Chapter Text
"You haven't lost me."
Through her tears, Ladybug looked over at Chat Noir. "Why don't you just give up on me?" she asked. "I lost all of the Miraculous. I'm the worst Guardian ever. I wanted to control everything... I didn't listen to you... I lied to you... I kept you at a distance. Every time you offered me a helping hand I never took it." Overcome with despair, she put her head back to her knees. "I really made a mess of everything!"
A moment passed.
"M'lady," Chat Noir said, reaching his hand out toward her.
Looking up, Ladybug heard a clap of thunder as she stared at him. Then, after slowly extending her arm, she clasped his hand and he pulled her up into an embrace.
"We're going to get them back one by one, until the very last. And we'll make sure this never happens again."
"You... and me?" she asked hesitantly.
"You, the best superhero there ever was," he replied before breaking the hug. "Them, the people of Paris," he added, gesturing to the large crowd who suddenly appeared on the streets below. "And me, your loyal partner."
Ladybug stared at Chat Noir for a brief moment before closing her eyes. Opening them again, she looked straight ahead to the image of the stolen Miraculouses hovering in front of the Eiffel Tower. And she knew in her heart that what he had said was the truth.
The Rabbit, the Mouse, the Pig, the Fox, the Ox, the Goat, the Tiger, the Bee, the Dragon, the Horse, the Monkey, the Snake, the Turtle, the Dog, the Peacock, the Rooster and especially the Butterfly Miraculous, they were all going to be retrieved.
Seventeen Miraculouses. That's what they had to get back.
************************************
But maybe not.
Pennybug ran through the burrow, quickly followed by Flairmidable. Reaching the opening they both jumped through, landing on a rooftop.
"Fluff, Kaalki, divide!" she said before transforming back into the normal Ladybug. Then she opened her eyes and gasped as she saw the scene before her.
It was a scene straight out of an end-of-the-world horror movie. Paris was engulfed in an orange haze while three monstrous beings, duplicates of the sentimonster Strike Back, were destroying the city.
Ladybug glanced around in a panic, finding her other superheroes close to total defeat. Her eyes finally landed on Chat Noir, who was battling one of the sentimonsters. "Hurry!" she said to Flairmidable. "He won't last long!"
Grabbing the ball from his neck, he called out his power. "Fetch!"
The ball glowed and quickly flew off. A moment later, the ball and the akumatized object appeared in his hands.
With a smile, Ladybug picked up the frog stuffed animal and ripped off its arm, releasing the purple and black butterfly from within. "No more evil doing for you, megakuma," she said before capturing it with her yo-yo. Then she threw the ticket into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"
Millions of magical tiny ladybugs dispersed across the city, removing the frog marking from the backs of everyone's necks.
Ladybug turned to Flairmidable and clasped his hands. "Well done! You did what needed to be done on your first try. I knew you were the one I needed. You really are the best Adri..." she stopped and put her hands to her mouth. "Uh, I mean..."
He smiled. "Flairmidable. Call me Flairmidable."
She smiled back. "It really suits you."
The pair fist bumped. "Pound it," they said simultaneously.
Then they flew off.
From his hiding spot behind a chimney, Chat Noir frowned as he finished eavesdropping on their conversation. Once they left, he reluctantly followed.
And while all that was going on, something else was happening not too far away.
The kwamis in Marinette's room were all speculating about what was going on in the city around them. Once Fluff and Kaalki rejoined the group, they were able to explain what happened so far. But their discussion was interrupted when a white vertical circle appeared in the center of the room.
"What is that?" Daizzi asked as they floated towards it.
No one had the chance to answer the question because a white and blue superhero with rabbit ears on her head suddenly stepped through the circle. Seeing the kwamis, she smiled. "Hey guys."
"Bunnyx!" Fluff announced in excitement. "I can't believe it's you! It feels like it's been forever. Wait, no. Actually, maybe it was yesterday. Or maybe two days from now?"
"Hi Fluff," she replied with a laugh.
Wayzz flew up to the superhero. "It's an honor to officially meet you, but I'm afraid the Guardian isn't here. She's in the middle of an akuma attack."
"I know," she replied. "But this needs to happen now before it's too late."
A murmur of confusion ran through the kwamis.
"What needs to happen?" Wayzz asked, feeling uneasy about the situation.
"I need to take my Miraculous from the Miracle Box."
More murmurs.
"Something bad is going to happen in the near future," Bunnyx continued, moving over to Marinette's sewing kit. "And I need to make sure that my pocket watch is safe." She lifted the cover, her eyes landing on the spools of thread. Then she tapped four of them, causing a secret compartment to open up.
She was about to reach toward the Miracle Box but stopped when Wayzz flew in front of her. "I must insist that you wait until Marinette comes back. She is the Guardian and in charge of all of the Miraculouses. Including yours."
"I know," Bunnyx replied. "But she also trusted me to keep the Rabbit Miraculous to use in case of emergencies. And this is definitely an emergency."
Wayzz didn't budge, unsure about what to do.
"Please," she continued. "We don't have much time."
With a heavy sigh, Wayzz moved to the side. "Coming from you, that's a very concerning sentence."
Now that the kwami was out of the way, Bunnyx reached down to the Miracle Box. After popping open the correct compartment, she grabbed the pocket watch. As soon as she touched it, Fluff disappeared as she was sucked back into the Miraculous. But a moment later she was back, the watch now activated.
"Whoa, that was weird," Fluff murmured, her eyes spinning around.
Bunnyx placed the watch in her pocket. Then she reached into her other pocket and removed an exact copy. "It's a fake," she explained to the kwamis as she placed it inside and closed everything up.
Done with her mission, she turned to Fluff. "Come on, we have to go."
Wayzz tried to stop her once again. "I really must insist..."
"I'm sorry," Bunnyx interrupted. "But this is necessary. You'll all understand soon enough. Keep each other safe, and just remember that this is what's meant to be."
Leaving the kwamis with her cryptic message, Bunnyx and Fluff went into the white circle. Once they were gone, the circle collapsed on itself and disappeared.
Silence for a moment.
"So," Xuppu finally said. "Who's going to be the one to explain this to Marinette? Not it!"
A chorus of 'Not it' went around the room, leaving Wayzz putting his hand to his face in exasperation.
************************************
Flairmidable and Gabriel Agreste glared at each other. Then they both reached for the object across the table.
Gabriel quickly put his ring back on while Flairmidable looked at the Peacock Miraculous in his hand. Then he said a word. "Fetch." Once again his ball glowed and flew off.
Moments later the ball and Ladybug's yo-yo appeared. He slid the yo-yo open before Gabriel grabbed it from him.
"Aha," he said with delight. "You've lost Ladybug. Finally!" With an evil laugh he immediately reached in and started removing each Miraculous from inside, placing them on the desk. The pocket watch was the first one out, followed by the rest. "My greatest wish will finally come true," he continued.
Flairmidable stood up from his seat. "Lay down," he said, detransforming into Felix. "Barkk, I renounce you." Then he removed the necklace and placed it down before walking out of his uncle's study, the Peacock Miraculous in hand.
While Gabriel stared at the collection of Miraculouses in front of him, Ladybug's yo-yo disappeared. But he didn't care at all. It was completely useless now.
A bright smile on his face, he knew that he finally had what he needed. He didn't even need Ladybug's earrings and Chat Noir's ring anymore. And that was because he had the Rabbit Miraculous. With its power of Time, Gabriel could simply go back and make sure that Emilie never fell into her enchanted sleep in the first place.
He finally did it. He would finally save her, and everything would have been worth it.
So with pure happiness, he picked up the pocket watch. When nothing happened at his touch alone, he quickly put it in his jacket pocket. Then when nothing happened again, he took it out.
"Why isn't this working?" he hissed out loud. "Where is the Rabbit kwami? How do you activate this?"
His attempts to figure it out got increasingly more desperate until he had to stop. In anger, he squeezed the watch in his hand. And he was surprised when it cracked.
For a moment he was afraid that he had broken it, but then the truth dawned on him.
"This is a fake!" he screamed, slamming it down into the desk. The plaster watch broke into a dozen pieces on impact.
Full of panic, Gabriel quickly checked the other Miraculouses. Then he exhaled as tried to regain his composure.
This was definitely a big setback, but not all hope was lost. At least the rest of the jewels were authentic, and he would use them to complete his original plan.
He would use them to get Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses and finally make his ultimate wish.
************************************
Ladybug stared at Chat Noir for a brief moment before closing her eyes. Opening them again, she looked straight ahead to the image of the stolen Miraculouses hovering in front of the Eiffel Tower. And she knew in her heart that what Chat Noir had said was the truth.
Their hearts full of determination, and with an extra embrace, the superhero duo called it a night and left in separate directions.
Before she reached her house, however, Ladybug screeched to a stop on top of a building as she saw a white vertical circle appear in front of her. And that particular sight only meant one thing.
"Bunnyx," she whispered as the superhero climbed out.
"Hey Minibug. Tough night, huh?"
"You could say that," Ladybug replied weakly. "I'm assuming you're here because of the mistake I made?"
Bunnyx gave her a compassionate smile. "Mistakes are meant to be made sometimes."
A blank stare. "What does that mean?"
"It means that mistakes are inevitable. We all make mistakes, Minibug. Some bigger than others. But at the end of the day it's what we do after the mistake that really matters."
Ladybug looked at her, not really understanding. "Well, what now? Are you going to go back and fix things?"
She laughed. "I'm not going to do anything. It's up to you now." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the duplicate watch. "I think it's time," she continued, tossing the Miraculous to Ladybug.
Catching it in her hands, she looked back at her. "Time? Time for what? For me to go back and fix this?"
Bunnyx took a step towards the circle. "There's no need to fix what was always meant to be. Good luck, Minibug. I know you'll do what needs to be done." And with that, she went back into the burrow and disappeared.
Left behind, Ladybug stared at the spot where the superhero was standing a moment before. Then she threw her arms up in the air in frustration. "How was that helpful?" she shouted into the emptiness. "Bunnyx! Come back and explain what that means!" She paused, waiting for a response. But there was none.
Muttering to herself, she put her hand to her forehead. "Great, just great. How am I supposed to find you now?" Then she gasped as a thought came to her. After glancing down at the watch in her hand, she hurried off in a new direction.
A few minutes was all that was needed for her to reach her destination. And only one minute more was needed to find the person she was seeking.
"Ladybug," fifteen year-old Alix said in surprise, stumbling upon the superhero as she was walking back home. "Are you okay? Did Shadow Moth really get all of the Miraculouses?"
"Almost all of them." Then she said two more words. "Spots off." In a flash of red light, Ladybug detransformed.
And Alix's mouth fell open when she saw the girl who appeared in her place. "Marinette? You're Ladybug?"
She nodded. "Against all odds and logical reasoning, yes I am."
"But... but why are you telling me? Aren't you supposed to keep your identity a secret?"
"Yes I am, but you're just going to find out soon enough." Then she stopped speaking and held out her hand.
Alix's eyes widened as they landed on the Rabbit Miraculous being held out toward her.
"Alix Kubdel, it's time."
"Time," she repeated, confused. "Time for what? For me to go back and stop Shadow Moth from getting the Miraculouses?"
"No. There's no need to fix what was meant to be."
Alix scrunched up her face. "What does that mean?"
A shrug. "I'm not really sure. But you're the one who originally told me that."
"I did?"
"Yeah. Uh, actually no. But you will. Uh, wait. No, maybe you did already. Anyway," Marinette said, shaking her head. "It's time for you to finally have your Miraculous. From now on, it's yours."
"You mean, I can keep it?"
"Yes, always keep it with you. But remember, you're the hero of the last chance. So you can only use it for emergencies."
Alix smiled. "This is so awesome."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Try it out."
With a nod, she took the watch from Marinette. Once in her grasp, a white rabbit kwami instantly appeared in front of her. "Hi, it's so nice to meet you again! My name's Fluff and I'll be your kwami!"
Trying to contain her excitement, Alix said the words she had been practicing in her head for months. "Fluff, clockwise!"
A flash of blue light revealed a younger version of Bunnyx, complete with umbrella. "This is awesome!" she repeated, checking out her costume.
"Very awesome," Marinette replied. "But never forget that you are the keeper of the secrets now. With your Miraculous, you'll know everything. Everything that's happened and everything that's going to happen. You'll know everyone's identities including Shadow Moth's. But it's important that you never reveal those secrets to anyone. Not even me."
"You can trust me, Marinette."
"I know. I already have. No wait, I guess I will? Ugh, I don't know. This has been a really long day and this whole time thing is too confusing."
Bunnyx laughed. "I'll figure it out. But just to clarify, I shouldn't go back in time to stop Shadow Moth from taking the Miraculouses?"
"Yes, you shouldn't.
"Are you sure? We could avoid the whole problem altogether."
Marinette smiled. "Don't worry. As a wise person once told me, every problem has a solution."