Chapter Text
Marinette is shocked when Ladybug jumps in front of her. Wait — that’s not Ladybug, the hairstyle is different, what’s going on?
“Who are you?” Marinette asks, looking at this false Ladybug.
“My name’s Ladybug,” the stranger answers.
“That can’t be,” Marinette says. “There’s already someone named Ladybug here, you can’t be Ladybug.”
The stranger curses under her breath. “Where did Bunnix send me?”
Bunnix? Who in the world is Bunnix? And who in the world is this stranger?
“Tell me all about your Ladybug,” the stranger says, gripping Marinette’s shoulders. It would be terrifying if it weren’t also kind of hot.
“Um,” Marinette says, “well, she’s been fighting the akumas sent by Hawk Moth. There was a while where she was without a partner, but ever since Stormy Weather’s akumatization she’s had someone else at her side.”
“What does she look like?” fake-Ladybug demands.
“She looks kind of like you, actually. But she has brown eyes, her hair is different, and her costume is different.”
“Okay, so…her identity must be different from mine.” fake-Ladybug lets go of Marinette and starts pacing. “But she still goes by Ladybug.”
“I mean, what would you go by?” Marinette demands. “You go by Ladybug, too.”
“I had to make that up on the spot,” fake-Ladybug responds. “Your Ladybug probably had more time here, I need to call Bunnix…” She slides open her yo-yo. “Why isn’t she on my contacts?”
“Who’s Bunnix?” Marinette asks.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m going to see if I can find your Ladybug, because she’ll at the very least know more than I do about this timeline.”
Oh. So Bunnix is connected to time travel. That’s what’s going on.
She closes up her yo-yo and zooms off. Marinette watches her go.
“Have you seen this?” Alya asks, and she shows Marinette a picture. “There are two Ladybugs now. That’s so weird.”
“It’s time travel,” Marinette says. “I…actually talked to the other Ladybug. Not the one that we’re more familiar with.”
“Wait, you did? Why didn’t you tell me sooner, girl?” Alya asks.
“There was some sort of portal that opened in front of me, I thought she was an akuma, but she mentioned someone called Bunnix and also a timeline. So…yeah, time travel, probably through Bunnix.”
“So…that Bunnix is probably another Miraculous holder,” Alya says, writing it down. “Okay. That’s a clue. Why was she going to talk to our Ladybug, then?”
“She wanted to know about the Guardian,” Marinette says, dubious. “She thought Ladybug would have her answers.”
Alya’s eyes light up.
“The Guardian?”
“I don’t know what she was talking about, before you ask,” Marinette says. “She was kind of vague about it. I have no idea what was going on with her.”
“I know a little about the Guardian, but I’m still trying to figure it out,” Alya says. “I know that Ladybug has more contact with the Guardian than her partner, and they hand out other Miraculous besides the Ladybug and Black Cat that are currently out.”
“Okay,” Marinette says. She’s a little dubious as to how exactly Alya’s aware of this information…
“And I’m pretty sure there’s a whole order of them. Take a look at this symbol,” Alya says, swiping back through her gallery to show Marinette some sort of logo. “I think the Guardians either were or are an organization, and they’re trying to get Hawk Moth and Feather’s Miraculous back.”
“Well, that’s been their goal,” Marinette says. “Even before any of us were aware of a Guardian.”
“You’re right,” Alya says. “Even before either of the heroes knew about it, really. That was always the endgame.”
“Yeah,” Marinette says. “The point was to stop Hawk Moth. Which involves taking away his Miraculous, now.”
“Yeah,” Alya says. “If that other Ladybug tries to contact you…tell me?”
“I will,” Marinette says. “I might not be able to tell you anything, but…I will be able to tell you something about the conversations we have.”
The fake-Ladybug lands on Marinette’s balcony while Marinette’s working on sketching out a design.
“Marinette,” the fake-Ladybug says, “I…would like to explain to you about my timeline.”
She straightens. “Tell me about it.”
“Do you know Adrien Agreste?” fake-Ladybug asks, which is…strange.
“Why are you asking me about a model?” Marinette answers. “I mean, I’d love to talk with him, as a designer, but…how do you know Adrien Agreste?”
“Oh,” fake-Ladybug says. “He must not have managed to get to school in this timeline. That sucks. We’re, um, classmates. I gravitated towards you because we’re friends.”
A lot must be different for this to happen, huh.
“I’m the Ladybug holder, and my partner’s name is Chat Noir. He’s definitely a guy. But if we have one thing in common with the pair in this universe, it’s the romantic tensions.”
Oh. Marinette thinks that’s kind of a shame — Ladybug is pretty, in an aesthetic sense, but she also looks like Marinette which makes it just a little bit weird. Not that weird, though.
“I tried to get the Rabbit Miraculous from the Guardian. He’s the same, at least, but he didn’t really believe me. I’m just wondering right now where Chat Noir is — if I stranded him back home or if he’s here too.” fake-Ladybug starts to pace. “You mentioned Hawk Moth, who’s the peacock holder?”
“He goes by Feather,” Marinette says. “He’s a little bit sickly. More forward-facing than Hawk Moth, and we’re pretty sure he’s a lot younger, too. Young enough for them to be father and son.”
“Huh,” fake-Ladybug says. “In my timeline, the Peacock’s a woman around Hawk Moth’s age. Old enough to be his significant other, but I never got the impression that they were actually in a relationship. She goes by Mayura. The Peacock Miraculous is damaged, that’s probably why Feather comes off as sickly. It’s an atrophy that damages the user the more the holder uses the Miraculous.”
Marinette frowns. Now she feels bad for Feather, but…Feather’s the villain here. He deserves to be defeated.
“Do you have any crushes, or anything?” fake-Ladybug asks.
“Are you flirting with me?” Marinette squints.
fake-Ladybug startles. “Um. No?”
“It sounded like you were,” Marinette says. “Sorry if I got the wrong impression, but…I mean, if you were, I would have been into it. You’re interesting, even if this is temporary.”
fake-Ladybug blushes. “It wasn’t my intention, but…you shouldn’t. I’m not going to stick around here forever. I’m not replacing your Ladybug.”
“I know,” Marinette says. “I’ve been calling you fake-Ladybug in my head.” She gets up from the chair, and steps towards fake-Ladybug. “But you’re still a real person, and you’re pretty. So…don’t be afraid to have a brief distraction, especially if you have something going on with your partner.”
“Nothing there,” alternate-Ladybug says. “He loves me. I don’t feel the same way.” She places a finger under Marinette’s chin and tilts it just the slightest bit up — alternate-Ladybug is only a few centimeters taller than Marinette, really. “But I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’m more sturdy than you think,” Marinette says with a smirk.