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To remove all secrets, the spell recited, the orb it was contained in shattering into hundreds pieces. Magick pulses, glowing in every colour; it separates into thin rays of light, each hitting a hero in the chest. Very few things happen: Constantine’s body flickers as dark markings cover his whole skin, some people slump, as if all confidence has been sucked out of them, others have simple changes in their suits.
A few guys have skirts around their hips, some girls and women stand taller, prouder.
Then the biggest change of them all.
Red Robin gets hit and the changes are immediate and striking, turning the bird themed vigilante into a completely different person, a whole ‘nother hero.
Tim remembers a time when being a hero was something forced on him, on them, by an old man refusing to see changes.
He remembers wearing three different suits, each of them unique and heavy, but all intensely loved.
From the black, red and gold of the Dragon, to the black leather and emerald green of the Black Cat, to, finally, like coming home, the black spotted red of the Ladybug.
Elemental. Stray. Carmine Deva.
He remembers building a Team, together with others, that still holds true despite having relinquished the Magick they all so, so loved, and cherished.
Then the beam hits him square in the chest, and he remembers .
His ears burn, and the Earrings come to life, Tikki waking within them after years of dormancy, urging him to say the spell words that will make his once life into his new reality.
“Tikki,” he murmurs, as his vision fills with white. “Spots On.”
There’s a stranger standing where Red Robin once stood, though the suits are the same colours.
A vibrant red, black and accented in a dark gold.
The base suit is black, a tight, sleeveless turtleneck and sturdy pants, with a red cloth with black spots draped over the body to resemble a roman dress, golden, round pins at each shoulder and a pointed belt at the waist.
Gold arms and leg braces are held in place by thick, leather strings, sitting snugly over gloves and combat boots.
A red, black spotted domino mask covers his eyes, irises an ethereal blue, and black-now-blue hair is tied up with a ribbon in a short ponytail.
A yoyo is tied around the hips by its own string.
Wonder Woman trembles, breath hitching. “They’re back.”
“Who are you,” Batman demands, white lenses staring at impossibly blue eyes.
“You already know.”
“What is the meaning of this,” Robin demands, just like his father, katana drawn and ready to cut.
“I’m a hero, Damian,” he says, voice layered with power. “You should know what it means.”
“Carmine!” a young woman shouts, barreling into the Watchtower from a glowing portal. She’s dressed like a hero, with an obvious cat theme and an Asian influence in terms of suit and updo, but she radiates the confidence coming from years out on a battlefield.
She wraps her arms around not-Red Robin, hugging him tight.
He hugs her back, just as encompassing.
“Batman,” Red Robin- Carmine- starts, arms still wrapped around the female hero, “This is Èyùn. My partner.”
“Your partner.”
Eyes narrow into sharp slits. “What you say now will shape our relationship for the rest of our lives. If we’ll have one. So choose your words carefully, B.”
“What do you mean by partner?” Red Hood asks.
“Hero partner, life partner. Either one, but also both.”
“Life partner?” Nightwing asks, eyebrows rising high.
“I’m his wife,” Èyùn says, lifting her hand to show the simple gold band on her ring finger, Carmine doing the same.
“You got married and didn’t invite us?” Batgirl demands.
“I didn’t get married the legal way, but yes I’m married. No, I will not regret it.”
“Red Rob- Cram- Tim ,” Batman says, shrugging his cowl off. “You just turned eighteen. How can you already be married?”
“I knew I was going to marry him only a month after we started dating,” Èyùn says fondly. “Our marriage may not be normal, and the middle of a battlefield was probably not the magical place we planned, but I know Tim doesn’t regret it and neither do I.”
“You got married in the middle of a battlefield?!”
It was the last battle in the war against Le Papillion, now named Monarch, that they had Magick bind them together down to their very souls.
Their team died and was brought back to life twice, already their Miraculouses swapped around, gathered, put to safety, as they fell one by one, only to be given back as soon as the Miraculous Cure was cast and their corpses regained life’s warmth.
While the Ladybug and Black Cat’s Miraculouses are the most powerful, the Five of the Inner Circle come all as a close second.
Fox, Bee, Turtle.
Peafowl and Butterfly, unavailable for known reasons.
The Fox Chosen, Nathaniel, the Hero Deception, bound them together, hiding them within Mirage as he did so, the other Heroes choosing to spend the few moments it took for the spell to hold to watch as they bound themselves together irrevocably.
Then, right as the rings appeared on their fingers, Monarch’s worst akuma to date appeared and severely injured half of them with a swipe of his clawed fingers.
Adrien, former Chat Noir, turned forcefully into Bast, a cat themed akuma that only brought chaos and death in his wake.
“I can’t do it anymore,” Chat Noir says, deep eye bags under his eyes. His green eyes are dull, blond hair dishevelled. “I can’t.”
Ladybug and Elemental share a glance. “Chat-”
“I CAN’T!”
“Chaton, please…”
“I can’t, milady, I can’t. Father… he’s relentless and demanding and I can’t say no!” Chat slips his Ring off, black light leaving Adrien in his place. “I’m tired, and hungry, and my grades are slipping and father is threatening to pull me out of school if I don’t do everything he says and- and-”
“Chaton…”
“I can't be perfect Adrien and the hero Chat Noir at the same time,” Adrien whispers, holding Plagg in his hands. “I can only stop being one of the two.”
“You’re one of us,” Elemental says. “This won’t change anything. You’re still a hero, Adrien.”
“A hero would be able to tell their parents their wants, Tim.”
Red light fades as soon as it comes, Tim walks closer to Adrien. “Your dad is an abusive asshole, he wouldn’t hear reason even if you tried.”
“I know I wasn’t a good hero,” Adrien says, only a few days later. The Ring is still with him, but Chat Noir hasn’t made an appearance since Then.
“You were as good as you could be,” Tim answers, empty dining room in a too-big house used just by the two of them. “Still are.”
Adrien shakes his head. “I could’ve been better; I don’t think I wanted to. Chat Noir was freedom for me. I didn’t want to add the, the weight of being a hero to it. Even if that’s why I was Chat Noir in the first place.”
“You didn’t choose to be a hero.”
“You didn’t, Marinette didn’t. You’re still better than I’ll ever try to be.”
The silence between them is heavy, filled with unsaid words and unresolved pain.
They’ve known each other for far longer than this, after all.
“Can I ask you to do something for me?”
“What is it?”
A cold ring gets passed from one hand to another, its appearance shifting from a thick, metal band, to a cat’s head with two gleaming green stones for eyes sculpted into the metal of the new ring on Tim’s finger.
“Take care of her.”
“We won’t stop being friends, Adrien. You deserve to be a hero.”
“Maybe in the future I’ll be back, but now… Now it’s best if I don’t stay at all.”
The next day, news of Adrien leaving Paris in favour of going to temporarily live with his aunt in London spread through College Francois Dupont like Wildfire.
The new cat hero, Stray, makes his debut the next day.
“Why did you never tell us?” Batman asks. There’s hurt in his voice, barely hidden by methodical curiosity.
“I will never regret becoming Robin,” Carmine says, careful, after a heavy pause. ”But a lot of things, in my life, got ruined because of it. I didn’t want to ruin this.”
“You’ll never get rid of me,” Èyùn says, her hand on Carmine’s shoulder.
“I could become a villain in the future.”
“We are not having this discussion again, mon amour. If you’re turning villain, so am I. So will our whole team. As Royale once said ‘we’re ride or die, bitch’.”
A beat passes, then, “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”