Her eyes were sapphires glowing with power equal to Ladybug's and Damian fully comprehended who exactly he was looking at, "Bunnix, I presume." 

Young Bunnix smirked in amusement and twirled her parasol around her wrist, "You presume correctly, Mr. Wayne, or should I call you Little Wing?" 

The casual use of his brother's favorite nickname for him was like a slap to the face, and he just barely resisted the urge to growl as he said, "I'd rather you didn't." 

Bunnix just chuckled and opened her umbrella before her. Secret knowledge seemed to surround her like a cloud as she regarded him in amusement. "No matter," she cooed, "But now's not the time for idle chit chat! Burrow!" She cried and in a blur she spun and thrust out her hand. A circle of white light appeared before them, and before Damian could protest, Bunnix had pulled him through the obvious portal. 

Damian had barely caught a glimpse of the in-between space Bunnix had pulled him through, before he was stumbling behind her onto the top of the stadium. He looked down at what had once been a neatly ordered city on a sunny, green field and was now swirling mass of colors and screams. It was like two waves crashing and surging against each other. Each forced away by two opposing tides, only to collide to a stand still. It was chaos and Damian barely knew how to register the screams that filled the air like a miasma. From this vantage he couldn't see the akumas or the heroes. But he knew they were there. 

He turned to Bunnix expectantly, as she watched the chaos with sad forlorn eyes. "Zombizu," she explained, pointing to the northern end of the field. There Damian watched in fascination as a calmness spread across the field like a creeping frost. The screaming, surging mass was slowly freezing and then lazily spreading out, as if they had nothing more to fear. "She has a casualty count in the low thousands, because her goal is to get everyone to be nice. Her sway is spread through kissing…I'm sure you can see how such a wide spread thrawl can quickly lead to a level eight status." 

Damian cringed, and was suddenly very glad he was so removed from the fight. The idea of such an assault on his person that sucked away his free will and drove him to assault others, was grating on his very core. What would happen after they were all "nice?" Would the compulsion become stronger? How would that affect their behaviors? Was there a limit on what Zombizu considered too "nice?" If kissing was the threshold, then what happened next? 

Bunnix's arm crossed his vision and pointed to the south side of the field. "Equalizer," she said and Damian watched a similar creeping coldness occuring on the other side of the field, only it was accentuated by a leaching of all color out of the world. "Has decided that no one should stand above another. And so is making everyone equal. No one will be richer. No one will be poorer. Not smarter, dumber, weaker or stronger. All will be equal." 

A shiver of fear ran through his spine. The echoes of his mother and grandfather pounding into him the lesson of his superiority. That wealth and status were everything, to the point where the world had no joy as everything became a scramble to prove that superiority. He had long since abandoned their philosophy, but he still held himself proud and confident in his family and their greatness. Greatness born of a superiority of skill, intelligence, and kindness. They were the Wayne's. They were greater because they had made themselves greater! No one could take that away from them. No one. 

A cold rage settled in his stomach as he prepared to pound this Equalizer into the dust. But Bunnix was not done. "Anyone who accepts equality will become his soldier to bring others into the fold. Anyone who resists will be 'brought to the proper level.'" 

"Which means?" Damian growled. 

"The lesser will be made tall, and the greater will be made small…through the use of a guillotine, since we're in France. Viva la Revolution. On any other day this would make him a level seven at the least and a level nine at the most." 

Damian scowled as the two creeping ices inched closer and closer. "What happens," He asked coldly, "When the two meet?" 

"Catastrophe," Bunnix said, folding her arms. "The real problem is that their motives complement each other. So when they meet, instead of canceling each other out, the magic feeding on their emotions will only build and amplify each other to the worst possible extreme. And the further their influence spreads, the stronger they become. You have five fours before this becomes a level 11 situation." 

Damian sighed deeply and closed his eyes. He didn't doubt Bunnix. He didn't know her role, but from Marinette's vague and somewhat creepy explanation, Bunnix was to be trusted implicitly. Besides, he didn't need proof or confirmation. He could see it. So he turned to Bunnix solemnly and said, "What do you need from me?" 

Bunnix smirked knowingly, as if there was a secret joke that only she knew and stepped aside. There stood Ladybug, her frame tense with fear, her eyes glowing with power, her expression as solid as stone. 

"Damian Wayne," Ladybug said, holding out a small black box with the red symbol of the Miraculous upon it. "This is the Miraculous of the Fox. You will use it to protect Paris and the World, and then return it to me after the battle. Do you accept it?" 

Damian did not smile, waver, or smirk. He simlpy stood at attention and said as solemnly as if we're swearing an oath, "I do."

Chapter Text

Five

Damian wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to respond to the miniature, bobble headed fox that flew out of the necklace as soon as he put it on. Or how the necklace almost immediately transformed into a tasteful black chain with a silver round pendant that would have blended well with the entirety of his wardrobe. To tell the truth, he barely gave himself time to process the fact that he was about to engage in obvious and powerful magic before he declared the activation phrase, and the transformation began. 

He felt as if he was falling into light as power, true power, filled him. He felt as if he had never been alive until the power coursed over his body like a waterfall crashing over his head in a soothing caress. He understood exactly why no one unsuited to the Miraculous should ever be near them. It was hard to describe, but later when he reported to his father he would describe it as a flood of pure cosmic energy crashing into his consciousness trying to consume him. 

The power wanted to act, it wanted to move. It had a will, and that will was to shift. To shift the world into a new form, a better form. The way it was meant to be. To coat the world in light and twist it into a better vision. A better time, a better place. He could do it. He could heal the world with a snap of his figures and everything ugly, everything terrible, and wrong, and evil would disappear under his mirage of power. But he didn't. 

There was a wall, a consciousness between him and the unlimited cosmic force that would control the world. It stood between him and the power like a net, catching the full force of the energy and only letting the barest trickles seep through and into him. It was enough power to push him to move, to act, to understand the nature of what he held, but it did not overwhelm him. It did not control him and he could maintain his own consciousness. All that, combined with his training as an assassin, the morality of his family, and his experience as a vigilante he understood exactly what he was supposed to do and how the power should be used. 

He knew that the second consciousness was Trixx, the adorable god he had met earlier. And now he knew that they were anything but adorable. While their form was small and cute, their will was immense and unyielding, as they controlled the cosmic storm that was within them and was them. He knew Trixx liked him. The consciousness within them seemed to cackle as his mind grasped their power and contained it. He decided that the best response to the situation was to smirk in satisfaction and take stock of the battle one more time through the eyes of the Miraculous. 

The transformation and his revelations had taken less than a minute, so the sight of the two creeping calms were more or less the same. Only they had grown and were closer. He vaguely wondered if Bunnix's prediction of five hours were off, but he did not allow the thought purchase as his eyes found the beacons of power, that was his new team. They did not look any different now that he could see them through the eyes of the kwami, but his power recognized theirs. And as long as they were transformed and in his line of site, he would know where they were. 

He turned to Ladybug and froze. The power he recognized in her was unmatched but untamed, and it seemed to blaze like a bonfire compared to the candles everyone else held. At the sound of someone landing beside him, Damian turned and saw Chat Noir leaning on his staff and smiling cockily at them all. And Damian gaped. Chat Noir despite all of his childish incompetence was like Ladybug. Filled with power, that…was like his. That was when another reflection hit him. His power came from them! Order and Chaos. Bad Luck and Good. The way they combined and swirled around each other created all things that came between. Illusions, protection, time, the elements themselves. It was all a part of the sliding scale that was the balance between Order and Chaos. The Black Cat and the Ladybug. 

Trixx seemed to cackle in his mind, as he came to these conclusions. But Damian only scowled as he realized how Chat was so ill-suited for the power he had been given. Ladybug seemed to sense his understanding, as she seemed pleased but immediately took charge of the situation before anything could be said.

"Our primary goal is containment, evacuation, and isolation. Half Shell and Pegasus are already on evacuation. Bumble Queen, Miss. Hound, Purple Tigress and King Monkey are containing the hoards. Your job is to isolate the akumas, so Chat Noir and I can take their objects. Young Bunnix will support Chat, and Viperion will support me. When Ryuko gets here, send her to Chat. By the way, what's your call sign and how many illusions can you create?" 

Damian allowed himself a moment to be impressed by Ladybug's quick and effective leadership. Still the answers seemed to come to him almost unbidden, as if they were instinctual, and he knew that it was Trixx lending him a hand. "Call me Shadow Fox. And three." 

Ladybug smiled proudly and said, "You're very attuned to your miraculous. Focus on isolation and come support me when you're ready. Oh, and nice uniform!" 

She bounded down the stands followed quickly by the others and Shadow Fox took the time to examine his costume. It was a lot like his Robin costume with his hood and armored books, only sleeker. There was no cape, or utility belt, only a burgundy and silver lined flute at his waist. His body armor was plated silver, and the kevlar under it was that rich burgundy red of natural foxes. Not that garish orange and white of previous holders. Also, his armor was not the modern segmented pieces that Ladybug, and some of the other heroes wore. Instead it was rather traditional, almost like what he wore with the league, but far more streamlined for combat than ceremony. 

A sudden foreboding hit him as he glanced at Chat. He quickly felt his head, and…yes those were fox ears. He sighed, but couldn't bring himself to feel embarrassed or silly. The power within him combined with the familiar weight of kevlar and armor, made him feel confident and bold, and almost light despite the natural weight of his thoughts. It was nice and he couldn't help but feel cheerful as he pulled out his…sigh…magic flute weapon. But he didn't charge into the fight, instead he slunk into the shadows and began his careful search for the villains. 

The power of the Fox made him faster and more silent than he ever had been before. He had a feeling that he would be able to sneak up on any of the Kents with this magic, but he put the thought away as he found himself on the edge of the battle field. 

Down here the chaos was worse as the great crowd pushed and rushed to escape the enemy on both sides. The clearly defined lines he'd seen from above were lost in the madness, here there was only movement and noise as the world panicked. Shadow saw a woman stumble and fall as she clutched her crying child. A large group surged forward without seeing her. Damian tensed to run for her, when a green dome appeared around them and effectively stopped everyone within a ten foot radius dead in their tracks. 

Half Shell landed with a thud on the dome and shouted—loud, commanding, and almost nothing like the casual Nino Damian had met, "Everyone clear the field! Make your way to the tunnels at the center of the stands! Protect each other, now go!" 

Shadow Fox nodded in approval as everyone within hearing silently began running to the obvious exits. Slowly the mass movement created a current in the chaos, as those panicking recognized those with purpose and quickly followed suit. Still it was too slow. The space was too large. There were too many people and Half Shell had just used one of his precious shields. Yes the number of times he could use his shields had increased over the years, but he was still limited. Shadow Fox was also limited as he considered what he could do to isolate the akumas. He didn't even know exactly where they were! There were too many people. The hoards were growing too fast. The other holders were busy, and he only had three spells. He couldn't waist even one. 

He was wasting time. He needed to act. 

"Half Shell!" He called. 

The green hero was in a costume similar to the rest of the team. Black bodysuit with plated body armor patterned after his animal. Only he had a hood, and armored boots like Shadow Fox. Half Shell seemed to flinch at the sight of Damian, but he shook it away as he said, 

"Yo dude! You're the new fox right? Shadow Fox!" 

Shadow Fox ignored the tinge of sadness in Half Shell's words and said, "Yes, now I'm going to coat the field in the illusion of a maze with clear channels to the exits. If I do this, will you be able to find stranded citizens and lead them to the central channel?" 

"Only if the illusion is solid dude, otherwise, you're going to confuse our friends more than our enemies. By the way, can you even do that? Rena Rogue said solid illusions were really hard and drained her transformation too fast! The largest solid thing she could do was like a cell phone!"

Shadow Fox thought for a moment. Could he do that? The impression he got from Trixx was that yes. Yes he could. Trixx didn't exactly speak to him. It was more like he got a sense of their emotions, and it fueled to say, "The old fox was inadequate. She had potential to be chosen, but did not truly understand the nature of truth and illusion. In the end she failed. I will not." 

Half Shell visibly winced at this assessment but nodded solemnly, "Yeah, we'll do what you need to do dude. You're doing great! Just stay out of Ladybug's way and do what she says and you'll be fine. Oh and when in doubt, find Multimouse! She's usually lurking at the edges of big fights like this." 

With that Half Shell bounded away. Shadow Fox leapt up onto the barrier between the field and stands and prepared his flute. He briefly considered that he didn't know how to play the flute, before the consciousness between him and the power parted. The slow seep of energy turned into a gushing stream like when he transformed, and the knowledge of what he had to do filled him. He put the weapon to his mouth, because that was the only thing it could be, and played a simple tune. The power flowed through and out of him and into the weapon, how could he ever think it was silly, causing it to glow with power. But the ball of light that formed was a pale imitation of the currents within him. 

 "Mirage!" He cried, because the sound of rushing power filled his ears with so much static that he thought he was going deaf. In his mind his only thought was of stone. The cold stone of labyrinths his grandfather had made him run in his childhood. The solid concrete of the twisting tunnels under Gotham. The endless and complicated mazes that he had been running his whole life. He saw them in his mind and gave them form. 

He threw the light and the image he had created formed. Two separate mazes with a wide channel in the middle effectively cutting off the hoards, protecting the citizens, and isolating the villains. Yes it was an illusion, but it wasn't a lie. It was the truth of the world. Life was a labyrinth of twists, turns, and dead ends, leading to a finish line that was unseen and unknown. Damian had know that since he was a child, first learning how to kill and avoid torture. It was the truth. So when the light settled and the curtain was drawn on the power within him, there stood a real, solid, complete maze. One that Shadow Fox knew every twist and turn of. Within an instant the top of the stone walls was covered in heros running to do their jobs and saluting Shadow Fox as they went. 

Damian sighed as the crowd of civilians in the middle of the field began to calm, as Half Shell and Pegasus herded them with a great deal more ease than before. Trixx cackled in his mind as he said to himself. "I see now why we're so limited with our spells." 

"Yeah it's a lot," a voice sounded below him. 

Shadow Fox spun into a defensive stance, and froze. It was Bunnix, but…older. She was wearing the same white and blue costume, with the same bush of bright red hair. She was an adult. She was taller and stronger, and Damian now recognized that she had twice the power of her counterpart. Yet she had that same mischievous, knowing look. As if life was some grand joke but only she knew the punchline. And it was a look that he knew…

"Alex?" 

Old Bunnix grinned like a Cheshire cat, and peeled herself off of the wall she was leaning against as Shadow Fox jumped back down onto the field. "True Holder and Chosen of the Miraculous of Time, at your service. Good work with the maze Little Wing. Then again, I knew it was coming. Still, I'm glad to see you making all the right choices." 

"Why are you here?" Shadow Fox demanded and was pleased to see that by channeling the little trickle of power coming through Trixx's net, he was able to extend the flute into a proper bow staff. 

Bunnix just continued to smile and nodded at the new boe staff. "You're pretty good at that. I hope you appreciate what that means." 

Shadow Fox nodded saying, "It means Ladybug was right, I am a true Holder. And now I have work to do." 

"Yes," Old Bunnix said, moving closer, "But not the work Ladybug set you to. You see, my job is simple. I make sure you all make the right choices so the world doesn't end in a fiery explosion of magical cosmic power. So!" With a snap she came to stand at attention and leaned forward to look him in the eye. "I need you to go off script for me. Take a little weight off Ladybug's shoulders, ok?" 

Damian was silent for only a second, before coming to the conclusion that when a time traveler from the future falls in your lap, and is obviously on your side, it's best to listen to them. So he nodded and said, "What do I need to do?" 

Four

Ladybug was exhausted. Though you would never know it looking at her. She led with the precision and exactness that everyone had come to expect and yet she couldn't help but feel in her bones that this time, it wouldn't be enough. The moment she had seen the two sprawling hoards and realized the danger the two akumas had posed. She felt her anxiety spike and cold stone dread settled into her stomach. The power of the Miraculous filled her with confidence. Tikki's consciousness brushing against hers grounded her in the moment. It didn't change the fact that she knew that they were about to fail. It was just too much. It was all just too much.

 Her only comfort was Damian. When his illusion covered the battle field, her job instantly became easier, as her court easily herded the civilians and hoards where they needed to go. But Shadow Fox had not come to her. He was supposed to come and back her up! It had been roughly forty five minutes since the mazes had gone up and still the red and silver fox was nowhere to be seen. Furthermore, the maze had not actually stopped the hoards from spreading. Even as her court flew over the walls and rescued the civilians too many people were still cornered by dead ends. To make matters worse, it was becoming almost impossible to keep the akumas apart! 

Chat Noir and YB (Young Bunnix) were doing their best to contain Zombizou, but the teal skinned patchwork doll from hell had leapt onto the walls and was doing a very decent job of keeping up with the heroes. Meanwhile, Equalizer could fly! In the back of her mind Multimouse cursed as colorfully as any hardened sailor, as she dodged another swing of his giant scales that he was using as part bludgeoning weapon, part laser! She scowled as she looked up at her enemy. 

He was young, it was always painfully obvious when an akuma was young, almost as if Hawkmoth was using their age as another form of torture. But Ladybug guessed that he was someone around their age, probably one of their visitors, because he was dressed in the uniform of an American Revolutionary minuteman. Honestly, the whole design made her want to throw up. It was as if Hawkmoth knew she was a designer and wanted to torture her in every single way imaginable. 

This offense was particularly egregious, because the late 1700s had such an interesting style that she thought was criminally underappreciated. The structure of their clothes, and the versatility of their designs, as well as the practicality when it came to things like petticoats! Marinette could design a whole line of fashionable body armor centered around corsetry if the modern age wasn’t so convinced they were death traps. Despite the fact that they were the support undergarments for women for the better part of a century. AND—

Ladybug shook her head out of her fashion rant and returned to the topic at hand. The akuma as stated was wearing something vaguely reminiscent of the American Revolution, but the distinct blue coat of the minutemen was solid black. His skin was literally the color of cold ashes. And his hair was such a perfect snow white, that it could easily be mistaken for the signature wigs of the era, especially since it was styled that way.

The color pallet was the only good thing Marinette could say about the design, because the epaulettes were fucking spikes! Literally giant spikes that tipped even with the tricorn hat, which was…Marinette wanted to pinch her nose in exasperation, engulfed by the largest insignia bow she had ever seen, and it didn’t even match any of the ranks she was familiar with. Also the boy was in tights. Not trousers, not britches, not even pants! Fucking stark white tights! Which only showed off the fact that he was also wearing those platform heels that men were fond of in the era. For parties! NOT for the battlefield. They wore boots! Sensible, sturdy, stylish, leather boots! 

Ladybug groaned as her yoyo once again clanged against the metal scales, as his black and white checkerboard patterned horse flew at them in the same desperate charge he had been trying for the last hour. It was an insult to every single aspect of fashion. Historical, costuming, and common decency!

  “All men are created equal!” Equalizer shouted, “And you tip the scales!” 

Ladybug dodged as he tried to scoop her up with his right scale. That was the one that would send her to the stockade that was quickly filling one side of the field. The left one would turn her into one of the hundred gray toy soldiers that was steadily matching through the maze without the slightest hesitation or annoyance at running into so many dead ends. These soldiers carried scales of their own, only these were normal sized and stayed perfectly balanced, until they met a civilian. Ladybug had seen early on what would happen then. And it horrified her. 

The toy soldiers took two civilians and held up their scales. The scales would tip, and if they balanced then they were made into soldiers. If the scales tipped, then both civilians were sent to the stocks. Out of the corner of her eye, Ladybug saw the guillotine being constructed by a few soldiers, and her mouth went dry. It wasn’t enough that he was psychologically torturing everyone by weighing them on some sort of arbitrary scale, but to kill them for being lesser or greater by a standard that only one individual could understand! 

“This is going to require so much therapy,” Mulitmouse muttered to herself from her hiding spot. Ladybug had to agree even as she kicked the right scale away again. 

Her breath hitched as she realized that they were almost halfway to the center. While Zombizou couldn’t fly, she could tell from Chat and YB’s position that they were roughly in the same spot. To top it all off, the hoards had almost met in the center. Ladybug scowled. Where was Silver Fox?! He was supposed to be helping! He was supposed to be her perfect cat! So where? 

“Heads up!” Half Shell shouted, and metal clanged on metal, as the left scale hit Half Shell’s shield. Ladybug’s breath hitched as she realized how close that had just come to catching her and turning her into a brainless toy soldier. She rallied and cried, 

“Thanks Shell, but aren’t you supposed to be helping with evacuations!”

“OB,” Half Shell said, falling behind Ladybug’s spinning yoyo shield, “She gave Shadow Fox emergency command. Told us to do what he said. He coordinated the evacuation perfectly, and told us to go help you. Now he and Pegasus are doing something with King Monkey in order to contain the hoards. I don’t know what they're planning, and quite frankly I’m too scared to ask. LB that guy is a vicious little chaos gremlin. I saw him use the flute to whack a soldier's head off! No hesitation! Where did you even find that one, dude?!”

“He found me,” Ladybug said, a small fond smile creeping on her lips. It…it wasn’t what she had wanted or what she had planned. But perhaps it was what she needed. Either way, it took one, maybe two things off of her plate, and supplied her with more back up. Hope slowly began to creep into Ladybug’s heart as she nodded and called to the others. “Alright! Bumble Queen, Miss. Hound go support Chat and YB. Tigress, you stay here. We still haven't found the akumatized object so keep him contained until you find it, or Chat breaks Zombizou. Has anyone heard from Ryuko?” 

“She showed up ten minutes ago,” Purple Tigress called, “Shadow Fox needed her so she’s helping him…Do you know what they're planning?” 

“Haven’t a clue!” Ladybug shouted, “I trust them though. Now let's get this situation under control, so I can use my charm. Tigress, I need you to go see if you can free those civilians in the stocks and destroy that guillotine while you're at it. No one dies today!” 

“Right!” All three of her supporters called, and Ladybug felt a genuinely excited and warm smile creeping through her tired and firm layers. Across Paris hidden in the shadows of her darkened bedroom, Multimouse sighed in contentment as she cradled the miracle box to her chest. Perhaps, the plan “Hell on Earth” would not be needed today. When things were this precarious. It was always good to be ready for the worst. So Ladybug doubled down and focused on driving Equalizer back to his side of the stadium. It was not easy.

Equalizer clearly knew how to fight as a civilian, and that skill had been translated and amplified as an akuma. He was deadly with those scales, and the situation was not helped by the fact that one touch would pull one of them out of the fight. Ladybug glanced over at Viperion and flinched. He had that look again. It was a hollow drawn out look, as if all of the life had drained out of him and Ladybug almost didn’t want to know how many times he had come and gone back. But every time, he batted away the scales with his lute, or tackled her to the ground as the chains swung over her head. Her heart broke, because it meant that it had happened…again. She had failed, died, and he had had to watch and bring her back. Every single time. 

Ladybug threw herself into one of the maze’s corridors, as the checkered horse charged her, and Equalizer cackled from the saddle. She sighed as she checked her yoyo for the time. The timer seemed frozen at 3:40:15…Twenty minutes. It had only been twenty minutes since she had checked her timer, but it had felt like hours up there on the battlefield.

A sickening cackle echoed over the field, and she heard someone shout. “Zombizou is getting away!” “She’s escaping the stadium!” “After her!” “Chat Noir you idiot!” 

The rhythmic sound of metal matching echoed down the stone corridor. Ladybug spun and her yoyo became a blur of magic light in her hand as she spun it into a shield. The first gray soldier turned the corner and marched toward her, perfectly in sync with the soldiers beside and behind him. She sighed, as once more the weight of the war fell on her shoulders. She needed to end this. They were running out of time. Half Shell was down to his last spell. Viperion couldn’t take much more, for his own sanity's sake, and that wasn’t even counting the rest of her court.

Across Paris, Mulltimouse prepared herself for the worst, as she felt herself give up. It was just…too much. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t do it alone. Multimouse began to cry, and she prepared herself for the sudden pain of her other self dying. 

“Wind Dragon!” “Voyage!” Ladybug blinked as the stone maze dissolved into a shower of light and a familiar twister of wind stormed the field of trampled stalls, and battling armies. And there! In each the goal posts was a giant portal opening up to a field of lilacs on one side, and the Seine River on the other. The twister barreled into the toy soldiers and carried them swiftly into the portal of lilacs. 

“No!” Equalizer shouted, and tried to charge the portal. Before he could, Shadow Fox and King Monkey caught him in a pincer attack, with King Monkey taking out the horse, and Shadow Fox kicking the akuma right out of the saddle. 

“No!” Equalizer shouted, as Ryuko swiftly gave the same treatment to Zombizu’s horde of lovers.  “All must be EQUAL!”

Shadow Fox wasted no time in bashing him in the head with his staff at full strength leaving the child soldier unconscious on the grass. “And yet no one is.” 

Ladybug choked on a sigh, as she desperately tried to keep from crying. The pure wonder and relief of not being the one to save the day was almost overwhelming. She couldn’t break. Not here. Of course, Multimouse wasn’t there. So her tears of relief and joy were instant and gratifying. She didn’t have to run. She didn’t have to leave everything and everyone to perish for the sake of the world. She didn’t have to make that choice, and choose to abandon her family for the sake of the universe. That had been…it had been far too close. 

Meanwhile, Ladybug was meeting Shadow Fox’s too solemn eyes, and felt as if he had known everything that had happened before he had saved her. Ladybug did not let his knowing stop her from squaring her shoulders and letting Tikki’s calming presence ground her in her duty as she marched toward the helpless villain. There was no doubting it. He was her cat. He had found her blind spots, he had seen her weaknesses, and he had covered them. He didn’t sacrifice himself uselessly, he came up with a plan that saved them. He didn’t leave her to clean up his mess. He had moved to make things right, commanding the others with ease in a plan that worked seamlessly in its chaos and efficiency. The whole Court knew it. They sensed it as she did. Swirling with Miraculous power as they were, there was no doubt. With all of them gathered there it was too easy to see who was chosen, and who was not. 

…

Chat Noir sunk in on himself as he watched his Lady approach the Fox. Because she wasn’t looking at him with the patient indulgence, or exasperated fondness, or frustration she showed him. She was smiling softly at Shadow Fox, like an equal. When they stood side by side, they just seemed…right. Like two respected generals discussing the fate of a nation. Chat felt like a child playing dress up next to them. Shadow Fox was right, all men should be created equal…but they weren’t. He had always known Ladybug was far better than him in every way. Which was why he had always left everything to her. Here was another, who was just…better.

Chat felt Plagg’s consciousness offer him gentle comfort, but it was too little too late. All of Plagg’s attention was holding back the sea of cosmic power that just wanted to destroy. Destroy the world, the universe, and leave everything to ashes and dust. Adrien knew with sudden and complete clarity, that if that power was ever truly unleashed in him, he would give into it completely. He would destroy the world, and he would hardly even mourn.

 “ No wonder I’m so bad at this .” Chat sulked, “ Plagg is spending every ounce of focus on keeping me sane, when he should be free to help his holder. He deserves better. I’m worthless. I can’t hold a miraculous. I don’t deserve it. Everyone is better than me. And—”

“Chat!” Ladybug called, and Chat looked up to see Ladybug smiling at him patiently like a mother calling her child. “We need to debrief, and then go after Zombizou. Have we found this guy’s object yet?”

As if in response to her question, the butterfly flew out of one of the links of the scales’ chain, leaving the helpless villain even more helpless as the power of Hawkmoth drained out of him in the corrupted purple light of the miraculous. Ladybug caught the corrupted black butterfly quickly and purified it. She then turned to face her court, and Chat Noir gasped. It was as if a fire had been rekindled in her. Something that had slowly been draining since their first day as heroes. It was back and fiercer than ever. 

“With the akuma gone,” Ladybug declared. “The toy soldiers will be purposeless. Ryuko-chan, you sent them far enough away that they won't cause any harm, yes?”

“Yes Ladybug-san,” the Dragon hero said confidently.

“Good,” Ladybug said, “Then Half Shell, take this boy to an akuma shelter and recharge. We need you at full strength.”

“Zombizou escaped the arena,” Shadow Fox said simply as he stood at attention side by side with Ladybug and no one questioned the right to his authority. “With the majority of her hoard in the Seine, she will need to start the process over.”

“With most of Paris in shelters it will make things difficult for her, but the five hour deadline Bunnix gave us isn’t even halfway done yet,” Ladybug picked up. “This was a big move today by Hawkmoth, and I doubt he’s just going to let it go. So expect Mayura to make an appearance and if things escalate be sure to communicate the situation immediately.”

“Our first priority is to find Zombizou and contain her,” Shadow Fox continued seamlessly, “Part of that will be keeping her away from the akuma shelters. If she manages to get inside one, then the citizens will be helpless, like rabbits in a trap…no offense Bunnix.”

“None taken,” YB said with a knowing smile. And Ladybug continued. 

“We have three hours and thirty three minutes. Don’t waste a moment! Now pair up and split up. Those of you going North will report to me, those going south will report to Shadow Fox. Purple Tigress—”

“Gulitione is matchsticks Boss,” Purple Tigress said with a smirking smile, “No one is dying today!”  

Ladybug smiled and nodded. “Then let's end this and show Hawkmoth that it doesn’t matter how many villains he sends. We’re the Miraculous Court! And fate is on our side! Now break!” 

The heroes cheered. Even Chat Noir felt lightened at the speech and the sheer power and confidence that came from Shadow Fox and Ladybug working in tandem. As they broke off into their regular pairings, he followed Ladybug across the rooftops of Paris. The same sinking dread as before settled in his heart as he realized that this was his last fight with a miraculous. Perhaps his last fight as a hero, ever. The cat would go to someone more worthy, more capable, and he wished he could find it in himself to be angry about it. Except the deep sadness that filled his every step seemed to weigh him down.

“Chat,” Ladybug said patiently, “Are you alright?” 

Chat shook himself and did his best to smile warmly. This wouldn’t do. If this was his last night as a superhero, then he should make the most of it. “Of course, Bugaboo!” he said with a passable imitation of his usual cockiness. “Just thinking about how my precious lady has gone off and found herself a true prince without me! I’m so disappointed that you didn’t tell me.”

“I’m sorry what?” Ladybug demanded, confused.

“Oh you know,” Chat said wiggling his eyebrows, “Our newest little fox. Of course he’s not very little, in fact I think he might even be taller than Viperion. But it’s adorable how you two finish each other's sentences.”

“Chat,” Ladybug groaned, even as a faint blush appeared under her mask, “It’s not like that!”

“Oh? Are you paw sitive m’lady?” 

“Not the cat puns! Please, not the puns!” There was no true heat in her admonishments. For one last fight, it was like how it was at the beginning. Just the two of them, reveling in their power as they cheerfully bantered over the rooftops of Paris. When they were young and unafraid,  and the world was theirs. 

Chapter Text

Three

Hawkmoth was fuming in his layer as he watched the battle through the eyes of the akuma. While this demonstration was only a test of his growing power, the reality of what he had created had given him hope. He had watched the two lines of possessed grow closer and closer with a growing sense of victory. Only for it to be snatched from his grasp in a moment of chaos and confusion. 

No, this was not his planned moment of triumph. But that had made the hint of victory only that much sweeter, and the moment it failed that much crueler. He growled silently as the butterflies flitted around him restlessly, but that did not shake his purpose. He still had one akuma reeking havoc, and while Zombizou was not his most deadly, she was powerful and cruel in her own right. Besides, he was not alone. Ladybug might have a new sidekick, capable of disrupting a few pieces of the game. But they were only pawns, and he still had his queen, while Ladybug was fumbling in the dark with her false king.  

“Mayura!” Hawkmoth snapped, “Equalizer’s forces might have been dispatched, but they are not disbanded. Find a way to bring them back onto the board.”

“Yes, Hawkmoth,” Mayura said from the shadows. She stepped up into the light, to stand just behind and beside him as she plucked a feather from her fan. This was delicate work. She needed an amok that would suit her needs while complying with the emotions of her target. Fortunately, Hawkmoth had chosen his current victim well. Zombizou wanted everyone to get along, to be kind and come together. It was the coming together part that Mayura focused on as she sent out her amok into battle. Zombizou would of course seek out her own lost forces first. And then seek out her fallen ally’s, but the delay would be inconsequential. Yes this victory was unplanned. But it would be their victory nonetheless.

…

“Zombizou sighted at the TVi Tower!” Miss Hound’s voice rang through the comms. “Her horde is back but it isn’t even half the size as it was.”  

“Shouldn’t she be heading to the Eiffel Tower?” Bumble Queen’s voice dripped with annoyance and sarcasm. “That’s where literally every single akuma goes to be up high.” 

“She must need the cameras for something,” Pegasus said, “Do we know if her kiss can be transferred over the radio waves?” 

“Unknown,” Ryuko said calmly, but all who knew her could hear the tense fear of the possibility in her voice. “In her previous appearances, Zombizou was targeting a single individual. Now that she doesn’t have a direct target, she might be trying different strategies.”

“Either way,” Ladybug commanded, “We can’t let her try it in case it works. All teams converge on the TVi Tower. If we can herd the horde into the building, then we can stop the spread.”

“Ladybug!” Half Shell called out. “The TVi Tower has access to one of the largest akuma shelters in the city!”

Muffled curses sounded over the comms from all directions. Before Ladybug called out. “If you aren’t fully charged, do it now ! Half Shell, get to the access point, and protect it at any cost. If you need support, call in. Everyone else, I need Order searching the building for Zombizou, and Chaos herding the horde! Capture and containment are our first priority. Go!”

“Right!” The choras echoed through the comms and twelve heroes charged to the heart of Paris. Praying they wouldn’t be too late. 

Old Bunnix smiled, as she listened to the mini-heroes rally and plan. But it was a sad smile as she watched the two on her timer turn into one as another hour passed away. One hour and fifty-five minutes and fifty seconds to go, before the battle was won. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the brick wall behind her. She remembered this fight. She remembered this moment. The panic, the fear, the confusion. The moment it all seemed to be going right. And the moment everything seemed to fall apart. The prevailing knowledge that her older self was here and would ensure their victory. The crushing fear that the wrong choice would be made and they would have to start everything over and again. 

And over, and over until they finally found the right time line. Already Mini-Snake was reaching his limit. Not his power limit, but his mental one. You could only watch your friends die so many times. You could only do the same battle over and over again until it drove you mad. Which means Mini-her would need to take his role soon. It would be hard, and the battle would be long. 

But none of that compared to the memory of what they had done to win. The knowledge of what they had sacrificed. A tear rolled down her cheek at the memory, and Mini-her would regret this day for the rest of her life. But she would not regret the choice. 

Because they had won. They had to. And so she would make it be. 

Two

The moment Damian landed outside of the glass skyscraper and saw his team. He understood immediately why they had claimed to be chaos, and why they had been chosen for this part of the plan. Chat Noir, Young Bunnix, Purple Tigress, King Monkey, and Pegasus were all perfect for this job in terms of their powers and temperament. And through the impressions he was receiving from Trixx, he knew exactly where they all stood within the team.

Bunnix’s power was closest to Order, but their energy was still mostly Chaos. Which meant that she did not fall exactly under his leadership. But in situations like this she followed the one with the greatest chaos. Meanwhile King Monkey had a great deal of chaotic energy, but he had just enough order within him to put him below the fox. Which meant that he would always follow under Damian, or more accurately the one with the greatest Chaos energy. 

The one with the greatest chaos energy was and always would be, the one who held the Cat. But it was not being channeled properly. Which meant that Chat Noir was equal to his subordinates, and not greater. And it meant that he was less than Shadow Fox, who had the second most Chaos Energy, but was channeling it properly. The knowledge was instinctual and compelling, and every member of the Court knew it. But there was still that small voice of their kwamis whispering that Chat Noir should be greater. He should be leading them. So they all just stood and stared between Chat Noir and Shadow Fox, waiting for orders. 

Shadow Fox met Chat Noir’s eyes and waited stone faced and unmoving. He knew the etiquette. He was a stranger. On any other team, he would be the least of them. So he patiently waited for Chat Noir to decide. Would he listen to the quiet instincts of the Miraculous and gracefully bow to him. Or would he stubbornly hold on to his position and make everything worse. 

From his own assessment of the hero, Shadow thought that Chat would rather eat his own tail than surrender his position on the team. So when the black clad hero just smiled sadly and nodded to the red and silver hero in respect, Damian was stunned. He stood unmoving for a moment, as Chat moved to stand even with King Monkey, trying to account for this behavior. But there was no time, so he pushed it aside and took his place as leader. The position he had trained for his entire life, and had always thought he had deserved. 

But experiencing the Court’s easy acceptance of him was almost painful. He had fought to be respected and acknowledged in every team he had been a part of. The League of Assassins, the Titans, even among his family he had had to force them to acknowledge him for what he was. But the Court was just…letting him take command? Without thought or question? It was different from every other experience in his life, that it made him question if he actually should be leading them. They were all highly competent, and experienced heroes, who knew each other and their war far better than he ever could. But because their kwamis told them to, they handed him the wheel without even asking if he knew how to drive. And as he looked at them and their implicit trust he began to doubt everything he had ever known. Still he could not afford these distractions, so he trusted the voice of the god telling him to lead, and led. 

“You all know your powers, and you all know your limits. Ladybug wants the horde contained in this building. There are four main roads leading directly to this plaza, those of you with wide range attacks will block these four roads and push the hoards back. Short range will coral the allies and streets in between until we can lock them inside. Be smart, and if you need to recharge, signal one of the ally runners to hold the line, until you get back. Once the horde is contained we regroup with Ladybug and end this. Ready!”

The Chaos wielders echoed their excitement and ran to their posts. But before Shadow Fox could follow his own orders, he caught Young Bunnix’s eye. She wasn’t moving, just watching him, beaming with joy. And it made Shadow freeze and meet her gaze with a critical stare of his own.  When he raised his eyebrow in question she just shook her head and laid a hand on his shoulder saying, 

“This suits you, but I think you’ll look even better in black.”

…

Multimouse breathed a sigh of relief and called back her clone, as she watched Shadow Fox’s group disperse. She let the weight fully lift off her shoulders as she returned her full attention to Ladybug at the top of the TVi Tower. Zombizou had come in from the bottom, so her team was entering at different levels throughout the building in search of the villain. 

Half Shell reported that some of the horde had found the shelter and were trying to breach the steel reinforced door, when he drove them off. Viperion was in the security room watching the battle progress and calling out warnings and suggestions. Miss Hound was in the broadcast room, in case their suspicions were correct. Which left Bumble Queen, Ryuko, and herself going floor by floor in search of their former teacher. 

Ryuko and Bumble Queen were coming up from the lobby, and Ladybug was entering from the roof. But Ladybug stopped and considered her options. She needed all hands on deck for this, but the people she trusted with a miraculous were limited, and there was only one more hero she could “call on.”

Ladybug sighed deeply and considered summoning another clone. Across the city Multimouse winced. It was possible, but she was toeing a dangerous line. She needed to stay with the miracle box at all times, just in case, and summoning clones could be…difficult. Not because she lacked the power, but because the more clones she made the more difficult hiding the truth would become, and the more split her focus would be. 

Each of the clones was her, independent with their own thoughts and feelings and yet still in-sync and connected to each other. One of the reasons Multimouse hid herself away with the box was because one Marinette had to stay still and coordinate all of the many, many dangerous and life threatening scenarios she was dealing with. The minds and visions of all of the clones were filtering through her head constantly, and if one of them wasn’t keeping track of everything that was happening, then they risked overwhelming themselves or becoming distracted and making a mistake. 

 Right then, there were three clones, Ladybug, Multimouse, and Multibug. It was Multibug who had been watching Damian, but now she had to return to Old Bunnix, so she could communicate any pertinent information quickly as well as be prepared for the “Hell has Frozen Over and Now It’s Worse” plan. Seriously, how did Bunnix come up with these names? So did she make another Multimouse, and split her focus even further, or did she carry on?

Scowling Ladybug ran for the door. If this was the wrong move, then Bunnix would tell Multibug. And they could switch. But for now Ladybug needed an extra pair of boots on the ground. So Multibug split, and one of them turned into Multimouse and joined Ladybug as she was entering the roof. “Court,” Ladybug said firmly, “Multimouse is joining me.”

“Hey guys!” Multimouse called over the comms, modulating her voice so that it was softer and shyer than Ladybug’s. “Sorry I’m late. My parents dragged me into a shelter and it was a pain trying to get out!”

“Glad you made Mouse!” Half Shell called, “By the way, meet the new courtier! Shadow Fox!”

“Greetings,” Shadow Fox said simply, but not unkindly. 

“Nice to meet you!” Multimouse called, “I hope we work well together.”

“Shadow Fox, how is containment coming?” Ladybug demanded, hoping the obvious contrast in their tone and confidence, would distract from the fact that their voices were perhaps a little too similar. 

“The sheep are going where we want them, but that hasn’t stopped them from fighting back, but…”

“Shadow?” Ladybug asked hesitantly.

“Their behaviors are escalating,” Purple Tigress said in disgust. “Those in the front are trying to spread the kiss. But those in the back…well…”

“Because they do not have anyone to hunt,” Shadow Fox continued, voice dripping with disdain, “Their escalating desire for ‘friendship’ is causing them to turn to more…physical displays of affection.”

“We’re jumping in the middle of them to keep them from going too far,” Pegasus declared proudly, but there was still an undercurrent of pity as he spoke, “But, Ladybug, if we contain them, then I fear that their behaviors will only continue to escalate in this matter. And already, some of the victims are engaging in activities that would be considered…unfavorable in a nonconsensual setting.”

Sharp intakes of breath, echoed through the comms. They were all grateful for Pegasus’s sterile explanation, but it didn’t really help. They all remembered Dark Cupid, Valentina, and probably a dozen other akumas who had sought to spread "love" throughout the city. Not one of them save perhaps Shadow Fox, didn’t have memories of groping hands, unwanted touches, and crushing guilt. Every single holder knew what it meant to be on both sides of an akuma's compulsion, and none of them could forget the pain, guilt, and terror of being forced to endure and inflict those unspeakable things. 

Ladybug stood frozen in an empty hallway and closed her eyes. The only sound from the city was the echoing of the horde crying out to the heroes, that they loved them, wanted them to be together, to be happy, and to be nice. Suddenly she regretted the fact that she had taken out Equalizer first. But she shook her head and made the call that only she could make. Her shoulders slumped, as the oh so familiar weight of the world settled back on her practiced shoulders.

“Chaos Team,” not even trying to disguise the exhaustion in her steady yet determined voice. “Continue with the plan. Unless, anyone has a better strategy?”

The question was not derision or final, it was desperate and far from rhetorical. She needed someone to chime in. She needed someone to stop what she was about to do. But she guessed that they were all too familiar with following her orders, because no one spoke. Letting their heavy and painful silence fill their comms as the cries of the possessed echoed in their ears. 

“I love you!”

“Let me help you!”

“Let’s be friends!” 

“I love you!” “I love you!” “I love you!” “I love you!”

“Containment and capture,” Shadow Fox’s firm and commanding voice broke their spell. “That’s all we can do. Contain the spread as best as we can. And capture the akuma to end their suffering as quickly as possible. There’s nothing else to be said. Chaos Team, continue driving the horde back into the building.” 

Bumble Queen cursed loudly and sharply, but she followed it quickly by saying, “I’m coming back down. Maybe if they see me they’ll focus on chasing me, instead of getting too familiar with each other.”

“I’ll continue my search,” Ryuko said, leaving no room for argument, “Entering the fifth floor now.” 

“I’m going to need back up sooner rather than later,” Half Shell cried. “Some of the horde just turned the corner.”

“Don’t be afraid to knock them unconscious,” Shadow Fox ordered, “I know it’s against your protocol, but I don’t think they will mind once this is over.”

“Guys!” Viperion cried, “Zombizou sighted on the twentieth floor. Miss. Hound she’s heading your way. I think Pegasus was right. She’s going to try something with the broadcast system.”

“Multimouse!” Chat cried excitedly, “Can you make a bunch of clones to help out?”

Every form of Marinette winced painfully. “Um,” Multimouse said as slowly as she could, following Ladybug down the stairs. She could create as many clones as she needed, but that could split her consciousness too much. This fight was too big, too important for her to make a mistake. Not to mention the fact that if this battle was drawn out much longer than the process of splitting her focus so many times, could actually drive her insane. 

“Not a good idea,” Young Bunnix cut in firmly, before she could think of anything to say, “Multimouse’s individual power is connected to how many clones she has running around. An army for an army is good, unless all of the soldiers are weak.”

“And I need Multimouse for my plan to fight Zombizou,” Ladybug said, picking up speed and silently thanking Bunnix, “I’m sorry, Chat, but this will only work one way.”

“Ok,” Chat said softly, “I trust you Ladybug.”

“I…” Viperion started, then his ragged breath came over the comms and said, “I’m turning off the cameras where the horde is. This…it’s not as bad as Dark Cupid…but…but this should not be recorded. Queennie, your plan is working. The more we can distract them from their…desires the better it will be.”

“We are twenty minutes away from getting the last of the horde into the building. Ladybug, call who you need up to you, the rest of us will distract the horde from themselves, until the cure hits.”

“Right!” The warriors cried. But it wouldn’t be enough, and they all knew it. They would fight, and they would win. But the victims of the horde would remember what they did, to each other and to themselves. It would be a victory for Paris, but it would not feel that way for the fifty odd people trapped in the tower, slowly losing all of their inhibitions to the power of a distraught teacher who just wanted her students to “love” each other. 

Across the city, Multibug met Old Bunnix and waited in case everything else failed and they had to run. The Rabbit’s timer ticked down, 1:28:13. 12. 11. 10. They looked into each other's eyes and there was nothing in them except for shared pain, grief, and guilt. So Mulitbug leaned against the cooling brick wall beside the time traveler and watched the seconds tick by, too quickly, and too slowly. And she wished that it didn’t have to be this way.  

Chapter Text

Chloe hated her job. Don’t get her wrong, she loved being a hero. She loved having friends, and she loved fighting for something, and not just against everything like her mother had always taught her. But then there were days like today, when everything just seemed to get worse even as they got better. Just like today when she burst into the lobby of the TVi Tower and thought she was going to throw up. 

With no one to “spread the love" to the horde had turned on each other, and now was so fixated on “loving” each other that they barely noticed her. They had practically piled on top of each other, and Chloe had the horrible vision of the people at the bottom, being smothered and crushed under the press of grasping bodies, as they embraced each other in a sickly display of affection. Chloe gagged and looked down to see a white floral blouse had been tossed aside along with a pair of khaki trousers, and a middle school jacket. Chloe hissed and her eyes began to sting. She glanced once more at the writhing mass of brainwashed innocents slowly devolving from a tender embraces and gentle caresses, into an all out orgy brutal and visceral in their desperation to "love." There was no unseeing it, and it was all her fault. 

She had first caused Zombizou. She had pushed Mlle. Bustier to this. It was her fault. She was the reason. These people were innocents, and they were drowning in their own affections, and Chloe knew what they would remember. That was a child’s school jacket, and this is what they would know of intimacy? This is what they would remember when they started dating! Clawing, grasping, desperate, and hurting. She choked on her own memories of phantom flesh rubbing against her cheek. Ghost fingers pressing bruises into her skin. She was the villain. It was her fault. It was all her doing. She was the monster.

And she was fighting. 

“Hey!” Bumble Queen shouted, her voice filled with the contemptuous snark, “Over here plebeians!”

“Bumble Queen!” The mass yelled. “We love you!” “Join us!” “Let’s be friends!” “We love you!”  

Queenie ran up the stairs at full sprint as the horde hunted her down. Most of them were half clothed and covered in bruises, but they didn’t seem to care that they were exposed and hurting, because they mindlessly filled every nook and cranny searching for her. “Let it be enough!” She screamed in her mind. “ Please let it be enough to stop this!” 

A Phantom impression of Pollen brushed encouraging and gentle thoughts against her conscience. The power surged pushing her to move and to act. And she commanded those waves, and seized that power for all it was worth. Pushing it into her limbs. She ached to simply throw her weapon and be done with it. Freeze everyone in their tracks and make sure that none of them were hurt by her mistakes ever again. But she wasn’t strong enough…yet. So she ran. 

“Everyone! We need back-up in the studio now!” Viperion echoed in her ear and Chloe flinched at the hard command.

“What happened?” Purple Tigress demanded.

“Hawkbitch sent an amok. It opened a portal in the broadcasting room, and the horde we sent to the river is coming through, as are Equalizer’s soldiers. Our people are about to be overrun.”

“Wait!” Half Shell yelled, “Didn’t we stop Equalizer?”

“We did,” Ladybug said grimly, and she sounded strong but absolutely exhausted and edging on defeated. “But because I didn’t have a lucky charm, I couldn’t cure them.”

“How will this affect the horde?” Kim asked.

“At the moment,” Old Bunnix said as calm as ice, “It won’t do anything. But just as the horde is feeding off of itself and escalating, so will the soldiers. I recommend you all choose which fate you prefer. A mindless toy, or a vapid love zombie.”

“Neither!” Shadow Fox demanded, and Chloe flinched. “We will not succumb to this. The chaos team almost has everyone in the building. We could use a seal, to make sure they don’t get out. Then we’ll be up there to deal with the toys while Ladybug deals with Zombizou.”

His voice. It was so passionate, so strong and sure. Chloe felt the difference in her bones, as she realized just how exhausted the rest of them were. Ladybug sounded strong and confident, but the weight of the world was evident on her shoulders, and was beating her down. It was bearing them all down. Shadow Fox’s blatant refusal to give in was like a fresh breeze through a rose garden, driving away the sweat and tears. Chloe clung to that feeling and said,

“I can seal the doors. They won’t get through my Venom. But…” Chloe took a deep breath, “Once trapped the people…the people who are brainwashed…there will be no stopping them. They’ll kill themselves, if they continue to act on their compulsion. Ladybug…I…I saw…I…there are children here.”

Silence, and then. “Bumble Queen,” Ladybug’s voice said, quiet, but firm. “Go help Chaos. Everyone who is not guarding the shelter, get up to the Broadcasting room as quickly as you can. I’m using my lucky charm, and I’ll need everyone here for this to work.”

“But Ladybug,” Mrs. Hound pleaded, “If there are kids…they shouldn’t have to go through that.”

“I know.” Was all that was said. And everyone froze, waiting. Waiting for Old Bunnix to stop them. Waiting for Shadow Fox to come up with another crazy plan that sweeps all of the bad guys away, and spares them from this choice. Waiting for a miracle. 

Chloe blinked back tears and remembered. She remembered being brainwashed. She remembered being killed. She remembered being assaulted. She remembered assaulting other. She remembered and cried, because these people were happy and excited now, but they would wake up, and they would remember. They would look at themselves tomorrow and know that they were monsters. They were all monsters.

Chloe clenched her fist, as no one spoke, and roughly brushed her tears away. If she hadn’t been wearing her mask, she might have given herself a black eye with the force she used.

 “Shadow Fox,” The Bee Hero said, “I’m coming to you.”

Multibug wiped her own tears away more gently and looked up at Old Bunnix. “Is that it then? Did we win?”

Old Bunnix smiled sadly, but all she said was, “You don’t have to be here. And I’m sure holding this many clones is distracting.”

Mulitbug nodded, and vanished. In her bedroom, across Paris Multimouse felt the extra consciousness vanish and she could no longer see Old Bunnix. She still had Ladybug and the second Mulitmouse at the TVi Tower, but they were fighting, and completely consumed by the war around them. So Marinette transformed, hugged the Miracle Box to her chest, and wept. As across the city, over a hundred people were sacrificed to the delusions of a madman for the sake of the world. 

Once Bumble Queen had sealed the doors, Shadow Fox led the rest of his team up the outside of the building, and to the correct floor. He decided not to think about what they had just done, in favor of crashing through the window in a shower of glass and rage, descending on his enemies like the tool of vengeance and power that he was born to be. 

He was suspended above the fight for only a moment, but it was enough to see the chaos unfolding below him. Zombizou was a middle aged woman, in a black and purple patchwork dress, covered in hearts. Her teal skin made her look dead, which was only accentuated by the pure black lipstick. She was laughing, as her amok, a spindly patchwork doll of black and purple summoned portals through which her armies poured. The toy soldiers marched to the edges of the vaulted room, and began to surround and enclose the desperate fight in the center of the room. 

 Ladybug, Ryuko, Mrs. Hound, and Multimouse, were all back to back as the grasping, surging bodies swarmed them from all sides. And even as Ladybug batted them away with her yoyo, and Ryuko knocked them out with her sword, they cried out their love and devotion with every step of the way. It was sickening, and Shadow Fox had had enough of it. He landed in front of Zombizou, and without preamble rammed his weapon into her face. 

Her grating laughed stopped, giving Pegasus enough time to summon his own portals. Soon the armies were cut off, coming in through one gate, and out through the other. It didn’t get rid of the reinforcements already there, but it was enough to give the heroes some breathing room. Shadow Fox was soon joined by Chat Noir, and between the two of them, Zombizou had no time to do anything but dodge their ceaseless anger and scream in rage.

“Everyone. Must. Be. Nice!” She screeched, throwing kisses at them through her scowl. “Just get along, and LOVE EACH OTHER!”

“No,” Shadow Fox said in the calm solid way that he had learned from his father. And it was enough to drive the akuma to distraction. It was enough. Thank God it was enough, as the other heroes ran to help Ladybug. They gave her enough breathing room, and the sound of her calling upon her Lucky Charm sent a sigh of relief through the room. 

From there the fight only lasted a matter of minutes, or it could have been seconds, since Shadow Fox couldn’t see what had been summoned or what the others were doing. His only job at that moment was to keep the akuma busy, and away from Ladybug. In this he was surprised by the efficiency of Chat Noir. They fought together seamlessly, and Damian could not help but begrudgingly approve of the young hero beside him. Finally, Ladybug shouted, “Duck!” and the two boys flipped away right before a stage light swung down, crashing into Zombizou, sending her flying to the nearest wall and knocking her unconscious. 

Damian blinked in shock at the pure brutality of the maneuver, and turned to see Ladybug smiling smugly as she retrieved a red pencil with black polka dots, from the stage light rigging. In fact, all of the heroes seemed grimly satisfied with their work, and Damian wisely decided not to question the group of highly powerful, emotionally repressed, and traumatized teenaged superheroes on their violent tactics. 

“Get the lipstick,” Was all Ladybug said, the cold, exhausted fury etched in every inch of her being.

Chat Noir dashed forward, calling on his power, he turned the innocuous item to dust. The butterfly was black as it tried to escape. And Damian had never hated the insect more. It took left than a minute for Ladybug to catch the creature and purify it. No one said a word, as she threw her pencil in the air, and the magic of creation filled the world. 

Damian basked in the beauty of the moment. In the hurricane of light and wonder that cleansed the world around him. And it was wonderful. But one look at the other heroes, and he could see the bitterness of their sweet victory. He could almost understand it, but not fully. After a fight like this, the Titans or the Bats would immediately begin celebrating. But these heroes almost seemed more defeated now then at the start of the battle. 

The scream that echoed through the room was one of complete despair and anguish and had Shadow Fox spinning to confront the enemy. Instead, all he saw was Mlle. Bustier, the kind if naive teacher, who wouldn’t last a minute in Gotham. She was kneeling where Zombizou had landed, screaming and crying in horror. Shadow Fox took a step back. This…this woman…this naive, innocent, helpless woman had done this? She had almost conquered the whole city? She had brainwashed hundreds of innocents, sending them into a vapid lust filled spiral that would traumatize the victims for life. Who had done that to children? This was their villain?

Damian strugled to wrap his mind around that, but the image of the diluted but genuinely kind teacher, just would not coalesce with the cackling, screaming mad woman he had just fought. It didn’t make any sense. Yet there she was, curling up on herself in horror over what she had just done. And the words of Chloe Bourgeois echoed in his mind. 

“We’re all monsters.” 

Damian dropped his flute, as he finally understood exactly what was happening in Paris. Oh, he had known it was bad on an intellectual level. But now he fully grasped it in his heart, what was happening. It terrified him. So he stood frozen, and watched Ladybug silently and slowly approach the weeping villain on the floor in front of him. He watched as she knelt and met the woman’s eyes.

“Ladybug,” Mlle. Bustier sobbed. “I–I’m so, so sorry! I don't–I didn’t mean to! I–I just—I—”

“Shh,” Ladybug whispered, laying a gentle hand on the woman’s shoulder. “I know.”

The woman lunged and cried into the hero’s chest, and Ladybug said nothing but wrapped her arms around her, holding her as she cried. Damian just stood there, as everyone else began to move, lifting people to their feet, comforting the crying, and helping some preserve their dignity. And all Damian could do was watch and stare as the hero held and comforted not a villain, but a victim. 

Damian didn’t know how long he had been standing there, but he was shaken from it when a new party entered the room. A group of men and women in soft, pastel blue shirts, and light khakis came in and immediately began taking civilians from the heroes, and leading them away from the room. One approached Damian saying, 

“You must be new, I’m Matthew, one of the lead TEMTs for the nearest hospital.”

“Shadow Fox,” Damian said, noticing the silver medical emblem pined to the man’s shirt. “I’m also new to Paris. Do you mind telling me what a TEMT is?”

Matthew hissed and nodded looking to where one of her coworkers was coaxing the crying teacher out of Ladybug’s arms. “What a first day, huh? I’m sorry you had to be introduced on this one. But yeah, TEMT, Therapeutic Emergency Medical Technician. Basically we’re just therapists who show up to deal with the real aftermath of an akuma battle.” He gestured around at the horrified and distraught people milling aimlessly around the empty studio. “We make sure everyone here gets the help they need, and is on the road to recover after…well, let’s just say brainwashing akuma’s have a tendency to cause a lot of guilt, self loathing, and in many cases suicidal tendencies among their victims…It’s not a perfect system. But we do what we can.”

Damian scoffed and shook his head in wonder. He then looked Matthew in the eye and said, “I have been in the world of masks for over five years now. And I have never encountered a situation this dire, nor a people so resilient. I can think of ten cities that would have crumbled under Hawkmoth. You do more than you think.”

Matthew laughed and shook his head blushing, “Nah, we’re no better than anyone else,” he said, “It’s all Ladybug, and the Mayor. It’s only because of her leadership that we’ve been able to get through this. And ever since his daughter was revealed as Queen Bee, the Mayor has been leading us in some pretty powerful reforms that will only help the city, even after the war is over. Besides, it’s not like us Parisians aren’t used to fighting against occupation, and oppression. Viva La Revolution!” 

“Viva La Revolution,” Damian agreed, and then moved to follow the other heroes out of the tower completely. They came to stand on top of a nearby building, where they all formed a perfect circle, in order of their Miraculous. Ladybug and Shadow Fox side by side, Bunnix across from them, and everyone else arranged according to where they stood on the spectrum of Order and Chaos. 

Ladybug smiled exhausted, heart broken, and victorious. She then extended her fist, and everyone mimicked her and they all called out together, “Pound it!”

It was a simple and childish ritual, but with it Damian felt the weight of the day lift from his shoulders. They had done it. They had saved the world. No one had died, and though many were hurt, it was over. It was time to sleep. 

“Scatter,” Ladybug said simply, “Multimouse will come and collect your miraculousses individually. After this, I doubt Hawkmoth will have the strength for anything tonight. So everyone should get some well earned sleep. I’ll see the permanent heroes tomorrow night for patrol. Good work everyone.”

Sad, tired, and haunted smiles was her response, but everyone did as they were told except for Viperion, Ryuko, Bunnix, Multimouse, Bumble Queen, and Mrs. Hound. Chat Noir looked at the group, and his smile became slightly bitter, before turning into pure grief. He then looked at Shadow Fox, then Ladybug. He bowed low to her, taking her hand and kissing it saying, “Till we meet again m’lady. I will be counting the minutes.”

Ladybug seemed to be blinking back tears as she nodded saying, “Good bye, Chaton. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

When he left, Ladybug turned to Shadow Fox saying, “You should go. One of the Multimouse clones will be along to collect your miraculous shortly.”

Damian looked around at the group of assembled heroes. They seemed to be standing there with a sense of purpose and finality that Damian recognized, and so he turned to his new partner and saying, “The work’s not done. Let me help.”

Ladybug opened her mouth to protest, but Bunnix stopped her saying, “We need him.”

Ladybug’s shoulders slumped and she nodded before turning back to Damian and said, “Everyone here knows the other's identity. If you come with us, everyone will know who you are.”

Damian barely hesitated before he nodded saying, “So be it.”

Ladybug nodded, and Viperion stepped forward. “My power,” he said, “Allows me to go back in time a few minutes and fix mistakes. I can stop people from dying. Prevent miraculouses from being stolen. With two words, I can change the course of a battle.”

“Useful,” Damian said moving to stand at attention.

“But…”Viperion said slowly, his cool calm veneer, fracturing only slightly, “It comes at a cost. I remember everything that happened in those alternate timelines. Every time a friend died, or was tortured, or...worse. If I do it too many times in a row, I could go mad.”

Damian swallowed his horror and a sinking feeling to ask, “Why haven’t you?”

“It’s a ritual,” Ryuko explained. “Called Sharing the Burden. Basically, Viperion gives his memories to us, and we share the weight of them. Instead of him remembering alone. We all remember together.”

“Which is why,” Mrs. Hound said softly, “You can only participate if you're absolutely sure. And only if you can be trusted enough to know everyone else's identities.”

“This will be the first time for me and Mrs. Hound,” Bumble Queen said firmly. “I’m not looking forward to it.”

“Only agree if you're certain, Shadow Fox,” Bunnix said gravely, “The timeline can be salvaged, and this will not be easy. You will remember every hurt, every wound, every death that was erased from the timeline. And once you remember, you can never forget.” 

I can’t even trust Chat Noir this much,” Ladybug said gravely. “When I tried…well, Old Bunnix stressed very strenuously that he was not ready…yet.”

Damian let the information sit with him for a minute, closing his eyes as he considered all of the ramification. When he opened his eyes, his will was iron and he let the others see it. 

“This is my war now,” Shadow Fox declared, “And I will see it through.”

Ladybug smiled and nodded, saying, “Let’s go then.”

Chapter Text

Three days passed, and there were no akumas. Not a single one. The whole city held its breath in anticipation, a balloon full of oil ready to burst over an open flame after that fearsome display of power from Hawkmoth. On the fourth day, two low level akumas were released, and you could practically hear the city sigh in relief. They were back to their regular pattern, something they could rely on, and understand. That night, Ladybug issued a statement saying that two high level akumas required a tremendous amount of power. And while it could happen again, it would be extraordinarily rare. She said that she would be surprised if it happened more than twice a year. And when it did happen, the citizens of Paris should take advantage of the three day rest, that Hawkmoth would undoubtedly need to recover his strength. 

This was good news for the Friendship Conference since three out of their eight day trip was completely incident free. Unfortunately, that did not erase the mental damage that the few akumas they did see wrought on them, and every single student cursed the day they had positioned themselves to move the event away from Gotham. Still, all things considered, everything went surprisingly well. And now they were nearing the last day of the conference, and everyone was thrilled to be leaving the cursed city and going home. But while the foreigners escaped the citizens of Paris would remain, trapped as casualties in a war beyond their comprehension. With no way to help, or fight back except suppress their emotions and go about their lives. 

Which left Chat Noir in an interesting position. Ladybug never mentioned it, but everyone knew. Shadow Fox had participated in the Sharing of the Burden. He knew the other’s identities. He would be taking over the role of the Cat. He might have come in with the foreign schools, but the burgundy fox would not be leaving with them. The whole affair left a bitter taste in Chat’s mouth that he was too ashamed of to mention. He loved being a hero! He loved his freedom. But every night when they went on patrol, Chat expected Ladybug to ask for his miraculous. He spent his days in anguish just waiting for her to appear and rip the ring away. The waiting was becoming torturous. So…Chat decided to take things into his own hands. 

“You wanted to see me.” Chat turned to face Shadow Fox with a firm nod. Ladybug preferred to meet at the top of the tower, where she could see the whole city, and be reminded of the life and light she was charged to protect. But Chat Noir had always preferred to be closer to the ground. To be hidden among the shadows where no one could see him, but where he could see everyone. So he often found himself hunched in the dark, lit only by the streets below. It was not grand, impressive, or intimidating. Just a simple roof of shadows and bricks where he could see the faces of the people he watched. 

But he saw no faces when he looked down on them tonight. Only the swirling colors of life, as he tried to find the words he needed. But his mind was such a swirling mess of emotions that he hardly knew where to begin. So he settled on voicing his loudest thought. 

“You participated in the Sharing the Burden Ceremony,” he said perhaps a little too aggressively. 

“I did,” Fox said, perhaps a little too calmly.

“Why?” Chat pleaded, his voice strained. 

“There was still work to do, and I was willing to do it.”

“That’s it? That’s all it took for Ladybug to accept you? To whisk you into her inner circle! To reveal her identity!” 

Shadow Fox tilted his head consideringly before saying, “In a way, I already knew her identity, subconsciously at least. But the magic of the miraculous of course prevented me from realizing it. It was actually quite humorous.”  

“Humorous! You think this is funny!”

“No.”

“I have been fighting this War for three years! Do you know how long we’ve been fighting? What we’ve seen? The brainwashing, the transformations, the deaths! And you think it’s funny!”

“Chat—” 

“You can’t just do that! You can’t just waltz in here, fight one akuma, and assume you know everything! You have no idea what we’ve done! What we’ve been through! I was CHOSEN! Me! I’ve been by her side through everything for three years! Through every akuma! Every battle! Every time! And still…and yet…she doesn’t choose me…why doesn’t she choose me?”

Chat stared down at the moving lights of life, as hot tears blurred them into a kaleidoscope of color. This wasn’t what he wanted. This isn’t what he had come here to do. But he couldn’t stop himself. The bitter jealousy felt gross and stale in his mouth, but it over rode his guilt and leaked through into everything he did. He was disgusted with himself. He knew his duty, his responsibility. But knowing a thing wasn’t the same as choosing it, as believing it. He knew he wasn’t right for the Black Cat. And if he wanted to do the right thing and be a hero,  then he needed to follow the instincts Plagg was subtly whispering in his ear, and give away the ring. He needed to give away his freedom.

The very idea of surrendering this life, his only escape, and his only refuge from his cold and lonely cage, was so galling it was painful. So in the end he could only clutch the ring to his chest, hide in the shadows, and watch the world go on without him. Frozen. Just the frightened and lonely boy he had always been. Not a hero, or a warrior. Just scared. 

“Are you done?” Shadow Fox said coldly. Chat bristled, but wiped his tears away roughly and nodded. He didn’t turn away as he heard the other boy sigh and step to stand beside him. After a moment Fox, in that professional brisk way of his-that frankly Chat found absolutely annoying, said, “You’re right of course. I am completely out of my depth in this war.”

Chat scoffed but Shadow Fox wasn’t done as he said, “Which is why I’m going to need your help.”

“What?” Chat snapped to look at the hero beside him. He was standing at attention, hands behind his back like some sort of general. His eyes were sharp and focused, and Chat got the impression that the Fox was taking in every detail of the world around him. It was intimidating, but Chat didn’t think that focus was geared at him. Instead it seemed to be directed inward, as if Shadow Fox was struggling to find the right words. Finally the other boy nodded and said, 

“Your team…it’s unlike any team I have ever been a part of. If I may speak frankly?”

“Please do!”

“I usually have to…prove myself. My…disposition tends to be offensive to most and so it takes a while for most people to trust me and accept me. Usually the people who accept me too quickly are trying to take advantage of me.”

Chat thought back on all of the galas and wealthy parties his father had forced him to attend. He had never been allowed to be anything other than amicable and polite to everyone, no matter how he actually felt towards them. But there were some children of the upper class that didn’t have those restraints and openly sneered, and scowled at the obvious pandering around them. It was one of the many reasons that he liked Kagami. She never had to pretend, to lie. She just was what she was, and you had to accept that. Unfortunately, it also meant that among her peers, well…

“I get that,” Chat finally said, “So…I’m guessing you're not sure what to make of our group?”

“You are all very trusting,” Shadow Fox said briskly, “Frankly, it is rather disturbing how easily and completely you trust the judgment of your kwami. Especially since their perspectives are so obviously skewed by their immortality and power.”

Chat decided to dissect that sentence for a moment before laughing and nodding, “Yeah! Plagg is a little chaos gremlin. You’re going to have to stay on your toes with him. His advice usually leans toward the more murderous side of the morality spectrum.”

“Oh, that won’t be a problem,” Shadow Fox said evenly, “The demons in my head tell me to kill people all the time, so I doubt Plagg will be much louder than them.” There was a brief and heavily awkward silence before, Shadow Fox side eyed him with a smirk, saying, “That was a joke.”

“Right,” Chat scoffed, shaking his head, “But seriously I thought only Parisians joked like that! Where are you from?” 

Shadow Fox tilted his head to the side in thought before saying, “I’m not sure I should say. Now does not seem like the right time nor place for it.” 

“Fair,” Chat said, a little disappointed. “So…what was it like? The Sharing of the Burden?”

Shadow Fox’s eyes became clouded before he said, “It was…the most painful thing I’ve ever been through, and the most…liberating? We…I remembered everything. Every altered timeline, every accidental death, every time we failed and the world ended, I relived those moments over and over again, just as Viperion had to live them over and over again. And then…we shared them? It is difficult to explain. But for one moment, after remembering individually…we remembered together. We felt each other’s pain, all of our fears and burdens. It…it was unlike anything I ever felt…the most brutal torture I had ever experienced, but also…the greatest relief I have ever felt. It was as if…by sharing our suffering, we were healing it. It was still there, and still real, just not as…present. Not as damaging. 

“It was like…carrying a bucket of water up a mountain. Heavy, cumbersome, and exhausting. But then, after drinking from it, you then pour some into everyone else's bucket, dividing it evenly. And of course everyone does the same. You would think that sharing the weight would not matter since we all have the same amount of water. But because we drank from it, and some of it splashed out in the passing…the weight is lighter than if we were carrying it alone…None of us started with empty buckets, nor ended with them…but after the sharing, they were lighter all the same…  

“I do not think you should be offended for being excluded. The ritual was almost…intrusive in a way that, under normal circumstances, I would reject the very idea of it…I think by not calling you to it, Ladybug is protecting you, as much as she is protecting herself.”

“But why you?” Chat pleaded. “I know what the miraculous says…what I feel from it. But Pegasus and King Monkey have been holders almost as long as I have, and they still haven’t been called. That is our most sacred and precious ritual! And you’ve only held your jewel for what? A day? Master Fu chose me? So why does she choose you?”

Shadow Fox simply shrugged his expression falling back into his stern stare, “I believe it is because of what I told you at the beginning. There is work to be done, and I am trained, capable, and willing to do it. I was born and bred to fight wars. To lead and command the chaos of this world. Ladybug knows this.”

“That’s all rather arrogant of you don’t you think?” Chat smirked one hand on his hip. 

Shadow Fox shrugged again as if he was used to this reaction, “It is, but that does not make it untrue. I come from a long line of warriors and leaders. My entire family are heroes dedicated to the protection of the innocents. I might be the youngest, but that doesn’t change the fact that as the son of the two greatest bloodlines in history, that these expectations fall doubly upon me…the weight of the world was given to my family. And we are not ones to shirk responsibility.”

Chat blinked, fully aware that he looked like a fish with his mouth ajar and his eyes bugging out of his mask. He shook his head violently before saying, “And I thought my dad had unreasonable expectations!”

Shadow Fox titled his head in confusion saying, “They are not unreasonable. It is our legacy.” 

“Dude! You literally just said you’ve had the weight of the world on your shoulders since you were a kid! What kind of messed up crap is that?” 

Shadow fox huffed in aggravation, “Perhaps you misunderstood me—”

“No! No!” Chat said, holding his hands up in surrender, “I get it! I do! My dad…he loves me! I know he loves me. But…my friends say he cares more about his image of ‘perfection’ than me.”

“Please,” Fox said firmly, “Do not project your insecurities onto me.”

“Oh really? Then if you went to your family and said, I don’t want to protect the world anymore—”

“They’d let me,” Fox said instantly and without hesitation. 

“Really?” Chat said doubtfully.

Shadow Fox nodded, squaring his shoulders with complete confidence in what he was saying, “My mother and grandfather would but disappointed. But I no longer live with them, and they have no say in my life. I’m pretty sure my brothers would throw me a party. And every single one of them would be insufferably annoying about making sure that I stay away from the family business. My sisters would be the most reasonable and helpful during the transition, but in the end I fear my paternal grandfather will bear most of the weight of the task.”

“And your dad?”

Shadow smiled sadly but fondly before saying, “Father would be proud. He has been trying to get me out of the life ever since Mother dropped me off at his doorstep at the age of eight. But he has completely failed, because I chose this. I am proud of my family and our legacy, and I would never abandon them to accomplish the mission alone. Not when they need me…And the same applies here, with Ladybug and the Court. Can you accept that, Chat Noir?”

Chat sighed a little forlornly. He didn’t know what to make of that speech, and he had a feeling that Shadow had said more than he had planned, still it sounded nice. A large supportive family that was both chaotic and helpful. Getting to choose whether or not you had to participate in the family business, under their expectations. So he just nodded as they reached the true purpose of this meeting. 

“Yeah,” Chat said, his resignation doing very little to ease the pain in his chest. “I can accept that. Which is why…I’m done waiting for Ladybug. Here! The Black Cat is yours. Just take it and be done with it!” 

Adrien ripped off the ring and threw it at Shadow Cat. Maybe that was petty, but he didn’t care anymore. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t a hero. Perhaps he never had been. For Adrien Agreste, this had always been about his freedom, and now it was being taken from him. No, he was giving it away. There was nothing that could ease that wound. So he turned away from the light and slumped against the rough bricks of a chimney and let himself sink down into shadows.  

If Shadow Fox was surprised to see the young supermodel was also the young superhero, then he gave no reaction. He simply looked between the black ring he now held and Adrien with a weight and consideration that was frankly unnerving as he moved nothing but his eyes between them. 

“I think,” Shadow Fox finally said slowly, “You have misunderstood the situation.”

“How could I?” Adrien said bitterly, “I was a bad partner, never meant to hold the cat! I was petty, jealous, and immature. And no one but Ladybug liked me! I was cruel to all the other holders and did nothing but get in their way! It was only a matter of time before Ladybug came for my miraculous.” 

Shadow Fox sighed and sat down in front of him, once again maintaining perfect posture and decorum. “You’re right. You were a bad cat.” Adrien scoffed and turned deeper into the shadows, but Fox wasn’t done as he said, “But you were a good hero.”

Adrien snapped back to see the genuine stoicness of Shadow Fox was unwavering, as he stared perhaps a little too intently at Adrien curled in the shadows like a pouting child. “For three years,” Shadow fox continued, “You have fought in a war that would make most of the Justice League shiver in fear. You have faced horrors that would make the gods tremble. And you always stood firm. You never faltered and you did your best. Was that enough for the role you had been given? Perhaps not. But it was enough for the people of Paris. Because no matter how bad it got, you still went out there. Every single time, to stand by Ladybug even when no one else was there. For that, Chat Noir, you will always have my respect.”

“I’m not Chat Noir,” Adrien said a little less bitterly but still full of grief. “You are. I’m just a civilian now.”

“Again,” Shadow Fox said, letting a little of his annoyance show, “I believe you fundamentally misunderstand the situation.” And then before Adrien could utter a single sentence, Shadow Fox removed his miraculous, letting the transformation wash over him.

“Damian Wayne!” Adrien yelled. 

Damian flinched in annoyance and said, “Not so loud, please, this is still official Court business.”

“But…but!” Adrien stuttered, “You spilled cranberry juice on my father, at the New Years Gala!”

“Of course I did,” Damian said with his signature bluntness, “He was a bull headed narcissist. Not quite as bad as Luthor, but still just as annoying. Funny, I did not see you there?” 

“I was left in Paris,” Adrien said dismissively, “Something about Gotham being too dangerous, which is ridiculous because, you know, Hawkmoth, seriously, I’d do anything to fight a villain as common as the Joker! But my dad complained about you and your family for a full month afterward! Did your brother really call him a boring, whitewashed, ignoramus?!” 

“Yes,” Damian said with a fond smile, “Drake can be rather creative with his words when he chooses to be…Don’t tell him I said that.”

“Hey no never!” Adrien said beaming as he held his hands up in surrender. “But wait, why are you telling me this? And why did you play up your family like that? Dude they sound super chill and fun!”

“You need to stop saying ‘dude’ so often.”

“Yeah, I guess I’m spending too much time with Nino, but that doesn’t answer my question!”

Damian sighed and held out the fox miraculous expectantly. Adrien stared at it numbly looking back and forth between Damian and the necklace in utter bafflement. After a moment Damian sighed and forced the jewel into Adrien's hand. He closed the other boy's fingers around the charm and said seriously, “Ladybug was never going to take your miraculous. She believes in you perhaps more than any other member of the Court. She was just waiting for you to decide when you were ready.”

Adrien blinked stunned as he looked down at the orange and white fox tail in his hand. “How did she know I’d give it up willingly?”

“You’ve been fighting side by side since day one, correct?” Adrien nodded numbly, and Damian continued. “I might not be familiar with this war, but I am no stranger to conflict. That kind of loyalty and bond doesn’t just disappear, not even when the game is changed and your positions shift. From all of the research I have done, you were a good hero Adrien Agreste, you just…weren’t Ladybug’s equal, a fact which has become painfully obvious. So now it is time for a new position within the Court. Can you accept that?” 

Adrien looked up into Damian’s calm stoicism and said, “You know, I can’t decide if this is the best or worst pep talk I’ve ever heard.”

“Does that matter?”

“No, I just…” Adrien couldn’t help the truly brilliant smile that split his face in two, “I just can’t believe that I don’t have to give up my freedom!” 

Damian nodded knowingly. He then slipped the black ring on his finger, and with a small flash it transformed and sent Plagg spiraling out of it. The ring was now a golden signet ring with an Arabic symbol Adrien didn’t recognize engraved in it. Plagg looked between the two boys, and then flew to hug Adrien’s cheek as tightly as his little arms could. “I’ll miss you kitten,” the kwami whispered. 

“I’ll miss you too, Plagg,” Adrien said. “Try not to annoy, Damian too much.”

“No promises!” Plagg cried and he flew to sit on Damian’s shoulder. Adrien then slipped on the necklace with a sad yet excited smile. Trixx appeared as the charm transformed into an empty silver pendant on a silver chain. “Take care of my kitten,” Plagg told Trixx solemnly.

“Oh don’t worry!” Trixx cackled, “I’ll be sure to corrupt him to the dark side!” 

The boys just rolled their eyes and nodded to each other in understanding. They transformed together and ran off into the night. They found Ladybug waiting for them on top of the Louvre with Viperion and Ryuko. “You two are late,” she said, smiling brightly. 

“But it seems introductions are in order,” Viperion interrupted.

The black cat stepped forward. His suit was completely black, you could barely make out the body armor plates on his torso and arms, that mirrored Ladybugs. But he still retained his hood which was lined in a pale green that illuminated his poisonous green cat’s eyes, behind his domino mask. And his tail was now a cloth belt that wrapped around his waist, like the medieval warriors of old. “Please refer to me as Mafdet.”

Ladybug tilted her head and said, “Ok, is that a reference I should know?”

“Mafdet,” Ryuko supplied, “Was the Egyptian goddess of justice, who guarded the Pharaoh’s chambers.”

“A goddess?” Viperion said slyly, “You ok with that man?”

“Should I not be?” Mafdet asked briskly.

“Nope!” Viperion cheered. 

“And you?” Ladybug said, turning to the new fox. 

He twiddled his flute nervously as he stepped into the light. His suit was a dark burnt orange lined with white, not as bright or garish as past foxes, nor as dark and intimidating as Shadow Fox’s. It was soft in a subtle way, and yet strong, and he looked down at himself; he was pleased to find that his form also matched the others. A simple suite with plated body armor. His blonde hair was slicked back into the fox ears that twitched happily, as he looked up and saw the pure joy and pride that Ladybug had for him. He smiled boldly, and swept into a bow declaring, “ I am Seigneur Renard! Or Lord Fox if you prefer. I look forward to working with you, my lady!”

“And I you Renard,” Ladybug said smiling, “Now shall we begin?”

Chapter Text

“Wait what?” Dick cried as he stared at Bruce in shock. 

“Damian is staying in Paris,” Bruce said simply, “He has business there.”

“So the twerp finally got tired of you old man!” Jason chirped from where he was sprawled on the couch trying to read a book. “Good for him.”

“ No ,” The long-suffering Bruce sighed, “There are simply events that require his attention as Robin.”

“Events that you can’t help him with?” Barbara said, leaning forward almost as concerned as Dick. 

“The League,” Bruce said bitterly, “No longer has jurisdiction in Paris.” The entire Batclan was now alert and attentive from their various relaxed positions around the family living room. “The situation there is out of our hands.”

“Fuck,” Duke breathed wide eyed. 

“Language, Master Duke,” Alfred chided as he set down the tray of cookies. 

“I can go to Paris!” Tim said, setting down his computer. “I’m not part of the League and I was active there for a while.”

“No,” Bruce said, staring at Alfred with a stubborn frustration that he usually only wore when Alfred grounded him from the mission due to injuries. “The Paris War is out of our hands, and we can not help with it.”

“War!?” All of his children cried and then shot up to look at Bruce wide eyed and gaping. Jason even closed his book without marking his page. Bruce only continued to stare at Alfred, which naturally drew every eye to the even longer suffering butler. He sighed and calmly addressed the room with his all too familiar and sometimes frustrating formality. 

“The matter in Paris,” he said, “Is one that is extremely delicate, and any interference by those who are not invited by the heroes currently overseeing the situation, risks toppling it into chaos. Please rest assured that the conflict is well in hand. There are heroes over seeing the matter. And Damian has been invited to join them. If they need any of our help, which I doubt, then they will contact us through Damian.” 

“But what is going on?” Dick demanded. 

“I have prepared a file on the Batcomputer,” Bruce said quickly, “So that none of you are tempted to go investigating on your own. Damian will be keeping regular updates, and he will be calling us if the situation becomes too dangerous. But for now, stay out of Paris.”

“Wait! Alfred,” Stephanie cried, “Bruce is looking to you on this one? Are you involved? How? Is this all a part of your mysterious past?”

Alfred smiled kindly at the young lady and said gently, “Everything Master Bruce knows is in the file. But please for Master Damian’s sake, and your own. Please respect these restrictions and do not get involved.”

The kids became silent and grave, nodding in respect to their two patriarchs. Satisfied, the two men nodded, and then Bruce said something about a WE meeting, and Alfred went to get dinner ready. There was silence after they left. But once their footsteps retreated down the hall, Jason looked around and cried, 

“So we’re all going to Paris to help Demon Spawn right?” 

“Obviously!”

“Of course!”

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“We have to be smart about this,” Barbara said, wheeling her chair into the center of the room where Alfred had once stood. “We do nothing until we all read the file. Agreed!”

“And we should call Dami,” Dick said, replacing Bruce’s spot, “Get his read on the situation.”

“I’ve still got some contacts there that I can reach out to,” Tim said, picking his computer back up. 

“But,” Duke said, crossing his arms, “If this was really that big of a deal, why wouldn’t they reach out before?”

“Maybe it’s relatively new?” Stephanie suggested. 

“ No ,” Cass signed with a precision which meant she thought this was very serious, “ This has opened old wounds for Alfred. We must be cautious.”

“Yes! Mysterious past!” Steph whispered as she jumped onto the couch to perch behind Tim, as he looked over the file. 

“Cass is right,” Tim said, his eyes darting as he speed-read the most vital information. “According to Bruce this is all three years old…And Wonder Woman knows and doesn’t want the League involved.”

“Omph!” Jason said leaning forward, “Not good. Very, very not good.”

“Ok,” Dick said, taking a deep breath. “Both Alfred and Wonder Woman want us out of this. Two people we can all agree are angels and should be listened to at all times.” Everyone nodded in agreement, so Dick continued saying, “ But Damian is apparently right in the thick of it. So! If we’re going to do this. We have to be unanimous. All in favor…”

Every single Batkid raised their hand without hesitation. Tim nodded and said, “Booking seven flights for Paris.” 

“Haha!” Marinette cried, “Suck it Couffaine! Draw four, and Uno!”

Luka groaned and began adding cards to his once depleted hand. Damian stared at Marinette and shook his head, “How did I not see it? How did I not see it?”

“Try not to feel too bad about it Wayne,” Chloe said hauntingly, “We all fell for it.”

“Yes but Chloe,” Sabrina said gently as she laid down a red card, “None of us were raised by the World’s Greatest Detective!”

“Yes,” Kagami said, changing the color to green, “The shame and regret Damian feels, must cut deep. He was trained to see through magic and lies, and here was the most obvious deception right in front of him and he was still blind to the truth. The embarrassment must be debilitating.”

“Thank you! Kagami!” Marinette interjected before Damian could snarl back. “I think we get it!”

“Indeed,” Damian said glaring at the fencer, “Reverse back to me, plus two Tsurugi-san, Uno.”

“Plus two,” Kagami said serinely, “Draw four Sabrina.”

“Plus two!” Sabrina called cheerfully.

“Plus two,” Luka said, staring at Marinette smugly as he lay down his card. But Marinette just smirked devilishly, as she lay down her plus two card and said,

“I win!”

Everyone groaned and Damian shook his head muttering in awe, “How did I not see it?”

“Kwami curse you all!” Chloe cried and she drew ten. 

Marinette just laughed and began to shuffle the discarded cards to replenish the pile. “Sorry guys, I’m just that lucky.” 

“I should tell Daddy to make this game illegal!” Chloe said bitterly as Damian was forced to draw a new card, “It has too high a risk of causing an akuma.”

“Is that something you can even do?” Luka challenged.

“Indeed,” Kagami said, “If you start doing that, then you might accidentally create a fascist government. Which could cause even more akumas. especially if you start banning things like books and movies, thus making this war even more difficult on everybody.”

“Please don’t do that Chloe!” Sabrina pleaded. 

“Ugh! Fine!” Chloe said, flicking her hair, “But only because I’m such a nice person.”

They all laughed, but Damian was staring intently down at his cards. “Could something as simple and frivolous as this really cause an akuma?”

Luka shrugged, “It’s already an unspoken rule, that no one plays Monopoly anymore after the Monopoly Man akuma.”

Marinette sighed deeply as she leaned back to watch her friends continue to play. “Baby August was first akumatized because he couldn’t have a lollipop. He’s four years old now, and he still gets victimized about once a month, for emotions that really are completely normal for his age.”

“We’re lucky Hawkmoth doesn’t akumatize more toddlers,” Luka agreed. 

“Hmm,” Kagami nodded, “Yes, if Hawkmoth was smart he would release multiple akumas at once and transform the entire infant population of Paris. We would be completely overrun by their wanton destruction, which he and Mayura could use to distract us enough to steal our miraculouses.”

“Maybe that is his plan,” Damian said with a furrowed brow. “Assuming the Conference Incident was a test to see how much his powers have grown, he could be attempting something very similar to what you're suggesting, only with creatures far more dangerous than toddlers.”

There was a bitter silence before Luka shook his head saying, “I don’t know if having you here is more depressing or more helpful.”

“I’m a realist,” Damian said stoically, “I’m depressingly helpful. Oh, and I have second place, draw four, Tsurugi-san.” 

“Draw eight, Sabrina-chan,” Kagami said simply, “And the color is red.”

Chloe shook her head as she chuckled, “Who knew Damian ‘Ice Prince’ Wayne had a sense of humor! Next rich party we attend together, we’re pranking Luthor!” 

Damian smirked, “I’ll inform my brothers that I have acquired another ally in our war against him.” 

“Can you two please try not to conquer the world while we’re trying to save it!” Marinette pleaded. 

“Oh please!” Chloe cried, “Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Utterly ridiculous!” Everyone chimed good naturedly.

Chloe only rolled her eyes and continued saying “If anyone is going to conquer the world Dupain-Cheng. It’s going to be you!”

“I agree,” Kagami said, “And I of course will be your Chief Bodyguard.”

“I’ll be your Chief Counselor and make sure all of the idiotic bureaucrats stay in line,” Chloe declared.

“I call Court Musician!” Luka said.

“Can I command your army of servants who double as spies and assassins and are only loyal to you?” Sabrina asked cheerfully.

“Only if I can be the Supreme Commander of your armies,” Damian said, “Otherwise, I think that I should be in charge of the assassins.”

“You guys!” Marinette groaned, but she was blushing furiously, “As sweet as that is, I am not going to conquer the world!”

“Are you sure about that,” Luka teased, “Because you’d easily be the greatest tyrant the world has ever seen.”

“No!” Marinette insisted, “I mean it!”

“Hey guys!” Alex cried as she entered the house boat, and Fluff flew to join the other kwamis playing their own game on the kitchen counter with mini cards Marinette had made for them. “Sorry I’m late, my shift at the Museum went long. What are we doing?”

“Planning how Marinette is going to conquer the world and claiming our positions in her court,” Kagami said dryly, “And Uno.”

“Ooo!” Alex cried plopping down into her chair, “Awesome, has anyone called the Chief of Propaganda yet? Or Supreme Commander of the Armies?”

“You guys!” Marinette groaned hopelessly. 

“I’ve claimed Commander of the Armies,” Damian said simply. 

“I can see it,” Alex nodded. “But I think you would be better as, oh, I don’t know…King Consort?” 

“Alex!” Marinette screeched her face as red as a tomato. Damian suddenly wished he still had cards to stare at intently, as the rest of their friends chuckled knowingly. “Damian and I are just friends!”

“For now,” Alex muttered with a sly grin.

“What was that?” Marinette snapped.

“I’m just kidding! Geez,” Alex said her hands up in surrender, but she smirked knowingly. “So are we doing another round, or are we going to catch the newbies up on the investigation?”

“Can’t you use your time travel for something other than finding out information about our love lives?” Chloe asked.

“Doesn’t work that way,” Alex said casually as Kagami took third place. “Sorry but Old Me is very specific about what I can and can’t learn. Says this is something we can only learn when all of the right players are in the right places, which means no cheat sheets.”  

“But then what’s the point of investigating?” Damian asked. “If we can’t move until the right time, and only she knows when the right time is, then can’t she tell us who he is when it’s the right time?”

“You’re giving me a headache,” Luka said, “Uno.”

“I already asked,” Marinette said bitterly, “Apparently, the only way to get the right people in the right places for the right time, is for us to investigate on our own. Something about natural revelations producing stronger faith and trust than forced revelations?”

“We get it! It’s all very complicated,” Chloe waved, “Reverse back to me and draw two Couffaine.”

“Basically we’ve learned the hard way not to question the being that lives outside of time and space,” Luka said casually picking up his two new cards. 

“Then catch me up on the investigation,” Damian said simply. “I might not have seen through the obviousness that was Marinette, but I was well trained and I can be a great asset in this.”

“Damian, you’ve got to let that go,” Marinette insisted compassionately.

“Yeah dude!” Alex said, “Miraculous Magic is like seriously powerful stuff!”

“If it wasn’t,” Kagami said bitterly, “We would have found Hawkmoth three years ago.”

The rest of the Court nodded bitterly. Then Sabrina said, “Draw four Chloe!”

“Traitor!”

“I…I don’t get it,” Adrien said looking at Trixx in confusion. 

“Look kid, it’s simple!” The fox said cheerfully as he flew around Adrien’s head. “Lies help us tell the truth!”

“That sounds like a contradiction,” Adrien said, leaning back on his bedroom couch.

“Not at all!” Trixx said coming to float in front of him. “Look at it this way! Romeo and Juliet! They never existed, right?”

“How do you know about Romeo and Juliet?” Adrien asked, baffled. 

“Old Willy was my holder!” Trixx said proudly, “A master illusionist if there ever was one! Now answer the question.”

“No. Obviously they weren’t real,” Adrien said placatingly. 

“So the whole story is a lie!” Trixx declared happily.

“No it’s not!” Adrien argued. 

“Oh really then how is it true? Nothing in it actually happened!”

“The themes and message are true!” Adrien insisted. 

“Exactly!” Trixx cheered, “It’s a lie that tells the truth!”

“But…” Adrien began with a furrowed brow. 

Trixx sighed patiently. “Here let’s try something else…Who's the real you? Adrien Agreste or Chat Noir?” 

“Well,” Adrien said bitterly, “I’m not Chat Noir any more—”

“You know what I mean!”

Adrien sighed and nodded his head, “Yeah I do…but what does that have to do with anything? They’re both me?”

“Are they?” Trixx prodded, “But to the outside world they are completely different people! Not even comparable!”

Adrien blinked and thought about it some more before saying, “I guess…I have to pretend more as Adrien…when I’m Chat Noir I get to say whatever I like, but…Chat Noir is the lie! He’s the mask. Adrien is who I’m supposed to really be, but Chat Noir is the more genuine me? How is that possible?”

“Because,” Trixx said gently, “Everyone wears masks. We all create illusions for ourselves, and lie to the world. And humans lie to themselves most of all.”

“What do you mean lie to ourselves?” Adrien asked, “That doesn’t make any sense? Aren’t you the most honest with yourself?”

“I don’t know kid?” Trixx cried, “You tell me! I mean, did you really think you were the True Holder of the Black Cat? Did you really think Ladybug was your soulmate?”

Adrien bowed his head in shame. “I…I guess I did lie to myself a lot…I really am completely oblivious.”

“Yep!” Trixx agreed, “You’re a total block head. Which is why I told Damian to give me to you! You might not be my true holder, but you clearly have a lot to learn about truth, lies, and illusions, if you're ever going to be ready for your real miracles!”

Adrien shook his head, “But...don’t you want to be with your true holder? Why would you ever settle for me when you can be with them?”

“Hey!” Trixx cried, “Don’t you ever talk like that! That is the worst lie you can ever tell yourself, you hear me! I am not settling. You see, it’s clear to me that your education has been criminally neglected. You’re obviously a true holder, you just haven’t found your true chosen yet. You know the cosmic power that you're most compatible with. But you’ll never be able to help them, and they will never be able to help you, if your education doesn’t get a jump start pronto!”

“Who is my true chosen?” Adrien asked desperately.

“The Butterfly obviously!” Trixx exclaimed cheerfully.

“But!” Adrien cried desperately, “That’s Hawkmoth’s miraculous! Isn’t it evil?”

Trixx slapped Adrien with his tiny paw, and it only felt like a flick on the cheek. But the emotional weight behind that movement caught Adrien off guard. He stared wide eyed at Trixx, who huffed and said bitterly, “Nooroo and Duusu are some of the kindest, most genuine, and wonderful kwami I have ever met! They are prisoners and slaves under the control of an evil, evil psychopath. And you are going to help me rescue them!”

“How?” Adrien asked humbled and a little ashamed.

“By learning how to tell the difference between truth and lies,” Trixx paused and thought about it for a moment then said, “You know the Butterfly is the Miraculous of Transmission, do you know what that means?”

Adrien thought about it for a moment before saying, “I guess it means…that the Butterfly allows someone to…connect things?”

“See kid!” Trixx cried, “You’re a natural! All of the kwami exist on a scale between complete Order, the Ladybug, and complete Chaos, the Cat. And you humans help keep us in check from, you know, destroying the world! But the Butterfly is unique, because it’s perfectly in the middle! Exactly half Order and half Chaos. Nooroo always said that he was a bridge, connecting and transmitting one thing to another, power, thoughts, emotions. Which is very important for humans, as it allows you to feel empathy and compassion and all that gooey nonsense.”

“Huh,” Adrien said softly, “That makes a lot of sense. And Hawkmoth can only transmit to people with negative emotions, because he only feels negative emotions. He can't connect to others in any other way…What a terrible existence.”

“Oh, Nooroo is going to love you!” Trixx cried, “But if you want to help them. Then you’re going to have to be better than Hawkmoth.”

“How?”

“Well for starters, you need to stop being so gullible and oblivious. You're clearly very empathetic and understanding, but  because you weren't educated properly that only lets people take advantage of you. And that will be even worse when you're the Butterfly, as other people's thoughts and feeling will be transmitted directly into your head. Which, again is why I’m here. And we'll start with deconstructing all of those pesky illusions you've made for yourself, and showing you all of those blatantly obvious things you've missed. For example…did you know Marinette used to have a massive crush on you?”

“WHAT?”

“I said ‘used to!’”

Chapter Text

Adrien took a deep calming breath as he entered the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. He had used to love coming here. The warm, fresh smell of baking bread, the glow of sunlight fractured through the windows, and the nurturing hands and welcoming smiles of Tom and Sabine, were a boon that he had never thought he had needed. He had craved the sound of the chimes above their door. He hand longed for their bone crushing hugs, and their soft hands bringing him lovingly into their home. He had enjoyed spending time with Marinette and the adorable way she floundered and stuttered around him. He loved sitting in her calming room as she ranted endlessly about her passions, a complete mess everywhere else, but eternally graceful and composed when surrounded by her art. 

However, something had changed in the last year. Everything was the same but it was slightly off, and it made him uncomfortable. The safe space he had come to know and love had shifted ever so slightly, and was now obscured in the most minute way possible, that he could barely comprehend the change. Adrian didn’t know what it was. He was still welcomed brightly into the bakery. Marinette still ranted endlessly about her designs, and treated him with the love and care that he had always craved. But something was different. Where once there was nothing but open friendliness and cheer between them, now there seemed to be a pane of glass between Adrien and one of his dearest friends. Transparent and so ignorable, but a present divide all the same. 

Completely put off by this, Adrien had started limiting his time at the Bakery. He mainly only interacted with Marinette in groups, and he almost never went into her room. That was where the cringing, grating feeling of wrongness was strongest, and Adrien hated being uncomfortable in a place he had once been completely at his ease. Even visiting as Chat Noir hadn’t assuaged the itching sensation he had felt there, so he gave that up to. 

“Hello Adrien!” Sabine Dupain-Cheng cooed, “Here have a macaroon. Are you here to see Marinette?” 

“Um, yes,” Adrien said nervously behind his disciplined ‘model face,’ “Is she here?”

“She’s up in her room with another friend,” Sabine said as she placed the pastries artfully on the display, “Damian Wayne, do you know him?”

Adrien tried not to flinch, and his smile became strained as he said, “Yeah I do…um I can come back later!”

“Oh no!” Sabine cried, “I don’t think they would mind. Marinette did mention that there might be some others coming along eventually…Would you like me to show you up?”

“No, that's alright!” Adrien exclaimed, “Thank you!”  He accepted another cookie and then began pulling himself up the stairs. It felt like he would never reach the top as he struggled to formulate exactly what he wanted to say. And the idea that Damian was there, the one person in the whole world who knew his secret, only had him spiraling into a panic. Had he told Marinette? What would they say to each other? What happens now? 

By the time he was nervously knocking on Marinette’s trap door, he was practically drenched in sweat and panting as if he had just walked up a mountain and not two flights of low stairs. Still at the cheery, “Come in!” from Marinette, he steeled himself into his best “Perfect Son” expression, stuffing his emotions down deep, and strode into the attic room with as much confidence as he could muster. 

The moment he opened the door, that itching sense of wrongness came back, even though Marinette’s room was as much the same as it ever had been. Her desk was cluttered with projects and school work, but somehow still meticulously organized. Her walls were still covered completely in designs, pictures, and fashion magazines. She was still standing serinely with pins in her mouth as she danced around her mannequin while draping fabric over it. The only thing blatantly different was Damian pacing over by her sitting area, with a scowl so permanently etched into his face, Adrien was worried that it might be stuck there.

“No, no, NO!” he shouted and when he turned to pace back across the room, Adrien would see that he was yelling into a phone. “Don’t you dare come here Grayson! Or I swear on the ancient blood of my house that you will curse the day you were ever born!”

“Hi Adrien!” Marinette said casually, completely ignoring the fuming boy in her room, “Take a seat I’m almost done.”

“Um…ok,” Adrien said hesitatingly, climbing up into the room. “Um…should we be worried about…” He gestured vaguely to Damian who nodded to him in greeting before turning back to his phone.

Marinette just rolled her eyes and said, “Oh no. We’ve already had today’s akumas, so he’s fine. He’s just trying to convince his brothers not to come here.”

“Right…But um why?” Adrien said slowly as he sat in the empty desk chair. Of course he knew why Damian was staying, he was Mafdet, but he needed to know what everyone else thought so that he wouldn’t blow his new friend’s cover. Wait, was Damian a friend? They felt like friends. They had shared secret identities after all. But did that make them friends, or just colleagues? Adrien realized he was spiraling and began to ground himself by rubbing his hands on the coarse, soft fabric of his jeans. The truth was, he was lost and confused, and he didn’t know who else to turn to. Ever since Trixx had come into his life as his “Emotions Tutor” (Trixx’s words, not his) he had been drowning in a sea of confusion and panic and he didn’t know where to turn.   

He barely even heard Marinette as she explained how Wayne Enterprises was taking an interest in the Miraculous War and wanted to offer whatever support they could through Damian. He was too focused on the swirling migraine of emotions and craziness that was in his head. He was just so confused , and Damian was yelling something about something called a Todd? And Marinette was asking his opinion of a certain color, and all he could think was, “There’s something wrong with Mari’s room. There’s something wrong with Mari’s room? ” And he didn’t even know where to begin! His thoughts just couldn’t coalesce into a complete sentence, until he finally burst out,

“Did you used to have a crush on me?” Ok, maybe he had said that a little too loudly, but he had to know. He needed to know something for certain. Something that was true. He stared at Marinette, pleading with her to understand, begging her to tell him something concrete, something that he knew to be true…That they had been friends. They had always been friends, and had never been anything more than friends. Except Marinette only stared at him with the most curiously befuddled look and said softly, 

“I thought that was obvious.” 

“What?” Adrien said weakly as the last bricks of his world crashed deafeningly around his ears. 

Marinette seemed to pick up on his distress, because she put down her tape measure and her pin cushion, and after setting her mannequin aside, she turned to Damian saying, “Hey Damian, do mind yelling at your brothers on the balcony? I need to talk to Adrien.”

“Of course,” Damian said in that calm, stoic manner that reminded Adrien painfully of Kagami. “Let me know if you need anything.” Then he turned back to his phone conversation and said, “Not that it's any of your business Grayson, but that was my friend—Yes I have friends outside of Kent! Shut up! Her name is Marinette—yes she is female, I fail to see what that has to do with anything--No you are absolutely not coming to Paris!--I don’t care if you want to meet her! You can video chat.--No, that is not permission for you to find her online, will you please just let it go!--No, you still can’t come to Paris!” 

The trap door banged behind him and Marinette shook her head in amusement as she claimed the empty desk chair. Adrien shifted uncomfortably before clearing his throat and saying, “So…what is he doing here?”

Marinette shrugged and said, “We got to hang out a lot during the conference and became friends. We actually have a lot in common, and when he learned about my business he wanted to commission a piece from me. Said it would make his brothers jealous. Oh! And I’m also teaching him how to play video games, so that he can ‘annihilate’ his brothers online, since Mr. Wayne won’t let him do it in real life.”

“Oh…ok,” Adrien said slowly, “So…did you…um…used to have a crush on me?”

Marinette rolled her eyes playfully before saying, “Yes, Adrien, I did. And again, I thought I was being painfully obvious about it…I mean, I had posters of you all over my wall and everything! It was actually embarrassing how unhealthy it was, I mean I was technically stalking you, and everyone knew it! And true, all of the posters are gone now, but…did…did you really not notice?”

“I mean,” Adrien said, rubbing his neck nervously, “I knew you had my schedule memorized, and I’ve seen all the posters, but I thought those were just because they were all for inspiration. But, oh yeah…they are gone! Huh, how did I not notice that?”

“Yeah!” Marinette said, “Inspiration for my obsession! It was extremely unhealthy, and I’ve gotten a, sort of, therapist who has been helping me through my ‘craziness.’ She thinks I have some form of OCD or something born of the PTSD because of, you know…” She waved her hand in the air, and Adrien nodded understandingly. There were perhaps a few too many interviews on TV these days of psychiatrists explaining how mentally damaging this war was, especially on the children. The population of Paris had even gone down significantly in the last few years, as parents rushed their children to safe, more emotionally stable places. 

“But,” Adrien said, his brow furrowed in confusion, “How was any of that unhealthy? You were always so kind and helpful, and—”

“Adrien,” Marinette interrupted insistently, “I was obsessed! I had your schedule memorized! I had Christmas presents planned years in advance. I had the whole class running crazy schemes trying to get us together, and it damaged a lot of my relationships with them. I was jealous and petty to the point of destruction! Self destruction, property destruction, stealing, you name it! And…and Adrien, I am so sorry for all of that! I never should have put you through that, and I’m only just realizing that I never properly apologized, for how uncomfortable that must have made you…I’m so sorry, I just didn’t want to ruin our friendship. I’m so sorry! ”

“But,” Adrien said, still confused and bewildered, “You didn’t?”

“What?”

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable,” Adrien insisted, “You did nothing wrong.”

“Adrien,” Marinette said forcibly, “I was stalking you! How is that not awful?!”

“But it’s normal.”

Marinette blinked, opening and closing her mouth a few time before she exclaimed, “What?” In a sort of confused hiss. 

“It’s normal,” Adrien said innocently, “Almost all of the girls around me behave that way, you, Chloe, Lila, other girls in school, and other models. Kagami is really the only exception, except for maybe a few of the girls in out class, but I’m not really as close to them. But yeah, there’s nothing wrong with what you did, you were just being friendly!”

Adrien tried to smile comfortingly, trying to get her to blush, stutter in agreement, and smile back. But she didn’t. Marinette only stared at him gaping like he was the most preposterous thing in the world. That’s when it clicked, why he was so uncomfortable in the Dupain-Cheng household. It wasn’t that anything had gone wrong, and they silently hated him. It was simply that Marinette had changed. Her walls were no longer plastered with the soft, bright Agreste Brand posters. Instead they were filled with colorful and crazy rock posters, fashion editorials for a hundred different brands, and a thousand sketches of edgier, more punk, and rock inspired designs of Marinette’s. She had even started dressing differently. It was subtle, but she had changed her soft black blazer for a fitted leather jacket, with bolder brighter colors. She no longer wore her hair in those adorable pigtails, instead pulling back into styles that had a simple elegance. And she treated him differently. It had happened slowly, but now that she was staring at him in shock, and his own confident smile was melting into one of uncertainty and anxiety, he remembered how she slowly stopped stuttering. She gradually stopped tripping every time he said hi. All of the little things that he had come to associate with their friendship, her gentle blushes, her elaborate gifts, their crazy group gatherings. They had all faded into the past, leaving Adrien flat footed and wondering what he had done wrong. 

Finally Marinette blinked, snapped her mouth closed, and snatched her phone declaring, “I’m calling Chloe.”

“Wait, why?”

“Because I know she apologized to you for the same things I did. And she needs to knock some sense into that thick skull of yours.”

Adrien shrunk back at her harsh words and began to hug himself. He felt like a lost child, but he couldn’t help not understanding what was so wrong with their behavior. He said as much and went so far as to say, “It’s really not that bad. You weren’t hurting anybody!”

“Yes we were!” Marinette cried desperately, “Adrien we were hurting you. And ourselves!” 

“But Lila—”

“Do not!” Marinette snapped fiercely, “Compare me to Lila. She is a manipulative witch, and she is harassing you even more than Chloe and I combined!”

“No she’s not!”

“So you like it when she clings to your arm, gets in your personal space, and uses modeling as an excuse to hug you, kiss you, and experience other intimate gestures with you?” 

“She’s just being a friend!” Adrien insisted desperately, trying to cling to his world, his normalcy, the few things he had always known to be true. 

“That’s not friendship, Adrien!” Marinette pleaded, “That’s harassment! And I am so, so sorry for my part in it! I…I had no idea the harm I was doing! And I’d understand if you never want to talk to me again!”

“No!” Adrien cried, “That’s the last thing I want! I just want things to go back to the way things were.”

“The way things were, were not good Adrien,” Marinette insisted, “And I couldn’t even if I wanted to, I no longer have a crush on you. And you were never in love with me.”

“I could have been!” Adrien pleaded.

“But were you?” Marinette asked seriously. 

Adrien looked away. He was trying not to cry. He was such an idiot! And he couldn’t look at Marinette. He couldn’t look at her walls, and the painful reminder that he had been completely blind to all of her affection. He couldn’t look at her computer, because the screen saver was no longer of him, but a collage of group and family photos. It only showed how much he had missed in his own delusions of perfection. So he looked at the floor, and wallowed in the knowledge that Trixx was right. He was nothing but a complete and utter buffoon.

The door to the balcony slammed open, and Damian poked his head and said spitefully, “Marinette, please help me convince me idiot brothers to stay as far away from Paris as possible. Everything I say just makes them want to come more.”

Marinette sighed and leaned back so that she was looking at him over her shoulder. “They’re worried about you.”

“Apparently they believe that I am incapable of taking care of myself.”

“Don’t they have responsibilities in Gotham?”

“I already argued that, and they said the City can survive without them for a few weeks.”

“They do know that you could be here for the rest of lycèe right?”  

Damian scowled and said, “That only made them want to come even more. Especially Grayson as he his an unbearable mother hen that drives us all into a homicidal rage at his nosey interference…yes Grayson, I know you can hear me, that is why I said it.”

Marinette chuckled and then said, “Find a compromise. Tell them that only the three most emotionally stable individuals are allowed in the city limits, and you have the right to call…is there anyone they respect enough to be deathly afraid of disappointing them?”

“Alfred.”

“Right, say you’ll call Alfred if they don’t obey your instructions to the letter. The rest can do what they want so long as they stay outside of Paris. And make it clear that if any more than three show up, then the deal is automatically off.”

Damian blinked, his stoic expression was rather comical, as he looked at them all upside down. Finally he whispered, “How did I not see it?” And disappeared back up onto the balcony. 

Marinette chuckled and then turned back to Adrien. He sat looking between the balcony and Marinette, the pain evident on his face. His “perfect son” image was gone, and all he could whisper was, “So are you two…”

“Oh! No!” Marinette said blushing, but she did not thrash and wave about knocking everything over as she might have done in the past. She just pushed some hair behind her ear and said, “Damian and I are friends…we might be something more in the future. But we’re still getting to know each other, and I still need a lot of therapy before I’m ready for anything more than friendship…and if these last few years have taught me anything, it’s that at the heart of every good relationship, no matter what form it takes, is a partnership of compassion and respect. I’m not going to do anything with anyone until I know I have that at the very least.”

Adrien nodded and like running sand through a sieve, he found that now he had gotten the loser, dryer thoughts out of the way, he could see the true stones that were weighing on him. He took a deep breath and said with a sigh, “I guess, I just…Something happened recently in my life, and it has turned everything I’ve ever known to be true upside down. Marinette…I…I don’t know how to tell the truth form lies anymore! Is there any such thing as the truth? I mean! I…I can’t—”

“Woah! Adrien,” Marinette said gently, careful not to touch him, but silently offering her comfort as she leaned forward to catch his eye. “It’s ok…just start from the beginning.”

Adrien nodded, and calmed himself, with the techniques that were now a mandatory part of French education. “I just…I thought the world was one way. If you hurt people, then you're bad. If you help people then you're good. As long as what you do doesn’t inconvenience others or harm them, then it’s ok. Lying is wrong, but it doesn’t matter so long as it’s not actively hurting you or anybody else.”

Marinette seemed to shiver at how closely those words resembled some advice he had given her a long time ago. But he pushed past the discomfort that brought him and carried on, “But recently someone told me that lies can be a good thing? And that they can help you find the truth? But that doesn’t make any sense, and now you’re telling me that our friendship was unhealthy, and the things that are perfectly normal to me are wrong, and harmful? But they’ve never harmed me before, and I just…I just don’t know what to believe anymore!”

Marinette sighed and leaned back, looking at him with heartfelt grief that Adrien just couldn’t understand, though it comforted him nonetheless. Finally she said, “I’m not a therapist, Adrien. And I think you need one.”

“My father would never allow me to show such an obvious imperfection,” Adrien said bitterly. 

“I know,” Marinette said, “So let’s take this one thing at a time. The lying thing…I guess you’re referring to Lila?”

“Among other things,” Adrien muttered.

Marinette nodded as if she understood, although she didn’t pry and she said, “Well, I think it’s important to remember the difference between lying and illusion. Illusion is like…Superman hiding his identity…do you think he’s lying by not telling anyone his real name?”

“No,” Adrien said calmly, “He needs to hide so that he can protect himself and others.”

“And” Marinette said smiling, “Do you think he’s any less Superman when he takes off the cape and goes about the day as…whoever, Superman really is?”

“No,” Adrien said slowly. “He’s still Superman.”

“Then he’s not lying,” Marinette declared smiling, “He’s casting an illusion. What Lila does, however, is not casting an illusion. Because she is hurting people!”

“But…” Adrien said, “Everyone knows she’s lying. She’s not very good at it.”

“And has that stopped her from taking advantage of our classmates? Having them give her stuff, hang them out to dry, and convince them that she is an angel incarnate?”

“But…” Adrien said, shaking his head, “Everybody does that… Everybody lies like that. You’ve even admitted that you are like that. Why is it such a problem now, with her? Why isn’t it a problem when the tabloids do it? Or—”

“Adrien,” Marinette said softly, “It was wrong then too. It was always wrong. With everyone! Who told you it wasn’t?” 

“Well,” Adrien said dejectedly, “My father always said that it wasn’t a big deal...When I was ten, a girl, a socialite's daughter, once lied about us being together, and when I corrected her in front of her friends, she broke down crying. My father said that I hurt her, and everyone around us by causing a scene, and that next time I should just ignore them, cause no one believed them anyway.”

Marinette’s became so fiery with rage Adrien backed away in fright. She then scowled and said, “I’m killing your father.”

“What? No!” Adrien cried. “Please don’t kill anyone!” 

“Who are we killing?” Damian asked calmly as he put his phone away.

“Gabriel Agreste,” Marinette said calmly, “You’re bringing the shovels. By the way did you get things sorted with your brothers?”

“Yes,” Damian said, not the least bit fazed by the murder plans, “I hung up once they started arguing over which of them gets to come. At least they all seem to be in agreement over not bringing Todd. And I give them at least another week before they come to any sort of consensus. Why are we killing Agreste’s father?”

“We’re killing Gabriel?” Chloe said as she appeared in the room. “About time!”

“We’re not killing my dad!” Adrien cried desperately. But he was promptly ignored as Marinette said dryly to Chloe, 

“Remember how our unaddressed trauma and unhealthy rivalry drew us to become obsessive towards Adrien to an unhealthy degree, until we both got therapy, and started our own friendship based on our mutual distaste for the human personification of all of our faults and weaknesses known as Lila Rossi?”

“Yes,” Chloe said slowly, “And why are you bringing up our shameful and traumatic past in front of the Gothamite?”  

Marinette scowled and said, “Gabriel convinced Adrien that that kind of obsessive behavior is normal, and that calling people out on their abuse and harassment is wrong, and now he’s having a moral crisis, because he’s never been taught what healthy relationships look like.”

“What?” Chloe screeched and both of the boys flinched.

Damian then shook his head and muttered, “And I thought my mother was bad.” Damian then pulled out his phone and said, “I am purchasing the shovels. Unless you would prefer to completely cover our tracks by dissolving the body in acid.”

“What?” Adrien cried.

“Wait!” Marinette said, “What’s wrong with your mother?”

“Abuse, neglect, impossible expectations,” Damian said dryly, “But at least she taught me to stand up for myself.”

“Guys!” Adrien pleaded, “This isn’t that big of a deal.”

“Adrien,” Marinette said calmly, facing him head on. “You. Need. Therapy! This is a very big deal!”

“I’m calling Kagami,” Chloe said, “We’re going to need all the help we can get!”

“But—” Adrien began completely floored, but Damian rested a hand on his shoulder and shook his head saying, 

“It is clear that you are only now coming to terms with the emotional abuse and neglect that you have suffered from your whole childhood. For this reason, we will not kill the menace immediately. But wait until you are properly able to comprehend the depth of his depravity.”

“He loves me!” Adrien shouted, pushing Damian’s hand away as he shot to his feet. “My father loves me! And wants the best for me! I…I…it’s just…”

“Adrien,” Marinette said softly, though she did not stand, “We’re sorry. We didn’t mean to overwhelm you like that. Can you please sit down?”

Adrien agreed slowly, as he looked desperately between the three people in the room. His oldest friend, his greatest ally, and the boy who knew his greatest secret. In their own way they were all looking down at him with complete compassion and understanding. Damian, stoic and emotionless but as calm and steady as stone. Chloe with fiery passion and anger on his behalf. And Marinette, completely calm, cool, and empathetic, like water washing away his worries. 

“Adrien,” she said again, “Why did you come here?”

“I needed the truth,” He said simply, “Just for once, I want the whole fucking truth. But…I don’t even know what that is any more!”

Marinette smiled bitterly and softly and said, “I can give you some names. Professionals, we can get you to talk to. We’ll find a way to do it without your dad knowing. Just know that we’re here to help! We always will be.”  

There was a light tapping against his chest, and Adrien reached into his jacket. The moment his hand was against his heart, Trixx squeezed him tightly in reassurance. He nodded slowly and said, “Ok…just help me understand.”

“We will,” Chloe said firmly, and so Adrien took a deep breath and began to ask his questions. 

Chapter Text

Damian didn't think it was possible for so much in his life to change so fast. It reminded him of when Death Stroke attacked Nanda Parbat. In one night, his entire world had turned upside down. His purpose was lost, his mother gone, and his father staring down at him like he was some sort of lost puppy that he had kicked. Yet, while those days had been full of turmoil, uncertainty, and frustration, Damian found that he could barely remember anything about them past the roiling and overwhelming rage that had consumed him. 

Dr. Leslie said that it was because of the trauma, and that he shouldn't be surprised if there were more gaps in his childhood memory because of it. Tim and Jason claimed that he tried to kill them, and he probably did. They laughed and teased about it now, but that didn't change the fact that in those first few months he had been in such a haze of anger and grief that he barely remembered his actions. But he could see the results, and in his pride had stood staunchly by them despite their harm. And so in that way, the change from Demon's Heir to Son of the Bat had been a long and arduous process.  

But being Mafdet was different. From the moment he slipped on the ring, a sense of rightness filled him. As if that part of himself that had been missing ever since he left the League had righted itself and his purpose was restored. The rest of the Court accepted him as naturally as breathing, inviting him on outings, helping him set up his new hotel room, and brow beating the Principle into letting him transfer mid school year. And all within the last days of the conference. It was just so…unnatural. He kept thinking that it should be harder than this. That the Court Members should be fighting his acceptance. That Paris should be rejecting his assistance. But so far the only obstacle he had met was from the Gotham class. 

When they were saying goodbyes, those students that had been partnered with the other members of the Court, approached him in a huff. But before he could ask what was wrong, Kathryn had practically shouted, 

"I can't believe you get to stay!" 

"You want to stay in a city currently at war with an emotional terrorist?" Alice asked skeptically. 

"Not particularly," Kathryn said crossing her arms, "Being turned into a toy soldier was not fun. But my Paris peeps need help, and by Batman, I want to give it!" 

Will nodded saying, "It is completely unfair, that we have to go back to Joker and fear gas, and you get to stay and help with brainwashing akumas."  

"I thought after the Fair," Damian said skeptically, "That we all decided that Paris is much worse than Gotham." 

At the mention of the event, everyone glanced at Will and then looked quickly away. The flash of guilt only filled his eyes once, but then he straightened his spine, looked Damian dead in the eye and said, "Paris is ten times worse than Gotham will ever be. Which is why we want to stay and help our friends." 

"If we don't help each other," Kathryn said simply, "Then who else will?" 

It was the Crime Alley philosophy. When on patrol with Todd, Jason would school him on it constantly. Showing him how the street kids would protect each other, how the call girls would band together, how the community looked out for itself. The true crime, as Todd would say, "Is that no one else would understand that. Outsiders see the kids walking home in packs and assume they were up and coming gang members. So it is important, Damian, that you never look down on them. If they offer you help, then you should never turn aside. It's their way of saying they accept you. They will only offer it once. And if you turn them away, then that door will be closed forever." 

Damian sighed as he looked at each of his peers in turn, their resolute faces, their fierce determination. He could only imagine the havoc they would cause if left here. The absolute chaos they could create in the name of protecting their friends…Damian paused. He could practically hear Plagg snickering in his coat pocket. So he tilted his head consideringly and said, "I can't keep you here now…but I might be able to bring you back. And until then, there is some stuff you can do in Gotham." 

The three teens exchanged warry looks and said, "How?" 

"My father supplies the Bats with their gear," he said simply. "So he is going to convince some of them to come and support the heroes. They're going to need help investigating Hawkmoth’s identity, and keeping the streets safe while they're short staffed, not to mention finding the perfect punishment for the Hawkbitch once he is captured…" 

He let the thought drift off at the vindictive glee that spread over his peers' faces. They nodded and whipped out their brand new phones, and before long Damian's own phone pinged. He arched a skeptical eyebrow at the notification he received, and Alice explained, "Keep us updated on everything, and get us back here as soon as possible! When you do, we'll have the perfect Gotham/Arkham worthy punishment we can think of!" 

"Bye Damian!" Kathryn called, "We'll have to meet up for lunch in Gotham!" 

"Nothing to fancy, Rich Boy," Will agreed. "And let me know if Hawkbitch does anything else so we can add it to the shit list." 

Damian blinked after them. His emotions, carefully hidden under stoicism and apathy, but anyone who knew would have seen that he was completely baffled by this exchange, and clearly didn't know how to respond. Until finally he nodded and said, "Yes, I will do that." 

Now he was sitting on top of a shadowed peaked, pondering all of these quick and sudden changes, only just now fully accepting the fact that…he had friends. Both in Paris and Gotham, there were people waiting on him who wanted to spend time with him. And they weren't his family or Kent…it was strange. His phone pinged and he checked his staff to see Kathryn had just texted the group chat.

crazy4danger: Hypothetically, if I could get a hold of Scarecrow's fear toxin. Would it be going too far to use it on HB? 😁

hattersworstn8tmare: Hypothetically how would that even happen? Also, no it's definitely not too far. 

tiredofurshit: Why the change I thought we were going with Laughing Gas?

crazy4danger: I just read about Sand Boy. Richyrich, please tell me he hasn't shown up yet. I'm so glad he didn't come for us, but I need to know if ur ok! 😰

richyrich: No nightmare akumas yet. And hypothetically speaking, WE does antidote research on all of the Rogue's toxins, including Scarecrows. 

tiredofurshit: Really? that's kinda sketch???? 

richyrich: How do you think BC and the GPD have all the latest antidotes? 

hattersworstn8mare: You know that actually makes a lot of sense! I'm so glad we got the Wayne's and not Pukethor! He would let Metro burn for kicks and giggles! 

tiredofurshit: F Pukethor!

crazy4danger: F Pukethor! 

richyrich: F Pukethor! Can I change my username now? 

crazy4danger: You still haven't gone one convo without mentioning insane rich person shit so…no! 

richyrich:  I haven't mentioned it at all this time. 

hattersworstn8mare: You hypothetically mentioned that you can just casually get chemical weapons no questions asked…😐

tiredofurshit: sucks to suck! 

"Well they're fun!" 

Mafdet turned to see Ladybug leaning over his shoulder, he shrugged and hid the screen back in his staff. “They are adequate, and determined to help.”

Ladybug smiled, knowing that translated to, “I really like them, but I have a reputation to maintain. So shut up!” She hopped to sit next to him on the roof’s crest. She leaned back on her palms and looked up at the night sky, and while the light pollution of the city hid the stars from sight, the clouds reflecting back that light still painted the sky with beautifully muted colors mixed with the inky blackness of the night and the shimmering profile of the moon. “I wonder if I could dye fabric to look like that?” she muttered softly. “I’d have a whole collection based on it. Call it…Paris Night Sky…no that’s too obvious…Night Sky? Night Life? Paris Night?”

“How are any of those names less obvious?” Mafdet asked curiously, choosing to look out across the city and at the swirling life around them. 

Ladybug shrugged and said, “Less words?”

Mafdet rolled his eyes, and let the city ambience of distant cars and murmuring chatter, and fading music relax him into the quietness of the night. Still his back itched in discomfort until he finally said, “My siblings have decided.”

“Oh?” Ladybug said distantly, still examining the clouds as if she was trying to superimpose her designs onto the sky itself. 

Mafdet sighed saying, “I honestly thought it would take them longer to choose, but apparently, once they all read my Father’s file, they quickly came to a unanimous decision.”

“So who's coming?” Ladybug said casually, but Mafdet could see the tension in her shoulders. She was terrified. As bearers of the Miraculous, they had a subtle protection from Hawkmoth. They could still be akumatized, but it would be easier for them to break his control, than it would be for anyone else. The idea of having heroes in Paris, who were unknown, and better trained, and with more experience than all of her court combined…well. 

“Be at peace,” he said simply. “I actually approve of the ones they are sending. Duke, Cass, and Barbara.”

Ladybug nodded, relaxing a bit at his words before asking, “And they are…”

“Duke is Signal, he is a meta with photokinesis…it’s a little hard to explain, but among his abilities is the ability to basically be able to see power signatures, auras, and and other such things on the light spectrum that are usually imperceptible to the human eye.”

Ladybug blinked and said, “Huh, well…that can come in handy.”

Mafdet nodded and continued saying, “Cass is of course Blackbat. Along with being the most skilled fighter I have ever encountered, she is a master at reading body language, and emotions. We all learned very quickly not to lie to her, even about the smallest of things…her vengeance is swift.”

Ladybug chuckled saying, “One too many pranks gone bad?”

Mafdet sighed dejectedly saying, “Grayson is an imbecile. Anyway, I feel Barbara will be the most helpful to us. Not only is she easily the most mature, and grounded member of our family, with the exception of Alfred, she is a skilled hacker and investigator. I doubt you have heard of her moniker though, Oracle.”

Ladybug blinked looking at him straight on saying, “Actually, I have heard of her. Max practically worships her, says she’s the most brilliant mind in computer science since Lucius Fox! And that’s no small thing, considering he also practically worships him too.”

“Yes,” Mafdet said consideringly, “We will have to work especially hard to keep them separate. Unless of course we want them to take over the world before you do.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes saying, “I know you're joking, but you say it so seriously like that people who don't know you might get the wrong idea.” 

Mafdet blinked, but wisely decided to stay silent. He was not in fact joking. He and Chloe already had a plan, and in retrospect it probably wasn’t a good idea to have him in the hotel suite right below hers, considering how many late nights they had spent plotting world domination together. So instead he let the comfortable silence grow between them, until he gather the courage to say what was actually on his mind.

“I shouldn’t be trusting you so easily,” he said simply, but not coldly. He was just stating facts that he needed answers to, and he knew that she understood that, so he continued. “Why? I never trust anyone, and no one ever trusts me. Why is this so easy?”

Ladybug tilted her head taking his question as seriously as he presented it, “Do…” she said slowly, “Do you not like trusting me?” 

Mafdet tilted his head saying, “No…but,” he paused trying to find the right words. He wanted no misunderstandings between them. Finally he said, “From the moment I was born, I have always known that I could trust no one but myself. When I meet new people, everything within me screams not to trust them. Not to let them get close…For years I have only truly have ever had two friends outside of my family. And for years before that, I refused to even try and trust my family…”

“That must have been hard,” Ladybug said without pity or remorse. Just a statement of fact, in the same way that Mafdet was only stating facts. 

Mafdet tilted his head and said, “Not really. Because I always knew I could trust myself. It was…difficult, when none of them trusted me…but time changed that. Time, and effort.”

“And so,” Ladybug said slowly, “Compared to that, the speed in which you’ve come to join and trust the Court is throwing you off. Making you think you can’t trust yourself.”

Mafdet nodded slowly saying, “It is an uncomfortable feeling.” 

Ladybug sighed sympathetically and looked up at the sky once more watching the pattern of clouds in the shadows. “Do you really call any of this easy?”

Mafdet shrugged and said, “It is certainly emotionally and physically difficult to maintain any semblance of stability in this city.” 

Ladybug scoffed, and nodded, then she paused before practically whispering, “What does your miraculous feel like?” 

Mafdet arched a brow at the non sequitur. He knew Ladybug had used the ring once before, so surely she knew what it felt like, surely she knew what the swirling power within him was begging her to do. Still he answered her honestly saying, “I imagine that is rather similar to yours. The cosmic energy. The overwhelming drive. The call to act and unleash the power within.”

“But what is that call saying?” Ladybug insisted. “What is it calling you to do?”

Mafdet blinked, tilting his head, unaware that the cat ears on his hood were twitching in time with his curiosity. “It sees the world…and knows that it is broken. It wants to wash away the sin, the corruption. It was to take everything that is rotten and broken and grind it into dust, until there is nothing left until only that which is good and whole remains. It…”

“It what?” Ladybug whispered softly.

“It knows that it is wrong,” he said just as softly, “that destruction was never meant to be a part of this universe. The world was meant to be pure and whole, and good. But because there is evil. Because there is selfishness, greed, and hatred, then there must be destruction. Because these things must not be allowed to fester. Evil cannot be allowed to take root. It must be destroyed, and chaos must reign, if it is to be killed.”

Ladybug nodded slowly, content yet still saddened by the answer, she looked out over the city. Millions upon millions of people milling about their lives, unaware of each other, eyes only taking in their world, even as the world swirls harmlessly around them. “That’s what I feel to…the world is broken. There is evil. People hurt each other and no one is perfect, and so the powers want to create. They want to seize the world and order it into perfection, build structures that will not decay, and put everyone in their place. Make sure no one is out of line, and no one is ever hurt again…Does either of those things seem necessarily bad to you?”

Mafdet shook his head, “They both sound terrible.”

“Why?”

“Because they take away our choice. As humans we get to choose between good and evil. To destroy all evil is to destroy everything, because we all have the potential for evil. To create only good is to remove our ability to chose good for its own sake. It takes away the beauty that is goodness chosen. We need choice.”

Ladybug nodded, smiling, “I couldn’t have said it better myself. And you know what Mafdet? I think you just answered your own question!”

Mafdet tilted his head slightly and asked, “How so?” 

Ladybug stretched and stood up, before smiling down at him gently, “You get to chose who you trust, and when you get to trust them…You said that it has always taken a while to trust people, but is that because, their untrustworthy, or is it because you chose to believe that they are?”

Mafdet blinked at her, his poisonous cat eyes staring at her in bafflement, before he said slowly, “I suppose, I was listening to myself, after all?”

Ladybug just smiled proudly and offered her hand to help him up which he gladly took. “We are creatures of patterns,” Ladybug said simply, “It’s hard for us to break them, trust me I know.” 

Mafdet was about to open his mouth to tease her about her past with Agreste before his staff chimed. He opened it up to see that Kent was calling him. “Hello,” he said, answering the call immediately. 

“ WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE STAYING IN PARIS?!” the excitable hero yelled loud enough to make Mafdet jerk away from his staff with a grimace, and Ladybug began to snicker. 

“Lower your voice Kent,” Mafdet said simply, “I don’t think they heard you in Antarctica.”

“ Don’t be funny, that's my job! Now what they hell?! I show up to your place for our weekly movie binge, and your brothers say you're on a mission! WITHOUT ME!”

“I thought your father forbade cursing,” Damian said in annoyance, as Ladybug snickered mercilessly since Kent was still speaking loud enough to be heard by everyone in a ten foot radius. 

“Not the point! Now where are you? Or do I have to fly over there and get the answers myself! And why doesn’t my dad know anything about this?” 

“Please!” Damian sighed in exasperation, “Don’t do any of that. Or else my partner will drop-kick you into the moon.”

“Why would I do that?” Ladybug whispered. 

Damian showed her a picture of the Kents in civilian clothes on his staff. It took her all of five seconds to narrow her eyes at Clark, then arch an eyebrow saying, “Oh, yeah if he showed up, I would be furious. Also does he really think those glasses work?”

“PARTNER?! ” Kent yelled from the other side of the planet. “ Wait, who is that? Is that a girl? Damian?! ANSWER ME?!”   

Chapter Text

“I said three! ” Damian growled, but that did not change the fact that almost his entire family save for Jason and Stephanie were currently sitting in an AirBnB with half of the Supers and Wonder Woman in Giverny, France.

“You said,” Dick insisted cheerfully, “That only three could come to Paris. And we agreed that Duke, Cass and Barbara were the only three with the proper skills and emotional stability to help.”

“And we’re not in Paris,” Tim said into his coffee mug, “We’re in Giverny, and I did my research, not even Hawkmoths worst attacks made it out here.”

Damian narrowed his eyes at his brothers and said, “You got caught trying to sneak out. Didn’t you?”

“Almost immediately,” Duke confirmed with an exasperated sigh.

“Blame the Super,” Barbara said, “He marched into the manner practically demanding to be brought along. Practically spilled the whole thing to Alfred.”

“Well excuse me!” Jon cried, “For being worried about my friend fighting a terrorist by himself with people I have never met! Speaking of which, hi, I’m John Kent, aka Superboy. What exactly are your intentions with Damian?”

Damian face-palmed, as Marinette looked at John’s outstretched hand with obvious amusement. She was taking far too much pleasure in all of this for Damian’s liking, but he stayed silent, choosing to only glare at everyone while she said, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, aka Ladybug. I have to admit that I’m not used to being so casual with my identity.”

“Neither are we,” Bruce said in that carefully controlled and stoic manner of his. “But you come highly recommended Miss. Dupain-Cheng. So we will forgo the usual vetting process for now.”

“I only wish we had known of your situation sooner!” Clark said emphatically, ever the peacemaker, “We could have helped and ended this war much sooner.”

Marinette immediately dropped John’s hand as her gaze darkened. Immediately Damian, and the Court they had brought with them, formed up behind her warily. Of course his family immediately noticed this, and Damian’s role in it. But the Kents didn’t, choosing to focus only on Marinette with the most absurd confused expressions. “Truly?” Marinette said firmly, “And tell me, Superman , exactly how would you have ended this?” 

Clark blinked at her owlishly saying, “Well, I can use my super hearing and x-ray vision to find Hawkmoth's lair. Along with my super speed and strength, I doubt a fight against him would have lasted five seconds, and I could have returned the miraculous to you within the hour.”

Marinette arched an eyebrow at him skeptically, saying, “Really now, and would you have done that?”

“Done what?” Clark asked baffled about why this small child wasn’t letting him fly in and solve all of her problems. 

“Ladybug,” Diana sighed, and she bowed to Marinette and earned her marks of approval from Luka, Sabrina, and Chloe. “Forgive me. I tried to maintain your confidence, and when that failed, I tried to explain, but I’m afraid such things like the Miraculous are unfortunately outside of Clark’s…expertise.”

Marinette’s face became gentle and she nodded respectfully, saying, “I do not blame you Diana. I suppose this was inevitable, so before we get into all of the nitty gritty details of our war, let’s make one thing clear for everyone involved. Unless you are a True Holder, or True Chosen of the Miraculous, there is no way in hell that I’m letting anyone within five feet of an unclaimed gem. The very idea of you even touching one 'Superman', is more terrifying than all of Hawkmoth’s akumas combined.”

“May we ask why?” Bruce said cautiously, and Marinette’s smile turned truly vicious as she brought out a small black box from her purse. 

“Why don’t I show you,” she said simply, and with the utmost care, she lifted the lid to show the heroes what was inside. There was no glowing light, no ominous thunder. Just a gentle gasp from Wonder Woman and a delicate pink anklet with purple beads. Marinette kept it close to her chest as if she was cradling it, but her eyes were entirely focused on Superman, while Damian only had eyes for his father. 

Clark was staring at the anklet in confusion, and bafflement, and Bruce only maintained his calm stoic demeanor. His eyes locked completely on Marinette. But then, his eyes flicked down onto the open box, and his gaze never lifted. A hungry look came into Clark’s eyes, and a flicker of movement showed Jon inching closer to the box, completely enthralled by the gem. Damian tensed as Tim stood slowly, to get a closer look at the box. But with a quick snap, Marinette closed the box and hid it behind her back. It was immediately snatched by Luka, who dropped it into the small portal that Young Bunnix had opened in the floor. With the miraculous gone, those that had been affected blinked lazily as if coming out of a spell. 

Bruce scowled and said, “I see. You were right to keep this from the League. That could have been a disaster.”

“I…” Jon said wearily, “I don’t understand.”

Wonder Woman sighed, and Damian saw her hand move away from her sword, although it was shaking, “It is quite simple Young Jon. What we all felt just then was a the call of the Miraculous. The desire of the power to be used. But if any of us had taken it, it would have only consumed us. And we could not have stopped ourselves.”

Marinette nodded solemnly saying, “When Paris asked for the Justice League’s help, it was because we didn’t know what we were dealing with. But once it became clear that the true danger of a League presence was not an akumatized superhero, but a rogue Miraculous in the hands of a superhero, our first priority became containment.”

“Marinette and Wonder Woman,” Chloe said pointedly, “Have a whole system through the Themysciran Embassies to make sure Hawkmoth never leaves Paris. And Paris has rallied to the challenge of fighting for ourselves, so really you’re not needed and the risk just isn’t worth the reward.”

“It’s true,” Luka said gently, “There are a hundred ways you could have made this war easily. But there are a thousand ways in which you could have made it so worse. And we can only fight one war at a time.” 

“I understand,” Bruce said simply, visibly shaken by whatever he had felt from the Miraculous. “But we still should have been told.”

“The past’s the past B,” Dick said leaning forward, “But what I want to know is what you guys are talking about. Cause, I didn’t feel anything.”

Damian arched a brow, and turned to Marinette, who was now watching Dick, Cass, Duke, and Barbara with even more interest as they all nodded in agreement. Tim stared at them incredulously saying, “How could you have not felt it? It was like, like…being in the presence of coffee! You try not to drink it, but you just can’t stop yourself, because you just know that it is needed to sustain you every second of the day!”

“I’m pretty sure that metaphor only applies to you Timbo,” Barbara said leaning back in her wheelchair, “But if that’s really what you felt, then you should all probably leave France as soon as possible. We can’t risk any of you being corrupted by the Miraculous.”

“If you four didn’t feel anything,” Marinette said slowly, “Then that means you must be true holders. You have a natural resistance to their power, and so can be chosen by a kwami to enact their will.”

“Right,” Duke said slowly, “And I'm guessing that a kwami is that ball of light your hiding in your purse?” 

Damian nodded his approval. If Duke could identify hidden kwami with his powers, then that would make their jobs a lot easier. In answer to his question, the Court opened their bags, or lifted their jackets, to allow the small gods that lived in their pockets to fly out and greet the Leaguers. Diana immediately bowed to them, as the kids cooed over their adorable forms. Bruce looked concerned that this thing was following his son around everywhere, while Clark just looked completely baffled. 

“Hi!” Tikki said cheerfully, “I’m Tikki the kwami of creation, order, and good fortune. This is Plagg, kwami of destruction, chaos, and misfortune. We are the only two kwamis who embody multiple things, automatically making us the most powerful creatures you will ever meet!”

“You…you’re a bug!” Jon exclaimed, “And you’re a cat! You’re no bigger than my hand!”

“Size ain’t everything Super Shine!” Plagg said casually as he lazily drifted around the room, “By the way, where are you hiding all the cheese? I’m starving!”

“You’re alwaysss sstraving, Plagg,” Sass called from his nest in Luka’s hair, “I’m Sass, by the way the Kwami of Intuition. It isss good to meet you!”

“Pollen,” the small bee declared, “Kwami of Action! I am pleased to be of service.”

“And I’m Barkk!” the small dog cried happily, “It’s so good to meet all of you! Do you want to go play? What’s your name?!”

“Maybe later, Barkk,” Sabrina said gently, “Right now we need to come to an agreement about what needs to happen moving forward.”

“That’s right,” Marinette said simply, and she considered the adults in front of her carefully. “The guardian will doubtlessly want to give you all a miraculous and have you join the fight…but there is a possibility that your miraculous is already in use by someone else. In which case, we need to decide if it is too big of a risk for you to be in Paris or not.”

“Who is the Guardian?” Bruce asked cautiously, and Marinette smiled slyly.

“Quite frankly that’s none of your business,” she said archly, “Especially after how you reacted to the Miraculous of the Pig. But you tell me, Batman, Diana says you like to plan for contingencies, what would you do with that information?”

Bruce narrowed his gaze at her and said slowly, “These jewels are very powerful, it would be beneficial to confirm that they are being protected by someone who is trustworthy and of sound mind.”

“Father,” Damian said simply in the same tone, “As Marinette has proven, this is not a matter of finding the right impenetrable vault in which to hide the jewels away in. And in this way, it is not a matter of you trusting the Guardian, but of the Guardian trusting you. A trust which you failed, as it was confirmed that you could not withstand the power of the miraculous.” 

The silence in the AirBnB was echoing, as the Batclan and John stared at Damianin slack jawed awe. Bruce arched an incredulous brow at his son, while Clark and Diana suddenly became very interested in the decor. “What?” Chloe demanded of the room.

Damian sighed and said, “Traditionally, I am the child least likely to disobey my Father, and often am encouraging his paranoia. They are all shocked that I am standing against him on this point. Especially since my paranoia is second only to his.”

Marinette chuckled, saying, “Well that can’t be helped, if we were dealing with literally any other artifact, villain, or war, I’d answer all of Mr. Wayne’s questions without hesitation. But this is not any other situation. This is the situation we are in, and it is a simple fact, than unless you are trained to resist the miraculous, or chosen by them. It is not advisable for anyone to be within five feet of such power.”

“So,” Bruce said quickly, “You can be trained to resist the miraculous?”

Marinette smiled sharply saying, “The Order of the Guardians have been doing it for centuries. They train so that one day, they might be given the responsibility of protecting one of the hundreds of miracle boxes that exist. The boxes themselves, are of course enchanted to contain the kwamis and their power, but it still takes the Guardians a lifetime to build up their mental and physical fortitude in order to resist the Miraculous’s call.”

Bruce nodded solemnly before saying, “In that case I would like to learn from these Guardians. Or at least have members of the League who are trained in this resistance. Would such a thing be possible?”

Marinette’s smile became soft and she nodded saying, “I believe the Amazonians have a natural resistance, due to their devine origins. I will have to speak to the Order about helping you specifically. Still, I would prefer we keep the majority of this information to ourselves. The less people outside of my Court who know these secrets the better.”

“What should we tell the rest of the League?” Clark said cautiously. 

“Nothing,” Marinette said simply. “I know that it is only a matter of time before the rest of the world knows about the Miraculous War. So if you truly want to help, then your job will be to help me contain the information as much as possible, and minimize the fallout.”

“I’m assuming,” Bruce said calmly, “That the only information you want shared, is the information already on your websites. That could still bring you a lot of trouble from villains outside of Hawkmoth, who seek to gain power through a miraculous.” 

“One war at a time,” Marinette said calmly, “Right now, all I care about is Paris and Hawkmoth. Can you respect that?”

She looked both Bruce and Clark in the eyes, and held their gazes until the voiced their agreement. A surge of pride filled Damian, though he dared not show it. “ How did I not see it? ” he kept thinking to himself. “ She is literally the embodiment of Ladybug. Her leadership, her competency, her grace. How did I not see it? ” 

He was drawn from his ponderings, as the meeting began to break up and he found himself cornered by his siblings and John. They were looking at him with grins too wide and eyes too eager, so he arched an eyebrow at them saying, “What?”

“Marinette,” Cass said smugly.

“You called her by her first name!” Tim crowed.

“ And you stood up to B for her,” Dick said eagerly.

“Who are you and what have you done with Damian?” John demanded.

“Tt,” Damian said, crossing his arms, scowling, “I do not see why it is such a big deal. She is my partner now. To see her as anything less than an equal would be an insult to not only her, but also to me. I don’t see why it is such a big deal.” 

“It’s a big deal,” Dick said smugly, “Because you never acknowledge anyone this fast!”

“At least not before trying to kill them,” Tim muttered into his coffee. 

“Then use that metric as a testament of Marinette’s skill,” Damian said gruffly, fighting the reddening in his cheeks. “She is my partner and a friend, nothing more.”

John gasped in the most obnoxious way possible before crying, “You like her!” 

“I do not!”

“You really like her!”

“Kent!” Damian growled.

“Oh! You love her!” John cheered, bouncing, “Oh this makes so much sense!”

“I will slit your throat!” Damian scowled, reaching for his knife.

“And yet you're not denying it,” Barbara, the traitor, said smugly. 

“Do you love her Damian?” Nightwing said seriously despite his growing grin.

“Tt!” Damian said pushing through the mass of traitorous siblings, “This is ridiculous and a waist of my time.”

“Oh my god!” Duke gasped, “Demon Brat has a girlfriend.”

“Not my girlfriend!” Damian whirled around snapping.

“Right,” Tim said cheekily, “She’s your partner!”

“Whom you love,” Cass said solemnly.

“I’m disowning all of you,” Damian scowled, marching away to rejoin the Court who had congregated in the kitchen. 

“Oh!” Dick said, smiling viciously, “This is going to be fun!” 

“You’ll send updates,” Tim demanded. 

“Of course,” Duke agreed. 

John sighed defeatedly, “My best friend is getting his first girlfriend and I’m missing it!”

“Don’t worry mini-Blue,” Dick said, swinging an arm over John’s shoulder, “We’ll send you pictures.”

Chapter Text

Bruce had never felt so out of control as when he had looked down at the Miraculous and felt its power. Even being brainwashed could not truly compare, because when under the thrall of a psychic, there was no consciousness. His will remained intact, and allowed him to overcome his enemy. But the miraculous was something else. It was like a heater radiating energy. And that energy like heat when surrounded by ice, drew him closer, and his will was bent to it. He had just felt so…happy. As if all joy could be his, and he could spread it to others. An over abundance of joy could be within his grasp, and all he had to do was reach out and take the little pink jewel in the black box. 

Now that he was in control of himself and his emotions, Bruce could fully and completely understand the danger of such power. The idea of spreading joy and happiness throughout the world was an appealing and tempting idea. And part of him still wanted to run out, grab the anklet, and get to work, making everyone happy. Making everything better. But the logical part of him, the understanding part of him, rejected that idea. The little boy who had watched his parents die in Crime Alley, the young man who had tortured himself under Ras al Ghul, the father and leader he had become, understood that true joy only had substance if it was born from suffering. 

He knew great happiness with his family, because he knew what it meant to lose his family. He had satisfaction in his work as Batman, because he remembered the tremendous effort and discipline he had put into becoming the caped crusader. Any happiness, love, respect, and fulfillment he had gained in life was born from the fact that he had lost, suffered, worked, and pursued it with a vengeance born of pain. Could you have these things without pain? Perhaps, there were many people in the JL that had wonderfully fulfilled and happy lives without the suffering Bruce had endured. But none of them had found that good without work. Every hero that Batman respected and trusted had earned their seat at the table through their own discipline and dedication. 

Bruce clenched his fist in frustration as he watched the miraculous heroes chatting amiably with his friends and family. The ache and call of the miraculous still fresh in his memory, though it no longer had any power in his mind. Now that he was free of that siren song, he could see the evil that it posed. Because happiness without substance, was nothing but delusion. If any of them had taken that jewel, then that was all they could have used it for. Delusion, selfishness, and lies. It was a false happiness, that Bruce wanted no part of, and the more he thought about it, the more evil the thing became in his mind. 

He watched his son across the room talking with his siblings, the ring of chaos on his finger, a god of destruction on his shoulder. What was that power urging him to do? What temptations was that creature whispering in his ear? And why did that power not call out to those around him, like the anklet had? Why had his other children not responded to the call of the jewel? What terror could they unleash, if they decided to give into the impulses of their gods?

With each question and doubt, Bruce’s spine became tenser vertebrae by vertebrae, until he felt his hands twitching with the need to fight. His eyes flashed with the desire for an enemy. His throat choked with the urge for resolution, for a solution. Until finally his gaze fell on her. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was talking amicably with Diana, as Clark engaged some of the other members of the Court. Bruce could respect the hero Ladybug, for all that she had accomplished in her situation. But the girl Marinette was just too young. She looked too innocent. His son’s life was in her hands, and more of his children would be following suit soon. Could she withstand the burden? Would she be able to achieve victory alone and without his aid? These were questions he needed answered without a shadow of a doubt. So he squared himself, and followed Marinette as she disappeared alone into the kitchen of their rented house. 

She was rifling in the refrigerator, when Bruce silently closed the door behind him. Her kwami was perched on top of the appliance, and watched him sedately as he came in. Marinette showed no surprise or concern upon seeing him, after she had straightened up with a carton of eggs and milk. Instead she just smiled at him tiredly saying, “You have questions, and I have cookies to make. Really meetings like this should have cookies, and the fact that you didn’t provide them is shameful! So, you have until I put the tray in the oven to ask, and I promise to answer truthfully during that time. So…what’s on your mind?”

Bruce nodded in respect at her astuteness, and said calmly, “My friend Alfred is usually the one to provide refreshments in these situations. But we are far from home, and he could not join us.”

Marinette shrugged sadly saying, “Just be glad I came this far to meet you. If I had my way we never would have left Paris.”

“I feel the same way about Gotham, but your issue is more pressing than anything we could potentially face.”

“Oh I don’t know about that,” Marinette said, her smile turning sly, as she placed the sugar in her neatly organized line of ingredients. “I can think of a few situations that could rival Hawkmoth.”

“But not many,” Bruce said simply, finally taking a seat at the small breakfast table by the window. 

Marinette shrugged and began measuring her ingredients with an efficiency that showed she had the recipe memorized. “True, but I don’t like comparing hardships. Struggle is struggle, you know. Just because Paris is more dangerous than Gotham right now, doesn’t mean that everything is all sunshine and rainbows over there. You do still have the Joker after all.”

Bruce nodded calmly, “A very mature philosophy for one so young.”

Marinette was silent as she began mixing the first round of ingredients. The thoughtful hum of the mixer provided her the space to gather her thoughts, and Bruce studied her glazed expression critically. Her eyes were becoming a shadow, and exhaustion seemed to pull at her face as she said simply, “It’s strange, how much better Paris has become these days. We still have homelessness, and prejudice. And people are still fired, and they die and are hurt but…Hawkmoth…he targets us at our weakest. When we’re at our lowest, and all we have is our emotions and our pain…and he turns that into a weapon. He takes us at our most vulnerable, and he twists us into something terrible, something awful…but we can’t even say that, it wasn’t us, that we didn’t feel that way. Because the truth is, Hawkmoth would never be able to control us if we didn’t feel that way. If on some level…we weren’t monsters…”

Bruce stayed silent, as he looked down at the table. It was a sentiment he understood with perfect clarity. He didn’t kill because he couldn’t. He didn’t kill because he could, and he was afraid of the whisper inside that urged him to do just that. The small voice in his head said how much easier his life and work would be, if he just killed those who were against him. He thought of Hawkmoth taking over that voice, drawing it to the surface, showing everyone the monster he truly was inside…He closed his eyes against the sudden pain and revulsion he felt. But Marinette kept talking saying, 

“He takes us at our weakest, so do you know what Paris has done? We’ve decided not to be weak. The government has stepped up. Legislature has changed to make sure everyone has equality. Businesses have started focusing on what’s best for their employees. Schools have started providing better counseling and healthier work loads to their students. Charities that provide for the homeless and low income families have tripled in size thanks to donations. For every akuma that rages against the ‘system’ there are three justice warriors, four religious leaders, two government officials, and six good Samaritans ready to step in and solve the problem that the akuma resented.” Marinette shook her head fondly and turned off the mixer. She turned to Bruce with a bittersweet yet proud smile saying, 

“It’s so amazing. The quality of life has never been higher. And yet…and yet I don’t think Paris as a whole has ever suffered more. More teens and young adults are reporting suicidal thoughts than ever in the history of the world , but they’re all to afraid to go through with it, because they don’t want Hawkmoth to take advantage of their deaths…How are we supposed to comprehend that? Hawkmoth is driving people to a state of total desolation, but they won’t give in to those emotions, because Hawkmoth is still active? How am I supposed to fight that?” 

Bruce shook his head in baffled wonder saying, “It shouldn’t take a villain like Hawkmoth to drive people to do good.” 

Marinette tilted her head, and began measuring the next round of ingredients, “You're right. Great evil shouldn’t have to be the precursor for great good…but perhaps, it is because we are faced with great evil, that we are driven to become the good. I mean think about it! If everything was okay, then everybody would be ok, and nothing would change. Then those we see as good would only be good. Perhaps…hardship elevates us. It forces us to choose. Will we stay as just ok? Or will we chose to be better, which means those who were already good become great! And then we see them as they truly are.”

“A wise and optimistic thing to say,” Bruce said calmly, but there was a bitterness in him that he tried not to put on this child as he thought of his own city saying, “But in my experience, when individuals are forced to face such questions by villainy, it drives them to devolve and become worse, instead of evolving and becoming better.” 

Marinette considered him thoughtfully, as she once again let the mixer drone on behind her. “Perhaps…that’s because villains like the Joker and Penguin are something…other than themselves. Gothamites don’t have to confront their own morality, because well, at least they're not as bad as him.”

Bruce nodded consideringly before saying, “Meanwhile, Parisians cannot escape the question of whether or not they're a good person, because Hawkmoth uses your own immorality against you.”

Marinette shrugged and turned off the mixer, and immediately began adding the last few ingredients, “Not everyone in Paris recognizes the question of course, and many people still chose to devolve and become worse, just as I’m sure that in Gotham there are at least a few individuals who choose to evolve and do good despite everyone around them!” She smiled at him knowingly. And Bruce nodded his thanks for her consideration, but he narrowed his eyes are her skeptically saying, 

“This is not the conversation, while insightful and stimulating, is not what I came in here to talk to you about.” 

“Of course it is!” Marinette said cheerfully, as she once again turned on the mixer and then turned back to him. “You want to know if Damian is going to be safe. That he’ll be able to handle the miraculous and not be corrupted by it. You want to make sure that I can handle things alone, and that I won’t fail. You’re worried that I’m too young and too inexperienced, and that this is all a big mistake. You’re trying to make peace with the fact that you're practically abandoning a group of teenagers to fight a war between gods, and your children are a part of it. You’re terrified because the only thing worse than your son getting hurt when you weren’t looking, is your son falling into darkness when you could have stopped him…How am I doing?”

Bruce sighed and slumped. He sent Marinette a rare smile saying, “I can see why Damian is so taken with you.” Marinette’s face became beat red, but Bruce ignored it in favor of stoically giving her his evaluation of her capabilities. “You are an intelligent, thoughtful young woman, with tremendous skills, and insight. You understand your war, and your place in it. And despite your hardships you are still kind, optimistic, and empathetic. These are all commendable qualities, and you should be proud of them. But they do not mean that you should be left to shoulder this burden alone. Not just because of your age, but because this is a task that is impossibly heavy for only one person.”

Marinette turned off the mixer and began to prep the oven and the cookie tray, “Which is why I need Damian. Thank you, for saying all of those kind things about me Mr. Wayne. But I’d be an idiot to not be able to recognize my own faults. I’m neurotic, a perfectionist. I’m painfully obsessive and…”

“Marinette!” Tikki gently chided. And the girl cut off her spiral by taking a deep calming breath before opening her eyes and saying,

“I do need help, Mr. Wayne,” Marinette finally said, and she began to roll the batter into cookies. “I’m drowning, and I need it desperately. But I need the right kind of help. I can’t just call on users willy nilly. I actually tried that, and it almost ended in disaster! Actually it did end in disaster! My point though!” Marinette cried before she could spiral too far, “Is that, your fears are justifiable, but they're not…sustainable. This is the situation. Paris and the Court are rising to the occasion. And we’re not allowed to fail.”

Bruce looked into Marinette’s clear blue eyes and saw nothing but exhaustion, determination, and desperation. She spoke clearly saying, “I know what evil is Mr. Wayne. Evil is the monster that lurks inside of all of us, telling us to give in to our resentments, regrets, and vengeance. But I know how to fight it ! By standing beside the people who know what is right, and have the courage to do it. Not everyone has that bravery. But your son does. 

“Damian has the capacity and understanding, to wield a miraculous. Yes, he was chosen, but not simply because he was born to be chosen. He was chosen, because the kwami saw him, and knew that when the time came he would make the right choice. He would hold chaos and destruction in his hand and chose to destroy evil, and not good. He was chosen to do good, and so he does good. And that is who I need standing beside me, helping me. Please, Mr. Wayne. If you want to help, then let us do this! Let Damian take his mantle, and fight with us! We need him.”

Bruce watched Marinette stoic, and unmoving. But inside of him there was a deep and unsettling ache. The ache of a father, who was nothing but proud and ecstatic for the young man his son had become. And the ache of a father, who was grieving for the hardship, pain, and toil that he could not prevent his child from approaching. Finally he nodded deeply and met Marinette’s sharp blue eyes with his own saying, “I give him, and you my blessing, and I will do my best to help from Gotham in any way that I can…I’m trusting you.”

“I know.”

A silent tension seemed to release itself from the kitchen, and as Marinette turned to finish shaping the cookies, they turned to the topic of Marinette’s investigation. They discussed strategies and contingencies, until the others burst in to see what they were up to. Luka and Chloe tried to steal the cookie dough, but they were stopped by Marinette and Sabrina, who had moved to help Marinette get the cookies into the oven as quickly as possible. 

Of course this led Dick to get involved as he too wanted some dough to snack on, and started conniving with Jon to steal it while the girls weren’t looking. Damian then proceeded to try to stop them. And it would have dissolved into an all out cookie dough fight, if Marinette didn’t chase them out of the kitchen with her spoon. Of course this inspired Jon to fly and get some water balloons, but he was prevented by Young Bunnix showing up and passing out paintball guns. 

Bruce stood with his arms crossed as he watched his kids, and the court running around shooting each other with neon pink and blue paint. Clark stood beside him laughing, as Dick did increasingly elaborate Matrix type tricks to dodge the paint, and yet Tim still nailed him in the butt every single time. Wonder Woman came up to stand beside Bruce, as Marinette completely covered a cornered Damian with pink paint. The young girl laughed joyfully as she ran away, leaving a dumbfounded Damian staring after her in betrayal and confusion. 

“Well?” Diana asked calmly, and Bruce sighed deeply, as Damian began chasing Marinetee with the beginnings of a smile on his face. 

“We have a plan,” is all he said. But Diana accepted that as the Kwamis tried to help their Chosen by dropping paintballs on people’s heads. The children laughed, as the adults looked on smiling. But eventually the sun would set, and it would all end. But for that moment, and in that hour, everything was good, and full.  

Miraculous Court in Color Pencil

Chapter Text

 Natalie Sancoer sat in bed with a broken miraculous and a mad god contemplating her life. She ran a finger over the shallow fissure in the broken brooch and remembered her great uncle and wondered if he would be proud of her. He taught her the beauties of the family business. The pleasure one could gain from serving others. The joy you could achieve when a task, no matter how simple or benign, was done well. He taught her to stand on her own two feet and face down any advisory with courage and pride. He had inspired her with stories of the war, and had promised her a future of adventure and fulfillment. And he had made sure to teach her that nothing in life was easy. That holding a family together required work, patience, and a significant amount of mercy. That adventure would lead to pain, and standing firm would require sacrifice. And she had sacrificed. 

Natalie’s chest heaved, and suddenly she was coughing blood into the handkerchief by her bed. She closed her eyes against the red, and opened them only to focus back on the broken blue and green, and she wondered when she had forgotten her uncle’s lessons. She had devoured every skill he had taught her, but she had dismissed his musings. And now she was dying, her brow furrowed in confusion as she sorted through the chaos that was her life in her mind’s eye. She looked up to watch Duusu as he flew in dizzying circles around the room, singing an off beat tune that she didn’t recognize. 

“Duusu,” she called, strict formality fracturing to show her true emotion.

“Yes!” Duusu said freezing in front of her. She looked into his eyes and saw a wildness that she could barely understand. Still she held out her hand to the small being, and let him drift in his meandering way into her hand. 

“Do you have any memories?” Natalie asked. “From before you were broken?”

Duusu froze. For the first time since she met him he was completely still. His eyes glazed and lost, like a child trying to understand the world around them, but missing the pieces that only age could provide. Finally Duusu said quietly, “Yes? No? Why?”

Natalie sighed saying, “It’s alright, Duusu. Once we fix your brooch, I’m sure you’ll remember everything in time.”

“Ok!” Duusu cried jumping up cheerfully and crying, “Hey do you want to transform! There are so many wonderful feelings out there! We should make them manifest! Come on, come on, come on! Let’s transform!” 

Natalie smiled patiently saying, “Not now Duusu, but maybe later.” 

“Ok!” And the kwami immediately began spinning around the room making noises like an airplane. Natalie sighed and replaced the pin. It disguised itself well, but that didn’t change the fracture that she could feel within it and within herself. She hissed as the power of Emotion battered itself against her carefully constructed walls and barriers. It was like a sledgehammer racketing itself against her brain, and it took everything within her not to curl up into a ball and cry as everything she was feeling, her anger, pian, grief, confusion, love, and terror, were amped up to an eleven, and threatened to cripple her spirit irrevocably. So she made a choice, the same choice she had taught Emelie to make all those years ago, when they had first found the gems. 

“When you must choose between your spirit and your body,” her uncle's voice echoed through her memory, “Choose your spirit. For you can recover a lost body, but never a lost spirit.”

So Natalie gritted her teeth and imagined the miraculous in her mind’s eye. It was a real, solid thing. Physical matter containing the ocean of the cosmos. What was left of Duusu’s sanity was desperately trying to plug the gap and hold back the storm. And while he was able to keep his power from leaking uncontrollably into the physical world, it didn’t stop it from wreaking havoc inside of Natalie. She pictured the crack in its perfect surface through which the eternity of human emotion was pouring. It was epic and consuming, and it had to be stopped. So she clenched her fists and pictured the iron in her blood joining with the metal of the brooch and sealing the crack. The rush of chaotic feeling dimmed to a slow trickle in her mind, and left her breathless. Her whole body ached and she felt woozy and tired. But rest was a long way away, so she took a deep calming breath, and stepped into the braces Gabriel had made to help her.

Natalie sighed in relief once she felt the biometrics begin supporting her. Duusu, the real Duusu desperately trying to hold the world around them together on their will alone, gently offered thanks and encouragement, while their body simply did loopty-loops around the room. But that didn’t change the ache in her chest as every breath felt as if it was dragging coals through her throat. It did not dim fuzziness at the edges of awareness, as her body tried to make sense of the sudden loss of blood. “Duusu,” she said simply, as she dressed. “You need to hide in my blazer, and never leave me side, and never be seen. Do you understand?” 

“Of course!” Duusu cried, “Hey can we get a snack on our way to see Nooroo?”

“Of course,” Natalie said, as gently as she could. But with so much of her focus on just moving and maintaining her composure when that sea of feeling was lurking behind the oh so thin barrier of her mind, all she could offer was a bland and emotionless tone. She felt like a robot when compared to that ocean. But in some ways, Natalie supposed that she was. When had she stopped listening to the subtle warnings of her instincts? The creeping awareness of wrongness in the world? When had she forgotten her Uncle’s lessons?

“Hey Natalie!” Adrien said as he met her in the foyer. His bright smile was worth a thousand suns. It took everything within her not to return the gesture and maintain her strict bland propriety. “How are you feeling today?” The endlessly cheerful boy bounced down in front of her with such genuine concern Natalie thought all of her ailments would vanish just from that question alone. 

She couldn’t help the vague softening of her features as she looked at him and said, “I am doing much better, thank you Adrien. I am just going to speak with your father, and then I will meet you in the dining room to go over today’s schedule.”

Something broken seemed to be entering her sweet boy's expression, but he maintained the perfect image his father had coached him into and said, “Ok, just…don’t work yourself too hard. You’re important Natalie, you know that right?”

Natalie couldn’t stop the small smile forming on her face, even if she tried. She nodded solemnly saying, “Of course, thank you Adrien. But please, you don’t need to worry about me.” 

Adrien nodded, the pure depth of his genuine and wonderful concern giving her the strength to stand taller, and ignore the thousand pinpricks of pain in her limbs, and send him off to his breakfast. She then turned, schooling her features back into a professional and empty mask, and entered Gabriel Agreste’s study. Her eyes found him immediately standing tall and imposing behind his stark white desk in his stark white office. To everyone in the world, he was a king, commanding and dominating, completely in control, and the epitome of perfection. Natalie’s ache grew as she remembered a time when that had been true. When the man she had loved had been all of that and more, a caring husband, a loving father, a bright and genuine individual filled to the brim with creativity and hope. Now…

Now his posture was stiff, his manners forced. There was a manic light behind his cold demeanor that frightened her. It was almost like the light behind Duusu’s eyes after they transformed. Brimming with power, swirling with energy, and craving more. It was a cracked light, fractured in all of the wrong ways like a candle that swallowed itself instead of the wax. And day by day as his entire being turned into colder and harder ice, that light grew brighter and more intense, and there was no comfort in that gaze. 

“Ah, Natalie,” he said, the perfect picture of professionalism and command, “I am glad you are feeling well today. Shall we begin.”

Natalie forced herself not to shudder at the detached, emptiness of his voice, when it had once been as warm and as comforting as his son’s. And of course she was not feeling well today, but that didn’t change the fact that she was needed. Gabriel and Adrien needed her. And if there was one lesson of her Uncle’s that she had never allowed herself to forget it was that when the people you love need you, you do what is necessary, not what is pleasant.

“Yes,” she said, her voice a perfect mirror of his. “Other than the regular daily events, is there anything of note I should attend to?” 

“Yes,” Gabriel said, never looking away from his work. “Lila Rossi will be escorting Adrien to and from school from now on.”

Natalie wanted to snarl, but she simply began tapping on her tablet, and arched an eyebrow saying, “Might I ask why?”

“Miss. Rossi witnessed Adrien sneaking away from his Mandarin lessons with those degenerates again. She will ensure that he is where he needs to be from now on.” 

Natalie, personally, would rather bite the girl’s head off for the way she looked at Adrien and the waves of entitlement she radiated every time she entered the house. Still, her carefully constructed walls held back her anger, and like the robot she was made the proper notes and adjustments. “Very well,” Natalie said simply. “Anything else?”

“Yes,” Gabriel said blandly, “I have deciphered enough of the Guardian’s book in order to repair the miraculous.”

Natalie’s breath caught. The dizziness of her blood loss was sharpened with the sheer relief and hope she felt deep in her chest. “Truly?” she whispered.

“Yes,” Gabriel said with a cold satisfaction, “I will need the peacock brooch by the end of the day. And then I can begin experimenting with its power for the next phase of our plan.” He finally looked up to meet her gaze. He paused and said firmly, “I know that it will be hard to surrender the gem, but it is necessary for our plan to succeed.”

Natalie froze. She tilted her head in confusion saying, “Why would it be hard to surrender?”

Gabriel straightened and narrowed his eyes in bitter calculation, even as the fire of his passion was fanned behind his irises. “Don’t you feel it?”

“Feel what, sir?”

“The power,” he practically whispered, and as he stepped around his desk, Natalie felt every hair on the back of her neck stand up and scream, “ Danger!” 

“The power of the Miraculous,” Gabriel repeated. “The will behind the kwami, the thing they don’t want us to have. Don’t you feel it?”

“I do,” Natalie said simply, quickly reassembling her mask of propriety and professionalism. “It is what is killing me. Keeping it contained.”

Gabriel stared at her in quiet bafflement. “Contained?” he demanded and his voice like a sword trying to pin her to the wall, “Well no wonder, you are failing. The power must not be contained, it must be unleashed!” 

“Sir?” Natalie said slowly. 

“It must be unleashed,” Gabriel said firmly, cold, imperious, but vehement and deadly as he turned to look at the portrait of his wife. “The world is broken,” he said, “We are too divided. We do not understand each other. We need to connect. It is only when we are connected that we can have peace and understanding. Only then will the world be healed. Only then will I be able to save my wife. When I bring Order and Chaos together. When I unite them and force all things into one form, one understanding. Then everything will be saved. Then the world will be perfect.”

“But Gabriel,” Natalie said slowly. “The gods gave us free will for a reason. Forcing everyone together will not bring understanding, only uniformity…you used to understand that.”

“I have since learned the error of my ways,” he said simply, staring up at the portrait of Emelie, empty and devoid. “And you will too, once I have healed the Peacock. Fear not Natalie, I will heal the world. Through the power of transmission, I will be the bridge that brings everyone together, and make us whole again. Then I will heal Emelie and everything will be perfect. It must be perfect.” 

Emelie stood still confused and terrified. She opened her mouth to protest, but she doubted that he would hear her. And something was wrong. Something was so very very wrong. She closed her eyes and wished Emelie was here to help her make sense of this change, or her Uncle. Her Uncle would know exactly what to do. Snapping her lips closed, she said simply, “I will give you the Miraculous by the end of the day…Is that all sir?” 

“No,” just one more thing,” Gabriel said, snapping out of his reverie. “I have recently learned that Damian Wayne, only biological son of Bruce Wayne and heir apparent to Wayne Industries is now attending Adrien’s school. Ensure that Adrien knows the importance of making a connection with him. As much as I detest the whole Wayne horde, we cannot ignore the fact that they are one of the richest families on the planet. And as far as the children go, the youngest is by far the least objectionable.”

Natalie blinked, once more frozen in place but this time it was relief and awe. Careful to suppress and hide any emotion from the man she had once loved, she nodded and said, “I will see to it. I will go see to Adrien now.” 

Gabriel nodded and returned to his work. Taking that as the dismissal it was, Natalie practically ran from the room, though anyone else would have thought she was just walking purposefully. When she saw the Gorilla standing silent and watchful at the front door she nodded and said, “From now on, Lila Rossi will be escorting Adrien to and from school.” The Gorilla scowled, but Natalie ignored the expression and continued saying, “This means that she is not to be anywhere near him if he goes anywhere outside of school that is not home.”

The Gorilla’s grin was practically predatory as he nodded to Natalie his understanding. After all, Adrien had such a busy schedule, the fact that he came home at all was a miracle. Still, Natalie’s heart cringed at such a small rebellion. She could do more. She knew that she should do more…and yet. Natalie internally shook herself but powered on, if she was remembering correctly, then perhaps relief wasn’t that far away. So she blandly went through her morning duties, like the good little robot she was. But then right before Adrien left, she turned to him saying, “I hear that you have a new classmate. Damian Wayne.”

Adrien sighed in exasperation, a rare form of dissension from the otherwise perpetually perfect boy, “Don’t worry Natalie, I’ll be sure to befriend him.”

“While that will please your Father,” Natalie said, hiding her satisfaction and hope under vague and disinterested curiosity. “I was going to comment that my mother’s family has a long history working with the Waynes.”

“Really!” Adrien said suddenly perky and curious. 

Natalie nodded briskly, careful never to tear her eyes away from her tablet. “Yes, in fact last I heard, my Great Uncle, and mentor, was still employed by the family. Alfred Pennyworth.”

“Wow!” Adrien said in actual amazement. “I wonder if he still works for them! I’ll have to ask Damian! See you later Natalie!”

Natalie nodded and then slowly lowered her tablet. The pain of her body clashed with the pain of her spirit, her eyes empty as she stared at the closed and empty door. Suddenly she was viscerally aware of everything she had done over the last few years. Suddenly she was afraid of seeing her Uncle. Would he even recognize her? Would he even acknowledge her? Her sins were as great as the mountain they had hiked when she was a child, would he still love her after everything she had done? She doubted it. But one thing was certain. She had sacrificed too much for the people she loved. Her health, her life, her humanity. It was time to take some of it back. And if anyone was going to be able to show her the way forward. It would be him. She could only hope that she wasn’t too late.

Chapter Text

Marinette took a deep breath as she left Chloe’s hotel. They had just gotten the Waynes settled and paired with their miraculous and it was…an interesting experience. Dick had been able to argue his way onto the team, with the very true fact that he was a true chosen. But as Marinette had expected, his Miraculous wasn’t present. She would have to find a way to get to New York, so she could talk to the North American Guardian to see if he had it. But until thin Ziggy, the Miraculous of the Goat, was more than happy to have a holder. And their combined excitable energy promised to make them fast friends. 

Stompp had taken one look at the gathered heroes, and flew straight for Duke without hesitation. “You are made of light,” the small ox had declared, “But your feet are firmly on the ground. Your determination will take you far!” Duke had just shrugged, but had hesitated before slipping on the nose ring.

Marinette was not surprised when Mullo had given her a quick hug, and then flown into Barbara’s lap. But now that she was alone, she couldn’t help the sting of loss, and the fear of failure. So many of her contingencies and precautions relied on her, as the Guardian and Ladybug, being in two places at once. She would have to go over all of her plans again, and find a way to make them work without the oh so convenient ability, but it would do. 

But that was just a distraction from what had happened with Cass. Orikko had crossed his arms, huffed and said quiet bitingly, “I don’t like playing second fiddle.”

“What do you mean?” Marinette asked cautiously. 

“This one!” the rooster said pointing his wing at Cass. “Is a fox through and through. But he is not available! So I suppose I'll have to fill Trixx’s role until he returns. But listen here young lady! I am no one’s substitute! Got it!”

Cass smiled politely and accepted the thumb ring with grace. Which left Daizzi to bemoan the fact that she was the only one without a holder, temporary or otherwise, until Marinette was cajoled into ordering a tray of fruit, cheese, and sweets from room service. As Marinette stepped away to place the order, Damian followed her into the foyer, of their rather atrociously large suite. He pinned her with eyes like ice, freezing her in place. 

“What is wrong?” he asked quietly, and while his tone was brisk, Marinette could hear the real notes of concern in it. 

“It’s just…” Marinette sighed, “Chat Noir, I mean Lord Fox…he only just gave up the cat. I can’t ask him to give up the fox! I didn’t even know he wasn’t the true chosen of the fox! This means so much to him. I don’t even know who he is!”

“I do,” Damian said simply. 

Marinette’s jaw dropped in shock. “You do! Who? Wait no! Don’t tell me! I can’t know.”

“Why not?” he asked simply and without judgment. 

Marinette huffed and closed her eyes with a sigh, “I…I don’t know. Bunnix came to me and we had to change the timeline. Twice! Once for when I learned the truth, and once when he did. When he learned the truth…” Marinette shook the images away. The shattered moon, the flooded Earth. The dead heroes. Her own body laying lifeless at her feet. “I can’t risk that.”

Damian nodded in consideration, “I will speak to him and Trixx. Yet, I do not think Trixx would have consented to go with him if he were not compatible with the Miraculous.” 

Marinette felt like a huge weight was lifted off of her shoulders. “Are you sure…I mean—”

“I am the one he gave his the miraculous to,” Damian said simply. “I am the one who gave him the fox. This is as much my responsibility as yours.” 

Marinette sighed, “Thank you Dami…what?”

Damian had stiffened, almost imperceptibly but finally he said, “I…I am not accustomed to…nicknames.”

“Oh!” Marinette cried. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be so familiar I just…”

“No,” Damian said stiffly, but softly. “I…I appreciate the endearment…You may use it. I will interpret it as a sign of your trust.” 

Marinette sighed in relief, putting a hand to her racing heart, “Ok good. The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable, after you’ve done so much for me.”

Damian cocked his head to the side rather like a bird, “But I have hardly done anything.”

Marinette couldn’t help the giggle, nor the smile as she looked up at her friend, her partner. “You have been a partner that I can rely on as my equal. You have gathered support and found resources that I could have hardly thought to look for or use. You have brought me more allies than I could have ever dreamed of finding.” She reached out to squeeze his hand in thanks, “And now you are taking my burdens…You have done so much for me, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay it… Thank you. ”

Damian’s eyes, as green as the purest emeralds, bore into hers before he suddenly looked away. Which unfortunately exposed just how red his ears had turned at her words. “I have only done what anyone else would have done.” 

Marinette couldn’t help the little giggle that escaped her. “Well anyone else didn’t do this. You did.” For a moment, she had the sudden impulse to go up on her tiptoes and peck his reddening cheek. But she didn’t want to be presumptive, so she just squeezed his hand and went to say her goodbyes. 

Now she was walking home, with a thousand thoughts, fears, and hopes, and she didn’t know what to do with a single one of them. “Cheer up Marinette,” Tikki chirped from her bag. “Today was a really good day!”

“It was a good day Tikki,” Marinette agreed. “But then there is tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow will come,” Tikki agreed. “But today is right now. And right now is pretty good! You got Batman on your side.” 

“I thought he would be more stubborn,” Marinette agreed in awe.

“I guess that means he was really impressed by you!”

“No,” Marinette said with a sigh, “It was probably only because of Damian and Diana.”

“Don’t sell yourself short Marinette,” Tikki chided happily, “Do you think Batman would have let Damian stay with you in command if he didn’t respect your capabilities?”

Marinette shrugged, trying not to let the praise go to her head too much, “I guess.”

“And aside from that you got four new holders!” 

“Yes,” Marinette, “But now I’m going to have to come up with an entirely new set of contingencies and two of them don’t have their true miraculous!”

“But they won’t go crazy subbing in,” Tikki countered. “And do you really think we need that many contingencies? We have two rabbits, and the snake. I think having three whole time travelers would be contingency enough.”

“But—”

“No buts Marinette!” Tikki snapped, “Today was a good day, and everything is going to be just fine. You’ll see!”

“I suppose you’re right Tikki,” Marinette agreed. “I just wish I could be sure you know. So much has gone wrong already…what am I supposed to do if we fail?” 

“We won’t fail,” Tikki said firmly. “And as for everything that has gone wrong, I’d rather think about what’s gone right! Like Damian!”

“He is a good partner,” Marinette said with a small smile.

“Your perfect partner,” Tikki said with a wicked little smile.

“Tikki!” Marinette cried trying and failing to hide her blush. “You know I can’t afford to be distracted right now! Not after what happened with Luka and Adrien!”

“Who said you would get distracted?” Tikki chided, “You two don’t have any secrets. You’re both in the fight against Hawkmoth 100%. What’s wrong with having fun?” 

Marinette sighed exasperated, “Thanks for the suggestion, but I don’t think he sees me that way. For all I know he doesn’t like girls.”

“Well,” Tikki said with a sly smile, “If the way he was looking at you before you left is any indication, I’d say that he likes at least one girl.”

“Tikki!” Marinette cried.

“So,” Lord Fox said slowly, “You’re the actual fox.” 

The new hero was completely silent. Her face was completely obscured by the shapeless red mask, and shadowed in the fiery orange hood. The only indicator of which animal she possessed was the open overskirt of feathers, that bled the blood fire of her torso into the black blue of her trousers. She only gave a single nod but not even her fabric made a sound as she moved. It was a little disturbing so he turned desperately to Mafdet who was standing to the side of the shadowed rooftop with his arms crossed.

“You do not have to surrender the miraculous now,” Mafdet said clearly speaking for the both of them, “In fact I would rather you didn’t.” 

“Why not?” Fox said, instantly relaxing. 

“Because things are rather fragile, too fragile,” Mafdet admitted. “Orphan here is not the only new hero in town, and we would rather not disturb the civilians too much with such constant roster changes.”

“Orphan?” Lord Fox cried, “As in Gotham’s Orphan. Wait, is Batman here?” 

“No,” Mafdet said firmly, “And thank the kwami for that. But yes, Orphan as well as a few of the other vigilantes were found to be true holders and so have joined the fight.”

Lord Fox sighed as he sank to the ground in relief. Mafdet and Orphan exchanged an expressionless glance, and then joined him on the ground. “Good…but, wait, why didn’t you change your hero name?” 

Orphan shrugged and then began to sign, which the miraculous was magically able to translate on the screen of his flute. “ Why would I change it? My name is Orphan. That does not change with the mask .” 

“But,” Fox began, “You’re in a different uniform. A different job, a different purpose.”

Orphan waved dismissively, “ You might need to change, since your name reflects your miraculous. But my name reflects me. Why would I change it? I have not changed. ”

Fox thought it over and then nodded in agreement, “Yep you’re one of Trixx’s…so, how is this going to work?” 

“Much as it always has for the most part,” Mafdet said simply, “Ladybug and I will deal with the everyday threats. While you, Orphan and the other heroes, will be on standby in case you are needed.”

“I got to say,” Fox said with a smile, “Life has gotten a lot easier now that I don’t have to sneak away ten times a day, but I do miss the action.” 

“I’m sure,” Mafdet said without much emotion. “In the meantime, do you have any idea which is your true miraculous?”

Fox nodded sadly before looking to meet Mafdet's eyes, “The butterfly.”

“ Hawkmoth’s?” Orphan signed. 

“Yep,” Fox said dejectedly. “What do I do?”

Mafdet and Orphan exchanged another expressionless glance, but it was Orphan who answered, her hands dancing with sign language. “ Why did Trixx go with you? ”

Fox was glad the mask hid his blush as he looked away. “He…he said I needed an emotions tutor,” he muttered. He almost hoped they hadn’t understood him, but the magic of the gems enhanced their hearing, so it hardly mattered. But after a moment’s silence, Fox looked up, he saw the other heroes were considering his situation seriously and without judgment. Well, Mafdet was, Orphan was as still as stone. 

“Yes,” Mafdet finally said with a nod, “I can see how that would be useful. I wish I had known of such things when I first came to my father.” 

“ It would have made many things a great deal easier ,” Orphan agreed. She then tilted her head at Fox, which was rather creepy considering she was all but faceless. “ Perhaps, I should join you in these tutoring sessions. ”

“I…what?” Fox sputtered. 

“Yes,” Mafdet said, “Orphan and the other members of my family will be spending most of their time focused on the investigation. Since you are aware of our identities, and you are currently in possession of Orphan’s true miraculous, it would be prudent that you learn and aid us in this aspect of the mission. Aside from that your father can hardly disapprove of having such an intimate connection with our family.” 

“Oh right,” Fox said somewhat in a daze, “You’re Waynes. And it would help me get away from Lila…and my father…and his schedule…are you sure your family is ok with me knowing your secret?”

“They hardly have a choice,” Mafdet said dismissively.

“And Ladybug,” Fox said cautiously. “Does she know, I know.” 

Mafdet tilted her head consideringly saying, “Her concerns are more for if you learn her identity or vice versa. She trusts me to act accordingly in this situation.”

“Oh,” Fox said, he winced at the pang of hurt and jealousy that surged through him right then, and of course the guilt for being jealous. With him no longer on the immediate roster, he had gotten less and less time with Ladybug lately. On one hand he was grateful. After his conversation with Marinette, he had been horrified to see how awful his own behavior had been towards the woman he claimed to love. He had immediately gone to delete his screen saver, and replace it with pictures of his mother and friends. Now that he was getting some distance, he only became increasingly embarrassed and ashamed of some of the ways he had acted around her. “No means no,” as Chloe had been so fond of telling him lately. And Ladybug had said “No” to the point even a brick wall should have gotten the message. But not him apparently. 

On the other hand, Ladybug was one of his best friends. One of the few original symbols of his freedom left to him. He wanted to laugh, and talk, and run around Paris like they used to. But they couldn’t. He wasn’t the cat anymore. He had given up his position by her side willingly. And he didn’t regret it, except for where it tore him away from her, his friend…his partner.

A gentle hand rested on his knee and Fox looked to see Orphan’s faceless face staring at him intently. She leaned back and began to sign, “ She trusts you. But some things are outside of you.”

Mafdet nodded saying, “She told me of a timeline, where you learned of each other’s identities and the world ended.”

Fox jerked back in horror. “I would never hurt her!”

“ It is not you she is afraid of ,” Orphan confirmed. “ It is everything else.”

“Don’t worry about Ladybug,” Mafdet agreed. “I will do everything I can to support her. And Orphan will do everything she can do to help you. By the time we find Hawkmoth, hopefully everything will be resolved.”

Fox was surprised to find that he was exchanging his own expressionless glance with Orphan. But even though she was faceless, and hardly moved a muscle, Fox thought he perfectly understood her. It was a look of amused skepticism and doubtful hope. Maybe not everything would be solved when they found Hawkmoth and Mayura. But maybe the important things would be, and that was enough. 

“Ok,” Fox said, “So where do we start?”

Chapter Text

Duke loved his powers and he was grateful that the Miraculous didn’t affect them too much. He was also grateful that the nose ring had disguised itself as a rather small and discrete stud. Not that the ring would have stuck out in Paris, but it just wasn’t his style. But mainly he was just grateful that the Miraculous allowed him to filter what kind of light he saw at any given moment, which was something he could never do before. 

Before becoming a holder, he saw everything all the time. The subway was torture, the constant movement, packed confines, and the ghost of lights that had passed before meant that every time he used the train was a guaranteed constant head ache. And when he had first been introduced to the kwami and their gems, it meant that he had no filter. He saw them as they truly were. Primordial beings, whose shapes were tall, elegant, powerful, and altogether completely alien. He could barely stand to look at them, much less the jewelry that their holder’s wore, as the gems had power in and of themselves. Power that burned like the sun, and left Duke blinking and squinting every time he looked at it. 

But when he had put on the Miraculous of the Ox, everything had changed. Suddenly he had something he had never had before, control. He could choose which auras and energies he wanted to see. He could even decide to not see anything at all. So he spent his first day in Paris doing just that. He turned off his power, and for the first time in years, he was just a regular kid. A tourist wandering the city of lights without a care in the world. He rode the subway and didn’t get a headache. He watched the cars, and actually saw the cars, and not the streaks of red and yellow that made the road nothing but a constant colorful blur. Now he was sitting on a park bench eating gelato watching the people pass, and nothing. Not a single aura, or energy signature. For that moment, they were just regular people in a regular park, just like him, a regular guy. 

“You going to finish that?” Stompp hissed from his backpack. 

“Almost regular, ” Duke thought and he snuck the adorable kwami a bite of his gelato.

Duke chuckled as he realized that he had just thought of the creature as adorable. He had seen Stompp’s true form. The embodiment of determination was anything but adorable, but in this form he was down right cute. It was strange, but Duke found that he couldn’t mistrust the strangeness. Stompp just felt right to him, like how his powers just felt right to him. Technically they were frightening, weird, and confusing (even to him). But in general they were just…natural. Like his sense of smell or taste, obvious when thought about, but otherwise innocuous. 

Duke was just going over all of these thoughts, and what he had seen of Stompp when another question came up. “Why me?” 

“Why not you?” Stompp said as he ate his tiny portion of gelato.

“I’m just a kid from the Burrows. I already have super powers. I’m barely educated, barely trained. I’m black—”

“Kid,” Stompp interrupted, “I’m an ox. You think we care about color?”

Duke chuckled, shaking his head. He forgot who he was talking to for a moment. “Still,” he said, “There’s got to be better options.”

“Nope,” Stompp said cheerfully, “Just you.”

“Why?”

Stompp paused for a moment and then said, “Did you know that we can get visions of our true chosen. It’s one of the many ways we know how to find you.”

“You saw visions of me?” Duke asked cautiously, still not taking his eyes from the horizon. 

“Yep!” Stompp said, “I saw you get your powers. I watched you master them, on your own. I watched your parents get Jokerized. And I watched you push through the pain and let it make you stronger. I saw the Robin War. I saw you gather a group of frightened, battered down street rats, just like you and turn them into an army. And then I watched that army save their city! I saw you. And what I saw, kid, was pretty damn impressive. No one’s got your kind of grit and determination kid, you hear me! No one.”

“Jason literally pulled himself out of his grave,” Duke argued.

“But that was driven by his passion,” Stompp interject. “That’s what makes him Ziggy’s. You stood up for no other reason than you weren’t meant to live on your knees. And that’s what makes you mine.”

Duke smiled, and turned his powers back on. He kept them low enough so that he couldn’t see Stompp’s true form, but he kept it high enough that he could assess the truth of the world around him. “Thanks Stompp…you know I think we’re going to have a lot of fun together!”

“Welcome to my home Mr. Wayne, Miss. Wayne. I have great hope for this friendship. And that you both will be great influences on my son.”

Cass did not like Gabriel Agreste. Every instinct in her screamed that there was something wrong with him. It was the same kind of scream she felt when she was around the Joker. But even without her instinct, she could tell that something was wrong with him. His body language was all off. It was too formal, too stiff, too sharp. Where Damian’s formality was comforting, because it was simply an engrained part of who he was, Agreste’s formality seemed forced. As if it was a fraying wall holding back something that was raging, and if the gleam in his eyes was anything to go by, then that wall was close to breaking.

“Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Agreste,” Damian said with the same bland politeness that had given him the nickname, the Ice Prince, by the tabloids. “I believe both of our families will greatly benefit from this relationship.” 

Seemingly pleased, Agreste moved sharply back into his office, and Adrien breathed a sigh of relief once the door was closed. “Come on,” he said with a bright smile, “My room is this way.” 

Cass took one more lingering look at the closed door. Every bone in her body telling her not to turn her back on it, to break it down, and kill the thing inside. But she refrained, and followed the boys up the stairs. 

Adrien’s room was impressive. It had everything that could possibly make an average teenage boy happy, including a mini fridge, and a rock wall. But Cass could tell from the moment Adrien entered the room that this room did not make him happy. He was comfortable in it, but his green eyes lacked the spark of joy she had seen in them when they traversed the roof tops the night before. And so it was clear to Cass, that despite the luxury and distractions, this room was a cage.

“So,” Adrien said as the kwamis revealed themselves. “What happens now?”

“Now,” Trixx said, “I give my chosen a hug!” And he flew over and Cass couldn’t help but smile, as the tiny creature wrapped her arms around her cheek. “And then I promise you, that I’m not leaving until you are ready to receive your Miraculous!”

Some tension left Adrien as he sighed in relief. “Ok, good, and then?”

“And then,” Plagg said, emerging from the minifridge with a particularly smelly cheese, “I reunite myself with my one true love! Camembart! Oh how I’ve missed you!”

“Plagg!” Damian said firmly, “Cat’s can’t have cheese, they are lactose intolerant!”

“I am the living embodiment of destruction! I can have whatever I want! Tell him Adrien!”

“You got him to not eat smelly cheeses!” Adrien exclaimed in awe, “Teach me your ways!” 

Damian smirked, and Cass chuckled, as Plagg bemoaned the fact that everyone was against him. Grabbing Adrien’s attention she signed with Orriko translating, “ He’s not really stopping Plagg from eating cheese. He’s just punishing him, because Plagg revealed his true feelings to our family. And now we are teasing him. ”

“True feelings?” Adrien asked.

“I will cut your ballet shoes into ribbons,” Damian growled. Cass just fixed him with what Stephanie called her assassin’s glare, and Damian turned away grumbling, “Well I will hide them for a week, if you don’t let it go!” 

“What true feeling?” Adrien demanded.

“His true feelings for Marinette,” Orriko called as he flew over to the plate of sweets and fruit sitting on the coffee table. 

“You too?” Adrien said with a smirk. 

“What do you mean?” Damian demanded.

“I don’t think there is a single person in the world who’s met Marinette, and didn’t fall in love with her in one way or another. I mean to me she’s just a friend, but if I hadn’t been obsessed with Ladybug, it might have been different.”

Cass wished she was like Steph, so that she could burst out laughing, as she and Damian exchanged glances. But in the end she just smirked and signed, “ Well, Damian thinks his ice cream flavors represent Marinette. What does he mean by ice cream flavors? ”

“Andre’s Sweetheart's Ice Cream!” Adrien exclaimed eagerly, “Andre can see soulmates. You really think yours is Marinette?” 

“He doesn’t see soulmates,” Damian growled but his ears were turning red. “He sees compatibility, partnerships. And yes I think Marinette and I might share a certain level of compatibility that could lead to a more…romantic relationship.”

Adrien blinked and burst out into laughter. “Ok! New plan for the day! Do you think you can convince my dad and Natalie to let us go out?”

“Obviously, why?”

Adrien leapt up and began typing on his phone, “Nino has known Marinette since they were in diapers. His words not mine. He probably knows her better than anyone. We’ll meet him at the park, and make a plan to get you together! It’ll be fun!”

“I'd rather not have anyone else involved in this,” Damian said, and though he seemed composed, Cass felt laughter choke in her throat at how uncomfortable, tense, and almost hopeful he seemed. 

“Don’t worry,” Adrien said eagerly, “We won’t call anyone who isn’t essential. With that said, we should also call Luka. He’s the only one who has actually managed to get a real date with Mari. We need to know how he did it! Cause you know, akumas and tricks don't count.”

“I don’t think that is necessary—” 

Cass interrupted her brother and signing, “ We came here to learn about emotions. Romantic emotions and vulnerability are a part of that. Isn’t your incompetence in this area why Raven broke up with you? ”

Damian’s shoulder slumped in resignation. “Fine,” he growled. “I will go deal with your father.” 

He left, and Cass saw him approach a woman with a red streak in her hair, before the door closed. She turned to Adrien with a small smile and signed, “ Thank you for doing this. ”

“Of course!” Adrien said beaming at her as he was the sun, and Cass suddenly understood how plants must feel. “Us emotional idiots have to stick together!”        

Barbara had to admit, she was impressed. It was clear that despite the fact that this Miraculous War had been going on for three years, Marinette had not been slacking on the investigation. She had been working with the police to track the butterflies in an attempt to find a pattern. She had a working profile of both Hawkmoth (but not one for Mayura, since she so rarely appeared). She even had an ever shrinking list of suspects. From Barbara’s perspective, the only reason Hawkmoth hadn’t been caught yet was the latent magic that protected his identity, and Marinette’s impressively busy schedule. 

“So, your the leader of a team of superheroes, training to be the leader of a mystical, secret society, a world renowned fashion designer, class president, and a full time high school student, and you still make time to help your parents in their world famous bakery!” Barbara exclaimed as she stared at the wall of research in Chloe’s bedroom in awe. “How?”

“Well,” Marinette said sheepishly, “Being in two places at once definitely helped. Plus Sabrina and Chloe do most of the class president stuff anyways. But other than that, insomnia and coffee. Lots of coffee.” 

Barbara shook her head a little overwhelmed by the ball of energetic sunshine beside her. “Remind me to keep you the hell away from Tim. The world won’t be able to handle the two of you together.”

“Well,” Sabrina chirped beside Barbra, “You’re going to have to cut back some now. Since you know, you no longer have Mullo.”

Marinette winced, and Barbara tried not to feel guilty as she glanced over to where the kwami were playing. Where Marinette had found a monopoly game that small, she had no idea. But Pollen had just landed in jail, so she was pouting in a small shoe box while Barkk bemoaned the fact that she had just landed on Tikki’s hotel. 

“Don’t feel bad, Barbs,” Chloe sang from where she lounged while playing on her phone. The heiress refused to call her by her regular nickname, Babs, declaring it utterly ridiculous. “Mari’s been needing to cut back and relax for a while now. Trust me, this is a blessing.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t have so much on my plate,” Marinette groused, “If some people pulled their weight a little bit more!” 

“She’s talking about Lila and our class,” Sabrina said cheerfully. 

“Lila?” Barbara asked, wheeling herself away from the conspiracy wall to address the girls. 

“A compulsive manipulative liar in our class,” Marinette said with a bitter sigh. “I’m half convinced she’s working with Hawkmoth, based on the number of akumas she causes.”

“Oh she’s definitely working with Hawkmoth!” Chloe cried, her obvious anger coming out in the ferocious way she tapped her phone. “That little sociopath wouldn’t know a lick of common decency if it hit her over the head.”

“Hm…” Barbara tapped her armrest as she thought. “Do you think we could use that to set a trap for Hawkmoth?”

“Maybe,” Marinette said, her brow furrowed. “We would have to take the offensive. We can’t just wait for Lila to cause an akuma. But we don’t even know how they communicate or what he’s giving her.”

“Oh!” Sabrina said clapping, “Maybe our answer is in our ‘Murder Lila' file!”

“‘Murder Lila’ file?” Barbara said with a laugh. 

“You guys!” Marinette groaned. “I said we’re not killing Lila! Not! N. O. T. Not! Do you people not hear a word I say!”

“Fine,” Chloe said as she retrieved a truly massive folder from her hidden safe and plopped it down on the coffee table. “Call it the ‘Expose Lila’ file. Whatever, but Sabrina is right. If we’re going to find Hawkbitch through Lie-la. Then this is all of the research we’ve done on her so far.”

“Every lie she’s ever told,” Sabrina said cheerfully as she covered the table with the carefully organized pictures and documents. “With proof of their falsehood, a background check the CIA would find to be bordering on obsessive, as well as a record of her current movements down to what she had for breakfast this morning…avocado toast on sourdough, with a poached egg and orange juice!”

Barbara and Marinette stared at Sabrina and Chloe’s proud smirks in stunned fascination before Marinette said, “You terrify me.”

“Good!” Chloe snapped. “Now, the real problem isn’t actually disproving the lies. Everyone already knows that Lila is a liar. The problem is how she uses that to take advantage of everyone.”

“But what does she want?” Barbara mused as she picked up the background check. She arched a brow at some of the things in there, as Sabrina was right. Even the CIA would find this disturbingly thorough, and she was simultaneously curious and terrified of the idea of this girl getting her hands on Oracle. “What does Hawkmoth give her?”

“Other than a convenient way to play the victim?” Marinette grumbled, “I don’t know.”

“Especially when you consider the fact that Lie-la doesn’t really need help playing the victim,” Chloe said as she flopped back onto the couch.

“So maybe she’s getting something from his civilian life?” Barbara suggested. 

“Do you really think Hawkmoth would really trust Lie-la with his secret identity?” Marinette scowled.

“She might not have given him a choice,” Sabrina suggested. “Lila is twisted, but she’s not an idiot. She could have figured it out. Or stumbled on the answer by chance. Remember when she first got here. Her lies were all about being friends with Ladybug and being a Miraculous holder.”

“But then I called her out on it,” Marinette said, “And she stopped, before anything could happen.” 

"That we know of," Sabrina insisted.

“But why was she lying about being friends with Ladybug?” Barbara begged. “What did she gain?”

“The same thing we were all trying to gain at the time,” Chloe scoffed. “The love and adoration of Adrien Agreste. Paris’s most eligible teenage bachelor, who just so happens to be our classmate.”

“I’m so glad we’re passed that phase,” Marinette sighed.

“Me too!” Chloe cried, and Sabrina chuckled.

Barbara filed that away for later and focused on the problem at hand, “Does she still want to be close to Adrien? What lies does she tell to make that happen now?”

“Oh!” Sabrina cried, pulling out something that looked like a copy of an employee contract, “She doesn’t need to manipulate to be close to Adrien. She works with him! Gabriel Agreste hired her to be one of his brand’s teenage models. She and Adrien do practically every shoot together. He has around one shoot a week, and three shows a month. So, she probably sees him more than anyone else, except for the Gorilla.”

“Adrien’s driver slash bodyguard,” Marinette explained. 

“Is Agrest on your list of suspects,” Barbara asked. And Marinette pulled the chosen page off of the conspiracy wall and brought it back over to the others. 

“At the very top,” Marinette said, handing it back to her. “But we always hesitated to move on it because of some issues with Chat Noir, and the fact that Agreste has been akumatized.”

“Plus,” Sabrina said with a sigh, “He doesn’t exactly have anyone he could trust to be Mayura. To give her the peacock, Hawkmoth would have to trust her explicitly, and Gabriel Agreste is a known recluse ever since the disappearance of his wife.”

“That’s not true,” Chloe snapped sitting up. “He has his assistant. She does everything for him in the outside world. I bet he trusts her as much as I trust you!”

“Aw, Chloe!” Sabrina cooed. 

“Agreste is literally the perfect suspect,” Marinette said, “He fits the profile. He lives in the correct area. And he’s connected to Lila. And he even has a motivation.”

“His wife,” Barbara mused, “Does anyone know what happened to her?”

“Nope!” Sabrina chimed, “But here’s the crux of the problem. Agreste is rich, influential, and even politically powerful with his connection to the mayor, the police, and even some senators.”

“We can’t accuse him, or any of the names on this list without proof,” Marinette sighed. “And unless we can literally get a recording of Agreste transforming into Hawkmoth, anything we get could be dismissed.” 

“So,” Barbara said with a sly smile. “We get proof.”  

Dick smiled as he walked down the bustling Paris street. The sun was shining. The breeze was gentle, although he could do without the constant smell of cigarettes and urine. But somehow even that was vaguely nostalgic, as he found what he was looking for. The lot was empty at the moment, but the ornate fence still had framed posters advertising attractions and acts that would one day soon be turning this empty field of gravel and grass into a miniature city of lights and magic, if only for a little while.  

Dick let the colorful posters lead him to the ornate iron gate, and then on to the small white office building sitting at the corner of the lot. His eyes brushed past the calls to come see the concerts, attend the festivals, and witness the shows, until they caught on one that was all too familiar. 

Coming Soon…HALY’S CIRCUS…Death Defying Feats! Magic and Wonder! Featuring PETA Approved Animal Performances, Acrobats, and more!!!

Dick quickly checked the date and sighed in something between relief and frustration. It was three weeks away, which meant that he hadn’t missed it, but that also meant he now had a timeline to solve this Hawkmoth problem. 

Curious, Ziggy popped his head out of Dick’s jacket pocket and looked around. “Ooh!” he cried, “Are we going to the Circus!”

“I hope so,” Dick said, starting towards the small white building. 

“Excellent!” Ziggy cried, “I love the circus!”

“Do you now?” Dick chuckled, “What’s your favorite act?”

“Not sure, probably the clowns…or the ringmaster!”

Dick chuckled, “Most people wouldn’t consider the ringmaster an act in and of itself.”

“Well those people are dumb!” Ziggy exclaimed. “The Ringmaster is the most important part! The passion! The energy! The wonder! It is all carefully curated and created by the Ringmaster! Why without him, it wouldn’t be a circus at all!”

“True,” Dick said with a laugh, “But I have to say, I’m a little offended that you didn’t mention the acrobats.”

“They’re more of Liiri’s domain,” Ziggy said dismissively.

“Liiri?”

“The kwami of freedom, the Miraculous of the eagle,” Ziggy said excitedly. “She’s one of my best friends. But I haven’t seen her in forever ! Hey! Can we go visit her once this Hawkmoth debacle is over?” 

“I don’t see why not,” Dick said thoughtfully. He would have asked more questions, but they were now entering the office building, which looked like it had once been a house that was converted for the purpose. 

The moment he stepped through the door, his trained eyes noticed that he was in an entry hall. Two doors were to either side of him. Another hallway intersected this one further down. There was a stairwell to his right, and another door at the very back. A small desk blocked access to the rest of the hall, and was manned by a woman who looked like she could be the poster woman for grandma’s home cooking. Dick felt the sudden urge to lean down and let the elegant, soft, old woman pinch his cheeks and ask for a cookie. But what made his smile toward her even more genuine, were the subtle signs of their shared heritage that she wore on her person.  

“Excuse me,” he said in his native Romani, “I was wondering if you could help me.”

The old woman beamed at him, called him grandson, and pulled him back to the kitchen, where he was quickly stuffed with food, and stories. Dick felt himself relax for the first time in a long time as he chatted with her. He loved his family and his adopted cities, but there was something about Gotham and the Batclan that made him feel…stifled. As the ward of Bruce Wayne, he was chained by the public eye. As Nightwing he was chained by his responsibilities, the Titans, Bloodhaven, the Justice League. And none of that went away when he was in the manor, as he and Alfred did everything in their power to make sure they never repeated the same mistakes Bruce had with him and Jason. 

Yet, Dick was Romani, a nomad, a Grayson. He was born to be free, to fly. He flew as Nightwing higher than he had ever dreamed. But it was only when he spent time with his people, his culture, that he felt he could truly relax and be free of the weight that had been on his shoulders since the night his parents died. 

“So, grandson,” the old matron finally said after they swapped stories and shared news. “What brings you to Paris? Surely you heard from the others about all this trouble going on?”

“I’m afraid since I was adopted, I haven’t had much contact with our people,” Dick said with genuine regret. “Accept when I seek it out. Which reminds me, grandmother, do you happen to have any rememberobelia of past events? I’m specifically looking for anything relating to Haly’s Circus.”

The old woman smiled and led him to one of the rooms. It seemed that most of the offices were upstairs, and the ground floors had been converted into a type of museum of performances past. Posters lined the walls. Props were on display. Old t-shirts and jackets could still be bought off of one of the many wracks that filled one room. But she led him to one room that was almost completely dedicated to the Circus. Haly’s Circus was in a battle of dominance here with Barnum and Bailey, and Dick was pleased to see that Haly’s was winning. 

“I thought you looked familiar,” the matron hummed. “You look so much like your father.”

Dick smiled up at the Flying Graysons poster. The section of wall around it was practically a shrine to his family, going back even to his great grandfather, the first Grayson to take to the skies. Dick chuckled a little at the autographed picture of him and his parents, waving from the tall platform, and smiling out at the blurred crowd. “You knew them?”

“Of course! I remember all of the Romani who come here, especially the performers. You know, I used to do the circuit myself!”

“Trully?”

“Yes, I worked with the horses. I even did a show with your grandparents! Oh! He and Rosa were like angels in the sky!” 

Dick laughed as he turned away from the frozen, smiling faces of his family. “It really is a small world!”

“Especially for us carnies,” the matron agreed. “I am sorry to hear what happened. But I’m glad to see you are doing so well, Dick. We were worried when Haly said he had to leave you with people outside of the community.”  

“Thank you, Gillie,” Dick said, hugging her tightly, “That means so much to me…I have to go soon, but…I hope you don’t mind, but is there anything of the Flying Grayson’s you would be willing to part with?”

Gillie laughed and led him into a storage room, where there were even more posters and props. Dick felt himself relax. The world melted away, as they sorted through all of the old bric-a-brac, and Gillie stopped their search every five minutes, in order to show him something that reminded her of days gone by. Eventually though, he left with two posters of his grandparents, a signed photo of his great grandfather, and a box of more personal pictures from on the road, backstage, and around the fire.

Ziggy sighed when they left nearly three hours later. “Yep, you are definitely one of Liiri’s. She loves you nomatic types!”

“I’ll take that as a complement,” Dick said, as they made their way back to the hotel. He paused when the akuma alarm when off, but Ziggy read over his shoulder and rolled his eyes.

“Mr. Pigeon, don’t bother. Ladybug and Mafdet got this. Speaking of, have you figured out what our name is going to be?”

“Nightgoat?”

“That’s dumb, try something else.”

“Mountain Goat.”

“Generaric.”

“The Flying Goat!”

“That sounds like the name of a pub!”

“Bat Goat.”

“Let’s just move away from the goats.” 

Chapter Text

Of all of the villains he had ever fought, Mr. Pigeon had to be one of the most ridiculous. Still the akuma was dangerous, as the vandalism the villain performed would have cost the city hundreds if not thousands of dollars in damages if it was not for the Miraculous Cure. However, strangely enough, the bird themed nuisance was not the most ridiculous thing about his day. As once he and Cass got permission to take Adrien out, their new acquaintance and his friends began planning the most elaborate scheme to get Marinette to go on a date with him, Damian had ever seen.

It was bewildering watching them plan. It was almost as if they took as much joy in the planning, as they did in the outcome. They were knee deep in some scheme involving a gondola and an elephant, when Luka took him aside and into the house boat. 

“So,” Luka said with a knowing smile as he began gathering drinks for the plotting boys. “You and Marinette huh?” 

Damian fought the urge to scowl, but he did release an involuntary, “Tt,” before growling, “I do not see how it is any business of all of these peoples.”

Luka shrugged, “Yes and no. Yes it is your relationship, and so none of our business. But Marinette is our friend. And for those of us with gems, both of you are our leaders. In that way it is our business.” 

Luka’s knowing blue eyes fixed him with a calm placid demeanor. “We just want to make sure this works. For the both of you. Marinette has been through enough heartbreak as it is.” 

Damian arched a brow and crossed his arms, “And how did you play a part in that?”

Luka smiled sadly as he looked down at the drinks he was preparing. “I loved her. I still love her. She is one of the most amazing people I know. And I thought that even before I knew she was Ladybug…But when I asked her out, I didn’t know her secret and so dating was…difficult. You can’t build a relationship off of secrets and lies. There needs to be trust. And by the time Marinette trusted me enough to share her secret, it was too late. Our feelings, both of our feelings, had changed. Our relationship had changed, so…we had to move forward with the relationship that we had. Not the one we imagined.” 

Damian pondered these words over in his head. He nodded and said, “I can understand and respect that…what do you recommend for our relationship?” 

Luka shrugged and said, “Be honest. You got all of the big secrets out of the way. Now you just have to figure out the relationship that you have, and move forward.”

“And that monstrosity of a scheme, those fools are planning?” 

Luka chuckled and shook his head, grabbing the now full tray. “Let them scheme. This is fun for them, and it's a good distraction. One that’s not likely to result in an akuma.”

“Oh?” Damian asked skeptically.

Luka smirked, “Trust me, man. It is only a matter of time.” 

Alya stared at her computer screen, numb. There had been hints and suggestions that Chat Noir had been replaced over the last week. But no one had been able to get anything confirmed. But with the latest Mr. Pigeon attack, it was obvious. The Black Cat was no longer Chat Noir. SpotsOn.com had already updated their hero page with the new hero, Mafdet. He was tall, imposing, and in his shadowed hood, and ninja-like attire…frightening. Dazed and confused Alya felt the hot tears running down her face as she clicked the video again. 

“I’m here in front of the Eiffel Tower, with Ladybug and the new cat hero, after another stunning defeat of the akuma Mr. Pigeon,” Aurore Beaureal said cheerfully. Her stupid parasol perched on her shoulder.

It was an open secret that Aurore was Stormy Weather. One of the worst akumas to ever threaten Paris. But instead of being shunned, and banned from the news media, the insufferably cheery girl flaunted her akumatized object and got job after job, and got the hero endorsed blog! Meanwhile, Alya was getting less and less from Ladybug, and her blog--which should have been skyrocketing her to the top, was languishing on the scraps she got from chasing akumas and stalking the heroes. Alya suppressed her growing rage, with practice. She had to admit the other teenager was a good reporter, and it would not help Alya if she got akumatized over it. 

“Ladybug,” Aurore’s voice rang out from the screen. “Would you care to introduce your new partner?” 

“Of course Aurore,” Ladybug said. Gone was the bubbly, cheerful heroine Alya had interviewed all those years ago. The woman on the screen was now composed and serious, with a gentle smile rather than her bright grin. It broke Alya’s heart to see her hero so beaten down like this. If only she still had her miraculous. If only she was still the fox! 

“I was hoping to do this at a more formal press conference, and I promise to have one later this week to introduce all of the new heroes that have come to defend our city,” Ladybug continued. “However, since we are all here, allow me to introduce my new partner, Mafdet. He will be taking over the role that Chat Noire played, and will be assisting me in leading the Miraculous Court, as well as helping me and the police in tracking down Hawkmoth so that we can end this war.” 

“It is very nice to meet you Mafdet,” Aurore said and the intimidating man stepped forward. “Is there anything you would like to say to the people of Paris?” 

Alya felt her heart grow cold at the sight of the tall man. He was not smiling. Chat Noir always smiled. What was happening to her heroes? Why couldn’t she be there? Where was her miraculous?!

“I am honored,” Mafdet said, his voice formal and reserved, but there was a slight accent to his words. “To be taking on this role as a co-leader of the court. And I would like to reassure the people of Paris, that I will do everything within my power to help Ladybug find Hawkmoth and bring him and his associates to justice.”

“And what about Chat Noir?” Aurore chirped cheerfully, “How does he feel about you taking over his miraculous?”

“Chat Noir,” Mafdet said stoically, “Will be taking on a different role within the Court. Please rest assured that this was all done with his consent, and I’m sure that he would be happy to answer all of your questions at our next official press conference at the end of the week.” 

“May I ask which miraculous he has claimed?” Aurore asked simply. 

“Yes,” Ladybug said, her face twisted in a horrid grin, that almost seemed like pride. Why was she so proud? She had just ruined her chance at happiness with her true love! “The hero formally known as Chat Noir, is now Seigneur Renard, the Fox Hero. We also have a new mouse hero, ox, and rooster.” 

“Well,” Aurore said happily, and the sound grated on Alya’s last nerves. “I’m sure we all can’t wait to meet them. So there you have it folks! We have a new hero line up that will be fully revealed at the end of the week! Stay tuned to SpotsOn.com for more information on that and all other Miraculous Court news. I’m Aurore Beaureale with KIDS+ TV and SpotsOn.com, the only hero endorsed hero blog. Have a sunny day!” 

The screen froze on Aurore, grinning happily beside a smiling Ladybug and a stoic Mafdet. Alya’s ears were full of static, as her head seemed to be squeezing her brain. And all she could think was, “That should be me. That should be me. That should be me!”

“The only hero endorsed, hero blog!”

That should be me.

“Seigneur Renard, the Fox Hero.”

That should be me. 

“I’m here today with Ladybug—”

That should be!

Alya screamed, throwing the papers from her desk. Hot tears poured down her face as she wailed the pain. How could this happen? How did they get here? Why? Why? Why? That should have been her! Why wasn’t it her? Why? Why? Why?

Alya howled as she tore the Ladybug posters from the wall. She barely noticed her sister, entering her room and hissing, “Oh shit!” Until she saw her standing in the doorway and quickly typing on her phone. 

“What are you doing?” Alya yelled.

“Alya,” Nora said firmly. “You need to calm down.”

“Calm down?!” Alya shrieked. “Calm down?! My world is falling apart and you want me to calm down!” 

“Alya,” Nora pleaded gently, “You're going to get akumatized!”

“Good!” Alya shouted, snatching her sister's phone. “I want a word with Ladybug.” 

“Alya!” Nora yelled, and lunged to grab back her phone, but it was too late. A glowing black butterfly had landed on the device. “Ella Etta! Get out of the apartment now!” 

The black ooze encased Alya eagerly, as Nora snatched one of her sister’s phones and sent out the alert. 

 AKUMA ALERT: LEVEL 1.

Akuma: Lady Wifi

Avoidance Protocol in Effect: All citizens should avoid areas where the akuma has been active. 

Ladybug: MIA

Mafdet: MIA

Lady Wifi saw the alert and sneered. They had already updated the alerts! She was only level 1! Well, she would show them. Her body raged with the power inside her and her mind had been sharpened. It was as if all of the distraction of her life had vanished. Pushed to the side and blurred, until only one thought ran through her mind was, “ Expose Ladybug. Expose Ladybug. Expose Ladybug for the fraud that she is. Expose her! ” 

And she would. She would destroy Ladybug and all of her allies, and the truth would be hers! Hawkmoth cackled in her mind, but she ignored him as she dove into her computer. Searching for her prey. 

“Oh Alya,” Marinette said sadly as she looked at the screen. 

“We knew this was going to happen,” Sabrina said sadly. “The moment we announced the change in roster.”

“Yeah!” Chloe scoffed derisively, “But she doesn’t need to go and throw a tantrum about it.” 

“Chloe,” Marinette scolded softly, before she sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Do you need our help?” Barbara asked with concern.

“No,” Marinette said with a sigh. “Lady Wifi is a level one. She won’t cause any permanent damage. She just wants to expose Ladybug. It will be easy to trap her.”

“Just be careful!” Sabrina called. 

Marinette nodded and transformed. She swung around the city, as the updated alert went out, reassuring the people that Ladybug was on the way. The moment it did, Lady Wifi would be coming. She would track the signals, and triangulate her location, so Ladybug only had a limited amount of time to set the trap she needed. Sure enough, right as she was going over the bank, the wifi tower buzzed with purple electricity, and Lady Wifi appeared before her. 

Ladybug sighed sadly as her ex-best friend cut off her escape, cackling as she floated on the air. “Evacuate the building, and tell the police to cut power to the bank.”

“That won’t work Ladybug!” Lady Wifi declared. “I will expose you for the fraud that you are.”

“Alya!” Ladybug snapped, it was always hard to keep her patience when the hurricane of creation swirled within her. The compulsive need to make everything right. To force the chaos of the world into concrete order. And right now there was nothing more chaotic than the whirling magic consuming her former friend. She took a deep breath, and shook her head, “Just stop. This isn’t worth it.”

“Worth it!” Lady Wifi screeched. “You ruined everything! My blog, my career, my heroes! It’s all ruined because you didn’t choose me!”

And with that, Lady Wifi attacked. Her pause buttons sped toward her as fast as bullets and it was all Ladybug could do to dodge them. Swirling her yoyo around in a shield of light, Ladybug did everything in her power to both contain and escape the villain in front of her. The fact was that Lady Wifi was powerful. But her target and focus had always been solely on Ladybug. Which meant that she would not cause too much damage, but there was nothing for Ladybug to use to distract her into a trap. 

So they danced on the roof, each focused on nothing but the other. Ladybug knew that the only way to end this was to summon her lucky charm. But she didn’t have the space to complete the spell, otherwise she would be paused. She needed help. She needed…

THWACK!

Mafdet hit Lady Wifi over the head with his staff, but the akuma only stumbled forward and snarled. Ladybug sagged in relief as she smiled and cried, “Perfect timing!”

“You!” Lady Wifi screamed as she turned to face the new hero. “You ruined my ship!” 

“Excuse me?” Mafdet demanded, and Ladybug groaned.

“For the last time,” she cried, “Chat Noir and I were never, and never will be together. We’re just friends!”

“No!” Lady Wifi snapped. “No! You were destined! The perfect couple! And you ruined it! You ruined everything!” And with that she attacked Mafdet. 

For his part Mafdet expertly dodged, and engaged in his own dance with the villain motioning for Ladybug to summon her charm. Ladybug took advantage of the added space and a pair of scissors fell into her hands. She used the scissors to cut the wires to the Bank’s antenna and fashioned a lasso. With the power off in the building there was nowhere for her to escape, and so using the lasso, Ladybug trapped Lady Wifi while Mafdet smashed her phone. 

Lady Wifi screamed as her akuma was purified, but once the cure was activated those screams became nothing but heart wrenching sobs. Ladybug took a deep breath as she approached the wreck of a girl on the barren roof. 

“Why?” Alya pleaded. “Why am I no longer good enough for you?”

“Oh Alya,” Ladybug sighed, kneeling before her. Her own grief and pain threatened to overwhelm her. “I don’t know what to tell you...I’m sorry I wish I did.”

“Did I do something wrong!” Alya pleaded. “Was it because of Lila? I don’t actually believe her, you know that! I just don’t want her to be akumatized. I’m trying to help! Please just let me help!”

“You want to help,” Mafdet said simply, his voice as hard as stone. “Stop trying to force the world you wish existed, and focus on the world that is.” 

“But—” Alya began, but Mafdet cut her off. 

“You want to be a reporter? A good reporter focuses on reality, you focus on nothing but your own desires. It’s time to grow up, Alya Cessaire.” 

Alya tenseed under Ladybug’s comforting hand, and Ladybug saw the flash of anger in her eyes. So she spoke quickly but calmly, “He’s right Alya. You want to be a hero?”

“Yes,” Alya pleaded.

“Then you need to learn how to move forward. And not just stay in place, can you do that for me?”

“I…” Alya sniffed as she looked down to the ground. “I can try. For you Ladybug.”

Ladybug smiled softly and took what she could. She made sure that Alya could get home, and then she and Mafdet swung away. Once they were back at the hotel, Marinette dropped her transformation and Damian followed suit. 

“Shouldn’t you be getting back to Cass?” she asked with a smile.

“I will,” Damian said slowly. “I just wanted to make sure you were ok after that?” 

“I…”Marinette began, but now that the daily akumas were gone, she began to notice the huge weight on her chest. The building anguish in her heart, and the pain in her mind. She closed her eyes and shook her head, as she held herself close. “I…I’m sorry,” she cried as the tears began to fall. “I’m sorry. I…I shouldn’t be doing this. I…I’m just so tired.”

Damian nodded and pulled her close. Marinette sank into his embrace as it was strong, and she was weak. His shirt was soft, as she cried into it. Tears of pure exhaustion ran down her cheeks until her whole face hurt, and still Damian stood there, holding her. His chin rested on her head, so that his body was completely enveloping her. And for once, Marinette felt that it was enough.

Chapter Text

“Here you are Natalie,” Adrien said cheerfully, handing her a slip of paper. 

Natalie arched a brow in curiosity, and Adrien’s smile only grew as he explained, “Alfred Pennyworth’s phone number. Damian gave it to me last night. Anyway, I have to get to school. See you later!”

Natalie barely heard the grating voice of Lila Rossi as she stared desperately down at the innocuous slip of paper. She looked up at the closed office door and steeled her breath. Gabriel had not left his office in three days ever since she had returned the peacock miraculous to fix. Her body had yet to recover, and the only sign she had that he was alive was the constant stream of akumas.  

She looked back down at the slip of paper, pinching it so tightly it wrinkled. She took a deep breath, and stole away back to her room. 

“What the hell!” Jason yelled. “I thought we were only allowed to send three! Why does Dickie get to stay?!”

“It appears he is compatible with the miraculous,” Bruce said simply, absently going over the evidence for their latest case.

“I’m sorry,” Tim said with a sigh, “But hell has frozen over…I agree with Jason. Compatibility or no, Dick is the definition of repressed rage. If he gets akumatized—”

“I’m sorry,” Steph interjected, “But are we talking about the same Dick Greyson?”

“You weren’t there for…” Jason shuddered, “The Zuko incident.”

“Or the Slade Debacle,” Tim agreed.

“How do you know about the Slade Debacle?” Jason demanded.

“I was stalking you,” Tim said as if that were obvious. 

“Oh yeah! I forgot how much of a little creep you were!”

“Were?” Steph scoffed. 

The siblings continued to bicker, when Alfred’s phone rang. He smiled fondly down at all of his charges, and then found himself a nice private little corner before answering his cell, “Alfred Pennyworth.”

“Hello Uncle.”

Alfred froze as his breath hitched, “Natalie? Is that you? My dear girl it’s been ages! How are you?”

The pause on the other end of the line was damning, and Alfred felt a cold pool of dread bubble up in his heart. 

“I…” his great niece began, before a chocked sob echoed through the receiver. “I’m sorry Uncle, but…but I’m not alright…I…I need your help.”

“Anything my dear,” Alfred said calmly, “You know that.”

“I…I’m so sorry Uncle! But…but I’ve done things! Horrible things, and I don’t know how to fix them! Please, Uncle! I’m so sorry!”

“For what dear,” Alfred said gently, even as his heart raced with worry. “Please Natalie—”

“I’m sorry Uncle, I shouldn’t have called—”

“No!” Alfred snapped, “No, Natalie, you have done the right thing. Talk to me! Tell me everything. What has happened?” For a moment there was nothing, and so Alfred gentled his voice saying, “I promise I will help you. But please, dear one, tell me what is wrong. I can do nothing, if you do not tell me the truth.”

There was the sound of a shaky breath, before Natalie began again. Only now the resolve was as plain as the guilt in her tone and cadence. “I…I found something Uncle…something dangerous…and I trusted it to the wrong person.”

“Natalie,” Alfred whispered gently, “What did you find?”

“So,” Marinette said slowly, staring at the conspiracy board with the rest of her official court, “It’s confirmed. Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth?”

Duke nodded saying, “I traced the magic of the akumas back to his house. The upper window in particular,” here he pointed to the picture of the house and the circular butterfly window on the roof, “was so bright with their light, it was like he had a sun stored up there.”

“We still need proof,” Sabrina insisted. “None of this is admissible in court. If we are going to see him brought to justice, then we need cold hard evidence!”

“Or we could just kill him,” Damian muttered.

“Damian,” Dick scolded.

“What?” the young assassin insisted, “We were already planning it for what he does to Adrien! Besides I have some friends in Gotham who have come up with some appropriate punishments for the fiend.”

“Wait!” Duke interjected, “You have friends in Gotham?”

“Enough!” Marinette snapped, and she sighed crossing her arms, her eyes flashing as she ran through all of the many scenarios in her mind. “If we act independently, we could raid the house and find the proof we need. But Sabrina is right, there’s no guarantee it will hold up in court. We cannot allow him to escape justice. So if we act alone, then we must deliver justice…alone.”

“We could call the Order of the Guardians,” Luka suggested. “I’m sure they have their own brand of justice they could deliver.”

“You are all forgetting something,” Chloe snapped. “It doesn’t matter who we send the bastard to, if we can’t get to him! That house is more secure than the Watchtower! Agreste designed it to survive an attack from Superman!”

“If we just storm the gates,” Kagami agreed, “We will fail, as his defenses would delay him long enough to summon enough high level akumas to deter us.”

“He is able to summon more than one high level akuma at once,” Barbara mused, “And that’s without a power boost from Mayura.”

“If we get this wrong,” Alex agreed, “And drive him into a corner, he’ll lash out and might just take the whole world with him.”

“ Adrien, ” Cass signed. 

“What?” Marinette demanded.

“ Adrien can get us inside, ” Cass insisted. “ He can help. ”

Marinette considered it and then immediately dismissed the idea saying, “No, Adrien has been through enough. And I am not putting him in the line of fire.”

“Actually,” Damian began thoughtfully, “I agree with Cass. Adrien would be our best option for—”

“No!” Marinette insisted, more than a little stunned at Damian’s agreement. “I will not put a civilian in the line of fire of a supervillain as powerful as Hawkmoth! We can not trust that Agreste has the wherewithal to not harm his son, and I won’t force that choice on my friend!”

Cass, Damian, and Alex all shared a look. And Marinette felt herself getting angry. “What?” she demanded. “Are you not telling me something?”

“Well…” Alex drew out, “You see the thing is—”

Dick’s phone went off and he rushed to get it. “Richard Wayne-Grayson,” he began and smiled cheerfully, “Alfred! How’s everything back home, no one’s dead right?”

There was a pause, in which Dick’s face twisted into concern and he began to pace as he listened. “What?” he demanded, “Woah, Alfred, slow down! What are you talking about? You have a niece? Yes, I know you have a life outside of us, but you never mentioned…yes, ofcourse…Of course we’ll help her! Alfred, your family is our family, you know that! Yes…yes…of course, no judgment. Just tell me what’s going on Alfred, you’re starting to scare me.”

At that all of the Batclan stopped exchanging shocked and befuddled glances, and stiffened into determined attention. It was actually a little frightening, watching all of them immediately and without thought snap to defensive stances at the barest hint that someone in their family was in danger. For her part, Marinette was paying more attention to Alex than anyone else. As the words left Dick’s mouth, a sense of relief seemed to fall over the time traveler, and she slumped back as if a great weight had just fallen off her shoulders.

“Ok,” Dick said simply, “Look, the court is here. I’m putting you on speaker.”

Marinette tuned back into the others as Dick set his cell in the middle of the coffee table. The classic British accent that echoed out was stiff with concern and fear, but it was still composed and steady as the man spoke, “ As I was saying, I have just received intel from my niece, that Mayura is strongly considering abandoning Hawkmoth. From talking to Mayura, I have reason to believe that not only is she a true chosen of the peacock, but that her recent actions have been the result of a broken miraculous. ”

All of the kwami shrieked in concern and then swarmed the phone begging for information with their high shrill voices. “Guys!” Marinette called, and the kwami quieted enough for Alfred to be heard, but they did not leave the phone. 

“What does Mayura want?” Marinette demanded. 

“ Atonement ,” Alfred said simply, and let the word hang between them all. Marinette sighed and looked around. Chloe had her arms crossed in skepticism. Sabrina was shifting in concern, doubtlessly she was trying to find a way to help everyone. Kagami and Luka stood side by side in mirroring postures of placid acceptance for whatever happened next. Meanwhile the Batclan were all staring at her with steadfast determination. 

“Alfred is family,” Damian said simply, gently taking her hand, and Marinette felt herself relax. “There is none we trust more than him.”

“Besides,” Barabra called out, “He was also a holder of a miraculous.”

Marinette’s gaze snapped to Alex. She had her arms crossed, but her smirk was self-satisfied, and there was such a profound sense of relief in her eyes, that it made Marinette want to leap for joy. The girl gave her a single determined nod and Marinette accepted it with a smile. 

“Ok,” Marinette said slowly, “I will consult with the Guardians to see what we can do for Mayura. Provided she helps us defeat Hawkmoth, I see no reason why she cannot atone for her sins.”

“ Thank you, ” Alfred sighed, and the relief in his tone was obvious. “ Here is what I know. ”

Lila was so happy she could sing. Everything was going her way. Her modeling contract guaranteed her access to the highest echelons of society for years to come. Her deal with Hawkmoth meant that even though that bitch Marinette had exposed her, she had the perfect means of manipulation for the more kind hearted and gullible of her peers. Plus, she practically had twenty-four/seven access to Adrien! It was only a matter of time before she could get him away from those degenerates, and he would thank her for it. 

Speaking of, Lila smiled brightly as she ran out of the school calling for him. He was standing with those fools Nino, Max, and Kim, and that abominable Damian Wayne. Oh well, she would have to get her claws in him later. “Adrien!” she cried, clinging to his arm. “Are we going home now? Or do we have a job today?”

She ignored the way Adrien flinched away from her in disgust, as he so quickly smiled at her benignly, she felt she must have imagined it. “Actually yeah, we’re going home. But I was hoping to have a guys day today. Sorry Lila.”

“But Adrien!” Lila gasped, and whispered loudly for all to hear, “You know your fathers rules. You don’t want to get in trouble now do you?”

Adrien sighed, his face so pitifully downcast, she almost felt sorry for him. But it hardly mattered. Once they were married and surrounded by Princes, and Presidents, he would thank her. “Sorry guys—”

“Oh!” Nino called out maybe a little too loudly. “I know! Why don’t we all ride together? That way Lila is still taking you home, and we get to hang out a little longer. I mean so long as you’re home on time, and we don’t go in, you can’t get in trouble right?”

“That does seem logical,” Damian said with a smirk, and Lila had to fight the scowl from forming on her face. 

“All right!” Kim yelled. “Limo party!”

“But Nino,” Lila tried with gritted teeth and a sickly smile. “Don’t you have to go and meet Alya?”

“Dude!” Nino groaned, moving behind Kim into the waiting car. “We, like, totally broke up! You know that!”

“Oh really?” Lila said sweetly. “But she said—”

“I know what she said,” Nino insisted. “But it’s not true! She’s delusional!”

“I wonder why,” Damian said coldly, and Lila flinched when she realized he was staring at her pointedly. And yes, sure, maybe she had been feeding into Alya’s daydreams about getting back with Nino. But he could hardly blame her. It was the best and most painless way to get rid of the annoying DJ. She smiled sweetly at him, and slipped into the waiting car, ignoring the knowing smirk, the Gorilla exchanged with the boys as she entered. 

Lila turned and jumped back with a shriek. There was a girl, around their age, sitting right beside her. She was slight and small, but her eyes were empty, and her face were covered in scars. Honestly, Lila didn’t think she had ever met someone more frightening, as at her cold empty expression, something seemed to primal seemed to crawl down Lila spine and demanded that she run. 

“Who are you?” Lila demanded. 

“My sister,” Damian said simply. Slipping into the seat directly beside her, effectively boxing her in. “Don’t worry. She’s just here to make sure you don’t get in the way by warning Hawkmoth.”

Lila felt every nerve in her body explode in terror, as she turned to the Ice Prince of Gotham. The panicked “What?” had barely left her lips, before a sharp pinch to her neck caused her to cry out. Immediately the world around her began to go fuzzy as the muffled voices echoed through the car. 

“Do you really think this will work?” Kim demanded. 

“Trust Ladybug,” Damian said simply. 

“Dude!” Nino cried, “Is this real? Like, is it really going to end today?” 

“Let’s hope so,” Damian said simply. “Are you going to be alright Adrien?”

“Yeah,” Adrien’s shaky voice was quickly fading as the darkness began to take her, but she had enough consciousness left to hear him scowl and say, “I’ll be fine. Let’s…let’s just end this monster.”

“Ah man!” Nino cheered. “Hawkmoth is going down!”

With that Lila’s last conscious thought was, “ Shit !”

Chapter Text

Marinette took a deep breath as she looked around her room. It was strange. She almost expected something to be…off, like the world itself should be signaling just how important today was. Instead it was just like any other day. The sun was shining. She had school in an hour. Not even her bedroom had the decency to signal the significance of this moment. Instead her projects were scattered in a state of half completion. Her hamper was full of laundry, and her homework was only half finished. Not even the date was unusual. It was just a random Thursday! No eclipse was scheduled. No meteor shower. It wasn’t even a full moon tonight! She had checked. 

Yet, even if the day in and of itself was totally and completely unremarkable, Marinette knew that it would not remain so. She had the day marked on her calendar with a red ladybug sticker, and she knew that next year, not one Parisian calendar wouldn’t remember this day forever. In this way there was a sense of foreboding as she carefully selected her outfit for the day. She chose clothing that would give her confidence but also comfort. Black, straight jeans to make her feel put together. A loose red blouse that would give her comfort. Heeled ankle boots to give her steps purpose. And finally, a black leather jacket, whose weight felt like armor being draped over her shoulders. She pulled her hair back into a rolled bun, not letting a hair fall out of place. Marinette had not started on this journey in order to make history, however, today she certainly would, and so she dressed appropriately.  

With a final breath, Marinette turned and surveyed the controlled chaos that was her room/studio, and finally found the difference that marked this day apart from any other, all the kwami were gone. Having distributed the temporary heroes last night, her usual loud and busy room was rather eerily silent as she prepared for war. Tikki and Daizzi still flitted about, gathering little odds and ends that she would need for school. Yet even they were somewhat subdued as they flew about the suddenly too big and too empty space. 

“Daizzi,” Marinette called, and the little piglet flew into her hand without hesitation. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find you a holder.”

“I’m not,” Daizzi said cheerfully, “My power is not meant for battle.”

“Still,” Marinette said hesitantly, “I hate to leave you alone. With everything happening—”

“Marinette,” Daizzi interrupted, “Do you know why my users never make history? Every other miraculous has holders that change the world, create legends, leave their marks, but not mine. Do you know why?”

“No,” Marinette said gently, “I can’t say that I do.”

“It’s because happiness is a power of healing!” Daizzi insisted, with a soft gravity, that made Marinette lean in and listen. “Happiness is not a solution to conflict and strife, but the result. I am the healing balm of a job well done. I am the sweet relief of the battle won. I am the joyous reward of purpose fulfilled. In going to battle, you do not seek happiness. You seek completion, and in finding completion, you find happiness. So don’t worry about me! I’ll be here when I’m needed! You’ll see!”

Marinette took a deep breath, letting the little creature’s reassurance wash over her. She wasn’t sure if she understood everything that was said, but then again maybe she didn’t need to. Afterall she held the Ladybug Miraculous, not the Pig Miraculous. “Just promise me you’ll stay safe until all of this is over,” Marinette said as she moved the almost empty miracle box into it’s hiding place. 

“I promise,” Daizzi declared, before hugging Marinette’s cheek goodbye. She gave a quick hug to Tikki, and then flew into the Miracle Box. 

Once they were alone, Marinette silently held out her hand, and Tikki gently flew into it. “Well,” Marinette said with a soft, sad smile, “Looks like it’s just you and me!”

“As it should be,” Tikki insisted brightly.

“I…” Marinette began unsure how to give voice to what exactly she was feeling, before bracing herself and saying, “I’m almost…sad, that its almost over. We’ve been fighting for three years. What…what do you think will happen, once it’s all said and done? Will…will I have to say goodbye?”

“Of course not!” Tikki giggled, as if Marinette had just said the silliest thing in the world. “Creation is needed in peace as well as war! Besides, you are a guardian! You will never be parted from us! So you see Marinette, while this might be the end of the war against Hawkmoth, it is far from the end of your journey. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it is only the beginning!”

Marinette chuckled and touched Tikki’s forehead with her own. “Remember,” the little kwami whispered, “No matter what happens, you are one of the best Ladybugs I have ever had! And I will never forget you. Not even in a million years!” 

“Thank you Tikki,” Marinette whispered and a small tear fell down her cheek. 

“I had a dream last night,” Damian whispered, while Mlle. Bustier droned on about their current book. 

Marinette arched her brow though her pen never paused in her sketching, “A Miraculous dream?” 

Damian hummed his agreement, “I think so. I met Mafdet.”

“The goddess you named yourself for?” Marinette asked. She spared a glance at Damian. He was steadfastly staring ahead, as if he was paying attention. However, he must have heard the tension in her voice, as his lips twitched in a smirk, as he mindlessly reached over to squeeze her hand reassuringly. 

“She said she was pleased with my choice of name, and she blessed our upcoming battle,” Damian whispered, but his self-satisfied smirk turned into a scowl as he said, “Then he left me in the hands of the first Cat Holder, a Priest of Bast…”

Marinette smirked and she returned to her mindless sketching, “He beat your ass didn’t he.” 

“Tt,” was the only response he deigned to give, and Marinette had to fight back a snicker. 

“I’m glad you had your first dream,” Marinette said. And since she was still holding his hand, she squeezed it gently saying, “It’s a good omen.”

“I don’t believe in omens,” Damian huffed. “Our victory is assured dreams or no dreams.”

“Still,” Marinette whispered, “It’s good to have confirmation.”

Damian huffed, but gave her hand another gentle squeeze in acknowledgment. However, he did not let go, and Marinette refused to break contact first. Right now she needed as much reassurance as she could get, as no matter what she did, she could help but think of all of the ways their plan could fall apart. It was especially hard not to stare at Lila as she pranced around like the Queen of Paris. Everything hinged on neutralizing her, before she could help Hawkmoth. With Mayura now on their side, the little liar was the only true ally the villain had. Taking her out before she could warn and aid Hawkmoth was paramount to their success, especially if they were going to meet him on his turf.

The class ended not long after that, and Marinette found herself locking eyes with Chloe and Sabrina. Immediately she noticed that Chloe was wearing her sharpest heels, and Sabrina was wearing most professional glasses. Marinette huffed a laugh, she guessed they were ready for war too. Damian gave her hand another squeeze and then went to join the boys. Marinette let him go and went to join her friends as Lila and her Enablers practically ran to the lockers.

“Well today was…” Marinette said slowly. 

“Unbearably boring,” Chloe huffed. 

“Yeah,” Marinette agreed, tightening her grip on her books. 

“I think that’s a good sign!” Sabrina chirped, but Marinette noticed how she was fidgeting more than usual. “You know, the quiet before the storm and all of that!”

“I suppose,” Marinette said with a sigh.

“I just can’t believe it's all going to end today,” said Alex as she rolled up beside them.

“Is that a time traveler guarantee,” Chloe challenged. And while her tone held its usual snark, her friends could hear the nervous tension underneath. 

Alex smiled nervously saying, “Old Me refuses to give any details but…yes. One way or another, it all ends today.”

“It's the ‘another’ I’m worried about,” Juleka mumbled. She reached up and ran her slim fingers over the chain of her silver panjas bracelet, before she took a fortifying breath and said, “Is…Ladybug sure about this? About me? I’m not…”

“You are a Tigress,” Marinette insisted, “A true chosen. Believe me, she would not have told you about the rest of us, if she wasn’t sure.”

“Besides,” Chloe scoffed, “Who else is going to use it? Lila?! Ridiculous!”

“Utterly Ridiculous!” the other girls laughed, giggling into their hands.

They left the classroom then, and immediately saw Lila holding court off to the side. The other girls, and a few of the boys gathered around her, and catering to her every whim. Chloe sneered at the sight, “Have you ever seen anything more pathetic?” 

“Well,” Sabrina cheered, “Once Hawkmoth is gone, Lila won’t be able to emotionally blackmail anyone anymore! Maybe things can go back to normal!”

“I doubt it,” Juleka muttered, and Marinette followed her gaze to the bouncing pink blur that was practically bowing and scraping to please the girl literally everyone knew to be a liar and fake. Marinette reached out and gave her friends a reassuring squeeze. 

“Things will never be the same again,” Marinette said, her own eyes flickering to Alya, as she faithfully wrote down everything the liar said was the gospel truth. “This war has not been easy, and we all made choices in order to survive. Now we all have to live with them. Us…and them.”

“Let’s just focus on the task at hand,” Sabrina redirected. 

“Yeah!” Alex cheered. “Marinette is right! They made their choices, and we made ours. Now! Now we end this!” 

Marinette took a deep breath as she watched Lila run out of the school after the disappearing group of boys. “Right! Call the Bat’s…It’s time.”

Ladybug had to admit. Not having to split her consciousness between three different clones was nice, and yet also nerve racking. There was nothing to distract her, but there was also no way she could disassociate from the battle. 

When she used Multimouse, Ladybug was able to focus entirely on the battle while a clone took on all of the emotional responses. It meant that she was able to remain calm and logical, even in the most horrific battles. Without that security tucked away in the safety of her room, Ladybug felt exposed and tense as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, following the Agreste limousine back to the stately mansion in the middle of Paris. 

Ladybug’s eyes fixed on the butterfly themed window fixed into the roof of the house, and remembered the first time she had accused the man of being Hawkmoth. She had had everything! He had been right there! But he had bested her. Looking back on that day, she realized that that was the day her world had truly begun to fall apart. That was when Lila had returned and put everyone under her spell. That was when she had begun to see the truth about Chat Noir. And if she was being totally honest with herself, that was when she had begun to fall out of love with Adrien. 

Yet, having everything crash down around her ears, had been the first step in setting her free. She had been foolish, young, and back then. Desperately flailing around trying to keep everything in her little world perfect, happy, and organized. Of course it all fell apart. It had to. There was no way to keep everyone happy and friends. There was no way to end this war without suffering. She could not love someone, who did not love her back. And now?

Ladybug closed her eyes and took a deep fortifying breath, as she waited on the signal. Looking around she saw the rest of the Miraculous Court getting into position on the surrounding rooftops. They just needed the signal from the infiltration team, and the battle would begin. And this time! This time, it would be different, because she wasn’t that desperate, floundering, naive girl anymore. 

She was the Guardian of the Miraculous. She was an honorary Amazon. She was the leader of the Miraculous Court, a warrior, and True Chosen! 

She was Ladybug.

And she was ready!

Chapter Text

The limo pulled into the garage as easily as any other day. Yet as the smooth metal door slid down behind them, cutting off all-natural light with the gentle whirl of the motor; an oppressive silence settled over the boys as they climbed out of the car only to freeze at the sight of the vanishing sun. They were in. 

Damian and Cas were the first to move. Handing Lila, off to the Gorilla they ushered the boys deeper into the house. They should have been talking, and acting naturally. They were just a group of teenagers hanging out at their rich friend’s house after school. Such a group should be laughing, teasing, and maybe even roughhousing. However, the weight of their mission had settled oppressively over their shoulders as they moved forward. Not even Kim, rubbing the slender headband that disguised the monkey miraculous, could manage to summon enough nonchalance to break the growing tension as they moved deeper and deeper into enemy territory.

Entering the foyer, the Agreste mansion had never felt so cold. The minimalist decor was stark and oppressive as they searched for any sign of their enemy. The silence was heavy as the very air seemed to be still with anticipation. Distantly, they could hear the buzz of the city street just beyond the gate. But it was muted, as if the house was in its own little bubble, shielded and separate from the world. 

Everyone but the Waynes jumped, at the sound of clicking heels. They turned to see Natalie appearing at the top of the stairs. The picture of cold propriety she strode toward the group of boys and one girl as if it was just any other day. But Damian could see the white-knuckled grip with which she held her tablet. The desperate gleam in her eyes as they settled on Damian. And if that wasn’t telling enough, she completely ignored Adrien and walked straight towards Damian. Damian stepped forward and the two examined each other, with mirroring looks of emotionless distrust. 

So this was Alfred’s niece. He supposed he could see a resemblance. There was something about the nose and chin that reminded him of the old butler. But time had always been the greatest of disguises, and so if there were other tells, then the disparity of age had erased them. Still, there was something in the way she held herself, the perfect posture, the shield of propriety, and the keenness of her gaze, that erased all doubts. 

When she came to stop before him, Natalie seemed to have finished her own examination of him, and with complete and total calm she held out the tablet. “He releases the akumas from the attic,” she said as if she wasn’t betraying the man she had loved and protected for three years, as if she wasn’t ending an entire city’s suffering with a single sentence. “However, his true lair is in the basement. Both can be accessed by the hidden elevator in his office…” Natalie trailed off as her eyes flicked to Adrien. 

For a moment, just one, her perfect facade fractured, and a glimmer of hope and grief rippled over her face before schooling it back to its cold professionalism. She turned back to Damian with his mask firmly in place and said, “I recommend that Adrien be a part of the team sent to secure the attic.”

Damian nodded, refusing to admit anything as he took the tablet. It was already open to the security system’s controls. He hummed as he began systematically turning everything off, starting with the alarms, and ending with the blast doors. He scoffed at the sheer paranoia of the man. This house was designed to survive a nuclear blast, and maybe even a zombie apocalypse. And people thought his father was paranoid. 

“Thank you,” Damian said, “Do you have your miraculous?” 

“No,” Natalie said, bitterness finally seeping into her dry tone. “He took it to fix, but has not returned it.”

“In that case,” Domain said calmly, handing the tablet to Cas so she could start uploading Barbara’s virus and download all of the incriminating evidence. “Go help the Gorilla secure the liar, and then retreat with him outside. One of the Guardians will meet with you after the battle to discuss our deal.”

Natalie nodded and then turned to Adrien. Adrien was watching all of this silently, his face unreadable, and Damian could only imagine everything he was feeling at that moment. Betrayal? Fear? Confusion? Hope? Maybe it was all at the same time, as Adrien barely hesitated before embracing the cold secretary in a move that surprised all of them. 

“Be safe,” Adrien whispered, as Natalie held the boy as tightly as she could. 

She whispered something, Damian could not hear, before releasing her charge. However, before she left she fixed Damian with a look of pure challenge and defiance, that the sudden resemblance to Alfred was almost uncanny. The message was clear. Protect her charge or else. Damian had no desire to fail her and so he nodded and turned back to his team as she left. The other boys were standing around, some in confusion, some in understanding. All were brimming with anticipation and ready to move. Damian turned to Cas, as the door shut behind Natalie, and the girl nodded. They did not have much time before Hawkmoth realized what was happening. But it was done. They had all the evidence they needed, so even if they failed today, everyone would know the truth of Hawkmoth’s identity. One way or another this would end. Damian’s job was to make sure that it ended today. 

“Send the signal,” he said. “The rest of you. Time to transform.”

As one, the fidgeting, nervous, frightened boys settled into looks of grim determination, as their kwamis flew to hover beside their chosen’s heads. Standing in a loose circle they all nodded their readiness and prepared for the battle ahead. Damian was the first to speak his words, 

“Plagg, claws out!” 

The rush of power was instant, and with it there was a certainty that Damian felt as if he had been missing his whole life. The power of chaos and destruction roared within him. But unlike when he wore the Fox Miraculous, the power was not an overwhelming wave trying to consume him, but a flowing river that was his to command. Plagg was not a fence keeping him safe, but an extension of his consciousness that allowed him to comprehend that which should have driven him mad. Still even as he settled into his transformation like a sailor reaching dryland for the first time, he could not let his guard down. 

It was just like he had told Marinette, everywhere he looked he could see just how imperfect and broken the world was. It was as if the power remembered a time when the world was whole and perfect. A time when chaos and order worked in harmony, instead of the disjointed push and pull that made up the current world order. The power found the imperfections disgusting and wanted nothing more than to destroy anything that kept the world from what it should be. 

Damian didn’t know how to restore the world to that vague instinctual promise of what was before everything went wrong. However, he didn’t need to. His job was to destroy the evil that is , not what was, or what will be. Which meant hefting his staff, and signaling the others to disperse. 

Orphan, Lord Fox, and Half Shell went to the attack to secure the butterflies and prevent Hawkmoth from making more akumas. Meanwhile, Mafdet, King Monkey, and Viperion would be descending into the hidden layer to confront Hawkmoth. While the attic team left immediately, moving as silently and swiftly as shadows, the basement team waited to be joined by the others waiting outside. Barbara, who had chosen to keep the name Multimouse, and Pegasus would be remaining in the office. Using his portals, and her clones, they would be able to monitor and coordinate the battle. 

Meanwhile, Dick, who had chosen the name Chabal (the Romany word for Goat), and Purple Tigress would be maintaining the parameter. Which left Young Bunnix and Miss. Hound to reinforce the attic team; while Ladybug, Bumble Queen, Ryuko, and Duke, who had chosen the name Stampede, join the basement team before they descended. 

“Remember,” Mafdet said softly, as the hidden elevator carried the attic team to their target. “We don’t know what is waiting for us in the basement. Natalie was only permitted in the attic, and it is likely, that the security protocols would have alerted Hawkmoth of our approach. We will need to be ready for anything, but above all, we will need to keep him from sending out any akumas.” 

“Right,” his team agreed, and that was when Half Shell opened a portal to admit the rest of the basement team. 

Ladybug and Mafdet acknowledged each other, and when the elevator returned, they entered together. They positioned themselves to be the first ones out, standing side by side, shoulders back and heads held high as if they were always meant to. However, as the elevator descended deeper and deeper into the earth, Mafdet felt as if the air was becoming thicker and thicker. Glancing to the side he could see that Ladybug was doing her best not to fidget, or even move. Her every muscle coiled like a spring that would go off any second. On instinct, he reached out and gripped her hand. 

Instantly, she seemed to relax, and she gave him a small smile in return. He remembered the words of the real Mafdet echoing from his dreams. The goddess, surrounded by the hundreds of true Avatars of Choas and Destruction that had come before him, donned in the black armor of their time. “In a perfect world, destruction would not exist. But this is not a perfect world, and so Choas must be the Guardian of Order. We are the shield that protects Creation. Guard your Lady well, little kitten, and destroy!” 

Behind them, Mafdet heard Viperion preparing second chance, and he let the comfort of his purpose settle over him. He was not the one in charge. Ladybug was the one who would make the plans, and direct the battle. His job, his one job was to protect and support her. He would make sure that she would emerge victorious. One way or another, Paris’s nightmare would end, and they would all be free. 

The doors opened, and they all rushed out onto the suspended catwalk, spreading out, eyes darting to take in as much as they could. Immediately they realized that they were in a large, steel-reinforced cavern. Probably an old World War II bunker that had been completely hallowed out to make room for the giant glowing tree at the far end of the shadowed space. 

The tree immediately drew all of their eyes, not only as it was the only source of light, but because of the steady aura of magic that seemed to resonate with the very essence of the miraculous. It was almost comforting and serene, the light and power of that tree. However, that only seemed to highlight the perversion of having it here, locked away and in the dark. From Plagg, Mafdet knew that that tree should not, under any circumstances be hidden and hoarded like some sort of secret treasure. No, it should be planted on high, in the sunlight, where it could give light and beauty to the whole world. 

The perversion and disgrace of having it here in this… basement , made everything that was within the miraculous scream to destroy it and everything around it to spare it from this indignity. Even Plagg was ready to completely give in to his baser urges and make Paris a second Atlantis, such was his rage. Mafdet hardened his will against the instinct, and glancing at the other holders, he could see that they were all struggling to contain their own power and anger at the sight. 

Mercifully, their attention was drawn by movement at the roots. Slowly, like an eel slinking out of its hole, Gabriel Agreste stood up from where he was crouching by a coffin-like machine, that seemed to be fused to the roots of the tree. Again Damian had to fight against the urge to kill everyone and everything at seeing such a sacred and powerful emblem of magic desiccated by this man, but he managed and positioned himself beside Ladybug. 

Agreste smiled, but there was something cracked in his smile like he was looking out of a broken mirror. He opened his mouth to speak. But Ladybug gave him no time. 

“Now!” she yelled, and they all surged forward. Bumble Queen and Stampede rushed from the sides. Viperion leaped up into the scaffolding to observe, and King Monkey, Ryuko stayed behind to provide cover. Ladybug and Mafdet charged from the center. 

Scowling, Agreste was clearly annoyed that he had not been allowed to pontificate like the pathetic, B-movie villain he was. He called on his transformation and both Ladybug and Mafdet scowled as he merged with the peacock. He stood between them the coffin and charged straight for Ladybug. Using the cane as a sword, and the fan as a shield, he swung out her with a viciousness that caught them all off guard. 

Which was not surprising, it was always a disturbing feeling when the person attacking you, was clearly out to kill you. However, the Miraculous Court was no stranger to killing intent and responded accordingly. Ladybug slid under Hawkmoth’s opening swing, and sprang up behind him, yoyo already whipping out to capture him. Hawkmoth swatted it away with his cane but had to redirect his fan when Mafdet brought his cane swinging down on his head. Into this Bumble Queen leaped, stinger poised to stop him in his tracks, but Hawkmoth leaped up onto the railing behind him. 

Stampede attempted to tackle him onto one of the adjoining support beams, but with the power of two Miraculous, Hawkmoth was faster and stronger, and so was able to flip away, so he was once more standing before the coffin. Stampede, in his black and golden armor with golden horns adorning his black crown-like mask, looked like a terrifying shadow as he caught himself, and perched on the railing. His giant mallet was strapped to his back just waiting to be used against the monster before them. 

Bumble Queen mirrored him, though she balanced gracefully on her railing. Her stinger poised by her head as her eyes trained on Hawkmoth with such hatred, it was a miracle he wasn’t burned alive. Meanwhile, Ladybug swung her yoyo into a glowing shield as she crouched on the center of the catwalk, Mafdet guarding her back holding his staff at the ready. Somewhere behind and above them, their allies watched and waited for their own chance to strike, though for now everything was still, huffed, and stood before them. 

“Are you all quite done?” he sneered. And Mafdet felt a chill go down his spine as he looked into his eyes. He had noticed it before. Ladybug, Viperion, himself, and any holder that was a true chosen of their kwami had eyes that glowed with the power within. And Hawkmoth’s eyes glowed too, but it was not the same.

Looking into Ladybug’s eyes was like looking into the Mediterranean on a clear day. The depth and power of the ocean lurked in her gaze, but it was calm, controlled, at peace with itself and the one who contained it. The light of power that emanated from Hawkmoth was disturbingly…wrong. It reminded Mafdet of looking into the depths of the Lazarus Pit. Something distorted, out of sync with itself and reality. Like the Laxirus Pit, like this tree in the darkness, like anything distorted and corrupted, the light in Hawkmoth’s eyes was something that should not be. With sickening clarity, Mafdet met their enemy’s gaze and knew. 

Hawkmoth had been consumed by the power of the miraculous. 

Nothing remained of the man. Standing before them was a creature of pure power that had been twisted by the echo of a lost and grieving man. Yet, there was still hope. For even though the will of the man had been completely disintegrated, the will of the kwami had not. With the clarity his own miraculous provided, Mafdet could see that the power was still contained with whatever control the kwami still had. However, it was a losing battle, as they had to fight on three fronts. The will of the Emotion, Transmission, and Gabriel Agreste. 

Mafdet hardened himself against the madness of this creature. Madness that could rival the Joker’s, and prepared to attack as he saw Ladybug’s weight shift. 

“Not nearly,” she commanded and leaped forward. Mafdet backed her up every step of the way. 

The world became a blur of movements and weapons. Hawkmoth tried to reach out for the akumas that were growing from the Tree, but Ryuko became wind and scattered them out of his reach. He tried to send out feathers, but he could barely leap out of the way before one of the four attacking heroes charged in and kept him attacking. 

Still, none of them could get a solid hit on the villain. They had him on the defensive, but every strike was dodged. Every attack was blocked. Every thrust was parried, and Hawkmoth was not slowing down. Instead, with each attempt he seemed to only be growing more and more desperate and angry. 

Mafdet knew well what a caged predator about to lash out looked like, and knew that they needed to end this quickly before Hawkmoth did something drastic and turned the tides in his favor. But with each moment the fractured, consuming light in his eyes grew, making him faster and stronger with each desperate block and parry. Whatever barrier the kwami were desperately trying to maintain between the power and the world was failing. He looked over at Ladybug and saw the same knowing fear in her eyes. 

It was only a matter of time before the kwami’s will failed and the power of both the Butterfly and the Peacock was given free reign in the world. Mafdet’s stomach churned at the thought. He had no idea what the power behind emotion and transmission wanted, but knowing how his own miraculous reacted to the world, he doubted it was anything good. 

“King Monkey!” Ladybug shouted as they maneuvered Hawkmoth away from the tree and into the range of their most unpredictable member. 

“UPROAR!” he bellowed and threw what looked like a rubber duck at Hawkmoth’s head. 

Hawkmoth made the mistake of hitting it with his fan, and immediately the feathers fell from it like a molting bird, leaving at least one of his weapons incapable of working. Hawkmoth snarled and Viperion yelled, 

“Monkey! Jump!”

King Monkey obeyed instantly, narrowly dodging the now barren metal frame of the fan trusting into his heart. 

“Ryuko!” Viperion yelled, “Scatter the feathers then recharge now!” 

Ryuko obeyed sending Hawkmoth sputtering and spinning as he tried to snatch the unformed amoks before they drifted into the abyss beneath their feet. Ryuko ducked behind the coffin, and a flash of light signaled her vulnerability. However, Hawkmoth could not capitalize on it, as the fight had driven them to the center of the cavern so they were even with the elevator. 

“Ladybug!” Viperion yelled, a note of triumph tinging his voice, “Attack his—”

Whatever he was about to say was cut off by a gurgling choking sound. Mafdet’s heart clenched, he knew that sound. He looked up in time to see Viperion stand up from his place among the rafters, swaying with the shining metal bones of the broken fan protruding from his chest. Ladybug screamed as the Snake hero fell into the abyss. Mafdet clenched his teeth and turned back to their enemy. 

Hawkmoth was leaning on his cane, a low chuckle turning to a roaring, demented laugh even as tears and fear filled the eyes of the heroes surrounding him. “Well, well, Ladybug!” he laughed, bringing his hand down to cover the purple half-mask that overlaid his silver cowl. “Looks like you’re all out of second chances. Might as well hand over your miraculouses, now, and spare yourselves even more pain.”

“Never!” Ladybug growled. 

“Why, why, why, WHY!” Hawkmoth bellowed, “Why won’t you just give up?! You can’t win! No matter what you do! No matter how many allies you call, lucky charms you use, or plans you make, you cannot win!

“Why can’t you see,” Hawkmoth pleaded, breathing heavily at his sudden outburst, “That I am the hero here! That I am the one saving the world, not you. The world is broken, and only I can fix it. All you are doing is just getting in the way!”

Ladybug snarled and swung her weapon back into its glowing shield, behind and beside them, their allies regained their ready postures, anger, and despair bringing new fire into their eyes. “You’re a monster!” she growled. 

Hawkmoth shifted, the powerful light dimming for just a moment, and Mafdet’s breath caught. Something had changed, and every cell and instinct within him, told him to run away, as Hawkmoth looked first at the coffin, then Ladybug, and said with a voice as cold as Ra’s al Ghul’s blade, “So be it.” 

Mafdet felt it the moment Duusu and Nooroo failed. How could he not? The elemental power of two miraculouses summoned by the madness of a broken man crashed through their meager barriers and consumed whatever was left in his body’s husk. The heroes all flinched away from him, as the cosmic energy poured through the gems in his chest. And the raw unfiltered, uncontained power of the miraculous was unleashed on the world once more.

Chapter Text

Lord Fox tried to contain his frustration at being basically a glorified bug catcher. This was his father, his house, his life. He had been in this fight since the very beginning. He should be down there in the thick of it. This was his fight, and despite him having the Cat, Damian was still technically an outsider. 

Yet he knew it was those same emotions that had him up in the attic trapping butterflies. If he went down with all of these negative emotions fighting for control, then at best he'd get in the way, and at worst he'd be akumatized. Still, that didn't stop him from brooding at being excluded from the final fight. 

He felt Trixx trying to soothe him. He surrendered to the kwami’s solid presence, and refocused on his task. He focused on how important this job was. If Hawkmoth somehow got out of the basement and into the attic, he could use these butterflies to akumatized all of Paris! There were more than enough of them, and the idea brought up uncomfortable memories of Heroes Day. 

Finally they finished their task and Lord Fox sighed, turning back to his team. 

“Alright! That's the last of them,” he called, “Let's secure these bugs and then go backup Ladybug!” 

The floor exploded beneath them. Lord Fox the force of the blast threw Lord Fox into the wall. He gasped for breath as he recovered his footing and then froze. Black tendrils of power shot through the air like spiderwebs reaching for their prey. Blue and purple auras marked this undulating swirling web as the combined power of the Butterfly and Peacock. 

However, it was untamed, uncontrolled, and not like anything Fox had ever experienced before. As the spinning tendrils coalesced into a single spiraling column of corrupted power, the world went still. 

Adrien sent out a questioning thought to Trixx, but the only impression he got back from the kwami was that of pure dread. And then, the world exploded as a wave of emotion pulsed out of the column dragging up ever dark and negative feeling Adrien had ever experienced in his life. 

All of his anger, grief, and pain from the moment his mother had died, slammed into his brain like a sledge hammer and sent him stumbling to his knees. 

His heart felt as it was being wrenched out of his chest as tears of rage and sorrow blinded him. He could barely breath as panic took control of his lungs, and Adrien was certain that he was about to die from the shear weight of emotion. However, he was not alone. Like a protective cloak being draped over his shoulders, Trixx draped himself over Adrien’s mind, giving him enough time to notice the black tendrils shrieking towards him like a javelin. 

Lord Fox rolled away as the power slammed into the floor behind him, shattering the wood, and sending splinters flying through the air. However, Lord Fox couldn't stare in shock for long, as he immediately had to dodge a second glowing purple, black tendrel, and then a third. 

As he flipped and dodged, Lord Fox noticed that the tendrils were all coming from the column like some sort of evil tree. But it wasn't just attacking him. No, the branches were spreading, reaching out over the entire city. And while the growth of the column has slowed it had not stopped. Something clenched in his gut as he spun his flute to block another pulsing blue wave of emotion. The power wasn't stopping with the house, or even the city. It was reaching for the entire world, maybe even the universe. 

“Orphan!” He called as he saw the vigilante leap away from the attack. She acknowledged him, and they escaped from the attic. 

Something had gone wrong and they needed to get to the basement…right now. 

Matt sighed as he put on his uniform. When he had signed up for this job. He thought it would be a good way to pay off his student loans and get some experience before joining a clinic. 

That was three years ago, and at this point he was pretty sure he qualified for his own practice by now. The good news was that his student loans were paid off. But the work was only getting harder and harder. He was seriously concerned about the citizens, and especially his fellow TEMTs. One year of this war was hard enough. But three years! God, it was going too far. 

He knew he shouldn't think this way, but he wanted nothing more than to nail Hawkmoth to one of those spinning knife targets, hang him upside down, and squeeze lemon juice in his eyes! 

Still, he didn't know which he was more afraid of. The war continuing, or the aftermath. Paris would be on a long road to recovery, and he foresaw even more work than they had now. Although hopefully the future would have a lot more comfy couches. 

“Hey!” Alison said, “What’s that?”

Matt looked out the hospital window to see a giant pillar of black light swirling ominously over the Parisian skyline. 

“Akuma,” Matt hissed, already exhausted, “Looks like a high level too.” 

“Look sharp, people!” The chief yelled, “We’re moving into position as soon as we get the alert!”

Just then what seemed like a blue wave rippled through the air, and Matt dropped to his knees as he was assaulted with what he could only describe as pure emotional torment. 

He looked up to see everyone around him, was crying out, curled on the ground and screaming in the same pain. Matt opened his mouth to call out. What and to whom, he did not know. But before he could, he watched as something large, black, and glowing purple darted forward, and pierced Alison through the heart! 

Matt screamed as she was covered with the black corrupting ooze that makes an akuma transformation. The tendrel removed itself as Alison stood up. It was like she was made of ink rippling and bubbling as if she was boiling. But somehow, her face and expression were shone in startling clarity. A voiceless scream twisted into pure agony. 

Matt thought he was going to throw up, but then he noticed that the thing that had attacked her, was now turning to him. Matt did the only thing he could. He got up and ran. Scrambling for his phone he was able to get out the alert, before a sudden pain exploded from his back and forced out his breath. And then his world was nothing but pain. 

“This is bad,” Pegasus said as he and Multimouse watched the magic screens her wheelchair provided. 

Multimouse clenched her armrests and created more clones. When she had first transformed, she had expected to be able to regain her ability to walk. And she had, in a manner of speaking. The power of multiplication was unique among the miraculous, as it worked based off of the users perception of themselves and their identity. 

She had spoken with Marinette about it before this, and she had warned her how confusing the split consciousness could be. However, Barbara suspected that had more to do with Marinette being more of a ladybug than a mouse. 

As such, when Marinette used the mouse miraculous she was both physically and mentally divided. However, when Barbara used it, she maintained her original form, wheelchair and all. Her clones on the other hand became whatever she needed from them. They could run, jump, and fight and were any size she chose them to be. And looking through their eyes was like have Oracle directly streamed into her brain. This was something she was familiar with and used it to control her new power as if she had been doing it for years. 

However, right at that moment. Every single one of her clones was in complete agreement. This was beyond bad. The strange pillar that had formed in the sky was spreading faster and further than the heroes on perimeter and butterfly duty could fight it. They were doing their best, Half Shell creating a truly massive dome around the house, and it had given the heroes a few precious seconds to recover and respond. 

Yet the controlled contained barrier was no match for the pure, untamed cosmic force of not one but two miraculouses. Multimouse hissed and began barking orders through the comms. 

“Chabal! Purple Tigress! Miss. Hound! Those tendrils are akumatizing people! Don’t let them pierce your heart! You three try to round up the victims and keep them from supporting Hawkmoth. Half Shell, don't worry about the tendrils! Focus on the pillar we need to keep it from growing! Pegasus!” 

“Yeah?” The young boy said shakely. 

Multimouse took a deep breath. Ladybug was not going to like this, but they needed all of the help they could get. “Issue a level 11 akuma alert. And make me a portal to the Watchtower.”

Ladybug knew that they were going to win. They had no choice. It was more than a matter of life and death. From the moment she sensed the fractured power consuming Hawkmoth, Ladybug knew that this would be a fight for existence itself. Failure was not an option. 

But then Viperion fell. He was not dead. She refused to think that way. Not when victory meant bringing him back. And they would have victory. But then the dam broke, and the power raged. Hawkmoth body became nothing but a conduit for the power of the Miraculous to manifest physically in this world. 

Ladybug stumbled back suddenly feeling helpless and lost against the weight of the power that was assaulting her senses. She wanted to scream! To run away and hide, as her every primal instinct told her to do just that. 

Instead she just stood there, frozen in terror, as Hawkmoth stood in the center of this carnal power laughing, screaming, crying as the magic tore tore through him as it reached for the world. 

“What do we do?” Bumble Queen yelled over the roar of wind and rush of magic. 

Ladybug looked to Mafdet. Her own panic and terror was reflected in his eyes, although his seemed much more controlled. She looked around the lair desperate for anything to help her. 

“Look out!” Someone yelled, and Ladybug jumped back. A black snake-like manifestation of the miraculous’s power crashed into the place where she was standing, ripping the metal apart and sending it careening into the abyss. 

Now she had no time to think as ever bit of her attention was focused on dodging those snakes. But every few minutes, or was it seconds, a wave of emotion unleashed itself in a debilitating pulse, and if it wasn't for the protection of the miraculous, Ladybug knew that she would be curled up in the fetal position, unable to move. 

Still she had no time to think about that, or what this pillar of magic might be doing to the rest of the city. The only way to stop it and save everyone was in this basement. She just needed to find it! She needed—

“Mirage!” 

A net of white light solidified around Hawkmoth and his pillar, as Lord Fox and Orphan leapt from the broken elevator shaft. They landed between Ladybug and the tree, and Ladybug breathed a sigh of relief. Her oldest partner was here. Late as always, but still, Ladybug could not help but grin as he guarded her back, just like he had for the last three years. 

“How long will that hold?” Mafdet demanded. 

“Long enough for m’lady to make a plan!” Lord Fox cried, “Orphan’s boosting my power, but still won't hold for long.” 

“I don't understand!” King Monkey cried perching on the railing, “How could this have happened?” 

“I don't care how it happened!” Bumble Queen yelled, “How do we stop it?” 

“Guys!” Multimouse yelled in their ears, “There's an army of akumas approaching the mansion. The other heroes are maintaining the perimeter for now. But I give them maybe thirty minutes to an hour before they break!” 

“Ladybug!” Stampede yelled, “My powers are picking up…a lot, I'm not sure how to describe it…but I think my miraculous will allow you to see what I'm seeing.” 

“Show me,” Ladybug demanded. Stampede nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder. She gasped as the world exploded in light. The pillar, and the net defending them looked just the same, but everything else…It was like looking at the world from underwater, but she was able to see all of the swirling currents and ripples that caused the world to ebb and flow. 

She couldn't believe this was how Duke saw the world. Though she suspected a lot of this came from the Miraculous itself. Looking at her team, she could see the aura of power that surrounded herself, and the others. They were all glowing! As bright as miniature suns, with light reflecting which miraculous they possessed. It was hard to look at everyone, but something told her to look closer. When she did, she saw…connections. Like strings tying things together, they floated on the air tying everyone together. But also tying them to Hawkmoth. Or more accurately, tying Adrien, to Hawkmoth, but also to the coffin fused to the tree. 

The tree which was miraculously, completely untouched by the assault, like an oasis of peace and serenity in the midst of the fight. 

Ladybug blinked and moved out of Stampede’s grasp as she noticed that Ryuko and Old Bunnix were both standing beneath the tree and completely unharmed. Ryuko was staring up at the coffin with an unreadable expression, while Bunnix stared at Ladybug almost knowingly. Ladybug felt like she was on the very edge of understanding. Like staring at a puzzle with only five pieces left, but one was missing. Well, it was a good thing she knew where to find that piece. 

Ladybug nodded to Bunnix and stepped back from the group. Throwing her yoyo in the air she cried,

“Lucky Charm!"

Chapter Text

“I don’t understand why we’re just sitting here!” Flash yelled as the Watchtower’s observation room, filled with images of death and destruction in Paris. “It’s the end of the world down there! We’re the Justice League! We should be helping!”

“And how is this the first time we’re hearing about this?!” Green Lantern demanded. “Batman!”

“This was not his fault,” Wonder Woman declared. “I was the one who kept this from the League, as was my duty to the Guardians and the miraculous!”

Batman tuned out the growing argument as he watched the unfolding chaos occurring down in the world below. Almost all of Paris had been corrupted by now and were now wandering the streets as little more than vague shades. The only thing distinct and recognisable is their expressions of complete and total pain and anguish. 

Batman clinched his fists as he watched Dick, dressed in a grey version of his Night Wing costumes only with an icon of black rams horns replacing the blue birds on his chest, narrowly dodge one of those black tendrils only to land in the midde of group of shades. He masterfully beat them back, but the shades grew claws in their desperation to pin him to the ground. 

So far, the outside team was doing well, keeping the growing swarm away from the mansion. It was amazing to get to watch Barbara being able to run and fight again as her clones filled the spaces where the heroes were getting overwhelmed. Purple Tigress was vicious in her attacks. And between Miss. Hound’s power of retrieval and Pegasus’s portals, even if one lucky shade was able to get through, they were quickly thrown back into the swarm. 

But it was not enough. Half Shell’s shields were able to stall the growth of the pillar. Giving the heroes a second, a half a minute of reprieve from those debilitating blue waves, and the poisonous tendrils. And those moments were precious and had saved the ground heroes multiple times. But the swarm was never-ending, and the heroes were getting tired. They still had no eyes on Ladybug and her team, as the cameras had been destroyed in the initial outburst, and Baraba’s clones had been killed. 

He looked down at his honorary daughter. While her clones were all dressed in armour similar to her old Batgirl uniform, her transformation made her original body look like a queen, grey and pink robes flowing over her wheelchair that was now thronelike in appearance and presence. Her long red hair flowed loose in waves down her back, and half in two little buns, held by the miraculous hair pins. The rope, weapon that doubled as her tail, was now hovering in the air before them, forming the screen they were now watching everything from. 

They were watching the scene through the eyes of the clones, and it was both disorienting and wondrous, as images and scenes flashed and changed, sometimes faster than could be perceived as clones died, were replaced, or added to the numbers. However, looking at the way Barbara’s eyes were starting to glaze and sharpen, darting constantly as she coordinated the outer fight, Batman was beginning to fear for her sanity. 

“This fight cannot go on for much longer,” Dr. Fate’s echoing, solemn voice snapped, Batman from his thoughts. He turned to face the Lord of Order as he surveyed the wanton and total destruction of the city, emotionless and imperious. 

“Is there nothing you can do?” Batman asked, and Fate shook his head. 

“Yes and no,” he said, and Batman found himself growing frustrated at the lack of the man's emotion. However, he repressed those feelings and said,

“Explain.”

Dr. Fate was silent for a moment, and Batman noticed that he was no longer watching the fight, but rather staring at the innocuous black box clutched in Barbara’s hands. The last unclaimed miraculous. “The Lords of Order and Chaos,” Dr. Fate explained, “Were created after the universe lost its perfection. The miraculous is from before.”

“What does that mean for us?” Batman demanded. 

“It means that compared to the pure, untamed, cosmic power of the miraculous, we…are weak. Not powerless, but not strong enough. Especially if the Ladybug and Cat are unleashed. Then all of existence will suffer.”

“Surely, there is something we can do,” Superman begged as he joined their conversation. 

“We can run,” Constantine spat, as he finally entered the Wachtower smoking a cigarette, hands deep in his pockets. Seeing the nonmagical heroes about to argue with him, Constantine continued with a scowl, “This isn’t some trumped-up wizard with a god complex, Supes! Hell! I’d prefer fighting a god or even two before messing with the miraculous! This is the cosmic forces of reality itself at play. 

“Assuming you don’t want to be turned into one of those blighters,” here he gestured with at a shade that Dick had just thrown into a lamppost. The lamppost passed straight through the minion, but his miraculous weapon was able to knock the creature’s head off, if only briefly. “Then might I recommend running away as far and as fast as possible?” 

“He is right,” Dr. Fate declared. “Should the Miraculous Court fail, the Lords of Order and Chaos will unite in order to contain the destruction. But we will only be able to contain it, not stop it. Humanity will need to flee Earth completely so that we might keep the corruption from spreading to the whole universe.”

“No!” Superman whispered, his voice soft and desperate, his face pale and panicked as he watched the destruction unfold. “No, this cannot be happening.”

“Should we contact the world leaders?” Hawkgirl demanded solemnly. 

Batman watched as Half Shell’s shield shattered again. One of Barbara’s clones merged with her neighbor right before she could be pierced through the heart. He closed his eyes. He thought back to that day in France, that strong, tired girl baking cookies, as she tried to convince him to trust her. Her bluebell eyes deep with pain and purpose.

“No,” he said simply. “Not yet.”

“But—” Flash began, but Batman cut him off.

“We trust Ladybug and her team,” Batman said simply, “For now, we watch. Multimouse…” Barbara tilted her head slightly to let him know she was listening. “You will inform me the moment the tides change…for better or worse.”

“Yes, Batman,” Barbara agreed, and her focus returned to the fight before her. 

“Good call,” Zatanna said, coming to stand between Fate and Constantine. 

“The only call,” Dr. Fate rebuffed. 

Constantine exhaled a puff of smoke and muttered, “What a bloody mess, but at least they got the time traveler.”

Batman watched the white and blue blur run in and out of glowing portals around the battlefield, and could not agree more. 

“A dagger?” Ladybug questioned as she held up the thin red blade with black polka dots. It was just another sign that this was not their usual fight, as her lucky charms were rarely this straightforward. But…she was Ladybug, she was creation, not destruction. She was meant to preserve, not kill. So what did this mean?

“It’s a ceremonial dagger,” Mafdet said instantly. “Primarily used by priests of Ancient Egypt for sacrifices and blood oaths.”

“So what?” Bumble Queen demanded, “Are we supposed to perform a blood oath or something?”

“Guys!” Stampede cried, “That shield’s not going to hold much longer.”

Ladybug flinched as a resounding crash echoed through the cave, as the still swirling and growing power threw itself against the barrier of light. As she looked, sure enough, cracks were beginning to spiderweb through the structure as it was bombarded over and over again by the combined power of Emotions and Transmission. 

Desperately, Ladybug glanced around the space, looking for anything to save them. First, there was the dagger, a weapon used to bind, not to sever. Then there was the tree. It was a complete unknown, save for the instinctual recognition of its magic and sacrosanctity. Then she noticed the coffin, another complete unknown, but once more her instincts screamed that it was something perverse and unnatural. Following the lines of the coffin, her gaze snapped to Old Bunnix, standing patient and steadfast, watching, waiting. Ladybug followed her eyes to Lord Fox, who was watching the mass of darkness caged by light with unmistakable grief and helplessness. 

Ladybug knew Hawkmoth was in there, but he had completely vanished within the swirling pillar of darkness. She tried to feel sorry for the madman trapped within the all-consuming power surrounding him. But after three years of war and death, she was finding it difficult to feel anything towards him. She knew that once this fight was over, she would rage and scream, and curse his name to all of heaven, hell, and anywhere in between. But now was not the time. In fact, she was running out of time, as her eyes darted unwaveringly between the dagger, the tree, the coffin, Bunnix, and Lord Fox.

Dagger. Tree. Coffin. Bunny. Fox. Dagger. Tree. Coffin. Fox. Dagger…Fox. 

“Lord Fox,” Ladybug cried, as the cracking of the shield echoed dangerously through the cavern. “Take the dagger to Bunnix. Do what she says. Orphan, go with him. Stampede, King Monkey, Bumble Queen, Ryuko, you're on defense. Mafdet, we’re on offense. We need to separate Agreste from the gems. Do that, and the power will no longer have a way to physically manifest itself!”

“Right!” Everyone echoed. Lord Fox grabbed the dagger and ran for the tree, as everyone else got into position. 

“You got my back?” Ladybug asked as she prepared herself to run forward the moment the shield went down. 

“Till death,” Mafdet said as solemnly as a vow.

“Or the end of the world,” Ladybug shrugged with a smirk.

Mafdet nodded gravely, “Yes, whichever comes first.”

Ladybug could not stop the grin from overcoming her features, even as the shield shattered, and the grasping black strings exploded out in a burst of unwavering, unadulterated power.

Lord Fox ran as fast as he could for the tree, skidding to a stop right before the roots, his feet sinking into the lush green grass that grew under the tree’s magic light. Suddenly, it was as if the world had slipped away. The air itself became heavy with such resounding peace that Lord Fox was almost tempted to curl up and fall asleep. He gaped as he looked up at the sprawling branches of life and light, and he felt…whole. As if he was where he was meant to be.

“Is this?” he whispered. “The tree of life?”

“Close,” Old Bunnix said, “But no. The Guardians call it the Miraculous Tree, but it’s got too many names to count. They say that it was the first miracle, which they used to summon and bind the kwaims to the gems.” 

“Really?” Lord Fox asked eagerly. 

Old Bunnix smirked and shook her head, “We don’t exactly have time for a history lesson, so here’s what you need to know. When the miraculous were made, this tree was imprinted with the power of every single kwami that came through it.”

“Including the butterfly and peacock?” Lord Fox asked eagerly. “That’s awesome! We can use that to—”

“Slow down, Mini,” Old Bunnyx said suddenly, extremely serious. “There’s something you've got to see first.”

Lord Fox exchanged a bewildered glance with Orphan and then followed the time traveler around to the front of the coffin. What he saw then froze him solid with horror, understanding, and dread, as he gripped the luck charm dagger in his hand.

“Mom?”

Mafdet flipped over a tendril, the magic of his suit allowing him to land on it as if it were a tree branch and run along its length. Unfortunately, the thing writhed a twisted like a snake struck with a stick, and snapped in an effort to throw him off. Fortunately, Mafdet was able to use the momentum to fling himself closer to the still-growing pillar. Unfortunately, the closer he got to the pillar, the more magic he had to fight and dodge. Landing on the support beam, now only a few feet from the central column, Damain found himself almost completely tangled in the writhing mess of magic. Desperately, he swung his staff, almost relying completely on the magic of the miraculous to tell him where to dodge and move, as he could barely see through the twisting serpentine vines trying to kill him. 

“Cataclysm!” he shouted. With one sweep, the magic rusted away, and he was able to run back onto the catwalk. More magic swirled and twisted to chase him as he ran, but it shattered against Ladybug’s spinning shield, as Mafdet slid beneath her reach to guard her back. 

Mafdet did not think he had ever been so overwhelmed in a fight. Not even during his blindfold training, when he had been under constant attack from flying sandbags and other students, had he ever felt so completely bewildered and confused. Every sense keyed up to scream that danger was not just before him, but everywhere around him and growing, growing, growing, into an ever-present storm that would sweep him away. 

The only grounding presence in the fight was the one at his back. It was as if a small corner of his awareness was dedicated solely to her, and as long as he could feel her warmth and power behind him, it was going to be ok. Otherwise, Damian just knew that he would have broken under the strain and sent all of Paris tumbling into the sea, in a vague attempt to stop the storm from growing. 

“Mafdet!” Ladybug yelled, “Attack the column! We need to get to the center!” 

“Cataclysm!” Mafdet yelled in response, and with his partner guarding his back, he charged forward. 

A screeching scream seemed to tear through the air, as the rust and decay began to spread and consume the tower. Mafdet hissed but kept his hands pressed to the writhing mass attempting to escape him. He watched the dust spread and flake away, and for one glorious moment, he thought that he was going to do it. He was going to take down the whole pillar in one strike. But eventually the decay stopped, and the tower still stood, and still grew. 

However, it was not in vain, as there was now a whole thin the tower tall and wide enough for the two of them to pass through and still fight. “How many more times can you do that?” Ladybug demanded as she continued to fight off the attacking magic. 

Mafdet thought about it as he blocked the attacking tendrils. “Twice,” he said. 

“Let's hope it’s enough,” Ladybug said, and together they charged ahead and into the darkness. 

“What is this?!” Lord Fox demanded as he stared at his mother lying, peaceful and serene, as if simply asleep. So shocked and stunned was he, that he didn’t even notice his transformation failing, and he stood before this twisted alter of life and death as no one but himself. 

“Hawkmoth’s wish,” Bunnix said sympathetically. “She is still alive, the power of the Tree is keeping her alive, but only just. The moment she is disconnected from it…she will die.” 

Dread as cold as ice choked Adrien’s throat as he stumbled away from the coffin and the soothing aura of the tree. “No,” he pleaded. 

A hand grasped his, and he was vaguely aware of Orphan signing something to Bunnix. But he couldn’t see it. He couldn’t see anything. All he could see and comprehend was the sleeping form of his mother alive and within reach! The only thing he had ever truly wanted, right there…waiting for him. 

“Once,” Bunnix said firmly, “You stood before this coffin with your father.”

“What?” Adrien gasped, finally looking away from his mother, his mom, to look at the time traveler. She was watching him like one might watch a ticking bomb they were trying to defuse, completely focused and unwavering. 

“You had just learned Ladybug’s identity, which led you to discover Hawkmoth’s,” Bunnix said with a seriousness that defied her regular playful mischievous nature. It was as if she had turned into stone as she retold the story of what could have been. “He brought you here, and then akumatized you. You destroyed the world, Adrien. You killed Ladybug.”

“No!” Adrien cried, “No! I would never!” 

“You did and you would,” Bunnix declared with such clear certainty that Adrien was driven to his knees, as he tried to comprehend the depths of his emotions. In this moment. The magic seemed to sense his confusion as the tindrels stretched to claim him. Orphan moved to intercept, but some magic of the tree shattered them into a shower of purified gold. 

“You betrayed her,” Bunnix continued more gently, “Because you had a choice. The same one you have now, the world…or your parents.”

Adrien sobbed as he shook his head, clutching the sacrificial knife, unsure if he wanted to drive it into Bunnix’s heart or his own. His vision blurred through the tears as he stared at the red and black weapon in his hand. A weapon used to bind…a weapon used to sacrifice. “Why are you doing this! Why me?!” he cried, “It isn’t fair! No! No, you can’t make me do this!” 

He had made his choice, he was going to plunge this dagger into the woman’s heart and demand another way. He would save his mother, his father, and the world! He would save everyone! And—

Bunnix was crying. Old Bunnix, always funny and dependable, always there to ensure their victory, Bunnix…was crying. He had never even seen Young Bunnix cry. She dropped her transformation, and Adrien gasped as an older Alex stood before him. Alex…who had also lost a mother, knew exactly what she was asking of him. She knew exactly what pain she was causing, and she did not even try to stop the tears from falling, as she whispered, “I’m so sorry, Adrien.”

Adrien gasped and screamed as he collapsed once more into his grief. Strong, gentle hands embraced him, and Adrien leaned into Orphan’s embrace as he struggled to come to terms with the horrible choice before him. He didn’t want this. It wasn’t fair. Was this really the price for peace? The price of freedom? The death of his family? 

“Cataclysm!” echoed distantly over the sounds of battle and tears. Adrien closed his eyes as the familiar words washed over him. He loved that word. Every time he used it felt the power of destruction flow through him, it was like he was reclaiming a part of himself. When he put on the mask and leapt through his window, there was nothing but joy and excitement as he charged ahead into his freedom. But…it wasn’t always like that…was it?

No, sometimes, that word was shouted in desperation and anger. Sometimes there was nothing but despair and fear behind that word, and all he wanted was to go back to his nice, safe, little cage and not have to worry about his nightmares becoming reality, or the city drowning, or a meteor crashing into Earth. But…that didn’t matter. Because he was Miraculous Holder, a True chosen, and he had a job to do. And it was the only job he had ever wanted to do, the only life he had ever wanted to lead, because it was his! 

Adrien gasped the dagger in one hand, and returned Orphan’s embrace with the other. He stopped crying, though his tears still fell, as he forced his knees to hold his weight. Shaking, he stood and began to walk. First one step, then another. Each one becoming easier, each one sending fresh pain through his heart. Why? Why was he the one who had to do this? Why was he the one who had to choose? 

Taking a shaky breath, Adrien came to stand before the Miraculous Tree and saw the play where his father had desecrated it. Pipes and wires were jammed into the trunk, splinting the perfect wood in a mangled display of nature and technology. Adrien knew what he had to do. 

Carefully yet still deliberately, Adrien dug the sacrificial dagger into the wood around the pipes and wires and carved them out. “I’m sorry, Mom,” he whispered as he threw away the twisted metal. 

Behind him, the body of Emelie Agreste seemed to sigh and relax, as if she had been tense and suffering from some dark dream, and now it was finally over, and she was able to slip away into true peaceful sleep. But Adrien did not know, or see that, as power the likes of which had never been seen poured from the hole in the bark. Like water gushing from a hydrant, light rushed from the tree in a wave of warmth and joy. 

Staring at the light, Adrien thought he saw all the colors of the miraculous scattered throughout the pure golden beam like dust on the breeze. He didn’t know if it was the tree or his own instinct as a True Chosen that told him what to do, but he knew it. Raising the dagger, he cut the heel of his palm and placed it against the wound. 

It was as if the ocean was trying to fill him, as he felt…everything. He recognized the call of destruction and illusion. However, there were other feelings too, some he identified immediately as creation, time, or emotion. But some were a little harder to distinguish. Still, as he stood there with the power of all of existence flowing through his hand, Adrien suddenly understood the power of the kwami completely. For in this tree, he saw the world as it should be. All the powers working in harmony. Not balance through this twisted push and pull, but balance through unity. A gentle melody brings all of creation into a perfect symphony that could never be. Something had broken, and neither Adrien, Hawkmoth, nor Ladybug, Mafdet, or anyone else would be able to wholly put it together again. 

Bittersweet tears slipped down his cheeks as he found the power he was looking for. The power that was binding this tree together and keeping it from bursting into flames. A power that screamed for empathy and understanding. A power that screamed for freedom and peace. A power that recognized him, as he recognized it, as completely and totally his. The power of the butterfly, the power of transmission, or as it used to be known…

The Power of Connection. 

Adrien grasped it, and the rest of the tree’s power followed it as he turned. His bleeding hand never left the tree as he turned to face the darkness. He could already feel the tree’s bark growing over its old wound. So he did not have much time. He raised his hand to send light to fight the darkness, and he froze. 

His mother’s coffin stood between him and the darkness, alone and silent, gleaming silver in the light of the tree. He could do it…right now. He could use the power of the tree and channel it into the coffin and save his mom. His heart clenched as he prepared to unleash the power. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. 

Darkness. That was all there was in the center of the pillar. Darkness and a suffocating aura of pain and madness. It threatened to reach down Ladybug’s throat and carve out her heart, and she wanted to scream; it was so terrible. If she had been alone, Ladybug knew she would have collapsed into madness the moment she stepped through the power. 

However, she was not alone. Tikki’s grounding presence was always right there at the edge of her awareness, and Mafdet’s warm hand held hers as they ran. For now, that was enough to keep her moving forward, for as long as she had her partner, she knew they still had a chance. He had to use his cataclysm again when the magic was about to swallow them. But they kept moving. Just when it looked like they were about to be completely consumed by the power, they saw it. 

A glowing form hovered in the darkness before them, curled in on itself. Irridescent royal purple and deep purple made the figure, and it pulsed like a beacon in a store, drawing them ever closer and ever faster. Upon seeing that light, Ladybug thought, Angular fish. The rather disturbing vision of large, monstrous teeth growing from the darkness, and her pulling up just before the circle of purple and blue light, and freezing in place. 

Hawkmoth knelt before them. His clothes seemed to be made of the light they had approached. A beautiful suite of peacock blue and kingly purple clothed him as he rose to greet his guests. Ladybug would have thought that he was an angel, except for the wings coming out of his back. 

Like shadows on the darkest night, black wings poured out of him, forming only briefly in their desired shape before joining with the eternal darkness around him. It was the darkness of the wings that was making the tower, and Ladybug racked her brain trying to find a way to stop and contain it. 

“ You’re too late ,” Hawkmoth's voice was a strange echo. As if he were speaking with three voices. One was Gabriel, but the other two were strangers, more alien, and more powerful. Ladybug realized with sickening clarity that these were the voices of the kwami. For three years, the kwami had always been these cute little helpers that made a mess of her room and hid in her pockets. But now she realized that she was catching a glimpse of their true nature.

They didn’t just possess the cosmic powers, they were the cosmic powers. And part of them wanted this. They wanted to unleash their abilities on the world and be completely and totally unfettered from this physical realm. Which is exactly why they were chained to the miraculous, and so as Hawkmoth continued to preach, she began to search for the gems that would end this. 

“ You cannot stop this Champion of Order! ” Hawkmoth declared. “ You are too weak! Too afraid! You cannot even hope to stand up to the pure, unrestrained power of not one but two miraculouses! ”

“Wanna bet!” Marinette yelled and threw her yoyo. Hawkmoth waved his hand almost casually, and the yoyo was deflected against a shield of darkness. Silent as a cat, Madet tried to attack from behind, but Hawkmoth did not even turn to as strings of shadow grabbed his staff and jerked it back. Over and over again, Ladybug and Mafdet attacked, darting in and out of the light in an attempt to snatch the two broaches from his chest. 

Nothing worked, and as Ladybug flipped through the air and tried to land a hit on his head, a shadow grabbed her and threw her to the ground. Knocking the air from her lungs, Ladybug scrambled away, but Hawkmoth laughed as he stalked above her, light and shadow casting his features into stark relief as he loomed over her. 

“ Foolish girl. Tossed head first into a world beyond your understanding and comprehension. But fear not, little girl! For I will save you! I will save you from your burden and your fears! I will restore us to what we should be! Just give me your miraculous! ” 

“Over my dead body!” Ladybug snarled, getting her feet beneath her. 

“ Very well, ” Hawkmoth said, and he raised a foot to stomp on her, only to be hit in the face with a silver staff. Hawkmoth stumbled back and Ladybug through her yoyo, wrapping around him in an unbreakable tie. Only for Hawkmoth to scream, and his darkwings pushed the string away and lifted him up into the air and away from their reach. He raised a hand, and Ladybug felt the darkness harden into blades behind her. Standing back to back with Mafdet, she prepared to fight for her life when the darkness shattered. 

Hawkmoth screamed as a beam of light tore through the tower and shredded the darkness into ribbons that danced and vanished in the wind. Still in the air, Hawkmoth turned to see who would dare disrupt his victory, only to see Adrien…his son, panting as the light vanished from his hand. 

“ Adrien! ” he screamed, “ What have you done?! ”

“Saved…the world,” Adrien gasped and then collapsed into Orphan’s waiting arms. The tree healed from the damage done, as if it had never been. 

Hawkmoth’s scream was terrible, and his dark wings grew as his emotions and the need to share them fed into both of his power. The pillar and its writhing branches were gone, but Ladybug could already see and feel it starting to grow back. Ladybug shook her head. She was exhausted. Three years, three years she had been fighting, and right now it seemed to be crashing down around her. She didn’t know if she could do this. He was too powerful! It was too much! It—

Tikki’s warm, solid presence filled her mind. Use me , the power seemed to whisper. 

“No,” Ladybug gasped. “What if I lose control? I could—”

No, Tikki whispered. Not alone!

Ladybug looked up to see Mafdet, breathing heavily but still standing strong. He looked back at her, and in his gaze, she saw nothing but pure determination and trust, trust in her. Ladybug took a deep, fortifying breath and pushed all of her doubts aside. She strengthened her spine and opened her eyes to glare at the enemy before her. 

“Ready,” she asked. 

“Always,” he said. 

“Tikki,” she whispered.

“Plagg,” he ordered.

“Unleash!” They cried together, and the whole world changed. 

Ladybug gasped as once more the ocean of creation crashed around her, but this time it did not pass through her and into the world, as it did when she summoned her power. Instead, it coiled and grew within her like it did with her transformations. Only this time it did not ebb away behind a barrier of will. Instead, it seemed to fill every cell in her body and harden them into diamonds. But it was not painful. It felt…right. Like drinking water after a day in the desert, the power gave her life instead of crushing her in rage. And it kept growing until she had no way to contain it, pushing it out of her, it formed around her, and solidified. 

When she opened her eyes, she was in blood red armor. Her yoyo was no longer a toy but a weapon of black steel and red rope. Behind her wings, crimson and as bright as the sun, lifted her into the air. They matched Hawkmoth’s darkness beat for beat, shadow for beam, and aura for aura. However, Hawkmoth’s were wispy, uncontrolled, and sporadic. Ladybug’s were solid, steady, and true, because beside her, Mafdet stood in solid black armour. Beneath his hood, his poisonous green cat eyes glowed bright enough to be seen through the shadows. In his hands, green flames flickered with dangerous promise. 

Together, their magic unleashed was not consuming them or beating them down like prisoners of the rocks. Instead, it coiled around them, twisting and combining, into a tapestry of power that could not be torn apart. 

Ladybug and Mafdet did not have three voices. They had two each, but when they spoke together, they had four. And later, when the heroes were telling this story among themselves, they would agree that Ladybug had looked like a goddess. Her blue eyes glowing and her long black hair loose, blowing in the breeze of her own power. While Mafddet had looked like a demon, with his slited cats eyes, long sharpened claws, and glowing green fire. 

“ Hawkmoth! ” they said together, “This ends now! ” 

As one, they charged, pinning him between the sky and the earth, they unleashed their fire and their light. He tried to fight them. He tried to escape. He unleashed one last wave of his power in a desperate attempt to leave them in despair and anguish. But failed. 

The green fire and red light struck him, and Hawkmoth fell. 

However, he did not transform. Instead, without a human will to guide it, the power pouring through his wings burst forth, striking out at random, and unable to find any semblance or structure. 

“ Pegasus, ” The Cat and the Ladybug spoke as one. “ Bring us Natalie and Adrien. ”

Two portals opened on either side of Hawkmoth. Natalie rushed through one, and Adrien, supported by Orphan, stumbled out of the other. The court protected them, as they claimed their miraculous. 

The light around Hawkmoth shattered, leaving only Gabriel Agreste in a tattered suit. Ladybug looked down at him, lying prone on the cold metal. He seemed emaciated and disturbingly fragile in his too-big coat. For some reason, she wanted him to be transformed again, for him to be displayed to all of Paris as the big bad monster. Not this…mortal. This weak, pathetic mortal human was the one who had tortured millions of people for three years. And standing there in all of the unleashed power of creation, Marinette found him utterly disgusting. 

She watched as Adrien pinned the butterfly broach to his shirt. In a tiny ball that only barely hinted at the true awesome power this creature held, Nooroo appeared. He took one look at Adrien and burst into tears. Flying to him, Nooroo clung to Adrien like a lifeline, as he begged for forgiveness. Something of the same happened to Natalie and Duusu. But Ladybug could barely pay attention. 

The power of creation was starting to get overwhelming, and if she did not do something with it soon, she feared that they would have a very different problem on their hands. As if sensing this, Adrien looked up and smiled sadly at her. “My lady,” he said holding out her luck charm. 

Ladybug’s mind was too consumed with power to fully comprehend what it meant. But she smiled and still took the dagger gently in her hand. Mafdet took her free hand, and with his grounding presence, she cast her final spell. 

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

Chapter Text

Light. Light has always been something that living creatures crave. Even in the darkest of caves, and in the deepest parts of the sea, we are drawn to those things that give us light, even if it means our deaths. It is the natural inclination of all creatures with eyes to be drawn to things that shine. After all this world would not exist without light. The very air we breathe is nothing but carefully crafted light, thanks to the silent sentries that make our world the blue and green marble in a galaxy of fire, ice, and shadow. For while darkness might have come first, it was through light that all things began, and it was with the division of light and darkness that all things were made. 

But while we are drawn to the light, that does not mean that darkness is evil. Far from it. For we cannot forget that while light was the tool of creation, it was darkness that came first. There was absence so that it could be filled. There was nothing, so that there could be something. A stone is just a stone before the artist comes to make it more. If stones could speak, they would weep at the sight of the sculptor, because he has come to destroy them. With a mallet and chisel, he carves them away. He destroys them, completely, and without mercy. And when he leaves, the stones would weep again, for he has made them greater than they could have ever been before. 

It was through the division of light and darkness that time began. It was through creation that destruction was born. It is in the light that we find our life. It is in the darkness that we find our rest. Balance is not the ending of chaos, nor is it making evil equal to good. Because darkness is not evil, neither is light good. But they could be. Darkness becomes evil when it snuffs out the light and hides the thief. Light becomes evil when it burns and controls things that should be free. 

So you see, balance, true balance, is simply when we who have the choice between good and evil choose good. 

The miraculous were not good or evil, they were tools. If there is a kwami of good and a kwami of evil, then I highly doubt they would bind themselves to something as fragile and vulnerable as a piece of jewelry. They are probably out there, beyond our comprehension, fighting in a never-ending war, until the end of time. While we down here on Earth must struggle in their crossfire, forced to choose sides in a conflict that we can barely comprehend. 

However, in that moment, as Marinette cast her spell of creation and restoration, with the power of the miraculous unleashed within her, she did. She did fully understand and fully comprehend the war in which she was part of, and her place within it. She saw creation down it its finest atom, and the map of destiny written out from the beginning to the end, all traced out on a beautiful tapestry of life and light. Light. Light! She was nothing but light. Formed from stardust and the breath of beings that were so far beyond her she could not look at them for how brightly they shined. 

And Oh! It was beautiful! The light of the world that should have been before evil. And the world that would come, once evil was ousted for good. She saw it! She saw what was coming! The miraculous only remembered the world as it was before the balance was broken. And in that was their pain, and grief, and their desire to give in to the corruption that evil had marked upon them. However, Marinette was now seeing the world as it would be! And in that, there was hope. 

It would not come about in her lifetime, or even in her daughter, or granddaughter’s lifetime! But it was there. The truth and the light, waiting for them somewhere in the future, where the world was restored, and evil was gone for good. A new earth, a good earth, a miraculous earth, and one worth fighting for. 

However, just as the visions assaulted her, they abated. Fading from her mind like a dream of a dream, leaving her with nothing but this overwhelming sense of hope and peace. Tears fell from her cheeks as her power abated, settling calmly back into her body. Her heart ached for the world she was already forgetting, but the memory of how it made her feel, the peace, the joy, and the life, were enough for her to lift her head and laugh. 

Because it was done. The battle was over. The enemy was defeated, and they had won! 

As soon as the cure went out, Pegasus came and opened a portal for Multimouse to return to Earth. Batman, Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Dr. Fate, and Constantine followed them into the cavern under the Agreste mansion, while Superman organized the rest of the League to prepare relief efforts from Paris. 

Batman was expecting to have to walk cautiously. Based on the size and power displayed in the battle they had witnessed, he assumed that the center of the storm would have been torn apart to the point where there was nothing left but rubble. Instead, he found himself in a well-lit, perfectly preserved cavern that was filled with the bright, cheerful glow of millions of Ladybugs, swirling, restoring, and repairing the world around them. Every crack was filled, every rust stain scrubbed clean. 

Batman flinched when he felt something warm and soothing settle over his spine and spread through his chest and the rest of his body. The dull aches and minor pains, from a hundred old wounds and scars, vanished in an instant, leaving him feeling better than he had in his twenties. Even that nagging ache from where Bane had broken his spine had vanished, leaving the Dark Knight to touch the spot gingerly in wonder. Looking up and around, he found himself completely speechless at the vision before him. 

Ladybug had become a goddess, shilouetted as the light of creation burst from her like a star coming to earth. And standing beside her, a demon, with darkness pouring from him, he guided and directed the light, so that shadow and light danced together in perfect harmony to music they were too mortal to hear. 

When the light and shadow abated, Batman could only stand and stare at the two individuals who remained. Ladybug’s armor was blood red and shimmered as if it had been carved from the darkest of rubies. Gossamer silks spilled from beneath the breastplate like rivers of blood, gathering around her ankles and splaying behind her with more majesty and elegance than any cape or cowl could claim. Wings, so delicate and intricate they looked like they would shatter at a touch, held her aloft, as a breeze of her own power kept her long, midnight black hair gently floating around her. 

Meanwhile, Mafdet’s armor had solidified into black stone and leather. His limbs seemed to have elongated, and Batman could not tear is eyes away from the elongated silver claws, that seemed to be dripping with green fire. And while Ladybug shone with light that perfectly revealed her and all her glory. Almost everything about Mafdet was shadowed in the cloak of darkness, draped around his shoulders, and the hood that seemed to swallow all light within it. All light that is, exactly for the glowing green eyes, that were like poisonous beacons in the night. 

Power and glory, practically radiated off of both of them. It filled the space, even as their spells dissipated, bringing everything into sharp relief and making every single nerve in his body hum and crackle, as if in the presence of lightning. And for the first time, Batman understood why commoners knelt to gods and kings, for surely, there was no power in their world that could compare to this. 

However, Batman did not kneel, nor did Constantine, though he did curse and drop his cigarette. Wonder Woman, Zatanna, and even Dr. Fate fell to their knees in reverence the moment they stepped through the portal, but Batman remained standing, staring straight at his son. He wants nothing more than to run over and embrace him. But he was held back by some instinct that said things were not quite done yet. The battle was won. And from the way the court gathered, he could tell that there was still work to do. 

“Is that it?” Purple Tigress asked wearily. “It’s done?”

“Yes,” One of the Rabbits, the older one, said with relief, “But we’re not done yet.” 

“What do you mean?” King Monkey demanded, “We did it! We beat Hawkmoth! We got his miraculous, and restored the city.”

“Yeah,” Viperion said, rubbing his chest where he had been stabbed, “But the rest of Paris doesn’t know that yet.”

Miss. Hound nodded, saying, “Right now, everyone thinks it was just a normal akuma attack. We have to tell them the truth.”

“And when we do,” Bumble Queen said stiffly, “Paris will break. Every negative thought and emotion that had been suppressed for the last three years will come pouring out.”

“Suicides, assaults, violent crimes,” Dick said bitterly, “All of these things are about to sky rocket, and if your leaders can’t get a handle on it quickly, then Paris really will be another Gotham.” 

“No!” Purple Tigress snapped, “No! We did not just go through hell for the last three years just to make a new one!”

“Is there something we can do?” Ryoko asked calmly, supporting Alfred’s niece as she cradled his new kwami. 

“Yes ,” Ladybug said, her voice echoing strangely, as if there was something speaking through her. Something ancient and terrible, yet soft and gentle. Something…like the sun. “ We share the Burden.”

“What?” Half Shell choked. “With all of Paris? H–How?”

“Won’t that reveal our identities?” Duke demanded. 

“Is it even possible?” Bumble Queen asked. 

“It is,” Mafdet’s voice echoing like Ladybugs, only his sounded as calm and as cool as the night. 

“If we just share emotions, and not memories, it should be fine,” the younger Bunnix said gravely. “But it will not be easy. We will need all of the miraculous involved for this to work.”

“But…” Pegasus said warily, “We still don’t have a holder for the pig.” 

“We do not need one ,” Ladybug said, “ Joy will be our focal. Our message. Whatever we learn, no matter how we start, this time, our ritual will end with Joy spreading her power to all, and for that, we will all be her holder and her tether.”

The court exchanged weary and wary looks. They all looked so young and exhausted. But there was hope in them still, and so with determination belying their age and experience, they turned to their leader as one. “We follow your lead, m’lady,” Adrien said, the Mircalous Cure having restored some of his energy. 

Ladybug nodded, and as one, they made their way to the tree growing miraculously in this place of steel and shadow. And all Batman could do was swallow the lump in his throat and follow. 

Marinette was exhausted. While she was no longer leaking magic and power like water through a collider, the unleashed power of the miraculous still swirled within her. Just under skin and setting her every cell on fire that burned and cooled simultaneously. She felt as if she was everything and nothing, and based on the way Mafdet was clutching her hand, she knew he felt the same way. Still, it was almost over. Almost done. Just one thing more. And then she could be done, and she would rest. 

With a sigh, Ladybug let the magic of the tree of balance wash over her. On instinct, she started channeling some of her excess energy into the tree, and the fires abated somewhat. Her mind, no longer overburdened with the weight of all of creation, began to settle itself into her next task. What they were about to do would require all of her focus and attention in order to do it right. 

When completing this ritual with her Court, she could be as free and unfiltered as she needed, knowing that they would neither judge nor reject her. And they did the same, each giving a receiving their pain and their joy equally. They could not do that for the rest of Paris. Aside from the violation of sharing memories like that, it would be dangerous and too overwhelming, especially for the younger and weaker minds. No, what they needed to do was something Hawkmoth should have done. The thing that the miraculous of emotion and transmission was meant for.  

Showing people that they were not alone. 

To her left, Mafdet found his place, and they sat down together, light and darkness before the Tree of Balance as it was always meant to be. Around them, the other members of the court organized themselves, sitting in the lush, soft grass around the Tree. Each placed themselves according to their place in the scale from Order to Chaos, and for the first time in nearly a hundred years, the circle was complete. 

“Wait!” Marinette thought, “When did Adrien get here?” However, she had no time to process or question his presence as once everyone had claimed their proper place, it was time for the ritual to begin. 

“Multimouse ,” Ladybug commanded. “ The center.” 

Multimouse nodded and summoned a clone to take the black box still clutched in her hand, while she remained in her wheelchair. The clone strolled purposefully, and removing the anklet from its box, hung it reverently from one of the lower branches. Immediately, they could feel the call of its power, the call to joy. And on instinct, everyone removed their own miraculouses and placed them on the ground before them. 

Marinette felt she could finally breathe as her transformation fell, and she was human again. However, she felt as if something was different, as her skin still felt as if it was humming, as the aura of power and magic from all of the gathered jewels seemed to roll over her skin like a wave. She pushed these thoughts to the side and focused on her current duty, as the kwami appeared to hover over the head of their chosen wielder. 

Marinette took a deep breath and took the hand of her other neighbor. She had no need to reach for Damian’s as they had not stopped clinging to each other in an attempt to abate and control the power flowing through them. Now they held each other as a way of connection. A way to remind each other that whatever happened next, they were not alone. 

Closing her eyes, Marinette tightened her grip and took another fortifying breath. She declared first in the language of the guardians and then in her own mother tongue, “I am Order and Creation, and this is my pain.” 

As the words left her lips, Marinette felt it all again. Her terror, her grief, her exhaustion. Every wound, pain, and agony welled inside as if for the first time. And not just the anguish from this battle. But all of it, since the moment she had picked up that innocuous black box in her bedroom, Marinette let it all resurface and flow for her. And even though she was careful not to bring out any memories, the emotions alone were enough to nearly choke her under their weight. But just as she thought it was going to drown her, she expelled it, first into the hands she was holding, and then into the tree before them. 

“I am Chos. I am Destruction,” Damian said beside her, “And this is my pain.” One by one, the entire group said the words and shared their pain, first with each other and then with the Tree. It was terrible. Chloe’s guilt and self-hatred. Sabrina’s fears and insecurities. Luca’s pain and trauma from watching his friends die, again and again and again. Dick’s anger. Adrien’s loss. Barbara’s grief. And so, so, so, much pain and anguish from all of them, shared and mixed into a storm of grief, until they could not hold it anymore. And with a blast of power, the wave of their emotions exploded out from them and covered all of Paris. 

Marinette gasped. For in her mind’s eye, she could see the effect the ritual was having. The people of Paris, stumbling around trying to recover from the latest battle, suddenly froze as the wave hit them, and their own grief was added to the mix. She saw her parents standing frozen in their bakery, their fear and guilt at the forefront of their minds. There was Alya sitting as still as a statue on a park bench, as feelings of inadequacy and anger joined the growing atmosphere of emotion hovering over Paris. 

But just when the anguish seemed to grow to be too much, Marinette whispered, barely audible even in the stillness under the Tree, “I am Creation. I am Order. This is my joy. This is my healing.”

She focused on the vision of the future, on that perfect world that would come. It was a strong and powerful hope that washed through her, even just thinking about it. But she couldn’t remember the details. Oh! How she longed to remember even a fraction of that vision she had seen. But no. Instead, all she could recall was the hope and peace that had filled her from seeing it. And it was those feelings that reminded her of all of the other joys in her life. 

The love of her family. The satisfaction of a job well done. The sweet, glorious taste of victory. The warmth of the hand currently holding hers, and the relief she had felt at finally finding him. She shared these feelings easily and eagerly, until she felt as light as a feather in the wind. And one by one, these feelings grew and grew, as each and every one of her loved ones shared their own joys and healing. Once more, the force of their combined emotion and power spread that feeling to all of Paris. 

Like the sun piercing the clouds after a hurricane, the joy a Paris shone forth. The people, just now overwhelmed by the weight for the last three years, stood taller and stronger than they ever had. Their own happiness, contentment, and hope rose to meet and join with that of their heroes, until the very air of the city seemed to be singing. And into all of this, Daizzi appeared in her true form. Hovering above the Tree of Balance, dressed in the traditional garbs of a Chinese Empress, Daizzi was a vision of white and pink. Inhumanly beautiful was her form, though her eyes shone with mirth, as her delicate pig ears twitched through her long white hair. It was impossible not to smile when gazing upon her cheery, pump faith, and when she spoke, it was like the sound of a hundred happy little bells. 

“ Miraculous Jubilation! ” And her power exploded out in a storm of pink and white until it touched every last man, woman, and child in Paris. 

“ Attention People of Paris!” 

Alya gasped, jumping up from her place on the park bench and spinning to see the giant form of Ladybug hovering over the Paris city skyline. What was happening? That last Akuma had been absolutely brutal, and just when she had sat down to recover, every grief and pain she had ever felt had seemed to hit her like a tidal wave. At first, she had tried to suppress it, but when it was followed by such a strange sensation of peace and hope, Alya had been at a loss. In the end, all she could do was sit frozen and feel. 

She felt everything. The pain and betrayal of losing the Fox Miraculous. Her growing frustrations with both Marinette and Lyla. Her increasing guilt and shame from her own actions. But also the memory of simple joy from hanging out with her friends. The warm blush of young love from her first official relationship. Not to mention the freedom and power that came from being a hero of Paris. 

Now her mind was clear, and it felt as if a hundred pounds had been lifted from her shoulders as she stood to hear what was to come next. The strange stirrings of hope began in her heart as Ladybug smiled down on them all. 

“I am pleased to announce that the final battle has been fought! Hawkmoth has been defeated, and his miraculous taken! The war is over, and we…have…WON!!” 

Alya gasped as tears of relief and joy sprang to her eyes. She fell to her knees laughing and crying, as joy and relief overwhelmed all of her senses. Vaguely, she could hear the sounds of celebration beginning all around her, as people began to realize that they were free of that tyrant’s monstrous hold. 

There were still those lingering sensations of guilt and anger, and at some point, she would have to face them, as would the rest of Paris. However, in that moment, there was nothing but joy, and a still, small hope of a future that was yet to come that she knew would carry them through the rest of their days. 

Back in the cavern under the Agreste mansion, Daizzi returned to her miraculous. As one, the court released a collective breath as they basked in the feeling of light contentedness that always followed the Sharing of Brudens Ritual. 

Breathing heavily, Marinette finally released Damien’s hand, stopping herself from falling forward as the last vestiges of Tikki’s power left her. With one hand clutching her chest, Marinette marveled at how easy it was to breathe. For so long, it had felt as if she had been struggling for breath, until someone had finally snapped the bands holding her lungs closed, and now she could just…breathe. 

It was amazing, as the oxygen rushed to her head, making her slightly dizzy. Marinette couldn’t help but bask in the pure wonder of the moment. It was done! It was finished! She had done it! She had defeated Hawkmoth, recovered the miraculous, and saved Paris! It was done, and she was free! 

Blind to the rest of the world, Marinette sobbed as first one and then two laughs escaped her lips. Soon she was laughing, loud and clear for everyone to hear. But she could only bask in the joy and wonder for so long, until the last vestige of her energy was spent, and her exhaustion hit her like a freight train followed by a tidal wave. Her laughter quickly turned to ugly, heavy sobs, as the weight on her shoulders finally slipped away and leaving her free to feel everything. The good…and the bad. 

Warm arms wrapped her in a strong embrace, and Marinette gave in to them willingly. “It’s okay now, Habibti,” a calming voice whispered softly, “You can sleep now.” 

Marinette sighed in relief and gave in to the warmth and safety surrounding her. It was enough. Finally, it was enough, and she was done. 

Batman was floored. Of course, you would never be able to tell that from the way he stood silent and stoic outside of the ring of crying, laughing children. All around the tree, the court was laughing, jumping, and dancing around as they celebrated their victory like only teenagers could. It was enough for even Batman’s lips to twitch in the beginnings of a smile. Still, while there was a palpable sense of relief in the air, some were using it to fuel their celebrations but to unleash their grief. 

On the far side of the tree, Adrien and Natalie were clinging to each other as they wept and whispered words of forgiveness and loss into each other’s arms. Closer at hand, Chloe was practically screaming as she wailed into the earth around her. Her partner, Sabrina, held her tightly, her hold probably the only thing keeping the girl from hurting herself. Meanwhile, Marinette had practically collapsed in exhaustion. Now sleeping peacefully, her head resting in Damian’s lap, she looked nothing like the goddess she had been just a few minutes ago. 

Still, the most baffling and happy sight was Damian smiling softly at the girl while he carded his fingers through her hair. Dick brieafly destracted him, by rushing to hug him, and soon Bruce was swarmed by the attentions of his other children. They all seemed well and happy enough, and Bruce lowered his cowl so that he could probably show them just how revealed and happy he was to see them all safe and sound. 

He grasped Barbara’s hand after he had finished hugging Duke. “Well?” he asked as gently as he could. 

Barbara smiled brightly as she rubbed her knee with her free hand, even as she reclined back in her wheelchair. “Dad is going to freak when he sees me walking in Gotham!”

Bruce chuckled, as Dick burst into laughter. “Oh! We need to film that!” Dick cried. 

“More importantly,” Duke said, “What are we going to do with that?” 

Bruce followed his eyes to where Damian was still guarding Marinette, as she rested peacefully in her lap. As if sensing their gaze, he looked up, and the blissfully happy look on his face was instantly replaced with his signature sneer. “What?” 

“Nothing!” Dick cried, even as his grin was wipe enough to split his face in two. “Just happy you’ve made so many… friends .”

“Yes,” Duke said, trying to suppress his laughter, “Everyone needs good… friends .”

“You should invite your friend to Gotham!” Barbara said cheerfully. “I’m sure everyone will just love to get to know her!” 

Damian scowled even as his ears turned a very impressive shade of red. However, considering his current predicament, even Bruce had to hide his laughter in his hand as his youngest snarled, “If I weren’t otherwise detained, I would kill all of you.”

“Oh!” Dick cried, “But you can’t wake your friend .” 

“Yeah!” Duke agreed, “I mean, look how peaceful she is next to you!”

“Stop it!” Damian growled. 

Bruce looked away, leaving his children to their antics. He sighed in relief as he watched Zatanna and Wonder Woman move to help those who were having far more intense reactions to being free from Hawkmoth. It would be a long road for Paris, and there was every chance that things would still get worse before they got better. Still, for now, the battle was done. The mission is complete. And it was time to rest and celebrate. Bruce glanced back at his children. Damian was yelling at them to stop being so loud or else he would wake Marinette, while the others laughed and teased. 

As far as victories went, this was a pretty good one. However, it was just then that he noticed something rather peculiar. Tilting his head, he arched a brow and muttered, “Huh, well that’s new.” 

Chapter Text

Marinette woke up groggy, filled with the warmth and satisfaction of a good night's sleep, something that hadn’t happened for a very long time. She yawned and stretched as the sunlight filtered through her skylight, warming her up with a cheerful, freeing light. For a moment, Marinette just lay there happy and at peace, before she remembered everything that had happened before she had collapsed under pure exhaustion. 

“Oh my Kwami!” she gasped. “Tikki!”

“What is it, Marinette?” the cheerful little god asked as she flew into Marinette’s waiting hand. 

“Please tell me that wasn’t a dream?” Marinette begged. “Did we really do it? Did we beat Hawkmoth?” 

“Yes, you did!” Tikki giggled, “And quite spectacularly too!”

“I can’t believe it!” Marinette cried, leaping from her bed, hardly noticing the ease and gratefulness with which she sprang from the loft. “We did it! We really did it! Wait! How did I get home? How long was I asleep?”

“Not long,” Tikki reassured her. 

“Tikki!” Marinette groaned as she checked her computer. “It’s already noon! That’s almost 24 hours!” 

“Well,” Tikki chided, “Considering how exhausted you were, I was expecting you to sleep for another three days at least. You and Damian are really strong! Not everyone can handle the unleashed power of the Miraculous without going insane!”

“I went insane three years ago,” Marinette mumbled dryly, “So how did I get home? What do my parents think of all of this?”

“Oh,” Tikki chipped, “The Waynes brought you home. And as for what they think, well…”

“Tikki,” Marinette began, the edges of panic beginning to grip her again.

“They know your Ladybug!” Daizzi yelled, flying up from the Miracle Box.

“Daizzi!” Tikki cried, “We were supposed to ease her into it!”

“I’m sorry, Tikki,” Daizzi said, “But there’s a lot going on, and this is only the beginning!”

“Wait!” Marinette yelled desperately, “What do you mean they know? Did the Waynes tell them?”

“Technically,” Tikki said quickly, “Yes, but you can’t exactly blame them. I mean…well…you see…they couldn’t exactly hide it.”

“What do you mean?” Marinette pleaded.

“You might want to go look in the mirror.”

Marinette only hesitated for a second before running to her bathroom. There she froze, her jaw on the floor, and her eyes as wide as saucers. Because there in the mirror, as clear as the nose on her face, were a pair of delicate, silvery wings. Like lace turned into light, they were intricate with a shining iridescence that made them appear as fragile as frost. So light and sheer were they, Marinette could only see where the light glistened off their graceful patterns. They were beautiful, and Marinette suddenly realized that she could feel them, in the same way you might feel your arms. 

With careful thought, she tried moving them, and they slowly fluttered back and forth from where they attached to her back. Spinning around, she craned to look over her shoulder, to see where they attacked her back, as if they had always been there. Someone, probably her mother, had cut out the back of her pajama top so that they could move freely. And as Marinette moved her hand to touch the space where her skin turned into this glossy membrane, she noticed other things too. Like how her skin had acquired a glossy, almost metallic tint. Not to mention her eyes, which bore the soft glow they usually did when she was transformed.

“Like I was saying,” Tikki said, flying up beside Marinette’s head. “The unleashed power of the Miraculous is insane. Most people go insane, but no one holds it without some sort of change.”

“I…I…” Marinette stuttered, still caught somewhere between the joy of her victory, the horror of her parents knowing the truth, and the wonderment of her new…form. “I have wings!”

“Yes,” Daizzi said cheerfully, “Aren’t they beautiful!”

“I-I-I mean…yeah,” Marinette laughed, “But…Wings!”

“I like them,” Tikki cheered, “Much better than Plaggue’s changes.”

“Wait,” Marinette cried, shaking her head, “What happened to Damian?”

“ BWahahaha !” Jason laughed from the other side of the ocean

“Jason,” Dick chided though based on his smirk he too was fighting the edges of a smile.

“Hahahaha!” Jason wasn’t stopping. 

“Is he ok?” Barbara asked with a furrowed brow.

“Is he ever?” Duke scoffed.

“Gahahahaha!” 

“It’s not that funny!” Dick tried.

“Demon Brat has a tail!” he yelled before resuming his laughter. 

Dick chocked on his laughter, but a single glance at where Damian was practicing with his brand new claws had him sober enough to chide his other brother. “At least, he didn’t get ears?”

Jason’s laughter only got louder, and Dick shivered as Damian glared death at his phone. “Yeah,” Dick sighed, “Just get it out of your system before we get home.”

“ Can’t we come to you? ” Steph asked over Jason’s laughter. “ Now that the ban is lifted. ”

“Take it up with B,” Dick said, “But we have to help with clean up, and Wonder Woman and B have some political BS to get through so that the Justice League isn't completely banned from Paris forever. And someone has to look over Gotham.”

“ Yeah, ” Steph drawled, “ Cause it’s not like we have a network of teleporters, stretching all over the globe that can get us there in less than a minute…Oh wait! ”

“Take it up with B!” Dick repeated, and Damian tuned out the conversation to refocus on the latest changes to his body. 

His nails had become cat claws, curved, sharp, and deadly. And like a cat’s claws, he could retract and extend them at his will. A skill he was going to have to master quickly, considering he was going to have to start wearing color contacts now. His pupils and irises had shifted into cat’s eyes, and he was pleased to find that they made his glares and stares easily ten percent more intimidating. A fact which was ruined by the slender black tail spilling out from under his shirt. Internally, her groaned as he watched it lying harmlessly beside him. He then glared at Plagg, who was contentedly stuffing himself with cheese. 

Sensing his gaze, Plagg looked up and shrugged. “Don’t look at me!” he cried, swallowing a whole piece of camembert in one bite. “I don’t control the changes! If I did, then I would have definitely given you the ears! Maybe even some fur! Oh, that would have been cool!”

Damian groaned into his hands, Dick was right. It could have been worse.

“ It has been exactly twenty-four hours since Ladybug and the Miraculous Court defeated Hawkmoth,” Nadja Chamack echoed through the screen of the hotel television. “And Paris is well on the way to recovery. While most doctors and social scientists were worried that the defeat of Hawkmoth would have led to an influx of crime and suicides as a result of the repressed negative emotions. I am pleased to report that so far, the numbers have been minimal. The people of Paris have clearly come together once more to see that Ladybug’s victory does not go to waste, while our fearless hero takes her time to rest and recover from the final battle. While their leader rests, the rest of the court has been working tirelessly beside the TEMTs and the government to see us through this final stretch of the battle.

“As for Hawkmoth, who was revealed to be fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste, the villain is currently in an undisclosed hospital being treated for a coma. The Mayor has already sworn that this terrorist will face trial as soon as he is physically capable of taking the stand. As for his partner, Mayura, her identity has not been released, as she died during the final confrontation. The hero, Viperon, claims that the Miraculous cure was not able to revive her or Agreste because the damage of using the Miraculous improperly was too severe. 

“Meanwhile, Agreste’s son, model and fashion icon Adrien Agreste, has been put under the guardianship of his father’s assistant, Nathalie Sancoeur. We have yet to hear anything from the two in response to these revelations, other than Viperion confirming that it was Adrien and Natalie who discovered Gabriel’s secret, told Ladybug. The question of who will take over the Agreste Label is still unclear, but rumors state that Wayne Industries—”

The TV turned off with a click, and Adrien sighed as he put away the remote. “Well, at least their not blaming us,” he tried, smiling weakly. Natalie barely responded from where she sat, hunched over the shimmering and whole Peacock Miraculous. Duusu sat on her shoulder, looking almost just as despondent as they were, still recovering from being broken for so long.

“Nevertheless, there is blame to be had,” Master Su-han declared from his position by the door. His face etched in a permanent frown, but Adrien did not think he was angry. Instead, he just seemed…tired. “You are lucky, M. Sancoeur, that not only are you a true holder, but that Ladybug, Mafdet, and one of the previous Peacock holders were able to speak on your behalf.”

Natalie shook her head, “I do not deserve their mercy.”

Adrien flinched. He hated seeing her like this. Nathalie had always been this strong, steadfast presence in his life, a mother in all but blood, but now to see her so…broken. It fractured something inside of him that he didn’t know how to fix. 

“I have known Alfred my whole life,” Mr. Wayne declared, his ever looming presence a solid stone in Adrien’s rapidly crumbling world. “If he did not believe you were worth saving, then he would not have bothered.”

Nathalie’s shoulders tensed, and then released in a slow shuddering breath. She shook her head as silent tears fell down her face, “He’s my uncle. He’s too good.”

“Nathalie—” Adrien began desperately. 

She cut him off with a raised hand and raised her head to look him in the eye. Her mask was shattered, and now she was staring at him with eyes so full of pain, guilt, and exhaustion, it broke Adrien’s heart. Because he had felt what she was feeling. During the Sharing of the Burden, he had felt all of it. Her years of suffering and sacrifice trying to contain the miraculous. The pain of her growing illness. Her horror at what she had done and become, but beyond that, he felt her love and pride for him. He felt how deeply she cherished and loved him. He clung to that now, as she looked at him, with broken and tired eyes. 

“I have done horrible things, Adrien,” she said, “To this city…and to you…I do not deserve forgiveness.”

“No one deserves forgiveness,” Su-han scoffed, stepping forward. “And lucky for you, that is not what the Guardians are offering.” 

“And what are the offerings?” Mr. Wayne demanded, coming to stand protectively over Natalie, who had bent back over her Miraculous. 

“The Tree of Balance must be moved to its proper place,” Su-han declared. “Where exactly that is, we are still unsure, we will need to consult Ladybug as the current Guardian of the Miracle box. Once it is safe, it will need to be secured. It will need a Guardian.”

“What are you asking of me?” Natalie asked, confused. 

“It will not be an easy task,” Su-han declared. “Everyone from Vandal Savage to the League of Assassins will be seeking to steal it, and its power. Only the Tree of Life is more powerful and desired than the Tree of Balance, we are fortunate that Hawkmoth was not more…creative in his use of the tree. You will be charged with its protection. Day and night, you and Duusu will guard the tree and see that it is never disturbed ever again.” 

“For how long?” Adrien asked, beginning to feel something close to panic at his words. 

“Until her debt to the Miraculous is paid,” Su-han stated simply. 

Natalie nodded slowly, “I’ll do it.”

“What?” Adrien demanded. “No!”

“Adrien,” Nathalie sighed.

“No!” Adrien pleaded. “No! I-I—just no! No, Nathalie, you can’t do this! You can’t leave me!” 

“I have no choice, Adrien,” she said calmly, too calmly.

“No,” Adrien pleaded, running toward her and grabbing her as if she were about to vanish. “No, please! Please don’t go! I-I can’t! I can’t lose you too—” Hot tears began to fall, as he fell to his knees holding Nathalie’s hands. “I lost everything! And everyone, please don’t leave me!”

For a moment, there was only the sound of Adrien’s tearful sobbing as he clung to the one good person left in his life. Finally, slowly Nathalie pulled Adrien to sit beside her. Wrapping him in the tightest embrace she could, she whispered, “It’s alright now, Adrien. I’m sorry. I have to face what I’ve done. But this I swear. You’re free now, and no one is going to stop you. And most importantly…You will never be alone again.”

Adrien looked up as a warm gently hand touched his shoulder. Cassandra smiled down at him, warm and beautiful. Her scars telling a story of her own pain and loss. Her lost voice practically screaming her understanding of his pain. He grabbed her hand, but buried his face deeper into Natalie’s shoulder as he continued to mourn everything he had lost. But deep in his heart, there was a warmth beginning to grow, as he began to feel the joy of everything he was about to gain.

“Grounded!” Marinette cried.

“That’s right, young lady, grounded!” Sabine Dupain-Cheng declared. The crying and celebrations were over, and now Marinette was left staring open-mouthed and shocked at the angry, no-nonsense expressions her parents wore.  

“You should have told us, Marinette,” Tom Dupain-Cheng said gently. “We could have helped you.”

“Don’t you trust us?” Sabine pleaded.

“Of course I do!” Marinette cried. “But I couldn’t risk you being akumatized! Which both of you were, multiple times.”

“We understand that,” Sabine agreed. “Which is why we have decided to be lenient.”

“No superheroeing for a month!” Tom declared. “Unless it is for a press conference, or meeting with the Justice League!”

Marinette stared at her parents, stunned, her brand-new wings frozen behind her. “What?!” she finally cried.

“That’s right,” Tom said, crossing his arms, “No patrols. No crime fighting. No supervillains for a month. You are only allowed to transform when you need to meet with heroes that don’t know your identity, or when you need to meet with the press.”

“You will be getting a full night's sleep,” Sabine ordered. “You will be finishing your classes. You will be hanging out with your friends, and working on your business. And if we hear you have cut classes, ditched hangouts, or fallen behind on your commissions, then we will be extending it to two months! Are we clear?” 

Marinette blinked at them, doing her very best fish impression, as her brain blue-screened, trying to understand what they were saying. “So for the next month…you are punishing me, for not telling you I’m the literal hero of Paris…by forcing me to be a normal girl…with a normal life…for a whole month?”

Sabine and Tom nodded, arms crossed, faces grave. Marinette just stared at them before she broke down crying. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” They laughed as she flung herself at her parents, wrapping them in the biggest hug she could. “Ah! You have no idea what this means to me! Thank you!”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Tom chuckled, “You’ve more than earned your rest. And you know what…we couldn’t be more proud.”

“We love you so much!” Sabine laughed as she hugged her daughter.

“I love you too,” Marinette said, squeezing her parents as tightly as she could. 

“Ah!” her dad gasped, “Too tight!”

“Sorry,” Marinette said quickly, stepping back. “Tikki said that the transformation means that I no longer need the suit to be super strong. I’ll have to get used to that.”

“You mean…”

“Anything she can do when transformed,” Tikki chripped, “She can now do all the time. By the way, what do you think your new transformation looks like.”

“We’ll find out at the next press conference,” Marinette giggled, “Because I am officially grounded!” 

The Dupain-Chengs laughed at how happy their daughter was to be in trouble. Not that they could blame her, Marinette had clearly been caring too much for too long. And now it was time to rest. 

Constantine huffed as he lit his cigarette. One of the good things about Paris, everyone smoked. So as he leaned back on the bench, looking out over the Seine, he relaxed as he processed everything that had occurred over the last few days.

When word got out that a Miraculous War had started up in Paris, he had made sure to stay as far away as possible. He wasn’t exaggerating when he told the League to not even think about touching the damned things. The cosmic powers at play were mind-boggling enough without adding someone with meta abilities into the mix. But now it was over, and Paris was safe. Which, of course, meant it was anything but safe. The air was practically humming with magic and supernatural energy. It was an aftereffect of having not one, not two, but four miraculous gems unleashed at the same time. Just sitting here, as the people he could feel it. The energy and the power that now hummed in every bloody molecule of this thrice-blasted city. 

And do you know what made it worse? They had no idea. The people of Paris wandered around, hanging decorations for the upcoming celebrations without a care in the world. The President had declared a national holiday, and for the next week, the people would be living it up, completely unaware of the storm that had been unleashed over their heads. 

“What a bloody mess,” he muttered as he flicked the end of his cigarette into the polluted river.

“It’s not that bad,” Zatanna said, coming to sit next to him. She was dressed normally for once, but John didn’t let that fool him. She was the Sorceress Supreme for a reason, one that he never dared test for himself. 

“This place is about to become the bloody supernatural capital of the world!” Constantine scowled. “These energies won’t dissipate for centuries, and that’s if they’re left alone. With so many supernatural creatures about to invade, the only rival this place with have for magical nonsense will be bloody New Orleans!” 

Zatanna chuckled, shaking her head, “I doubt the Parisians will mind. After what they just went through, I’m willing to bet they’re ready to fight the Devil himself if he decides to make an appearance.”

“Don’t tempt him,” Constantine scowled as he lit another cigarette. They sat in a moment of silence, just watching the boats as they moved cheerfully across the shimmering water. John shook his head at the peace and serenity of it all, “I’m not saying it will be as bad as the last three years—”

“John,” Zatanna chided, “They just survived a Miraculous War. A Miraculous War. I think they can survive a few covens and vampires. Besides, it’s not like they’ll be unprotected. Ladybug and Mafdet still have two years of high school. They’ll stay active long enough for Paris to adjust to its new reality as a mystic hotspot, and then who knows what will happen? Maybe it’s a good thing. At the very least, it will give New Orleans and London a break.” 

“Fair enough,” Constantine grumbled, crossing his arms petulantly. And Zatanna smirked knowingly. 

“But,” she sang, “If you're that worried, you can always stick around. Keep an eye on the kids. Teach them how to navigate the supernatural world beyond the Miraculous.”

“I’m not a bloody babysitter,” he snapped. 

“Of course not,” she said with a small knowing smile. 

“I got shit to do! Demons to avoid!”

“You're a very busy man,” Zatanna agreed.

“Besides, the House doesn’t like to stay put too long!”

“She reflects her master.” Zatanna’s smile was soft and knowing as she watched John stew in the corner of her eye.

They sat in silence for a few more minute, the peace and serenity of the view enhanced by the sounds of the city surrounding them. Finally Constantine cursed and leapt up in a fury as he spun on the Sorcress yelling. 

“Fine! I’ll bloody stay and help the blighters out! But when this all goes to hell, I’ll be the first one to say I told you so!” 

“Drinks will be on me,” Zatanna agreed as she stood to follow him down the riverbank. 

“No,” John insisted, “Drinks are on you, from now until I’m out of this blasted city!” 

“Fine,” Zatanna laughed, “I’m the one who always pays anyway.”

“I pay!” Constantine cried. 

“Not enough,” Zatanna teased, “But that’s alright. After all, mine’s the job that actually pays.”

“Well, excuse me for not wanting to go around hawking smoke and mirrors!” Constantine groused. 

Zatanna laughed as they made their way down the river. The day was still young, and the celebrations had only just begun. They would worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. For now, it was time to rest and heal.

Chapter Text

“My daughter is a minor and an Italian citizen,” Lila’s mother declared to anyone who would listen. At this moment, anyone included Mayor Bougeois, Officer Roger, and other Italian delegates. “Clearly, she was manipulated by that villain!”

“As true as that may be, Ambassador,” the Mayor cajoled. “At this moment, there is no evidence of coercion. And with Mayura dead, and Hawkmoth in a coma, the people of Paris need a trial.”

“So you plan to accuse a minor!” 

Chloe closed the door on the shouting and glared down at the girl sitting almost contritely at the conference table. Crocodile tears slid down her cheek as Lila looked up at Chloe with the most ridiculous pout she had ever seen. “Chloe,” she simpered, “I had no choice but to help, Hawkmoth, you believe me, right?! You have no idea what he threatened me with!” 

“Oh, come off it, Rossi!” Chloe scoffed, “You know I don’t fall for your crap.” 

Lila’s face transformed immediately, her lips twisted into an impressive sneer. Chloe scoffed again and claimed the seat across from her as if it were her own personal throne. The key was confidence. Chloe had learned at a very young age that to be a Queen, you had to act like one, and she never dropped her act, not even when she wanted to lunge across the table and tear her opponent's hair out. 

“What do you want?” Lila snarled. 

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing! What could you possibly hope to gain from working with Hawkmoth…of all people?” 

It was Lila’s turn to scoff as she held up a device, and Chloe rolled her eyes when she realized it was a signal jammer. As if security would let through an unauthorized paper clip with everything going on right now. “You're not going to get me to incriminate myself,” Lila sneered.

“Oh please,” Chloe sneered right back, “As if I would even need to. Ladybug has enough to put you away for life, and we both know it.” 

“Assuming I ever go to trial,” Lila giggled, “And we both know that will never happen.” 

“ Don’t underestimate my father.”

“Don’t underestimate the power of diplomatic immunity,” Lila said sweetly, “Look, Chloe, you might be the Queen Bee of Paris, but there is a world beyond, and I’m still a minor. Even if Ladybug and your father are able to swing some deal that puts me in front of a jury, it’s pretty clear what the story will be.”

“Yes,” Chloe drawled, “You’re clearly such a poor manipulated little victim, clearly no one could ever blame you! Please, you're as innocent as a snake and we both know it.”

“Maybe,” Lila chirped, “But this snake knows the Mayura’s true identity. If Paris really needs someone to go to trial, I’m sure she’s a far better candidate than little ol’ me.”

“You bitch,” Chloe snarled. 

“Tell me, Chloe,” Lila said blithely, “Why does she get a free pass and not me? Is it because Adrien was Chat Noir? Sorry, I mean Lord Fox?” 

“You leave them alone,” Chloe snapped, slamming her hands on the table in her fury, “He’s suffered enough at your hands.”

Lila gasped mockingly, “What? Me? Hurt my dear Adrikins? For shame, Chloe, all I ever did was be his friend. Did you know his father threatened him? If I didn’t do as Gabriel wished, then he would have hurt his own son! And how could I have known any better? I’m just a young, silly girl with dreams of stardom who knows too much. Clearly, there’s only one way this can end.”

“Clearly,” Chloe snarled, straightening up and crossing her arms. “You’re leaving Paris and never coming back.”

“Oh, but never is such a long time—”

Lila stopped talking when Chloe rounded the table. She spun Lila’s chair around and grabbed the arms, forcing Lila to look into her eyes. Lila flinched away from the righteous fury burning in them. The Queen Bee of Paris spoke low and dangerously as the adults bickered outside.

“You are going to leave Paris. And before you do, you are going to return every scrap of clothing, device, and valuable that you conned out of our class. You will never work in the fashion industry again. And if you even think of stepping one toe out of Italy…well,” Chloe’s smile was as vicious as a cat eyeing a mouse, her miraculous glittering in her hair, and Lila sitting as still as a statue before her.“Just remember the first thing Hawkmoth taught us…We are all monsters, and I’m their Queen.” 

Chloe held Lila’s gaze for a few more moments, watching as the threat sank in. The little skank had enough sense not to sneer or scoff and adopted a mask of solid apathy. But Chloe could see the fear in her eyes, and she knew that Lila was remembering exactly how many akumas Chloe had created. How devastating Chloe was when akumatized. That, out of all of Hawkmoth’s victims, none could compare to the absolute terror she had unleashed. Lila might have been Hawkmoth’s number one stouge, but Chloe had always been his favorite weapon. Only now, Chloe, there wasn’t some shadowy villain pulling her strings. Now Chloe was as free as the rest of Paris, and she knew exactly how dangerous she could be. 

Chloe’s smile was far from nice, as she stood straight and brushed the non-existent dust from her sleeves. “So glad we understand each other. Have my classmates’ stuff delivered to the Hotel by the end of the day. Now, make sure I never see your ugly sausage hair again, your lack of fashion sense is an insult to my eyes.” 

Chloe then spun on her heels and marched out of the room like the Queen she was. She left the Italian Embassy knowing that this was not the end of Lila Rossi. But now the little witch knew better than to trespass in her kingdom ever again. And if she did…well, that Constantine fellow looked like he knew some good curses. She wondered if he would be willing to teach her some.

Marinette breathed deeply. The cold, clear mountain air was sharp in her lungs, but it was a cleansing pang. As if it were expelling the pollution of the city and giving her new life with every breath. Marinette opened her eyes and sighed in wonder, “Beautiful.” 

The Alps stretched below her, blue and green and larger than she ever dreamed anything natural could ever be. Up here at the peak of this unnamed mountain, the wild sang in her blood with the power of creation. She wanted nothing more than to shed her jacket and spread her brand new wings and fly up into that clear blue sky and dance among the clouds. It was just so beautiful, this world stretched out before her, so small and so large! 

And in that beauty, she was reminded of that vision of the future she had glimpsed within the unleashed power of the miraculous. She still could not remember what she had seen, but looking out at these monstrous and untamed mountains and life-filled valleys, Marinette thought she could almost catch a glimpse of that perfect world. In the curve of the rocks, and the endless tranquility of the sky, it was almost there. Marinette wanted nothing more than to fly out into it. 

A steady hand stopped her, and she turned to smile up at Damian, who was softly grinning down at her. She leaned into him and, for a moment, she just let herself be. With nothing but the sounds of life and creation in her ears, Marinette felt truly at peace for the first time since she defeated Hawkmoth. 

Despite her parents’ grounding, Marinette’s life had not slowed down at all. The Government might have declared a week-long holiday, but Paris had taken that as an excuse to have a week-long celebration instead of resting like normal people in a normal city. No, instead, Marinette was being overwhelmed with commissions from her celebrity clients. She had to negotiate new terms with the Justice League; thankfully, Damian and the other Bats were there to help with that. And she had to fulfill her Guardian duties now that the war was over. Luckily, school had yet to start up, although with Miss. Bustier quietly retiring and taking a long vacation to the country, Marinette found herself surprisingly optimistic about her future classes. 

Still, she was beyond happy to get moments like this, as she had yet to find time to truly celebrate her victory, what with all of the clean-up going on. However, after today, Su-han promised that she would be able to take a long vacation before the next crisis. 

“Are we ready?” Marinette finally asked after squeezing Damian’s hand.

He nodded and silently pulled her towards the newly constructed shrine. Built at the highest point of the mountain, the Guardians had practically magicked this new temple into existence once Marinette had determined the new home for the Tree of Balance. According to Master Su-han, it was a perfect replica of their temple in the Himalayas, with traditional Chinese architecture, and stone carvings of each of the animals of the miracle box lining the stone path leading to the circular entrance. Only where that temple was built to accommodate over a hundred Guardians and acolytes, this was built to accommodate only one. And where in the main temple, the courtyard was paved and served many functions, this temple’s courtyard was all lush grass and earth and served only one. 

As Damian and Marinette entered the temple, they transformed. Ladybug’s wings, which were normally no longer than her waist and folded neatly under her coats and blazers, now reached down to her knees, their gossamer lace shining like diamonds in the light of the sun. She had not retained the divine armour and glory of her unleashed form; however, her armour was now more complete and stylized. It was less like the modern body armour, and now more like the armour of the Amazonians, all black leather, and red metal, and a blood red crown upon her forehead. But there were no fabrics. Instead, she folded her wings over her shoulders like a cloak and strode purposefully into the gathering of heroes and Guardians. 

Mafdet’s new transformation was similar. The shadows no longer clung to him like a demon from the abyss, but his armor had sharpened into something darker and more dangerous. There was now an inhumane cast to his form with the ears sticking out from his hood, and his new tail flicking lazily behind him as he walked. Personally, Ladybug loved the new tail. It looked soft, and she wanted to know how it would feel curled around her wrist. However, when transformed, it only served to highlight that he was something…other now. A subtle reminder, just like her wings, that the two of them were no longer quiet human. 

They had held the power of the Miraculous unleashed, and they had emerged unscathed. They could not ignore that, and neither could the rest of the magical world. So they might as well own it. With this in mind, Ladybug took her place in the position of authority just as Dr. Fate and Clarian, the witch boy, lowered the Tree of Balance into its new home at the center of the pristine courtyard. Around them, the members of Justice League Dark, the Bats, the Miraculous Court, and the Guardians watched with careful solemnity as the Lord of Order and the Lord of Chaos fulfilled their duties.

As the Tree was lowered, a sense of peace and fulfillment filled the space, and light of every color was cast over the courtyard, causing the vines to blossom and the grass to grow simply at its approach. The power of creation sang in Marinette’s blood as she was more attuned to it and Tikki, more than ever before. And a sense of…rightness filled her heart as Tree’s magic descended into the clearing. 

“Um,” Red Robin hissed, as the Lords secured the Tree into the ground. “Was it wise to invite the Witch boy?” 

“Shh,” Bumble Queen hissed. “This is the Tree of Balance. It requires Order and Chaos to move it properly.”

“He knows better than to betray Ladybug,” Miss. Hound whispered, even as both Lords moved to bow low before Ladybug and Mafdet. “There’s a lot of cosmic politics involved.”

“Shhhh!” Batgirl and Nightwing hissed. 

Ladybug took a deep breath and gestured silently for the Lords to rise, and they came to stand behind her and Mafdet. Dr. Fate stood like a sentinel behind her, while Clarian lazily stroked his cat behind Mafdet. “May the accused step forward.” She demanded. 

Natalie stiffened from where she was standing beside Adrian and her Uncle. However, she stepped out of the ring of onlookers with her shoulders back and her head held high. Duusu flew beside her head, as she was the only holder not transformed at the moment. She did not hesitate to kneel before the leaders of the miraculous, and her voice was strong when she spoke. 

“Here I am, my lady, and for my crimes, I seek atonement according to my sins. Let justice be done according to what is right and true.” 

Ladybug held Natalie’s gaze for a moment. The woman met her unnatural gaze head-on and did not flinch. In her, Marinette saw everything she expected to see: guilt, pain, longing. However, there was also hope, determination, and strength shining in the woman’s steel straight spine, proud shoulders, and lifted chin. Ladybug nodded and turned to where the Guardians were gathered to her right. 

“What judgment have the Guardians deemed worthy?” 

Master Su-han stepped forward, “We have deemed that for her crimes against humanity, nature, and the miraculous, this woman is to stand here and guard the Tree of Balance. From this day until the day her sins are forgiven, she will stand guard. No companion will she seek. No aid will be given to her. Her days will be endless, and she shall never stray from her duty, lest true judgment be given her. Her only weapon shall be her miraculous, and her only friend the kwami. Let none come near this sacred place without facing her wrath.” 

“This judgment is acceptable to those of Order,” Ladybug declared. “What say those of Chaos?”

“This judgment is acceptable to those of Chaos,” Mafdet declared. “So shall it be.” 

Master Su-han nodded, and Natalie rose. She transformed, and Ladybug could not help but smile. She was still Mayura, however, now her transformation was…lighter than it was. Royal blue was still the primary color; however, instead of black’s and purples, her transformation was accented with bright greens and burnished yellows typically found in a peacock's coloring. It looked good on her, and Ladybug was happy to see the change. 

Once her transformation was complete, the Guardians stepped forward with the magical chain that would bind her to the Tree for the rest of her sentence. Master Su-han locked the silver shackle around her ankle himself, even as the others wrapped the end around the Tree’s trunk. 

“This will bind you to the tree, but not interfere with your movements,” he explained, “You will only feel it if you attempt to leave the Temple. None but the Holder of the Ladybug and the Cat working in tandem may break it, and only when you have atoned for your sins will it come undone. Do you understand?”

“I do,” Mayura agreed.

“Then it is done…good luck,” Master Su-han declared, and with that, he bowed to Ladybug and Mafdet and led the Guardians out of the Temple. Justice League Dark and Clarian followed them out, the witch boy whispering to his cat all the while. However, the Bats and the Miraculous Court lingered as Adrien and Alfred approached the Tree and its new Guardian. Mayura was just staring at the silver shackle when the two approached. 

Ladybug turned away to give them privacy, but she couldn’t help but overhear them. She was still having trouble believing that Adrien, who now wore the Butterfly and had chosen the name Chrysalis, was Chat Noir! It was preposterous! They were too different! And she had needed a lot of comforting from Chloe and Damian over her stupidity in the whole matter, even if they did laugh at her pain. But now, she let him be as he said his goodbyes. 

“Are you going to be ok?” he asked gently.

“I’ll be fine,” Mayura said softly, gently brushing his hair from where it fell sloppily over his new silver domino mask. “You just worry about yourself. There is a great big world out there, Adrien, and it's waiting for you.”

“I’ll look after him,” Alfred promised, resting a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “And we’ll be sure to come and visit when we can.”

“Thank you, Uncle,” Mayura said, her voice heavy as she moved to embrace her Uncle, “for everything.”

“Of course, my dear,” Alfred whispered lowly, but not low enough for the enhanced hearing of the Miraculous. “Always.” 

“I love you!” Adrien cried as he buried his head in Natalie’s shoulder, “Mom.” 

Mayura gasped and held him tighter, “I love you, too.” 

Ladybug had to brush a tear away quickly, as the two men approached them. Mafdet squeezed her hand reassuringly as they left the temple. Once outside, they transformed again and began walking over to the sleek plane that the Justice League used to bring them all out here. For a moment, no one spoke as the mountain breeze did its best to soothe their broken hearts. And Marinette took one more deep, satisfied breath, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen over them. 

A sense of finality had settled over her heart. While she knew her tenure as a superhero was far from over, she finally felt as if this particular chapter was over, and it was time to rest and celebrate. And so she smiled brightly and turned to her oldest partner. 

“She’s going to be ok.” She did not say it as a shallow reassurance. Instead, she simply stated it as fact because it was fact. Nathalie was strong and powerful. No one would be able to get near that Tree while she stood guard, even if she stood there for a hundred years. 

Adrien returned her grin and looked back. Nathalie was standing just inside the doorway, and when they turned back, she waved them on their way. Adrien waved back and then turned to enter the Javalin. 

“So what now?” he asked as he walked up the ramp. 

“I don’t know about you guys,” Alex declared, “But the whole city is celebrating. I say we join them!”

“You are all, of course, invited to the pool party at my place!” Chloe declared. 

“What about the rest of the class?” Kim asked innocently.

“Superheroes only,” Chloe declared with a flip of her hair. 

“We’ll celebrate with everyone else tomorrow,” Marinette reassured him. 

“At least with those who have apologized for the whole Lair-la thing,” Nino insisted. 

“Fine,” Marinette agreed. “Bat-clan, you in?”

“Obviously!” Jason declared, “How could I not when I am now officially a miraculous holder!” And with that, he flashed his new hair clips, with Ziggy posing above him. 

“Oh, just kill me now!” Tim groaned as he boarded the plane. 

“Don’t hate me, cause you ain’t me, Replacement,” Jason teased as he followed him up.

“Don’t worry, Tim,” Stephanie said, “We can kill him later.” 

“I still can’t believe we’re the only ones without a Miraculous!” Tim cried. “How is any of this fair?”

“Well,” Barbara mused, “I guess we now know which of us is going to be the next Batman.”

“Tim as Batman,” Dick mused, “Suddenly I am terrified for the future. Alex, please tell me the future is all sunshine, rainbows, and nothing ever goes wrong ever again!”

Alex’s grin could only be described as shit-eating as she passed him into the plane. Dick called after her, begging for a good prophecy. 

Marinette chuckled and turned back to Adrien and Damian, who was still holding her hand. She laughed again at Adrien’s expression and asked him, “What?”

“I still can’t believe I didn’t realize that you were Ladybug,” he laughed. “I mean, I literally called you our everyday Ladybug! How dumb am I?”

Damian clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s alright. Miraculous Magic is a powerful thing, it fools even the best of us.”

“But still!” Adrien cried, shaking his head, “How did I not see it?”

Marinette laughed with him, “Well, imagine how I feel! There I was practically stalking you, and I never once guessed you were Chat Noir! Let’s just agree that we are both blind and leave it at that.”

“Agreed,” Adrien cried, and then pursed his lips as he looked down at their joined hands. “So…are you guys…together?”

Marinette and Damian glanced at each other, blushed, and looked away. “I mean kinda—” Marinette stared, only to be cut off by Damian’s definitive,

“Yes”

Marinette was sure her face was the color of her Ladybug suit, and of course, Adrien had the gall to laugh at her. “Alright,” he said, “But just so you know, Damian, if you ever hurt her, I will take Plagg back just so I can Cataclysm you and scatter your ashes into the abyss.”

“Adrien!” Marinette hissed, but Damian just nodded and said,

“These terms are acceptable.”

“Men!” Marinette cried, rolling her eyes, but she still leaned into Damian’s hold. 

“Exactly,” Adrien agreed, “So have you been on your first date yet?”

“Why don’t you tell us what your plans are?” Marinette insisted. “Have you heard from your Aunt yet?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said, leading them into the plane. “She said I’m always welcome with them in London. And of course Alfred and Mr. Wayne have offered me a room in Gotham—”

“No,” Damian snapped.

“What?”

“You’re going to London,” Damian demanded, “I don’t need any more brothers.”

“Damian,” Marinette tried, but Damian just turned to her insistently.

“I do not need any more brothers!” 

“Ok, ok!” Marinette laughed, “Adrien, I guess you're going to London.”

Adrien tilted his head and grinned in a way that Marinette seriously questioned her sanity. How could she never notice he was Chat Noir when he was able to imbue that much mischief into a single grin? “I don’t know,” he sang. “You know, I heard Gotham is particularly nice this time of year!” 

“Adrien!” Damian growled. 

Adrien laughed as he ran into the plane. Damian would have followed him, but Marinette held him back for a few more minutes. Now it was just them on the grassy peak, and when Damian looked at her questioningly, she felt that it could have been just them in the whole world, and she would not have cared. 

“So we’re together now?” she teased, and she delighted in the way he looked away, embarrassed, and his ears turned red with his blush.

“I mean…only if you find that…acceptable.” 

Marinette could not stop smiling even if she tried. With a gentle hand, she turned Damian to face her and then leaned forward. It was a soft, sweet, chaste kiss, but it lingered as he immediately responded to her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, as she wrapped hers around his neck. His tail flicked in anticipation, and she knew he could feel her wings under her jacket fluttering with joy. She held his piercing green eyes, willing him to see all the love and safety that she felt for him in hers once she pulled back. 

“I think I can be persuaded,” she whispered.

“Good,” he said, pulling her against him so close that she gasped. He captured her lips in a searing kiss, and she felt as if he was trying to devour her as he channeled all of the passion he kept so carefully leashed into that single action. Marinette returned with equal fervour, clutching him as tightly as she could. Because she could. Because it was him. 

She had found him. Her Cat. Her perfect partner, and now that she had him, she was never letting him go. 

A sharp whistle broke them from their daze, and they turned to see Jason, Adrien, Alex, and Stephanie leaning out of the Javelin with matching smirks as they hooted and hollered their congratulations. Damian snarled and pulled away from Marinette, yelling that he was going to kill them all as he ran onto the plane. Marinette could not help but laugh as she followed him more sedately. However, before she ascended the ramp, she could not help but turn back one more time.

The sun shone brightly, as white clouds drifted lazily in the clean mountain breeze. The red and grey temple sat serenely on its peak. The top of the Tree of Balance shone just above the top of its wall, with the glory of the Alps surrounding it. She could not see Mayura, but she knew she was there, settling into her new centuries-long post. Maybe Marinette should feel sorry for the woman. But as she breathed deeply of the crisp mountain air, there was only that feeling of rightness and completion in her heart. 

“Is everything alright, Marinette?” Tikki asked, flying up to rest on her shoulder. 

“Yeah, Tikki,” Marinette said with a sigh and a smile. “It’s just…this really is the perfect day. Isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” Tikki giggled.

Marinette hummed her agreement, and with one last look, she nodded and turned to enter the plane, where her friends and family were waiting for her. 

“Well,” she said, “Let’s go home.”