Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Marinette pulled at a filing cabinet with all her might. “Girl, it’s not going to budge,” Alya commented as she rummaged through papers on the floor. Nino looked around, looking for something, anything that may be of use and Adrien stared at the shredded, worn, decaying clothes that still sat on the mannequins of the boutique. Before they officially went to explore the Hermitage, the group had decided to rummage through the boutique one last time, in hopes to find something that Marinette may have missed.

“There’s…. something inside!” Marinette responded, letting go of the handle and falling backwards. “There’s a hidden compartment back there.” She panted heavily, as she sat up. “I heard something move in there.” 

Nino moved the cabinet away from the wall. “Look. We can pry the back open.” He took the crowbar he found in the factory and pried the metal open. A ring was heard in the room and the group all eyed the metal object that fell. Alya picked it up, inspecting it with narrow eyes. She showed it to the group, who stared at her with equal curiosity. In her hands was a slightly rusted silver key with a red handle, and only one question ran through everyone’s mind. What did it unlock?

**********

Roger led the group through the dormitory halls. He stopped, opening the door to let Adrien look inside. “And… this is your room. It’s not very big, but you’ll like it here, Mr….”

“Agreste! I’m Marinette’s penpal from London.”

He nodded, “Breakfast starts at seven AM, and dinner’s at seven PM. It’s against the rules to be in your room during class hours. You can ask your friends to fill you in on the rest of the rules…” The trio beamed at him innocently. “…that is, if they can remember them!” They watched as Roger walked away. Adrien put down the suitcase that he brought, and the others all gathered in the room, inspecting the view of the courtyard and the comfort of the bed. 

“This is great, dude,” Nino smiled. “It finally feels like you’re finally a student at Kadic!” 

“Only thing left to do is get rid of the virus,” Alya added. The mood soured, but Alya continued. “On the bright side, I have something that should make our fights much easier.” The others perked up, listening intently. “As we all know, traversing Lyoko can be a slight pain. So, Tikki and I have worked on vehicles to get around.” The other’s eyes sparkled in excitement; suddenly, they were all very eager to go to Lyoko. 

The group walked through the courtyard, an unfamiliar buzz around them. This may have been the first time they were excited to go into Lyoko. For the most part, Lyoko was a dangerous, a world filled with monsters and a menacing, instantly killing sea below the stretch of land. They knew the terrain fairly well: they knew the location of the tunnels in the ice sector, the oasis in the desert, the lake in the forest. But that was it. They knew nothing else of the virtual land that they frequented. They only theorised where the supercomputer came from and what it was for. They didn’t even know what XANA was! Just a self-aware entity within the barren land? They didn’t think so.

**********

“WOOOHOOOO!” On the calm desert sector, Nino zoomed past several sand structures, skilfully manoeuvring on his overboard. “You really did a great job, Alya! XANA’d better behave himself now that we’ve got these bad boys!” He grinned as he did a flip mid-air, stopping just shy from the edge of the platform. A bike zoomed past, Marinette riding it, quickly skidded to a stop. Adrien came to a stop on his own vehicle, the overwing. 

“Be careful all the same,” Alya said from within the lab. “I didn’t have time to perfect the program that calculates trajectory…!”

Adrien accelerated on his overwing, quickly overtaking Nino. “Oh, no you don’t,” Nino smiled as he accelerated, leaving a large trail of virtual dust behind them. As they raced over the desert sector’s plateau, a lazer flew by them. Nino derailed from his path, and slammed into one of the desert structures, whilst Adrien changed direction to properly observe what had fired at them. “What was that?”

Alya adjusted her glasses as she looked at the screen. “I don’t know. But it's coming closer.” 

Marinette squinted her eyes as she looked over the horizon, spotting the creature that came close to the Warriors. The monster had a sleek metal coating, and a structure that resembled a giant spider. On its head, a large Eye of XANA was imprinted, like a target waiting to be hit. “That’s… new. We’ve never seen a monster like  that before.”

“Maybe XANA just created it,” Adrien commented.

“In any case, it says here that it’s got more life points than the others,” Alya informed. “Adrien! There’s a deactivated tower not far away. Direction north by northwest! Hurry up and get out of there! Marinette, Nino, try to stall that thing!”

Nino ran up to the monster as it kneeled and took a firing stance. “Hey, you overgrown spider! Looking for me?” The monster aimed and fired in milliseconds, allowing Nino a small amount of time to shield himself. Marinette drove by it on her overbike, swinging her yoyo towards one of the monster's legs to try pulling it off its feet. The monster quickly turned to her, shooting her with an array of lasers, deflecting her yoyo. One of the lasers hit her bike, causing her to fall forward and crash landing into the desert plateau. Nino sung his shield, but whilst he was unequipped, the monster turned to him, firing square at his torso, promptly devitalising him. 

Marinette stood up hastily, swinging her yoyo to create a shield. She stared the monster down, eyeing it quietly in attempts to find a way to hit the eye of XANA. But she struggled to analyse it properly. The monster aimed at her feet, which weren’t covered by the yoyo shield. She yelped in pain, kneeling down and dropping the yoyo, and giving the monster enough time to brutally devirtualize her.

**********

Alya drummed her fingers along the armrest of the chair as the elevator doors opened, revealing the two kwamis, two worn out teenagers and Adrien, who wasn’t devirtualized painfully. As they sat down, Alya spoke, her voice coaxed in worry. “If XANA’s going to start programming new monsters, it means our troubles have only just begun.”

“One thing’s for sure; we don’t stand a chance against those Tarantulas !” Nino said as he crossed his arms. The others made a face. “Tarantulas! The new monsters. It’s a fitting name, don’t you think?”

“What worries me is that XANA has found a way to increase his power,” Tikki said. 

“You think he’s still evolving?” Adrien asked.

“If that monster is anything to go by, then yes. We have to be ready for anything and everything.”

“Easier said than done,” Alya murmured. 

“Come on, we have a field trip today, remember?” Marinette groaned as the group headed back.

“Sugarcube,” Plagg whispered. “Do you think we’re also evolving?”

“I don’t know,” she confessed. “But maybe it may make fighting XANA easier.”

**********

Marinette paced around the courtyard, clutching her sketchbook in her hands. “Ok…Adrien, there’s something I have to tell you,” she murmured to herself. “No, that doesn’t sound right! Um…Adrien? There’s something serious you and I have to talk about.” She frowned upon hearing herself. “No, he’ll freak out if I say that… Right…” She inhaled as she turned abruptly. “Adrien! I-I have something to tell you!” 

She froze as Adrien stood in front of her curiously. “Tell me what?”

Marinette’s mouth hung agape as she tried to find the words. “I…”

“Adrien.”  Someone called for him. Marinette peered over his shoulder to see a girl with short blue hair, vermillion eyes and a dust of light brown freckles. “Mrs Hertz paired us up for the trip.”

“Hi, Kagami,” he smiled. “This is my good friend, Marinette.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said in a monotone voice, glancing over the blond. “Shall we go?”

“Uh…” Adrien eyed Marinette. “Yeah. Let’s talk later, alright?” Kagami and Adrien walked to where the rest of the grade had gathered, leaving a speechless Marinette alone. 

“Are you alright, Marinette?” Tikki asked, from within her purse.

“Just fine,” she managed to say. A million thoughts were going through her head: who was that girl? Who was she to Adrien? Why did she glare at Marinette? 

As she explained to Alya what had happened, Alya smiled, sensing the mild jealousy in Marinette’s voice. “Kagami? I saw her before. I hear she just transferred to our school last month. She came to our school because we have a fencing club.”

“We have a fencing club?” Marinette asked. 

“Apparently she’s some rich heiress, so people are trying to befriend her. But she isn’t easy to approach.”

“Must be the eyes. She terrifies me. Just staring into them makes me freeze up,” Marinette shuddered as she recalled Kagami’s glare. “Adrien won’t fall in love with her, right?”

“Who knows?” Alya said, clearly amused, earning a horrified expression from Marinette.

**********

“No, statistically speaking, there are no monsters in these woods. That only happens in fairy tales, or in horror films,” Kagami said as she and Adrien walked through the forest. “However, even the films are scientifically inaccurate.” 

“I’ve never seen a horror film,” Adrien commented as he stopped to look at a plant. 

“I haven’t seen one myself until recently. I don’t understand why people enjoy it so much.” The two walked into a comfortable silence, before Kagami halted in her tracks. “I forgot to get a camera from Mrs Hertz.”

“You can go back and get it.  I’ll just keep working by myself.” 

Kagami nodded as she turned back, leaving Adrien at the crosswalk.

He stood there for a moment, feeling the wind on his face. Lyoko had no winds, or smells. His senses were limited to his hearing and sight. He loved the scent of the woodlands. Even the sights were more varied. The canopy of the trees left more interesting shadows that couldn’t be found on Lyoko. He turned, spotting a few birds nearby. They screeched at him, startling him and reminding him of the monsters on Lyoko. “Monsters only exist in fairy tales,” he told himself as he backed away from the birds and further into the forest.

“You okay, kid?” Plagg asked as he left his hiding space. “You’re just walking without a thought.”

 He released the breath that he didn’t realise he was holding. Gasping, he looked around, unsure of where he was now. He could see a house covered in shrubs and vines and littered with debris. “I’ve been here before.” 

“Woah! Slow down! This seems dangerous!”

 He inched closer, and read the sign at the gate. “Hermitage,” he read aloud. He pushed the gate open and stepped in. 

Plagg groaned. “Sugarcube’s going to be so mad at me.” He sighed as he followed the blonde further into the house.

Chapter Text

Marinette hummed as she sketched the plant in front of her. She and Alya found themselves in a sparse area, where a lot of their classmates weren’t, courtesy of Alya who had to drag Marinette away from Kagami and Adrien. Then, Alya’s laptop beeped loudly, causing others around them to glance at them. Alya pulled out her laptop quickly and glanced at Marinette, who stuffed her things in her bag and looked around for Adrien and Nino.

She frowned as she saw Kagami walking through the forest, alone, with no sight of Adrien. “Kagami,” she called. “Uhm… Where’s Adrien?”

“He’s waiting at the crossroads. I didn’t bring a camera so I came back-”

“He’s alone?” Marinette screeched in panic. “In the woods? With no way to contact him?” 

Kagami raised an eyebrow. “He doesn’t have a phone?”

“No!”

“Marinette,” Alya said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Calm down. Let’s go check up on him. We deserve a break.”

“Yes! Let’s do that!” Marinette said. She jogged on the spot, brimming with energy, as she eyed Alya to follow her. The two sped through the woods towards the crossroads, halting quickly. “Where is he?”

Alya shrugged, looking around for traces, putting her skills as a reporter in use. “Marinette, over here.” She crouched, pointing at the faint footsteps in the dirt. “If those are our footprints, then the ones over there should be his. Follow me.”

Marinette gulped loudly as she and Alya hastily followed. Marinette froze as they saw a building in the distance. “That’s…” Alya squinted her eyes, unsure of what exactly she was looking at. “That’s the Hermitage,” she said. “There were blueprints for this place back at the boutique. We were going to come here next week, right?”

“I don’t think he came here willingly.” Alya pointed at the ground, which glimmered with a thin layer of ice. “It’s mid March. Not ideal weather for all this ice, don’t you think?” 

Upon closer inspection, the Hermitage seemed… blue, and frozen. It glistened slightly like glass, refracting the sun rays, and standing completely solid. Despite the heat, XANA’s ice didn’t seem to be melting. 

A bush behind them shuffled, causing Marinette to yelp out loud. “Relax,” Nino said. “It’s just me.” The bluenette sighed, before turning back. “So… Who’s up for a skate?” 

Marinette frowned, but she stepped up slowly. She stood there for a second, then took a step forward. She fell forwards on her face. 

“So… you head to the factory, we’ll meet you there,” Alya concluded. She and Nino stepped forward, and slowly slid across the ice, they reached the steps, then the front door. Alya kicked the door open, slowly looking inside. An unnatural chill slid down their backs, making her feel unsettled. “There.” She pointed at the basement’s stairs, where the chill seemed to originate from. They crept forward, slowly going down each step with steady feet.

“Adrien!” Nino called as he spotted the blond in the distance. 

Adrien jolted awake, sitting up immediately. He looked around, unsure of how he got there in the first place. He saw Nino and Alya call out to him, so he jumped up, and limped toward them. His legs felt heavy and Nino gasped as he saw him. 

“Dude, your leg.”

Adrien looked down and saw that his foot was frozen solid, covered in a thick layer of ice. “Your frozen statues will sparkle like trophies upon my kingdom of ice!” a voice cackled to the group. They turned their heads as the figure slid past Alya. 

“Go!” Alya snapped at the boys. They hastily ran up the stairs, sliding off them. Alya who was behind them yelped as she fell forward, feeling her leg go numb from the cold. “I’m turning to ice.” Nino came to her side immediately. “Go! I’ll stall for time, but run to the factory with Adrien.”

“But-”

“It’s our only hope,” she said. “Go!”

Nino gulped but ushered Adrien towards the front door. Frozer stood there waiting. “Going somewhere?”

Nino grabbed Adrien and ran to the back. Fozer followed but Alya managed to trip him. 

Nino slammed the door shut and panted. Adrien held his head as pain overtook him. He had a vision, a man with a blurry face led him through a garden and tunnel that looked familiar. “Nino! There’s… there’s a passage here.” He pulled the vines that covered a metal door. “Through here.”

**********

“Tower dead ahead,” Marinette’s voice boomed. “There’s two Tarantula’s guarding it.”

“We barely dealt with a single one earlier. I’ll never be able to fight my way through two of those!” he said as he rode the overboard and Adrien on the Overwing.

“Maybe I can lure away one of them,” Adrien smiled. “I am quite charming.” Adrien winked and Nino caught on. He sped forward, halting when he was a couple metres away from the monsters. “Hey there. Listen, I'm feline more generous than usual today. So cool down and we'll call it quits, 'kay?” He smiled sweetly, leaning against the overwing’s handles.

The tarantulas seemed to look at him, seemingly annoyed, then one of them followed him. He sped towards the edge of the sector. Stopping just shy of the edge, he turned, prompting the monster to also stop. As it took a firing stance, Nino emerged with a smirk and threw his shield. It hit the tarantula in the face before returning to him. “One down, one to go.”

**********

Alya grunted as Frozer slid past her. He tried to kick her, using his skates as blades. She dodge, falling backwards. She pushed herself away with her palms, then rushed to the closest cupboard. She pushed it with her foot, and fled as soon as it started skidding towards Frozer. He skillfully spun away, just in time for Alya to grab a few broken glass shards and throw them at him. He yelped in pain, but wasn’t visibly wounded. 

Alya sped up the stairs to the second floor. At the top, she pushed another small shelf and watched as it slid down the stairs where Frozer was slowly coming up. 

“I wonder how long I can keep this up,” she panted as she looked for a place to hide.

**********

Adrien sped forward toward the tower, “over here!” he called. The tarantula aimed and fired. He flew around barely dodging.

“Adrien! Careful!” Marinette called.

“Don’t worry,” he responded. He heard an explosion and smiled as he saw Nino’s shield loop around back to its holder. He got back to the ground, got off and went into the tower. He went up and entered the code. “Tower deactivated.”

“Return to the past!"

**********

Hertz looked at the drawing handed in by Chloe. “Miss Bourgeois. You found an Amazonian yakka, here in our woods?”

Chloe flipped her hair. “Of course I did! And it wasn’t easy, either!”

Hertz deadpanned, looking back at the drawing and pulling out a red pen.. “Is that so? Well. I think it’s going to be much easier grading your work.” She drew a zero in a corner and handed it back. “I suggest you take your next field trips more seriously. And I will be reporting to your father.” Chloe scowled, but didn’t say anything. Even she knew Hertz was the scariest teacher on campus.

Marinette and Adrien chuckled in the distance. “So, how’d you do in that assignment?” he asked. 

“It was… good,” she said. “Listen, before the attack, I wanted to tell you something.” He smiled at her and her heart froze. “I… I think we should buy you a cell phone. You got lost last time, so I think it’s better if you had a way to contact us. For emergencies.”

“I… sure,” he said as he smiled. “You’re a really good friend, Marinette.”

**********

She chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah… thanks…” her tone fell but she continued to chuckle.  

“So, you manage to get any drawing done this time?” Nino asked as he and Alya watched from the sides.

“Yeah. But I had to drag Marinette  far away from Adrien and Kagami. Going back in time, didn’t change anything there,” she chuckled. “Frozer almost killed me,” she said after a moment. Nino patted her back in an attempt to console her. “I’m fine right now, but… I…”

“The sooner we figure out an antivirus for Adrien, the sooner we can say goodbye to XANA,” he said. She smiled at him, and exhaled deeply, relaxing her shoulders and letting herself forget the fight. “I don't think that house is normal. There’s something strange about it. There was a passageway to the factory connected to the back. I think whoever lived there knew about Lyoko.”

“All the more reason to explore it.”

Chapter Text

The Hermitage freaked them all out, and it wasn’t because their last encounter with XANA happened there. From its gothic, worn-down look, to the daunting presence, it made everyone afraid. Afterall, it was a haunted house for a reason.

Marinette held the blueprint in her hands carefully. Alya instinctively shivered. “Just being here makes me scared.”

“Let’s split up, cover more ground,” Nino said. “Let’s go, dudes,” he said as Plagg and Adrien followed him toward the living room. Marinette, Alya and Tikki headed upstairs. 

“There’s a crack in the wall in that room,” Alya said. “Saw it when I was hiding from Frozer. Too small to hide in, but big enough to stash something.” Marinette walked to the poster and peeled it off the wall. She rummaged through the debris and dirt, finally pulling out a jewellery box. She opened it, revealing three pieces of jewellery and seven compartments. “What’s this?”

“You’ve found them!” Tikki smiled. She hovered beside the earrings. “These are Miraculous! They’ll give you more strength to fight XANA!”

Marinette reached out to touch the earrings, but Nino called from downstairs. “Guys! You need to see this!” 

The two rushed downstairs, and saw a portrait of a woman with golden hair. “Who’s this?” Alya asked.

“Don’t know. But doesn’t she look like-”

“Adrien,” Marinette whispered. “She looks like Adrien.” She has his eyes, she silently noted. And her hair looks the same too. Adrien didn’t stop staring, finding the painting oddly familiar. Plagg hovered beside the painting, and went through it. A beep was heard and the painting opened like a door, revealing an elevator. 

Adrien eyed the elevator, then the group. Marinette looked at the blueprint and then at the door. “There shouldn’t be an elevator there.”

“Then whoever lived here, clearly didn’t want anyone to find it,” Alya said. “We found something too.” 

Marinette put the box on the decayed coffee table as Tikki and Plagg flew beside it. “You found it, Sugarcube!” Plagg grinned. He looked at the box, then frowned. “Where’s mine?” 

“Your what?” NIno asked. 

“Each kwami has its own corresponding miraculous,” Tikki said, picking up the earrings. “But Plagg’s ring is missing.”

“There’s more of you?” Alya confirmed. 

“Sure is,” Plagg said. “And it’s our job to choose warriors that can fight against XANA. I don’t know when, but I chose you, kid,” he said as he pointed at Adrien.

“And I chose you, Marinette. I could tell that you were a wonderful, kind person from the moment we met.” Marintte smiled sheepishly. “And I want you to have these.” The kwami handed her the earrings. “They’ll grant you powers so you can fight XANA on Earth.”

“Powers… like magic?”

“Precisely,” she smiled. “To use these powers, you need a kwami and Miraculous, but I don’t know where the others are.”

“Or where my ring is,” Plagg complained. “I bet it's XANA.” Plagg turned his attention back to the group. “Listen, kids. You need to keep the miraculous away from XANA. If they manage to get it somehow, well…”

“They’ll be able to grant a wish,” Tikki finished. “Anyone who has all seven miraculous can have a wish granted. At a cost of equal value.”

“So we can’t make a wish either,” Marinette said. She glanced at Adrian who stared at the Miracle Box. “Adrien?”

He inhaled slowly, deep in thought. “We need to figure out where the other miraculouses and the kwamis are.”

“Any idea where to start?” Alya asked the kwamis.

“I do,” Nino said. He pointed at the elevator, and looked expectantly at the group.

**********

When the elevator opened, it revealed a large room, with an arched ceiling, barely lit by lights along the side walls and what appears to be a beam of sunlight from a skylight. A large bridge-like floor led the group deeper into the room. At the end of the floor was a circular platform covered in greenery, and a large bookshelf filled with notes, sheets and several books. 

“What… is this place?” Marinette  managed to ask, breaking the silence. She pulled out a notebook from the shelf and flipped through it, gasping immediately. “This…”

Alya peered over her shoulder. “A sketchbook. They must have belonged to the owners of the boutique.”

“Are these all sketchbooks?” Marinette asked, delighted at the buildup.

“Nah,” Nino said, flipping through another book. “This one’s about some Roman general.”

“And there’s books on coding over here,” Adrien said. 

“Coding?” Alya took the book from him and skimmed through it. “I’ll take this back and look through it. 

“And I’ll take these sketchbooks!” Marinette said.

Nino scowled. “So we’re stuck with boring history books.” He sighed as he handed Adrien another book off the shelf.

**********

“Alya!”

The brunette flinched as she closed the door behind her. Sure, she did sneak out, but she’s doing world saving activities! She couldn’t tell anyone- not that anyone would believe her- but she knew that her family wouldn’t understand. “Hi…”

“It’s past your curfew,” her mother said. “I thought we made it clear that you shouldn’t be out after curfew.” 

She clutched her bag tightly. “I know… but… I…” She couldn’t find the words. It felt terrible to lie to her parents. They may not understand what she’s going through but they still care about her. “Alya, I’m sorry but this is the third time this month.” Alya didn’t dare open her mouth. Her mother sighed.“ I’m going to have to confiscate your devices.”

“But-”

“No excuses, young lady. And I'll change your curfew to 5pm for the next month.”

“But-” Alya dropped her head, frowning at the floor. “Yes.” She handed her mother her laptop and phone and went straight to bed. She leaned against the door, sinking down to her knees. “Guess the others will have to fight XANA without me for the next few weeks.”

**********

“They’re not gonna ease up on me,” Alya slumped against the vending machine the next morning as Marinette handed her a coffee. “Oh, what a mess! The worst thing is, I hate lying to them.”

“Just explain to them that we’re fighting in a virtual universe against a demonic artificial intelligence. That ought to reassure them!” Adrien said with a smile.

“If anything, it’ll freak them out.” She pulled out a book from her bag. “But that can wait. Anyone found anything from yesterday?”

Marinette handed her the sketchbook, “Yeah. There’s something called Carthage in a lot of these margins. I think it’s like a secret code that’s related to XANA. Anyone know what that is?”

“We know,” Nino said. “It’s a city developed in the Punic Wars, which dominated large parts of the Mediterranean during the first millennium BC. The ancient city was destroyed in the nearly three year siege of Carthage by the Roman Republic during the Third Punic War in 146 BC.”

Alya and Marinette stared at him. “Since when are you an expert in geography?”

“Since last night.” 

“The sketchbook and Roman history books are clearly related, but how?” Alya said. “Do you know anything?” she asked regarding the kwamis.

“Unfortunately, our memories and data have been suppressed. We cannot help you any further, I’m afraid,” Tikki responded.

“Seems like we have to go to the factory afterall,” Marinette said. “Oh… we should wait for you.”

“No,” she frowned. “Go ahead with the mission. I’ll try to keep in touch. But if anything goes wrong, call me immediately. I’ll try to put it on the highest volume.”

**********

Marinette shakily typed in the word ‘Carthage' into the supercomputer. A small window popped up, showing a series of spaces for text input. “Welcome to Carthage?” she read aloud. “Nino, it’s your time to shine.”

She let him sit in the seat. “Let’s see. Something to do with Carthage. Hannibal… nope. Carthage general… Hamilcar… no. Hannibal’s sister? Salammbo? No!” He let out a frustrated groan, clenching his fist and slamming it against the armrest of the chair. 

Plagg groaned. “Look kid, the tab says ‘Welcome to Carthage.’ So you got to go into Carthage.” Nino looked dumbfounded as the kwami continued, evidently annoyed. “You have to defeat Carthage.”.

“Who defeated the Carthaginians?” Marinette asked.

Nino lit up immediately. “Scipio!” He hurriedly typed it in.

The password was accepted and Nino and Adrien cheered as Marinette ushered Nino off the chair. The window changed, showing a sphere surrounded by a series of circles. The holomap changed, revealing a new map, consisting of a giant blue orb and four tunnels suspending it from mid air.. “Carthage… is a sector?” she questioned. She watched as the virtual map showed a new region, though the inside seemed hollow. “Weird… it just looks like an empty sphere.”

“Maybe there’s something that doesn’t come up on the map,” Adrien suggested. “We should go check it out.”

“Without Alya?” Nino asked. “It seems dangerous.”

“She said to do it without her,” Adrien said. “Besides, we can show her around next time.” Marinette noted his eagerness and nodded at Nino. 

He sighed, clearly defeated. “Fine. Let’s go to the fifth Sector.”

Chapter Text

Marinette typed in the code again. The screen beeped as a light took Adrien and Nino’s avatars to a new map. “What can you see?” she asked.

For a moment, they were silent. “Well… we’re in some sort of dome,” he started. “It’s… well… it’s big, and blue.”

The Sector 5 arena was a large spherical room, where the room’s walls seemed to be spinning. A few seconds passed, then the walls stopped, shifting so that there was a small opening for them to pass through. Adrien and Nino glanced at each other, but proceeded either way. When they edged closer to the aforementioned crack in the wall, a long corridor opened up. 

A tab opened up on the screen. “Um… guys? There’s some sort of countdown here. I think there’s a time limit. You’ve got to find a way to deactivate it. That must be the answer to exploring further.”

The two boys run further along, stopping as they reach a large open room. Nino held up his shield defensively. He took the first left then appeared in an identical open room. “Uh… weren't  we just here?”

“I think it’s some sort of maze,” Adrien said. “That’s why Marinette couldn’t tell the inner layout of the sector.” He looked around for a second then his ears fluttered. “There’s something there.”

Nino held up his shield ready to throw. A snake-like monster appeared, screeching loudly at the boys. It opened its mouth and fired at Nino, who blocked it immediately. He threw his shield and hit the monster square in the face. 

“Here’s what we’ll do,” the blonde cat boy said. “Make a left at each fork and leave a mark there. If the way is already marked, then make a right.”

“Just two minutes left to try to find a way to stop the countdown!” Marinette called.

The group continued to run around, marking the walls with Nino’s shield.

Soon, they entered another room. This time, the only exit had bright light shining through it: the final exit, they hoped, smiling.

“We’re out, Marinette! We made it!” Adrien said.

“Nothing like having a little luck on your side,” Nino said.

They ran over to the door, having a skip in their step. They skidded to a stop just shy of the ledge, then froze. “There’s nothing here?”

“Marinette, see anything from your end?” Nino asked.

“Go back to where you were. I spotted a mechanism on the wall. Hurry! Time’s running out!”

Nino and Adrien rushed back into the room, eyeing the wall for anything that resembles a key. “There!” He saw a button-like structure that was shaped like the Eye of XANA. Nino ran for it, only stopping when a laser skidded past him. He dodged, then felt a laser hit him in the chest. He groaned as he straightened up and shielded himself from another lazer. “Nino, on your left!”

Nino turned, realising another creeper had arrived It fired at him with two consecutive shots, knocking him to the ground and devirtualising him. “Um… I’m paw-sitive this situation just turned sour.”

Marinette deadpanned. A pun? In this situation? Nino was really starting to be a weird influence on him; not in a bad way, of course, but still, it was weird hearing puns from him. 

 Adrien lept towards the key, attempting to dodge the lazers. He got hit in the chest and was sent flying away. “Adrien!” Marinette called. 

The creepers screeched at him some more, then the maze rumbled. The monsters moved away, leaving Adrien alone as the walls shifted, trapping him inside the maze. 

“Adrien, are you alright?” she asked.

“Peachy,” he replied. “What happened? Why’d the monsters leave?”

“The timer ran out,” she responded. “We need back up. I’ll come over once Nino gets here.” She looked to the side screen and gasped. “The scanners came out empty! Nino didn’t materialise!”

“What? Why?”

“It’s like… he’s lost.”

“Lost? So there’s no materialisation for Sector 5?”

“There has to be, right?” she said shakily. “We just need to find the right programme. There’s got to be a tower or…”

“Marinette,” Adrien said calmly. “We need backup.”

She exhaled, then picked up her phone. “Right… backup. Let me call Alya.”

**********

Alya saw her phone vibrate loudly on the kitchen counter as she sat on the sofa reading. She eyed it as her mother walked up to it and glanced at the name. “Alya, it’s Marinette. Could you tell her that you’re grounded or should I?”

“I’ll do it,” she whispered. “She’s probably asking some questions about the homework we had.”

“I see,” her mother nodded. “She’s a good kid, go help her out.”

Alya smiled as she went into the corridor. “Alya!” Marinette screamed from the other side. “We have a HUGE problem!!! Nino! He’s gone!”

“What?! What do you mean he’s gone?”

“Carthage is a new sector and there was a timer and Nino got devirtualised but we don’t have the materialisation codes and now he’s lost and Adrien’s alone and I don’t know what to do!” Marinette panted as she finished. “We need help.”

“I… I’m grounded,” she said. “But I’ll see what I can do.” She cut the call, then hurried back into the kitchen, putting the phone on the counter. “It was homework, but talking to her made me doubt my own answers, I’m going to check it.” She left the room and headed back to her shared room with her older sister. She closed the door behind her and eyed her sister, Nora, a boxer. “I need your help.” Nora put down the weights she was using to focus on her little sister. “I need to go out, but mom and dad can’t know.” She raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. “It’s an emergency.”

At that, Nora stood up and nodded. “Fine, but you have to promise to tell me once we get home.”

Alya gulped silently, but nodded. Her sister left the room. Alya heard her enter the kitchen and talk loudly, a distraction so she could get away. She grabbed her keys, her coat and shoes, then dashed out without a second thought.

**********

“Marinette,” Alya said calmly as the elevator door opened. The bluenette turned to her, eyes red from crying. Alya lightly embraced her. “It’s alright,” she whispered. “You go to Lyoko; I’ll take it from here.” Marinette nodded, rushing to the elevator as Alya threw her coat off. Marinette, Tikki and Adrien took the liberty of taking notes whilst they waited for Alya, so that she was up to date with the new commands and information. “Transfer Marinette, Scanner marinette, Virtualisation!” Marinette landed on the mountain sector in her iconic ladybug outfit. She looked around. No monsters, that’s good.  “You’re on the edge of the Territory, girl. Better be careful: XANA’s going to do all he can to prevent you from taking the Transporter.”

Marinette felt herself shake from anticipation but ran towards the edge of the sector. She saw a bright white sphere appear from below the platform and then…

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the arena. She felt a horrible stomach coming on, maybe it was all that food that Tikki ate during dinner. She held her stomach as the walls came to a stop, and a small passage opened up.

“Marinette!” Alya’s voice called. “We have a problem.” 

The bluenette halted in her tracks, just before she stepped out of the arena. 

“Adrien was caught by this jellyfish monster, and it’s draining something from him. You need to get to him asap.”

“Good thing we know the layout of the maze,” Marinette pointed out as she went forward, activating the countdown and opening the Core chamber once more. She ran as fast as she could, feeling somewhat optimistic, but she froze. This isn’t a maze.

Before her was a long room, with lazers touching each wall from every direction. “Hurry! You don’t have long!”

Marinette shook out of her daze and carefully ducked under a few lasers, then flipped over another. She yelped in pain as a laser hit her hand. She powered through, carefully making her way through before reaching the end. She eyed the button at the end of the room, then dashed towards it. With ten seconds to spare, she pressed the button and watched as a wall opened up. 

“Great job,” Alya commented. “The area’s changing again so Adrien’s safe, but you should still find a way to him.”

Marinette ran forward, stopping just shy of the edge. She peered down, then stumbled back as something skidded past her. “Some sort of elevator?” she asked herself. She watched as the elevator moved past her again. Holding her breath, she jumped on it. The elevator switched from a horizontal track to a vertical one, and Marinette couldn’t help but smile. She saw a blonde figure wave at her in the distance and she held her arm out to grab him. 

She yanked him onto the platform, and he stumbled on top of her. She blushed slightly as he pulled himself away, standing up and helping her up.

“Any idea where this goes?” he asked.

“No idea.” They stayed silent as the elevator came to a stop, then a part of the wall opened. They glanced at each other before walking forward onto a bridge-like platform that extended out of the blue dome. 

The two walked up to the platform, and an interface appeared at the edge of it. Adrien touched the screen and began sifting through the files and data. “This…”

“What is it?” Marinette asked. 

“The interface gives access…to XANA’s own data! Sector 5…is where XANA lives!”

“What?!” Alya and Marinette said in unison. 

“So, we can find your anti-virus?” Marinette asked. 

“That can wait,” Alya interrupted. “Find the materialisation codes first! We’ll come back and find the anti-virus.”

As Adrien worked on the interface, his ears flinched and he snapped his head to the blue coded walls surrounding the sphere. “Monsters incoming.”

“Alya? The overbike!”

“Can’t do,” she responded. “Whilst Adrien’s working, I can’t do anything from this end.”

Marinette sighed, pulling out her yo-yo and began swinging it haphazardly. A flying blue and white monster spawned from the walls and wailed a defining cry. The bluenette threw the head of her yo-yo at the monsters. They spun to the side, rolling onto their backs and firing, hitting her square in the chest. She fell onto her back and the yo-yo hit Adrien in the arm, before it returned to her. 

He yelped in pain, throwing Marinette a glance  but quickly ended his search. “I think I found it. I’m transmitting it to you.”

“Okay. I’m taking over again.” The monsters wailed again and fired at Adrien, who dodged, but almost fell off the platform. 

“Alya! Overbike!” 

“On its way!” The bike materialised immediately, alongside the overwing. Marinette and Adrien hopped onto their respective vehicles, and began flying around in hopes to escape the monsters. 

“How do we get out?” Marinette asked. 

“There are some tunnels,” Adrien said, noting the blue lights keeping the sphere afloat. 

“Let’s see… Tunnels… What if…what if they corresponded to those that open onto the Arena?” Alya typed warily, and the tunnel opened. She cheered silently and the duo on Lyoko veered towards it. 

They flew  towards the tunnel, still pursued by the Mantas. A Manta came up in front of them and fired, hitting Marinette and knocking her off her vehicle and devirtualising her.

“Marinette!” Adrien shouted as he skidded past. “Let’s hope the data we found really works.” He continued through the tunnel and exited out through a Way tower. He made his way to another tower to materialise. 

**********

As he stepped out of the scanner, the other scanners closed. He heard the elevator moving and Alya stepped out as soon as the doors opened. The scanners buzzed open, releasing a lot of smoke. Two figures fell out with a thud and Alya and Adrien rushed over to help them. 

“Nino! How are you feeling? Say something!” 

Nino groaned in pain. “Something…” he said. Alya laughed as she hugged him. 

“We’re back,” Marinette smiled as Adrien helped her up. “That was…”

“Terrifying?” Nino asked. 

“Risky?” Adrien added. 

“Stressful?” Alya continued.

“All of the above,” Marinette sighed. “Can we keep doing this by ourselves? It’s getting more and more dangerous to fight XANA.”

“It’s not like we can just recruit someone to help out,” Alya said as the group headed to the elevator. “Can we?”

“Sure we can!” Nino chimed. “It just has to be someone we can absolutely trust.”

“So not Chloe,” Adrien confirmed. The others nodded in agreement. “Kagami?”

“The ice queen?” Marinette blurted.

“Excuse me?” Adrien asked. 

“What she means… is that we know very little about her,” Alya said. “Maybe it should be someone we’re familiar with, like Lila.”

“No!” Marinette yelped, earning her a concerned look from Alya and Nino. The elevator door opened revealing the lab. Alya went over to grab her coat, as the group grabbed their own discarded belongings. “That’s weird,” she said, checking her notifications. “Your sister called me like a dozen times.”

“Me too,” Adrien said. “Wonder why.”

Beside him, Nino dialled Nora, who picked up immediately. “Hey- No. I haven’t. Why? Oh… good luck.” He cut the call immediately. “So… you snuck out.”

“Yeah,” Alya said. “I was grounded. And now I owe Nora for helping me. Why?”

“Well… your parents got super worried; they called the police and everything.”

Alya stared at him, eyes wide. “So… all in favour of a return to the past?” She sat in the armchair and typed. “Return to the past, now!”

**********

“So what’d you tell your parents this time?” Nino asked as the group sat by the vending machines. 

“The same thing as last time,” Alya murmured. “I couldn’t exactly tell them that my friends and I are fighting in a dangerous virtual world, could I?”

“You never know,” Adrien said, stirring his coffee. “They might believe you. It’s the truth after all.”

“Sometimes the truth isn’t enough,” Alya said. “They’re worried and with reason. I seriously think we should recruit someone.”

Everyone stared at Adrien, “I think so too. You guys have it tough, having to protect me on Lyoko and all. I wish I had a weapon of my own.”

“Tikki and I made the vehicles, making you a weapon shouldn’t be harder,” Alya said. “I’m thinking… a retractable staff.”

“Isn’t that like your flute?” Nino asked.

“Well, yes. But it’s not like I go to Lyoko often,” she responded. “Come on, we have math next.”

Chapter Text

According to Marinette, a great day is one where XANA doesn’t actively try to kill her, whether it’s in the virtual or the real world. This was not one of those days. She and Nino stood behind Adrien who worked away on the interface. “Looks like the Mantas are gonna hatch real soon,” Nino said. “And it looks like a real big group too. How’s it-”

“Found it!” Adrien said. “Alya, sending you the data now!” The interface showed a bar loading slowly, indicating that something was being downloaded. “We’ve got company.”

The mantas hatched, screeching furiously and flying towards the warriors. Marinette spun her yo-yo, Nino took out his shield and Adrien stood behind them. He’d be lying if he said that being defenceless didn’t bother him. The monsters fired and Marinette moved forward to cover him. The minute the overvehicles appeared, they jumped onto their own vehicles. Adrien sped ahead, luring the mantas to follow him. Marinette threw the head of her yo-yo, which wrapped itself around a monster. A pink current flew through it and caused the monster to explode. In the distance, Nino threw his shield and skillfully dodged a laser with his skateboarding skills. 

A tunnel opened and the three collected their weapons and continued to the open tunnel, mantas still chasing them. 

**********

“So, what did you find in Sector 5?” Nino asked as the trio waited for the elevator. 

The elevator creaked open and Alya stepped in. She shot Adrien a thumbs up and eyed the scanner that suddenly closed and hummed loudly. “We found something big.”

Nino looked at Marinette who shrugged. The scanner buzzed open and the group peered in, some with more elated and excited smiles than others (Alya). 

Inside, there was a small, orange and white a small fox looking creature. It yawned loudly then paused when realising it had company. 

“Is that…” Marinette began. 

“A kwami!” Alya said excitedly. 

The kwami hovered to Alya’s eye level. “Don’t you know it’s rude to stare?” It asked. Alya backed away quickly, giving it space. “I’m joking. I’m Trixx!”

“Alya,” she said. “I’m so glad we found you. We’ve spent days going to Sector 5, and I’m glad it paid off.”

Tikki and Plagg hurriedly went to Trixx’s side, embracing them in a hug. “It’s good to see you again, old friend!”

“Glad to be back!” they responded. “But… where are the others? And what of Gabriel?”

The four humans exchanged glances, slightly confused at the mention of a ‘Gabriel.’ Tikki and Plagg looked just as confused. “Who?” Plagg asked.

“Gabriel…” Trixx repeated. “You know… The creator of the supercomputer?” The groups’ mouth’s collectively fell open, as Trixx continued. “What’s wrong with you? How could you forget Gabriel? And Emilie? And… what happened to them anyway?”

“I’m sorry, Trixx,” Tikki began, “but ever since we returned, Plagg and I have had amnesia.”

“Amnesia?” Trixx asked. “But how?”

“XANA.”

“Figures,” Trixx responded. “So, what do you know?”

The group heads up to the lab, filling Trixx in on their year long battle against XANA. (Canonically, it’s been that long. I checked.) “And then we found out at the Hermitage that we can use magical powers?” Alya said excitedly. “Though we have no idea how to use these powers, nor how to access them.”

“That’s where I come in!” Trixx said excitedly. “Tikki, you’re the kwami of creation! Your powers involve creating all sorts of things.”

“Is that why I can create terrains on Lyoko?” Marinette asked. She didn’t really use them often, seeing as they take half of her life points, but whenever she went to visit Adrien when he was still on Lyoko, the two of them would practise their respective powers. 

“Yup! When merging a kwami and a miraculous, you can gain powers on Earth!” Trixx informed.  “And Plagg is the kwami of destruction! I think that’s pretty self explanatory!” The group nodded, understandingly.  And I’m the kwami of illusions!”

“Illusions?” Alya asked. “But I can already do that on Lyoko? So if you and I hypothetically fused, what would happen?”

Trixx thought for a moment. “My mirages deal with the mind, similar to temporary brainwashing and hallucinations. It includes all the senses. What about your illusions?”

Alya smiled sheepishly. “I certainly can’t do any of that. In fact, I think I can only make illusions that you see. If you're willing, would you fuse with me when we go to Lyoko?”

Trixx nodded. “So what do you do for fun around here?”

**********

Marinette groaned as the alarm wailed at her. She pressed snooze and bundled herself back into her blankets. “Marinette, you're going to be late for breakfast.”

“Five more minutes…” she said as she fell asleep again.

Tikki rolled her eyes, pressing the radio on as an attempt to get her to wake up. "It’s Tuesday already! No, you’re not dreaming, or rather, you’re not dreaming anymore!” the radio host said with a cheery voice. “It’s seven o’clock in the morning on Sky Radio! Look out your window! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and me, I’m talking, talking, talking to keep you from falling back to sleep, you bunch of lazy bones!”

“It’s definitely working,” she grumbled as she pulled herself out and started to get ready for the day. 

As she stepped out of her room, Chloe’s shrill voice filled the corridor. She instinctively flinched, turning slowly. “Dupain Cheng!” 

She almost groaned as she was met with Chloe, Sabrina trailing close behind. “Chloe. What is it this time?”

She held her phone in the bluenette’s face as she smiled triumphantly. “I’m sure you would love this video of you and your little gang sneaking off in the middle of the night!” 

The screen showed Nino, Adrien and Marinette strolling into the forest in what seemed to be the dead of night. They murmured quietly amongst themselves, so nothing could be heard, but she knew that it was from one of their recent missions. 

“Have anything to say?” the blond smirked.

Marinette’s eyes widened. “I…” She decided to shut her mouth before she said something that could be used against her. “What do you want?”

“I want to know what you three are hiding. And I bet Cesaire is in it too, right?” she smiled.

Marinette frowned. “And why would you want to know? It has nothing to do with you, so why blackmail us?”

“Blackmail?” Chloe grinned slyly. “I’m just making sure you don't do something dangerous, you know how much I care about the school, don’t you?” Marinette glanced at Sabrina, who hid behind Chloe, her face covered in guilt. “Of course, I can be negotiated with.” Marinette raised an eyebrow. “If you three tell me what you are doing, then I might reconsider telling my father.”

Marinette scowled. “I… I’ll let you know once I talk to the others.”

“Better hurry, you have until lunch,” she snickered.

**********

“She’s clearly blackmailing us!” Nino said after Marinette informed the group. “She’s even worse than I remember.”

“It’s like she grew a brain overnight,” Alya muttered. “You don’t think it’s XANA, do you?”

“We can’t blame everything on XANA,” Adrien said. “We need to find a way to delete the video. Any ideas?”

The team stayed silent. “We could just destroy her phone,” Plagg chimed from Adrien’s pocket. 

“Sounds easy enough,” Alya said. “So, let’s figure out how to distract her, and we’ll grab her phone and destroy it.” She gleaned at Adrien who looked at her in confusion. “And… we have a perfect distraction.”

“Who, me?” he asked.

“No… I know someone way better,” Nino added.

**********

“Guys, meet Juleka’s older brother, Luka.” Nino had led them to the school music room, where a boy with dark hair, with dyed tips, sat alone, playing a melancholic chord. He glanced up at the group, his radiant eyes piercing and unwavering. He seemed bothered for a moment, but his demeanour quickly fell. He smiled at them, a gentle smile dancing on his lips. “We met a little while back, when I joined the music club,” Nino continued. 

“Hello,” he said. “How can I help you?” 

Marinette stared at him, slightly dazed. When he made eye contact with her, she forced a smile. Adrien noticed this but said nothing. He spoke instead, breaking the bizarre atmosphere that made him feel agitated. “Chloe’s got a video of us that we need to delete. We need your help in distracting her.”

“I don’t think she’ll care too much about me,” Luka responded. “Besides, I’m not really her type.”

“Chloe’s type is someone who’s famous,” Alya chimed. “As the son of a rock star, I think you’ll do fine.”

At this, Luka flinched. It seemed as though they touched a sour topic. Perhaps, he wasn’t on good terms with his father, though Marinette couldn’t think of a reason as to why. Jagged Stone was one of the most famous musicians in the world, topping the charts for years with his singles. Even Marinette herself was a fan; she couldn’t help but wonder why Luka’s mood was instantly dampened. 

“I don’t know if it’ll work… I…”

Alya’s laptop beeped loudly, causing the quartet to flinch. She pulled it out and opened the superscan. “Just what we needed,” she swore. “We’ll just have to do this next time.”

“Is something wrong?” Luka asked. 

“Sorry, dude,” Nino said. “We’ll talk some other time.”

The group ran through the courtyard towards the park, but Chloe stepped forward, Sabrina, her father and Roger trailing behind her. “Marinette~ It’s well past noon. You know what that means!” she taunted, gravely infuriating Marinette. 

“Well, we… uhh…” Marinette hesitated for a moment, glancing at the others as if she were trying to figure out what to do. “We haven’t had the chance to tell you yet.”

“I’m sure you can tell me. Right. Now.”

“Now?” Marinette repeated. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t run, that’d be suspicious. XANA was attacking, so there was obviously a time limit and most of all, Lyoko and Adrien’s secret were in jeopardy! If only she could-

Alya gasped as a bright, white light shone in the distance, engulfing the group.

**********

"It’s Tuesday already! No, you’re not dreaming, or rather, you’re not dreaming anymore!” the radio host cheered.

Marinette groaned, as she shuffled in bed. “It’s seven o’clock in the morning on Sky Radio! Look out your window! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and me, I’m talking, talking, talking to keep you from falling back to sleep, you bunch of lazy bones!” 

Marinette groaned, as she sat up, but froze, realising that they had returned. “We’re back… but… no one launched it… unless…”

Tikki shook her head. “It wasn’t me,” she said. 

“Then who did?” she asked.

Chapter Text

Marinette’s phone buzzed and she picked up immediately. “Alya. Great timing. Did you-”

“No. It wasn’t me. I have no idea how it happened,” Alya blurted. She was clearly panicking, and to be honest, she was too. “I’ll head to the factory straight away to check it out.”

“Thankfully, we have a second chance with Chloe,” Marinette said over the phone. “The plan with Luka should work, but we should also prioritise the tower. The three of you head to the tower, I’ll try to persuade Sabrina into giving us the phone.”

“Alright. Good luck with that.”

“Thanks. I mean, Sabrina helped us once before, maybe she’ll help us again.”

**********

“So, here’s the plan…” Marinette said as she and Luka sat together at lunch. “You distract her by mentioning something about celebrities. Make some story up. Then I’ll get Sabrina to delete the video.” Luka frowned lightly. He didn’t verbally protest, but he seemed uncomfortable with the idea of having to flex his father’s fame. “That is… if you want to.”

At this, he glanced up to meet her blue eyes. “It’s alright,” he said. “It’s not something I hate, but I’m willing to put myself out there to take Chloe down.”

“Do you have a personal vendetta against Chloe too?” Marinette chuckled.

“I guess. She’s hurt Juleka in the past, so I’m willing to do this if it means helping one of my sister’s friends. Especially one who’s really close with her.”

“You... know about me?” Marinette asked, staring into his blue eyes.

“I’ve seen you in pictures. And Rose comes over to our house all the time and gushes about you too,” he said. “I can tell how kind you are from the stories.” Marinette’s cheeks turned slightly pink and she smiled to herself. “There she is.” Marinette found herself scowling as Chloe strolled towards the cafeteria, smiling triumphantly. “Let’s go.”

**********

“I know you!” Chloe chirped as Luka approached her. “You’re Jagged Stone’s secret son!” Luka flinched but smiled. “What brings you to me?”

Luka smiled gently. “I have a favour to ask,” he said. “I was hoping you would help me sneak out to meet my dad.”

At this, Chloe grinned. “What’s in it for me?”

“You… could you come with me?” he asked unsure. “But there’s a few things I need to tell you if you want to be in his good books…”

Marinette heard his list off seemingly random actions. She snuck behind Sabrina, tapping her on her shoulder. The ginger spun around quickly, eyeing Marinette nervously. She pressed a finger to her lips, indicating her to be silent. She held up her own phone, indicating to her to hand it over. Sabrina silently obliged, quietly sneaking away and handing the device to Marinette. 

The latter smiled as she took the device and scrolled through countless selfies of Chloe. How many of these does she have? Marinette asked herself as she stopped to look at the videos scattered here and there. 

She located the video and quickly deleted it, prompting Sabrina to take it back. 

The screaming outside startled her, causing the blond to turn around. “And what’s going on here?” Chloe’s shrill voice echoed in the corridor. She snatched the phone from Sabrina’s hand, looking through her camera roll. She laughed. “Do you think I’m so stupid, Dupain Cheng?” she asked. “Did you think I wouldn’t sync my photos to other devices? You should’ve deleted it from my archives, not not my camera roll!” Marinette looked horrified. “Well, time to show this to daddy. You can expect expulsion soon, Dupain Cheng!” She laughed again as she walked away. Sabrina frowned at her, feeling more guilty than ever.

Marinette fell to the floor, devastated at the thought of losing, again. “Marinette?” Luka asked.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this, Luka,” she murmured. “Thanks again.”

She stood up, sighing. Solemnly, she walked towards the park to tell the others that they had failed. She saw a familiar red hat on the floor. Nino’s.

She pulled out her phone, and dialled his number. It rang loudly nearby. “Nino?” she called. She ran towards the sound and gasped as she saw Nino. He was frozen in place; guessing from his pose, he was clearly running away from something. She was almost too scared to touch him, so she called Alya instead. Before she had a chance to, she heard something behind her. She snapped her head, before running towards the manhole.

She heard a figure get closer on what seemed to be roller skates. She felt a hand on her back and her body froze, just like Nino’s.

**********

“First, I have to isolate the program that jumps back in time. To see what’s going on,” Alya told herself. 

“Maybe it’s XANA’s attack!” Trixx suggested.

“Maybe,” she responded. “But XANA always sends something tangible to come after us, never an attack like this.”

“Then a polymorphic spectre that reverses time!” Trixx added.

The supercomputer beeped, a red exclamation mark glowing on the screen. “XANA’s managed to take control over going back in time! The only question is why.”

“I know that! It’s because it gets stronger with every return in time!”

“What?” Alya asked.

“Fear not, dear comrade!” Trixx continued. “When you and your kwamis fuse, you can use your Lyoko powers on Earth! And with every return, we kwamis will become just as strong as XANA.”

“So, we become superheroes?”

“Essentially, we kwamis have quantum masking too! Meaning humans, even others with kwamis can see any similarities between your transformed and normal selves.”

“We’re going to be superheroes!” Alya said excitedly. “I can’t wait to tell the others.”

As if on cue, the elevator buzzed open, revealing an exhausted Adrien. “Alya, we have a huge problem.” Alya ran over to help him. “XANA’s latest villain… They called themselves Timebreaker. When they touch someone, they freeze, and they charge themselves up on the person’s remaining time. Nino acted as a distraction, so I managed to get away… but…”

“I get it. To Lyoko!”

“But who’s going to virtualise us?” Adrien asked as Alya punched the elevator button. 

“I created a new programme with Trixx. A self virtualisation programme,” she smiled. "Let's give it a try. No time like the present!"

**********

Adrien and Alya (who was now fused with Trixx) sped through the mountain sector quickly, unsure of how long they have before another return. Adrien’s ears flickered, listening to the sounds of his virtual home, “Hornets incoming.”

“We need to jump off the ledge on the left,” Alya said. 

“With a platform to land on?”

“Well, logically, yes.”

“That’s encouraging!” Adrien said as he and Alya dove into the mist down below.

They screamed as they fell through the thick layer of mist and landed harshly onto the platform down below. Alya groaned as she sat up. “That'll cost us both a bunch of life points.”

“At least, we can see the tower.” Adrien pointed at the distance, where the lone candle-like structure stood. “And hornets coming from above.”

Alya heard a lazer being fired, causing her to jump out of the way. She held her flute and played a distinct chord. “Mirage!” 

A dozen sets of Adriens and Alyas felled the platform they stood on. Half of them ran towards the hornets, gracefully dodging the lazers whilst the other half ran toward the tower. Alya felt a laser hit her shoulder. She knew that she was down to her last life points, since she used her kwami’s power, much like Marinette’s Creativity. 

She felt another hit on her back, and she turned to see a blok stand in front of Adrien. Seems as though he managed to dodge it, but it ended up hitting her instead. 

**********

She gasped as she fell out of the scanner. She slammed her fist into the scanner’s floor. “We were so close! If only I could have held on a little longer!”

“Cheer up, Alya!” Trixx said. “You’re about to get another day!”

The kwami smiled as the familiar bright light engulfed them.

**********

“It’s Tues-“ Marinette slammed her palm on the clock, silencing it immediately. “Let’s get this over with.” She threw on her clothes and grabbed her bag for Tikki. As she was about to leave, her phone rang. 

“Marinette! Head to the factory! Something went wrong. Adrien’s still on Lyoko!”

“What?” she screamed. “I’m on my way.”

“Wait! Trixx is telling me something… that sounds like a better plan! On second thought, we’ll handle it! You deal with XANA’s villain, Timebreaker.”

“How? It’s not like I have powers on Earth.”

“You can use some powers by fusing with Tikki. Transform with the words ‘spots on’ and you’ll become a heroine! There's a user's guide in your yoyo?" she informed, seeming unsure. We're running out of time! Good Luck!”

“Wait!” she said, but it was too late. “Tikki, how am I supposed to become a superheroine? I can’t even walk in a straight line without tripping over something!”

“If anyone could do it, it’s you, Marinette,” the red kwami said in a cheerful tone.

Marinette sighed, leaving her room. She turned to lock her door when Chloe’s shrill voice was heard, tauntingly calling Marinette’s name, infuriating her a third time. “Listen here, Chloe. I know what you’re going to say. And honestly, I don’t have time for it, right now. So let’s talk later tonight.”

She hastily left, feeling proud of herself. “Well done, Marinette!” Tikki chimed. “You finally stood up for yourself!”

“And hopefully, we’ve bought ourselves sometime!” Marinette rushed downstairs, crashing into Luka on the way down. “Sorry Luka! Got to go!” She dashed into the courtyard, and saw Nino running towards her. She called after him, but he was out of earshot. “Alright, Tikki. XANA’s villain is still running loose.”

“Then it’s time for your inner heroine to shine!” Tikki said. 

Marinette ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind her and checking that the room was empty. “Tikki, spots on!”

Chapter Text

For Adrien, being alone on Lyoko felt nostalgic. His memories in the virtual world may have been traumatic, but Lyoko was still his home, where he met his friends, where he spent most of his time and where he had unforgettable adventures.

He felt his back for the newly programmed baton. He held it in his hand, pressing on the buttons on the side, causing it to expand. He spun it experimentally, getting a feel for the weapon. He liked the silver baton, it made him feel sophisto-cat-ed (Nino taught him about puns) and he enjoyed fencing (one of his new hobbies on Earth). The baton sat comfortably in his hand, and he felt like a superhero. 

His ears flickered, prompting him to run toward the tower. He was close, though not close enough. A group of hornets followed behind, speeding past him and firing. He held staff and held it like a sword, blocking and deflecting lasers, even managing to send one back to a hornet. He dashed into a tunnel, knowing that he didn't have long to get away. Think, Adrien! 

Another hornet fired at him, causing him to get square in the back. He crashed into a wall, but he pounced up immediately on all fours, somehow becoming faster whilst traversing like a cat. Like a cat? He thought. 

He straightened up, quickly extending his palm out and remembering Plagg’s instructions. “Cataclysm!” he called. As he ran, he touched the tunnel’s walls, causing them and the ceiling to crumbled onto the hornets, effectively crushing them. 

In the distance, he saw a light, meaning he was close to the exit. He was almost there! He smiled as he exited, but his smile fell instantly. In the distance, he could see a tarantula, a blok and, worst of all, the brain draining jellyfish. The tower was also surrounded by a large wall, encasing the tower from all sides, all but the single entrance. He cursed silently, hiding behind a rock to get out of sight. By using his power, he was now down to half his life points, and since he was hit before the return to the past, he was down to the last twenty at least. He needed to either get to the tower and risk almost dying, or go to a neutral tower, regenerate life points and risk being attacked by another swarm of hornets again. He didn’t love either option, so he went with the next best thing. Wait for backup. He really hoped backup was coming.

**********

Marinette haphazardly swung her yoyo as she stepped out of the bathroom. It felt weird being in her Lyoko outfit whilst in school. The only thing that was different was that she now wore a mask on her face, which truly made her feel like a superheroine. She looked around for Timebreaker. She managed to read the user’s guide that was on her yoyo, and learnt the basics as fast as possible.

“And what kind of costume is that supposed to be?” Chloe’s shrill voice asked. “Who are you anyway?”

Marinette groaned internally, sharply turning to glare at the blond. She really hoped her identity wouldn’t be jeopardised, so she continued. “Look here, Chl- Miss. There’s a supervillain on the loose, and I need you to get out of here.”

“A supervillain?” she asked mockingly. “Here? Of course there is. And I’m the Mayor of Paris!” 

Marinette gritted her teeth, but stayed quiet, letting her anger seeth in silence. She decided that Chloe wasn’t worth her time, so she continued to look around. Last time, Timebreaker had attacked Nino and herself in the forest, so it made sense to check it out first. She headed to the forest, ignoring the weird looks from her fellow students. 

“Come out, come out, wherever you are, XANA…” Marinette murmured. As turned, hearing something behind her. Something moved to her right, moving towards her. She jumped, gasping as a figure skid past her, their hand extended out, ready to hit her. Somehow, she managed to jump onto a tree branch, though she was unsure how. Without dwelling on it too much, she swung her yoyo. It latched onto a branch of a tall tree then pushed herself off, swinging through the forest like Spiderman. She screamed as she slammed into the cafeteria’s exterior, but she didn’t seem to have broken any bones. She pulled herself together and looked at the students who gathered around. “It’s not safe here, go hide.”

As expected, no one moved. But when a girl in the distance screamed, most took it as a cue to run for their lives. 

Marinette took this as an opportunity to look around for anything she could use against Timebreaker.

Without much of a choice, she threw her yoyo in the air and called up the power of creativity. “Lucky charm!” a red and black construction cone fell into her hands. “A cone?” she asked herself. She looked around again for how she could use this. “Unstoppable on the ground…” she thought aloud. “So what if she’s not on the ground?”

An idea sparked in her head, and she headed inside to find a wooden board, a broom and a willing volunteer. 

**********

“Adrien!” Nino said as he stumbled into the lab. He panted, clearly being exhausted from running to the factory. “What’s going on? Why’s he stuck on Lyoko?”

“Must be one of XANA’s tricks,” Alya responded. “He’s managed to take care of a few monsters, but he has less than half his life points left and he can’t hide for too long. We need as much manpower as possible.”

“So we’ll both head to Lyoko,” he concluded.

The tension in the elevator felt heavy, so heavy they could cut it with a butter knife. Nino was absolutely losing it. He couldn’t imagine life without his best bud, and after all their adventures together, he didn’t know how he would handle losing him. He practically pounced into the scanner as the elevator door, and his legs shook as he expectantly waited for the scanner doors to close.

The virtualisation felt numbing, but he paid no mind as he landed on the ground, the slight pain from the landing resided in his legs but he said nothing. 

“Had no time for vehicles this time,” Alya said, feeling guilty that she didn’t virtualise them first. She pointed in the general direction of the tower.. “We’ll have to jump off a platform, and then the tower should be in sight.” The two ran as fast as they could, hoping that they could reach their friend in time. They jumped and landed painfully in the purple floor of the lower platform, and slumped their shoulders upon realising how far it was. 

Without complaining, they ran forward. As they approached a tunnel, they realised that it had collapsed upon itself, an aftereffect of Adrien’s cataclysm, but a moment later, the walls glitched back to normal, almost as if they were resetting. They ran through the tunnel, at full speed, quickly exiting with no monster in their way. 

“Dude!” Nino called as he saw his friend. She pulled him into a tight hug, smiling broadly as Alya joined in. “Do you know how scared we’ve been?”

Adrien chuckled lightly, “I know. But this should be all over soon, all we need to do is get to the tower, and fast.”

“All before Timebreaker manages to go back in time,” Nino groaned.

“Don’t worry,” Alya reassured. “Marinette’s on it.”

Nino really wanted to feel better about that, but knowing Marinette of all people was on made him feel more agitated than before.

**********

Chloe, the first person Marinette ran into, was not a willing volunteer; but beggars can’t be picky, she reminded herself. “I need your help, young lady.” 

Chloe scowled, getting to her feet. “And why should I help you, Miss Superhero?” Chloe asked as the screams continued outside. “Isn’t it your job to fix this mess?”

“Because, if you help me and we succeed, then you’ll be the hero of the school hotshot for weeks.” Chloe seemed to consider then agreed. Oh thank god Chloe’s driven by her ego. She smiled and remembered something else. “Oh, and I’ll need your phone too.”

She threw her yoyo and threw herself onto the cafeteria roof, holding Chloe, her lucky charm (a construction cone), a broom and a wooden board on the roof. Though the blond initially complained, Marinette paid no heed to it, instead noticing that her earrings beeped, signifying that she had four minutes left before she was forced to detransform. 

“Here, hold this broom horizontally, just over the edge.” She jumped down, waving her hands and calling the villain over. “Hey, over here!” 

Timebreaker turned to face her, smirking as if they had suddenly remembered their target. Marinette gulped loudly, wondering if this really was the right move. She turned and ran, before deciding to swing across the courtyard of the school, all whilst Timebreaker followed. She dropped down on the ground when her earrings beeped again. This time, she ran straight for the ramp, jumping out of the way. Timebreaker, who’s speed had greatly accelerated, flew into the air. Marinette swung her yoyo, catching their leg and looping it over the broom that Chloe held in place. She grabbed one of the skates and threw it on the ground. “There,” she said, clapping her hands to get the dust off.  She glanced up, feeling proud that her plan had succeeded. “Let’s see you skate on one leg.” 

**********

The trio weren’t feeling confident in their chances. Firstly, there was the Scyphozoa, which was one of the group’s main worries. Then the Tarantula. One hit would mean saying goodbye to Adrien for good. The only monster they were confident in was the blok, which they’d fought several times before over the past year.

"Here’s what we’ll do,” Adrien said as they huddled around. “Alya, you create a Mirage of me heading away from the tower. With some luck the Scyphozoa and one other monster should follow. Nino, you’ll follow, and keep them busy when the monsters realise it’s an illusion. Alya, you and I head to the tower.”

Alya nudged him in the arm. “Look at you, taking charge.”

“Is it a bad thing?” he asked.

“Nah,” Nino smiled. “It just means you’ve grown, dude. Good for you.”

Adrien found himself smiling. He was going to succeed, he told himself. And quickly too, before something happened to Marinette. 

Alya quietly played her flute. “Mirage.” A cloud of smoke blocked their vision, but as soon as it cleared a fake Adrien stood before them. He ran out of the tunnel, stood in clear view of the monsters and ran away. As planned, the Scyphozoa and the blok went past him, going past the tunnel where the others hid. Adrien held his breath as they passed, then nodded at Nino to follow them.

The boy in green nodded, and dove out of the tunnel, hiding behind a rock, and silently trailed the monsters. 

Alya and Adrien glanced at the tower, where a Tarantula now stood guarding it. She got up and dashed forward, Adrien following close behind. The Tarantula got into a stance, aiming at the steadily moving duo, firing and letting a loud battle cry. 

Adrien extended his staff, using it as a pole to propel himself in the air, gaining the monster’s attention. Alya took this opportunity to throw her flute at the monster. It turned to her and fired at her flute, deflecting it and sending it into the digital sea. Adrien landed behind the monster, shrinking his baton to the size of a sword. He jumped over the monster, hitting it in the eye as he flipped over it. It cried before exploding into red glitter. 

He smiled at himself, realising he had just taken down a tarantula. “Go!” Alya called.

He buckled his baton on his back and ran into the tower.

********** 

Marinette’s earring beeped again. She had two minutes to get out of there. Without much choice, she destroyed Timebreaker’s skate, hoping to reduce as much future damage as she could before she had to leave. To her surprise, the skate and villain glowed a dark purple, revealing Alix, a fellow classmate. And a purple butterfly seemed to escape from the skate. It momentarily changed colour into a white butterfly, leaving the heroine more confused.

Marinette lowered Alix to the ground warily, confused as to what led to this. 

But without time to spare, she grabbed the lucky charm and called upon her other power of restoration. “Miraculous ladybug!” 

All the people who seemingly faded out of existence came back, unaware of their apparent disappearance. 

Alix, who was still in a daze, looked up at her. “What happened?”

“I… don’t know…” Marinette managed to say.

“You turned into a roller skating supervillain!” Kim, another fellow classmate said.

Marinette’s earrings beeped, indicating she had a minute left. “Sorry, got to go! Stay safe!”

“Wait, who are you?” someone in the crowd called.

Marinette hesitated, before looking back, thinking deeply. 

“Ladybug. Call me Ladybug.” 

And with that, she threw her yoyo and swung herself to the school roof, away from peering eyes. As her earrings beeped for a final time, her transformation became undone. She lay flat on the school roof for a moment, feeling the adrenaline in her body decrease as she exhaled slowly. “Great job,” Tikki congratulated. 

“Thanks…” she sighed. “Now, how am I supposed to get down?” 

********** 

“So let me get this straight,” Alya said as the group sat in the lab. Marinette still had Chloe’s phone from earlier that day, so the first chance she got, she deleted both the video and the backups. “XANA’s somehow turning people into villains?”

Tikki sat on Marinette’s shoulder munching on a macaron, nodding. The kwami explained that they needed to recharge after every transformation, and that eating was the second best option to regaining energy, second only to going to Lyoko.

“Yeah,” Marinette said. She glanced over at Adrien, who lay on the floor, sleeping soundly, with Plagg sleeping on his chest. 

“That means that we can’t hurt them with your powers,” Nino said. 

“And since returning to the past makes XANA stronger, we absolutely have to be more careful,” Trixx said. “No more returns for every small attack, got it?” The group nodded. 

Marinette buried her head into her hands, groaning. “Ugh… I made such a fool of myself today! Ladybug? That’s the best name I could come up with?”

“Hey… I think it’s a great name,” Alya said as Nino stifled a laugh. “But now that we have Trixx and the necklace, it means ‘Ladybug’ can get a new teammate.” 

Chapter Text

Marinette had become fond of the creepy factory on the Seine river. It may have been dark, dingy and dangerous, but that’s what made it so perfect! No intruders, no distractions, no peering eyes, except for XANA…

Maybe it wasn’t so safe after all. But she wasn’t as worried as she used to be. Not with her new powers!

“Alright, girl,” Alya said as Ladybug stood in one of the main work rooms, standing shyly in front of Alya. “Let’s see what else you can do.”

Ladybug nodded, picking up the yoyo at her waist and slid it open. “User’s guide?” she read aloud. “Yoyo's features, one-time power, Lucky Charm…” The yoyo began to glow, hovering in the air, leaving a trail of magic red glitter behind. An item appeared out of nowhere, dropping into her hands as the yoyo retracted. Ladybug held it up at eye level. “A key? What am I supposed to do with this?” She checked the user’s manual again. “The power is voice activated and can only be used once per transformation. It creates an object that will help you with your mission. Once the power has been called upon, the user has five minutes before they transform back, and the item disappears.”

“So, this key is somehow supposed to help us against XANA?” Alya said, picking up the key. It had the same red and black pattern. “Any ideas?”

“There’s millions of possible locks that could open!” Ladybug said. She took the key from Alya and inspected it as her earring beeped. “There aren't any safes or hidden doors in the Hermitage Basement, are there?”

Alya stared at her, then shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

**********

The key didn’t make it. Rather, Marinette’s transformation wore off,  so before she turned back, she traced the key onto an empty soda can, and cut it carefully. The girls were hopeful as they stepped into the elevator. It took them down, and with a lull squeak, the doors opened. Marinette gulped as she and Alya stepped forward, keeping their eyes peeled for anything that needed a key. 

She sighed in relief as she saw a door knob behind the bookshelf. After hassling to move the bookshelf out of the way, she managed to squeeze her hand through the gap. She slid the makeshift key inside the keyhole and turned it, shuffling awkwardly as she reached for whatever was inside. Once she had taken the item out, she sat back and stared at it. “A briefcase?” she questioned.

Alya picked it up, fiddling with the sides, inspecting the sole engraving reading ‘G.G’, then observed the locks. “Allow me.” Tikki fazed through the locks, causing it to click open, revealing a set of CDs stacked together.

“What’s all this?” the brunette asked. “New programmes?”

“Whatever it is, we’d better regroup with the others,” Marinette said as she moved away from the bookshelf. 

**********

When Alya booted up her laptop, Adrien couldn’t help but feel nervous. He knew that whatever those disks contained was important to the history of Lyoko. So when the files on the CDs turn out to be encrypted, he couldn’t help but be a little dejected. “We’ll need to decrypt them,” Alya had told him. “It might take a while.”

“How long do you think that will take?” Nino asked.

“Don’t know… Two… three…” Alya began.

“Hours?” Marinette asked.

“Years,” she joked. Adrien didn’t feel like laughing. “But it’s fine. Trixx, Tikki and I can work on cracking it. If Marinette’s down to spend the rest of the day with me.” Marinette nodded, not feeling comfortable separating from Tikki.

As Adrien and Nino left the room, he walked solemnly with slumped shoulders. “Dude, you alright?” Nino asked.

“Yeah…” he sighed. “It’s just that… I had a feeling that those disks were important, like I’ve seen those CDs somewhere. I don’t know where though…”

“So you’re getting a major sense of deja vu?” Nino confirmed. “No biggie, we all get that feeling sometimes.”

“Like you're missing something so important, that without it, the world is doomed?” he asked wide eyed.

“Uh… no. I’m talking about that feeling where you know something will happen, and you instinctively try to avoid it,” Nino explained. “It’s called a gut feeling. Trust me, dude. We all get it. Like right now, my gut is telling me that dinner is going to be terrible, so I should eat some snacks now, so I don’t have to eat dinner later.”

“Sounds to me like you're just hungry,” Plagg commented from Adrien’s pocket. 

“Well, some of us can’t eat camembert all the time,” Nino said, to which Adrien chuckled. “Speaking of which, where exactly do you get so much camembert?”

“The school gives me some money to spend,” Adrien informed. “And Marinette told me about this cheese store which sells it for cheap.” He grinned at Nino. Yeah, he thought. Maybe I'm just nervous. What’s the worst that could happen?

**********

Alya smiled weakly as she looked up from her laptop to stare at the bed beside her table. Trixx hovered beside her, looking excitedly at the screen. “So, you finally decoded some of it? That wasn’t so bad!” The kwami smiled. “It only took three hours and a lot of coffee!”

The brunette groaned loudly, pinching the bridge of her nose. She took another sip of coffee, then pinched her cheeks in an attempt to wake herself up. She stared at the screen, her eyes red from staring at the screen in a dark room, and skimmed through the file names. “Diary of Gabi Grasette? Who the heck is that?” She glanced at Trixx who shrugged in response. “You don’t know either? Great, so we found some random guy’s diary? Was he so insecure that he had to encrypt it?”

“Maybe he’s related to Lyoko! Or maybe it’s a codename!” Trixx suggested, frowning slightly. “Seems like you’ll have to keep decoding it to find out.”

Alya groaned again, this time slamming her head on the table. “After a nap,” she yawned as she dozed off, ignoring any alerts from her laptop.

**********

Turns out, Nino’s gut feeling about the terrible dinner menu was very wrong. Dinner that day was meatballs and gravy, and he regretted having snacks before dinner. He sat down whilst sulking quietly, complaining about how his gut had let him down.

Adrien enjoyed eating. It was one of the things his Lyoko avatar didn’t have, a sense of taste. So he relished every bite. If someone who never knew him saw, they’d think he was malnourished and was never fed, and partially, it was true.

He saw a crowd gather nearby, which caused him to move his attention to Lila. He remembered her. With the discovery of the new sector, exploring the Hermitage and overall being on Earth, he didn’t have the time to truly remember all of his classmates, though he remembered her. Not for good reasons. He recalled Marinette being especially annoyed by Lila and he seemed to get why. She gave off a strange vibe, like she was someone to be wary of. 

“Yeah, I’m telling you. Ladybug and I are like this,” Lila said, crossing her fingers. “We’re totally close.”

Adrien frowned. Marinette didn’t like Lila, there was no way they were close, so why would she say something like that? He turned to face the bluenette, but she stared at Lila, scowling as she silently ate. “I didn’t know you and Lila were close,” he whispered to her.

Marinette’s scowl seemed to deepen. “We’re not. It’s an obvious lie.” She scoffed. “I guess that’s why she’s called lie- la.” He chuckled quietly in response. “We can’t confront her though,” she continued. “Not without telling everyone that I’m…”

“As long as the four of us know, does it really matter?” he asked. She stared at him, her face slightly flushed a shade of pink, he liked how she looked, it was cute. Marinette flinched under his gaze. He caught himself staring and looked away, feeling as though he might have upset her, but when he glanced up at Nino who sat across from him, he was confused. Nino smiled smugly at him, like he knew something that Adrien didn’t and it made him shuffle in his seat. 

A shrill shriek brought his attention to the door, where Chloe barged through, panting and gasping like she just ran a marathon. She slammed the door behind her and looked outside wearily, as her father, who was on dinner duty, went up to her. “Oh, daddy,” she cried. “There’s… There’s monsters out there!” 

“Is she sure she didn’t just look in the mirror?” Marinette muttered quietly, to which Nino smiled. 

Mr Bourgeois smiled nervously as he helped his daughter to the nearest table. “I’m sure it was nothing, sweetie. Maybe you’re feeling tired. Have some water and get some rest.”

“No!” she wailed. “I’m not going out there!I really saw them! They were green and they had this crazed look in their eyes, and they were… well… ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” She cried in her hands as Mr Bourgeois tried to console her, though he failed as another scream was heard. Everyone within the cafeteria turned to look outside. Sabrina ran to the door, pulling the handle to let herself in. She struggled to pull it open, then realised that she had to push it open. She jumped inside, slamming the door shut behind her. She shuffled to move a table to fully block the door, then looked around to find Chloe and the principal. “Chloe! You’re alright!”

“Of course I’m alright!” the blonde retorted. She gasped suddenly. “Did you manage to save Poodles?!” Sabrina looked away, guilt plastered on her face. Chloe’s face morphed into horror as she realised, and scowled.

“I’m sure it’s nothing dear,” Mr Bourgeois reassured. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll have Roger retrieve Poodles for you.” He gestured outside to where Roger stood idly.  Mr Bourgeois motioned towards the door, getting out of his daughter’s grasp, despite her pleas. “Daddy! No! You have to believe me!”

By now, several students gathered by the windows to watch, including the trio who began to suspect that this was more than Chloe’s delusions. “You think it’s XANA?” Adrien asked.

“Either that or Chloe’s lost it,” Marinette said. “But I’ve always known she was a bit crazy.”

Mr Bourgeois stepped outside, “Roger! Would you get my daughter’s poodle for me! She’s worried that…” 

A growl was heard by Roger, which made the principal shiver slightly. As he turned, Mr Bourgeois’ face paled at the sight of greenish skin- and seemingly discoloured eyes. Roger lifted his hands, and began manoeuvring towards Mr Bourgeois. The principal yelped as others surrounded him and lunged at him. 

His scream echoed through the quiet courtyard, deafening to the ear, leaving the other students frozen.

“Daddy!” Chloe cried. Sabrina held her back as someone else barricaded the door with tables and chairs. 

When Mr Bourgeois rose again, his pupils had become lifeless. Zombie- Roger turned to the cafeteria, and moved towards the building. From the depths of the shadows, herds of other students and faculty gathered, all with the same green skin and sickly look. Other students looked out the windows, taking in the sight of the monsters. “We’re surrounded!” Max informed as he and Kim worked to barricade the back door. 

“XANA,” Nino murmured. “My gut was right afterall!” The trio came to a silent agreement, deciding that they needed to get out, now. They moved toward the door, only to find it barricaded. In fact, all the exits were quickly barricaded, leaving them trapped in a room surrounded by zombies. “We’re trapped.”

Chapter Text

When Chloe managed to break free and look out the window, she fell down at the sight of her own father, now zombified and having a lipstick imprint on his cheek. She rubbed her eyes again. No that couldn’t be right! Her father only accepted kisses from her mother!

“Daddy! Are you cheating on mother?” she sobbed.

The trio focused on her, confused at her sudden proclamation. “What makes you say that?” Adrien asked as he helped her up.

“Why do you care?” she sniffed, her voice still wavering. 

“Because it might help us save your father,” he responded. 

Chloe seemed to think about it for a minute, wiping her tears. “There’s a lipstick mark on his cheek! My mother would never use such cheap lipstick.” 

Nino and Marinette peered through the window. “She’s right!” Marinette confirmed. “And he’s not the only one!” Marinette pointed at Roger, who had faded lipstick on his face. 

“So either all the zombies have the same affair partner, or they turn into zombies when kissed.” Adrien commented. 

“I’ll call Alya,” Nino decided.  The cafeteria scrambled to barricade the doors with chairs and tables and Nino attempted to get Alya on the line. “She’s not picking up.”

“Think she’s already a zombie?” Marinette asked, “since she’s the only one who doesn’t live on campus.”

“Don’t say that!” Nino said. “I’ll send her a message! And we should get to the factory, just in case it is XANA.”

“Sure,” Marinette said, folding her arms. “If Chloe will let us.”

The trio glanced at the blonde who had  somehow taken charge of the situation, acting as the de facto leader. “Call the police! Sabrina, make sure all the exits are blocked. You! Go help her! No one in, no one out! We’ll wait for someone to save us!”

“The police hung up on us!” Someone called. 

“Call them again!” she grumbled. She sighed as she slumped against a chair. “Come save us, Ladybug.”

Marinette shuddered at the silent request. “Ugh… seems like we have work to do.” The trio headed towards the doors, quietly so as to not get caught in Chloe’s sudden dictatorship.

Marinette reached for the handle, but flinched as a voice alerted them. “Chloe! They’re trying to escape!” Kim called.

The blond immediately snapped her head towards them. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Uh… Outside?” Nino responded.

“No way! It’s way too dangerous!” Chloe reprimanded.

“That’s our problem, Chloe,” Marinette snapped back. “Besides, who made you Queen Bee?” 

“I’m the principal’s daughter! I’m next in command!”

“That’s not how the hierarchy works,” Nino mumbled.

“Look Chloe, If you let us out, we’ll act as decoys. We’ll distract the zombies, it should buy the police enough time to get here and rescue you.”

“And what about you three?” Chloe asked. “Are you just going to sacrifice yourself, Dupain-Cheng? You may be a goody-goody, but this is extreme, even for you. You are not going.”

This was a first. Chloe trying to protect her? This seemed like a bizarre fever dream, but she had every right to react in such a way, and most of all, she was right. Once outside, it’s not like she could swing to the factory as Ladybug whilst holding both Nino and Adrien. She hated that Chloe was right. 

Marinette exhaled slowly. Slowing her rapidly beating heart. Panicking would do her no good. She needed to figure something out. But she couldn’t think of anything she could do without revealing her identity, or worse, Lyoko. 

“Chloe,” Adrien spoke up. “We know how to defeat the zombies.” The blond raised a sceptical eyebrow. “We’re… we’re actually…” 

Marinette gulped; if anyone was going to reveal their secret, it should be Adrien. It was his home , she thought. Though revealing it Chloe was something she didn’t want, especially since they had to blackmail her when they first found Lyoko. 

“We’re…Ladybug’s helpers.” Marinette, Nino and Chloe stared at him wide eyed as he continued. “We’re looking to recruit new people right now. If you help out, I’ll personally put in a good word.”

Well… he isn’t lying, Marinette thought. She was Ladybug, and Nino and Adrien were helping her get out. And they did want to eventually want to recruit someone new. But Chloe? Of all the people to recruit, Chloe?

Chloe frowned, she seemed to consider the possibility, but her expression morphed into disbelief, almost as if saying: ‘Ladybug is too good for you.’

Marinette wanted to rip her head off and give her a slap, but Chloe's face suddenly lit up. “Ladybug!” Chloe called. 

Marinette turned to the window, staring at the figure in red and black, who swung onto the school roof. “You’re looking for me!” ‘Ladybug’ called. “Well, here I am!” 

The zombies stared at her, then looked back at Marinette who hid behind Nino so as to not be seen. Seemingly convinced, the zombies changed direction, opting to chase Ladybug rather than haunt the cafeteria. 

Nino’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, then read the messages. “Now’s our chance; let’s get out of here.” Without question, Adrien followed. Marinette jumped to her feet, ready to pounce out the window if she had to. 

Adrien glanced at Chloe’s direction, nodded at her then headed towards the door. To his surprise, she nodded back, as if acknowledging him. 

The trio ran toward the door, pulled it open and stepped out into the cold night.  “Pst!” a voice called. Nino stopped in front of the others, holding his arms up defensively. “Woah, calm down. It’s me.” A figure in an orange and white stepped out from behind a tree, holding a flute in her hand. She smiled proudly, showing off her outfit with glee. “What’d you think?” the figure smiled, spinning around and showing off their outfit. “Pretty awesome, right?”

“Who…?” Marinette asked.

The figure deadpanned, “It’s me, Alya.” The others relaxed their shoulders, Nino more so than the others. “Well… now, I go by ‘Rena Rouge’ now.”

“‘Rena Rouge’, huh,” Marinette said. “It’s better than ‘Ladybug’ , I’ll give you that.”

The necklace around Alya’s  neck beeped. “Let’s rest,” she murmured. She glowed a faint orange and she detransformed. Trixx hovered beside her, then was promptly handed a cookie. “XANA’s obviously attacking.”

“Yeah, it’d be weird if this wasn’t XANA,” Adrien commented. “And the idea that it’s being spread around by kissing is even weirder.”

“You know what’s worse?” Nino asked. “That.” He pointed off to the side, where the zombies slowly started to swarm around the group. “We’re surrounded! What now?”

“Think we can carry a person each to the factory?” Marinette asked Alya. The brunette smiled at her with a nod. “Tikki, spots on!”

“Trixx, let’s pounce!”

**********

Chloe always thought of herself as superior. Not just because she was the principal’s daughter, but rather because her mother was the Audrey Bourgeois. The fashion icon, the most harsh critic in all of the world, and the Style Queen.

She felt mixed emotions when Marinette called her a Queen Bee, since it was true (of course she’s a queen), but she also felt a sense of loneliness. Would people have followed her if it weren’t in a life or death situation? She didn’t think so, but being the most superior person meant that she had to take charge, just like Ladybug. But… would Ladybug truly approve of her?

Ladybug , the new superheroine, had captured her heart immediately, and she felt the need to present herself as charming as possible. Perhaps that’s where her sudden rush of adrenaline had come from. She almost felt like she could be like Ladybug, albeit without the suit or magic, but a superhero who people sing praises about. She knew what people said about her; she didn’t like it, but she had this desperate need to show her mother that she was worth remembering, that she was someone to be loved. She hated Ladybug for being so easily loved, but she felt jealous too.

“Chloe?” Sabrina’s voice snapped her out of her trance. “Is everything…”

“I’m fine,” she brushed off sharply. “Heard anything from the police?”

“They’ve dispatched a unit, but they haven’t arrived yet,” the ginger murmured. “What if they turned into zombies too?”

“Then we just have to hold on.” Sabrina didn’t seem convinced, and deep down, Chloe herself didn’t seem all too optimistic. 

The zombies seemed to return to wandering around the cafeteria, though, they mingled towards the forest, as if they no longer cared about the people within. She hoped the other three were alright. Dupain-Cheng was needlessly righteous, so she knew that she would definitely help those in need. Had she been there when Timebreaker attacked, Ladybug would have definitely enlisted her help instead.

The zombies began to growl again, so Chloe pushed forward past the crowd to inspect the courtyard. “How could you lose them?” a voice called. “There’s only a few places they could hide!” 

Chloe squinted her eyes. By the edge of the forest, stood a figure with appalling fashion taste, with Malachite green-skin, cerulean hair with a gray hue and brilliant arctic blue eyes that sent a shiver down Chloe’s spine. Her lips were adorned with black lipstick and her face had a purple-pink mask.

“There’s only one other place they could have gone! Go, my darlings!”

The zombies  wandered around the cafeteria, seemingly preventing the students from trying to escape. “I bet they’ll be back with reinforcements,” Juleka mumbled. Chloe flinched at the sight of the goth girl. “It’ll be so awesome.”

“Look!” Rose exclaimed. The students looked out, noticing the red and black blob in the distance. “Ladybug’s back!” 

Ladybug stood atop the school roof once again, this time with another person dressed in orange was with her, and the crowd of zombies dwindled once again, this time the lady in horrendous clothing followed, leaving the kids unsupervised. 

The group flinched as a knock was heard on the window. The students turned to see the familiar red and black heroine at the door, gesturing at them to open the door. 

Without question, the students opened the door. “But… you were just…”

“It’s an illusion,” she said. “Look, we don’t have long, we need to move quickly.” She pulled out her yoyo, sliding it open to reveal a phone feature. “Rena, where's the villain?”

“I’ve led them to the auditorium,” the voice on the other side called. “But I don’t think they’ll fall for that again. You need to hurry.”

Ladybug nodded and opened the door to peer outside. “We need to get somewhere safe. And high up.”

“The science building?” someone amongst the crowd suggested.

“Yes! It's nearby too,” she nodded. “Come on, everyone out.” The students piled out. Ladybug pulled Chloe aside. “Chloe. Great job taking charge,” she said, causing the blonde to beam. “Can I count on you to help everyone get to the roof?”

“Leave it to me, Ladybug!” Chloe responded, but paused, turning back to Ladybug. “Um… a few of my… classmates ran out earlier, saying that they work for you… Is that true?”

Ladybug felt a little surprised but nodded. “Well, I work with them, and we’ve met. Don’t worry, they put in a good word for you.” Chloe smiled, her body suddenly coursing with extra energy. She ran to the front of the group, “Everyone! Follow me!” The group proceeded to follow her to the science building as the yoyo vibrated in Marinette’s hand. She opened it, revealing a detransformed alya. “They’re coming,” she said. “Everything ready?”

Chapter Text

Adrien was fascinated by the Earthly crabs, they looked so different to the ones on Lyoko, especially since they didn’t attack him or tried to chase him or… Maybe I like them because they haven't tried to kill me for me. 

Right now? They just stood in the distance, waiting for them to approach. “So, how are we supposed to get there?” 

Adrien stared at the barren mountain sector before him, the tower far off in the distance loomed over the monsters, with its bright red halo and surrounding mountain walls.  Two krabs and a megatank stood before it, 

Nino held up his shield. “Let’s do this..” Nino held up his shield and jumped toward another boulder nearby, peeking over it to see the monsters, Then he threw his shield. The boys watched as it curved round and away from the tower. 

Adrien unbuckled his staff, quickly running through the narrow path until he came close to the tower. Only one krab seemed to notice him, quickly preparing to fire at him. He jumped aiming for the eye on the krab. The krab stepped to the side, causing him to land on all fours. He stood face to face, and flicked when he heard whirring behind him. 

Oh, he screwed up. 

He was now surrounded by all three monsters. He turned to see Nino panicking toward his direction, frantically running his way. The megatank went after him, rolling steadily towards his direction. Adrien held his staff vertically, pressing the buttons on the side to extend it upwards. He shot up, and aimed towards Nino’s direction.

He cascaded down, landing just behind the megatank. 

The monster whirred loudly, stopping the chase and preparing to fire at Adrien. He heard Nino grunt in the distance, and his ears flickered at the sound of his shield coming round again. This time it hit the megatank in the eye.

The monster exploded but Adrien had no time to relish the feeling as the two krabs followed behind him. He ran away, tail behind his legs as he and Nino ran to lose the monsters. 

“Dude, that was way too close!” Nino said, putting his shield back on his back. “If only we had Alya or Marinette here, then we’d…”

“We can do this too,” Adrien reassured, walking back toward the tower. “We're just as capable as they are.” Nino smiled back, before halting in his steps, mouth slightly ajar. Adrien too, and frowned at the realisation. There was no more tower, no more monsters, and most importantly, no more ground. “The tower’s… gone?” 

**********

Rena Rouge gulped loudly as she held her flute tightly. By now, the zombies had surrounded her. As she prepared to jump, she felt a yoyo wrap around her waist and pull her upward. She landed with a thud on the school roof, beside Ladybug, who gave her an apologetic look before looking at the villain. “I think that one’s their ring leader,” she informed, pointing at the lady with heavy makeup and greenish skin. 

“Doesn’t she look like Miss Bustier?” Rena asked. 

“I think that is Miss Bustier.” Rena gave her a confused look. “Last time, with Timetagger, I destroyed an object and Timetagger turned back to Alix.”

She stared at the villain as the zombies began heading inside, presumably to get to the roof via the stairs. “So? You think XANA activates towers and uses them to transform them into villains.”

“Using weirdly glowing butterflies,” the lady in red informed. “The butterfly goes into one specific object. We destroy the object, we free the person.”

“Easier said than done,” Alya murmured.  “You said the zombies spread by kisses, right? So it would only make sense that she had some zombifying lipstick.”

“She’s probably stashed it in one of her pockets,” Ladybug murmured. “What if we separate her from the zombies, then remove the lipstick from her lips? She’ll have to reapply it if she wants our Miraculouses.”

Rena nodded, getting ready to jump again to get away. The two heard the trapdoor to the roof open. “We’re going to need Makeup remover,” Rena yelped as she jumped. “With how much eyeshadow Chloe wears, I’m sure she has some in her room.”

Ladybug threw her yoyo at a pipe, and swung toward the dormitory windows. She grabbed Rena’s waist and the two crashed into a room on the second floor. They ran as some of the zombies managed to get down quickly and chase them. They sped down the corridor to Chloe’s room, and Ladybug quickled the door open. They shut it closed behind them, moving the bed so that they could take cover for a moment. Rena began to rummage the desk, whilst Ladybug grabbed a small towel. 

Once they had both grabbed their respective items, opened the window enough to slip down, and land safely on the ground. “Now to get the object!” Ladybug whispered. 

**********

“So what? The tower just vanished? Like is it permanently gone, or…?” Nino asked as he and Adrien stood at the edge of the platform. 

“It’s weird how it would just disappear?” Adrien asked. He held his staff horizontally and extended it toward where the tower was. It hit something in the distance, causing the boys to have hope. “It’s invisible.” Adrien retracted his staff, then got down on his knees and placed a hand on where the ground should be. He felt the digital pixels on his palm and smiled

Nino grinned widely but frowned quickly thereafter. “Uh… If I remember correctly, the mountain sector has a lot of coiled, complicated paths, right? How are we gonna get to the tower without falling into the digital sea?” Adrien’s smile fell. “And there’s also the krabs, which might also be invisible.”

Adrien groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. “Without anyone at the supercomputer, we can’t get to the tower quickly. We’ll just have to walk slowly and not fall in.”

“Yeah,” Nino muttered. “Like that’s easy.”

After a minute of strategising, Nino stood in front of Adrien, holding his shield up defensively. Nino slowly stepped forward slowly. He took another step forward then halted. 

“I think we’ve reached a curve,” he said as he slowly traced the edge of the platform with his foot. “Turns towards the left.” He slowly turned and continued forward, quickly making his way through the sector. Nino felt himself silently groaning as he heard a whirring in front of them, and was quickly reminded of the two krabs that were left. He waited for one of them to fire at them to pinpoint their exact location, holding his shield up as he and Adrien stood back to back. “Duck!” the blond called.

The duo crouched as a lazer flew over their heads. Nino immediately looked to where Adrien pointed at and threw his shield. He smiled as the shield seemed to have hit something, but no exploding glitter appeared. Instead, he head creaked, a thud and a deafening cry that inched off the platform and into the digital sea.

As he held his hand out to catch his shield, a lazer hit him on the back, causing him to stumble back. Adrien spun on his heel defensively looking around for the source of the sound. He stepped closer to where the tower was and heard a creak quickly pass him. He extended his path to hopefully derail the monster from its path and buy some extra time but didn’t hit anything. Instead, he heard Nino’s cry and watched as a pulverising beam seemed to devirtualise him.

Adrien swore silently, He could run for the tower or deal with the krab first. His ears fluttered and he focussed on the whirring sounds of the krab. He backed away slowly as the krab approached. Carefully… he thought to himself. Don’t get hit. Don’t fall off. Don’t… His train of thought was disrupted as his feet hit the edge of the platform. 

“You’re at the curve!” Nino’s voice boomed. “Turn right slightly and the tower is just ahead!” Adrien shifted his feet and began walking slowly towards the tower. Quickened his pace as he heard the krab’s legs move closer to him. “The tower’s right behind you!” Nino called. “Run for it!” 

Adrien turned and ran at full speed, reaching out for the tower. He felt the tower with his hand and pushed through the wall, safely entering the tower.

 **********

Ladybug and Rena Rouge ran toward the now deserted cafeteria, where they jumped to the rooftop. “Hey, Miss Bustier!” the lady in red called. “Why don’t you come fight us yourself?” 

“Why would I want to get myself dirty?” she responded. “And it’s Zombizoue to you.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes, throwing her yoyo at Zombizou. The villain yelped as the string latched to her wrist and Ladybug yanked at the yoyo, forcing her forward and away from any open spaces. She yanked the yoyo harder, threw Zombizou in the air, and wrapped a dampened towel covered in makeup remover around the yoyo’s head. 

When Zombizou landed on the roof, she lunged at Rena, who blocked her punch with her flute. In retaliation, Rena struck back, but Zombizou managed to dodge. She smiled as she saw the zombies re-emerge from the school’s building, and jumped off the roof and ran. 

The mindless zombies surrounded the school, and began to boost one another onto the roof, quickly trapping the superhero duo on the roof once more. Rena frowned but put her flute at her lips and played loudly. “Mirage!”

A dozen Rena Rouges and Ladybugs appeared. Rena gestured to Ladybug to head to the forest and the two spun their respective weapons and pushed away any zombies in their way. Ladybug saw Zombizou running to the science building, which gave her another idea. “Rena! Let’s go to the science building!” 

“What?!” 

“We don’t need to defeat her, we just need to outlast her!” she screamed. “When the guys deactivate the tower we can just return to this morning!”

Rena’s lips parted in realisation before morphing into a smile. She’s right, we just need to-

She yelped as she felt a hand on her leg. A zombie yanked her down and threw her to the ground. “Go!” she yelled, as she fought off the person with her flute.

Ladybug ran back to stand by Rena. “Lucky-” Rena’s flute hit her hip hard, sending her flying. “Rena?” Rena Rouge groaned with a hazy look in her eyes, and a clear lipstick mark on her cheek. “Rena!” she screamed. 

She scrambled to get up, and backed herself away, only to hear zombies coming up behind her. 

“Leave her alone, you disgusting creatures!” A voice echoed in the dead of the night, and a moment later a shoe came flying down. And another. And a dozen more. Without questioning it, Ladybug snatched the necklace around Alya’s neck and ducked under a few zombies, barging into the first building she saw. She headed to the stairs and ran as fast as her legs could take her, and she quickly burst through the roof door, panting maniacally “Ladybug!” Chloe said with a smile. 

“You’re missing a shoe,” Ladybug managed to say. “Thank you, Chloe.”

Chloe beamed at her, tossing her hair back with a proud grin. “I told you to count on me.”

She smiled then pulled out her yoyo, sliding it open, and quickly going over to the edge to assess the situation. They'd be there soon, and she was starting to get worried. She held her phone to her ear and waited for the person she was calling. 

“Marinette!” Nino said at the other end. “Adrien’s almost at the tower. He just has to get past one krab and… he’s in the tower!” 

“Do a return!” she yelled. “Hurry! We’re swarmed with zombies! And Rena’s-”

“Alya’s one two?”

“The only way to save her is by returning! Hurry!”

She heard the clattering of the keyboard on the other side. “Return to the past now!”

**********

“You know, I think I’ve misjudged Chloe,” Marinette said as she, Adrien and Nino walked to Alya’s house. “She’s honestly not that bad. She helped us, after all.”

“Might’ve been because of the panic,” Nino suggested as he knocked on the front door. “Like how people change character when in different circumstances.”

“Like when you're near Lila,” Adrien suggested.

 A moment later, Alya opened the door, looking slightly tired. “Hey, come in,” she sighed. “I hope you don’t mind the clatter, my sister’s have been extra noisy recently, so I’ve had to find creative ways to keep them occupied.”

“Is… it working?” Nino asked, silently groaning after stepping on a Lego piece. 

“I don’t know,” is all she said before opening the door to her room. 

Inside, Trixx hovered by the laptop staring at the screen. “You’re here! Look at what we found after decoding half the CDs!” The group huddled around the small screen. 

“This is Gabriel’s diary?” Marinette asked.

“Who? Nino asked.

“The guy who ran the boutique,” Alya said.

“And the guy lived in the Hermitage,” Marinette added.

“Exactly,” Trixx continued. “Gabi Grasette and Gabriel Graham de Vanily are the same person!”

“So? Who exactly is Gabriel Graham de Vanily?” Marinette asked. 

“From what we can tell, he’s the creator of Lyoko.”

Chapter Text

“From what we can tell, he’s the creator of Lyoko.”

The group stood there with their mouths agape. “He’s… what?” Marinette murmured. 

“He created Lyoko,” Nino whispered. “Why’d he do that? What happened to him? Where’s he now?”

“Don’t know, don’t know and don’t know,” Alya responded. “All I  know is that he had a wife who went to Lyoko, but I don’t think she came back. After that, he seemed to go crazy. Then… nothing.”

“Nothing as in he stopped writing in his diary or nothing as in… dead?” Marinette gulped loudly.

“Don’t know.” Alya swivelled her chair around to face them. “But I do have a lead.” She opened another file. “It says here that he worked on the supercomputer with ‘Tomoe’ and that entrusted the peacock to ‘Natalie’.”

“Great. Who are they?” Nino asked. “At least if we had they’re full names we might find them, but we can’t just go off on first names. There’s bound to be hundreds of Nathalies in France.”

“And she could have moved away to another country too,” Alya added.  “These files date back to ten years ago. Anything could have happened in that time.”

“Ten years?” Marinette gasped. “Didn’t Plagg say he and Adrien were merged together for ten years? Is there anything about Adrien in those files?”

Alya’s eyes shifted to the screen, nervously. “Yes. I did.” Adrien, who stood silently up until now, inched closer to the laptop. Alya opened a video file hesitantly moved away. 

A man with sunken eyes and disheveled silver hair sat in the lab of the supercomputer. He wore a whitish suit with a red tie, but he wore it haphazardly. Tie crooked, collar undone, buttons missing. He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his hand and holding his glasses in the other. “Attempt number 130. I just… I don't know what to do.” He solemnly put his head in his hands. “She’s somewhere out there, and the only way to find her is by going after her myself. But… Adrien…” He frowned again, looking to the side cautiously. He lowered his voice as he continued. “I don’t know whether to take him with me or to leave him behind. I want to take him with me, but once I save Emilie, she’ll definitely scold me for putting our son in danger.” He smiled fondly at the thought. “I’ll have to think about it.”

The video ended, and a soft hum of static filled the room.

Adrien inhaled slowly, “I… I was his son.” Unknowingly, a tear escaped his eyes and he found himself breathless. “I… am a human.” He stepped back in disbelief, shaking at the thought. He found the edge of Alya’s bed and sat down. Marinette sat down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. She squeezed it reassuringly, and he turned to weakly smile at her. 

“You were always human to me,” she said. 

He felt another tear fall from his eyes and within a second, he was weeping.

Nino felt himself tear up, so he stumbled onto the bed beside Adrien and pulled the two into a hug. Alya sat beside Marinette, adding to the embrace.

“Guys,” Adrien started. “I can’t breathe.” The group laughed as they all got off him, some teary eyed and others with grins on their faces. “I can’t believe I’ve been a human this whole time. But… what happened to my parents, and why can’t I remember anything?”

The group looked at Alya and Trixx for answers, and the two exchanged a glance. “We did find something else you might want to see.”

The video started like the previous. Gabriel still looked a mess, yet somehow worse. “Attempt 131. Emilie was right, Lyoko is no longer the safe-haven we envisioned. XANA continues to grow stronger with every return. It’s growing conscious, and it’s already taken several miraculouses and their kwamis. I’ve bound it to the supercomputer, but I don’t know if this will last. I’ve stored Tikki within the Core of Lyoko, so that she may act as a last resort and save both Lyoko and Adrien. As for Adrien, he will be protected by Plagg. As long as he is not captured by that jellyfish, he should be safe. Natalie and Tomoe will  If anything were to happen to me…” He trailed off, sighing deeply. “If anything were to happen to me, I’ll shut the supercomputer from the inside, and take Tikki, Plagg and Adrien’s memories. Tikki will return once the supercomputer turns back on.” He solemnly looked to the side, then looked back at the camera. “I’m sorry, Adrien. As your father, I should protect you but… I hope you’ll forgive me.” The video ended.

Adrien breathed slowly. “That… explains a lot. He took my memories.”

“So we could get them back?” Nino asked. “It didn’t seem like he erased them. He made it sound like he moved them.”

“Like onto a disk?” Marinette asked. “Or maybe in the core of Lyoko, like he stored Tikki.”

“If they’re on Lyoko, then there’s a chance that XANA already has them,” Alya said. “Like a failsafe incase we remove Adrien’s virus. To stop us from shutting down the supercomputer.”

“What does the Scyphozoa even want from Adrien anyway?” Nino asked. 

“Who knows,” Alya said. “It’s not like XANA has any other memories to steal. I think it’s trying to steal something else.” Adrien frowned deeper. 

A knock on the door caused them all to flinch. “Alya?” her mother's voice called. “I’ve bought snacks!” The group scuffled to wipe their tears and straighten themselves up.

After a moment, the older woman let herself in. She walked to the table, put the snacks down, and turned as if to say a funny story, but quickly halted. Upon noticing the group’s melancholic, teary faces, she turned to Adrien. “Is everything alright, dear?” She knew that Adrien was there because of a scholarship; Alya told her he didn’t have any family, so Mrs Cesair took it upon herself to make him feel part of their family. 

She gently held his hand, and gave him a reassuring smile. From his eyes, she could tell he wanted to cry again, they were puffy and red; but he seemed to have run out of tears.

“I want you to know that I’ll be here for you,” she whispered. “And I hope you’ll rely on us. Whatever you may be going through, we’re willing to listen and support you.”

Adrien nodded with a quiet sniff. 

Mrs Cesaire let go with a smile and left the room. Now, Adrien didn’t feel so alone. 

**********

Over the next following days, Adrien felt restless. With numerous XANA attacks and homework, he felt himself more and more agitated. For the most part, Ladybug and Rena Rouge managed to gain the people’s hearts, and by using the Miraculous Ladybug power, they fixed all the damage caused in the blink of an eye. 

Adrien wasn’t doing so well though. His head was constantly questioning things and his life on Lyoko. How can he get his memories back? Where was his father? Was he lost, just like his mother? Does XANA know where they are?

He sighed as he sat solemnly on a park bench, playing on a new game that Nino recommended to him. His stomach growled but he ignored it. He didn’t want to eat lunch alone, especially since Marinette was at Alya’s house and Nino was out in town watching a new horror movie, Adrein would have gone too but he wasn’t too fond of the genre. He considered skipping lunch and just eating snacks when a shadow caught his eye.

“Where’s your cavalry?” Chloe asked. “Not here to keep you company?”

He looked down with a frown, he hadn’t managed to connect with the others due to his amnesia and he still didn’t know how to feel about the diary and his own past. He wanted to have space to figure it out but he didn’t want to be alone either. 

“They’re not my cavalry,” he finally said. “They’re my friends. But they’re not on campus right now.”

Chloe didn’t say anything back. “Then join me for lunch.”

Adrien’s eyes widened at that. “What?” Maybe, he misheard her. Surely she didn’t just-

“Join me. For lunch,” she said nonchalantly. “You don’t have any other friends, do you?” Adrien looked puzzled. Was… was she being nice? Did she somehow remember the zombie attack? It’s not like she was nice because she wanted to be. “No need to be so surprised. It’s not like I’m the devil incarnate.”

You kinda are, he thought. He knew he had to refuse but he nodded, instead following her to the cafeteria and sitting opposite her. “No Sabrina today?” 

Chloe froze, “We’re not always together.” 

Adrien didn’t press any further. He didn’t know what to say. What was her game? Why was she doing this? What happened to Sabrina?

He felt someone staring at him, and he snapped his head to turn and look at the perpetrator. He saw a few of his classmates whispering about him, and Sabrina sat amongst a group of girls, avoiding looking in their direction. “Did you and Sabrina argue?” he asked as he scooped up more food.

“It wasn’t an argument. She just got sick of me. Utterly ridiculous, if you ask me. Who in their right mind would get sick of me ?”

Adrien hummed in silence. “So why did you invite me to lunch?” Chloe stayed silent, munching quietly. “Do you feel bad for me?” She flinched under his stare. “Did anyone tell you that I don’t have…”

She nodded meekly. “My daddy told me to look after you, I just didn’t want to back then,” she murmured. “I’ve had a change of heart recently.” She looked around then lowered her voice. “I might have parents, but they don’t give me the same attention that others get. Like Dupain-Cheng.”

“Marinette?”

“Her parents own the best Bakery in Paris. They call her everyday, they make the effort to drive here regularly and they support her dreams. My parents have never done that.” She frowned. “My mother lives in New York and ignores me. My dad gives me whatever I want but never has time for me. It’s like… they don’t need me.”

“That’s not true.” Adrien felt his heart strings tug. “I…” He found himself on the verge of tears again. “I don’t remember my parents, but they sacrificed everything for me. From how I see it, there isn’t a parent who hates their own child.”

Chloe didn’t say anything, seemingly not convinced. The two ate in a comfortable silence as the chatter in the cafeteria grew louder. 

As the bell rang signifying the end of the lunch break, students clattered to put their trays away and get ready for their classes. Chloe and Adrien split ways, and he frowned. He really wanted to help her. She wasn’t as mean and horrible as he thought. Though he saw her verbally berate others, she never once hurt them physically. He could tell that she never wanted to hurt them, she just wanted attention, but she didn’t know how to get the good kind of attention. 

Someone screamed in the distance and Adrien groaned loudly. Couldn’t he have one single day in peace? He looked around, then began to run to the park to get to the manhole, when he felt something attack him from behind, knocking him to the ground and pressing him down.

He turned his head to see a swarm of red, small beings crowding around him. He felt himself being raised up, then carried away from the manhole, back toward the school. 

“Hey! Let him go!” Someone yelled. Adrien saw Chloe holding a large stick and waving it around defensively. The small red creatures giggled at her, then began to run toward her. Most of them followed after her, but the ones carrying Adrien stayed, instead splitting away and heading to the school gate. He struggled to move as several Sapotis sat on his chest, jumping painfully, causing him to wince. He tried to break free, but when he did manage, the Sapotis managed to capture him again. He groaned as he surrendered himself. He hoped someone with goodwill saw him and saved him. Until then, he’d have to do whatever he could to keep the Sapotis busy.

**********

Marinette was not having a good day. She had gone over to the Cesaire household to allow Tikki, Trixx and Alya to work on decrypting the CDs, which meant that she was on babysitting duty. It was a Saturday, so her sisters, Ella and Etta, were home. Nora left to go work on her kickboxing career. Marinette had babysat before but never twins who seemed to be on a sugar rush. So when she sat down to catch her breath during a game of hide and seek, the last thing she needed was for said twins to be akumatised. 

The Sapotis barged into the living room, and began eating at the fruit on the table, causing them to multiply, and wreak havoc. She heard the front door open and the swarm of trouble makers ran outside, leaving her shook.

“Alya!” she called, still half shaken. “Help!”  

Chapter Text

Nino despised watching movies alone. Whenever he could, he would drag Kim, Max or even Ivan to the movies and then grab something to eat afterwards. But no one seemed to be in the mood for James Finson’s new horror movie. Maybe it’s because he threw a fit after visiting their school, (Season 1, chapter 6), or maybe it was because the movie wasn’t good. 

Definitely the first reason. But he didn’t have too long to think about it. His phone buzzed repeatedly, and he picked it up, ducking out of the theatre to take a call from Alya. “Nino! My sisters! They’ve been turned into Sapotis! They’re swarming the city! And we can’t find Adrien! We need help!”

“Sapotis? What are Sapotis?”

“They’re-” Alya screamed before the other side buzzed loudly. 

“Alya? ALYA?” He panicked as he sprinted to the Cesaire household. Upon arriving, he didn’t find anything particularly different, other than the red creatures crawling around the street. He tiptoed to the entrance, only to find it open, there was no sign of anyone inside, so he ventured further. He went up the stairs and slowly opened Alya’s room. Her laptop was missing but the CDs containing the diary were shattered into tiny pieces. There was no sign of the girls or the kwamis, causing Nino to stress himself out further. He noticed Alya’s phone snapped in half on the floor and he could feel his legs give out. Is she… dead? 

He almost fainted, but caught himself on the side of the bed. Think, Nino. Think! Alya won’t die just like that! She must have gotten away! He breathed slowly. What else did she say? Adrien’s in trouble. I need to go back to school.

He exhaled slowly, regaining his breath. Alya will be fine, he reassured himself. He stood up and bolted out of the door, rushing back to the school to help.

**********

Alya screamed as she helplessly ran to campus. She tried to follow Adrien as he was carried through the city, but once the Sapotis started through things at her, she ducked behind a car to hide. By then, she had already lost sight of him. Furthermore, Marinette had been kidnapped, her phone had been snapped and for some reason, Chloe was running around with a large stick, hitting the Sapotis in the head. “Trixx, let’s pounce!”

Chloe screamed as she lay down the road, Rena jumped over the car, whistling loudly to gain the attention of the creatures. “Look over there! It’s Andre the ice cream man!” The creatures turned and scattered away from the blond, who sat up dusting dirt. “You alright, Chlo- Miss Bourgeois?”

She slapped her hand away. “It’s about time! Where’s Ladybug? I want to talk to her, not some lame sidekick!”

“Sidekick?” Rena questioned. “I’m not a sidekick. And Ladybug… she’s… uh… AWOL right now. She’s busy dealing with another problem.”

“What could be more important than protecting the people?” Chloe asked. “Especially me.” She tossed her hair back, and crossed her arms, expecting an answer.

“She’s dealing with… a problem. I’m taking charge today.”

Chloe looked borderline disgusted, but said nothing. “Fine, where do we begin?”

“We?” Rena asked. “Uh… no. I’m doing this solo!” 

Chloe scoffed, but another voice interrupted them. “Rena!” Nino ran up to them, hugging the brunette tightly. Rena panicked, her identity was at jeopardy with Chloe and other bystanders around, but she didn’t push him away. Instead she patted his back lightly, noticing that he trembled slightly. When he let go, he suddenly became flustered. “I… Sorry…” He eyed Chloe warily but Rena continued for him. 

“No problem, young man!” she said cheerily. “You came to me for help, right?”

She stared at Nino who caught on to her bizarre looks. “Ah… Yes… I need help… Looking for my friends! They were kidnapped by the creatures!” He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Ladybug said we need to destroy the akumatized object. Only problem is that they’ve multiplied. I think we’ll have to capture every single one.”

“Of course we do,” Chloe muttered under her breath. “So, where do we start?”

**********

Adrien lay awake amongst a sea of Sapotis. They had carried him out of the school and were making their way through the city. No one tried to help, each person was either running away or also being swarmed and chased by the little red creatures. He didn’t even know where he was going, until he started recognising specific streets that led to the factory. Why hadn’t they used the manhole or the boiler room? He supposed it was because it would be difficult to drag him up the ladder. 

When they had arrived at the familiar factory bridge, he felt the creatures split up. Now only a dozen of them held him, meaning this was his chance to escape. But then they jumped, through Adrien and themselves over the ledge and down into the ground floor of the factory. Adrien felt his body slam against the Sapotis, which caught him, but he hit his head on one of their helmets, causing him to fall unconscious.

**********

Marinette hated how the day went. For one, she forgot to do her Chemistry homework and spent all night doing it, then she was tasked with babysitting, then the kids turned into monsters, kidnapped her and sent her to Lyoko! 

She had no idea why, since she didn’t have anything that XANA could want, but she feared that something was going to happen. 

For the time being, she wandered aimlessly around the desert sector. She hoped that she could at least spend her time clearing the monsters guarding the tower, but she became increasingly frustrated that she couldn’t find the tower in the first place!

She heard a noise behind her, and she spun to see someone being materialised. The figure fell to the floor, seemingly unconscious, but sat up quickly, holding their head in their hand, groaning.

“Adrien?” she gasped, extending her hand to help him up.

He stared up at her and took her hand. “What are you doing here? I thought you were at Alya’s.”

“I was,” she said. “Until her sisters turned into red creatures and kidnapped me!” He hummed in agreement. “Any idea where the tower is?”

His ears fluttered and he turned, urging her to follow on. His ears picked up on XANA’s pulsations, and began to follow them. He halted and ducked behind a large rock structure.

The tower was guarded by a swarm of a dozen krabs, all lined up, barely leaving any space to slip through. “We’ll never get past that without a plan,” Marinette asked. “If we had our overvehicles, we could at least try to fly past them.”

“And we both have somewhat melee weapons. We can’t hide and fight at the same time against twelve krabs.” 

“Alya’s Mirage would be perfect right around now,” Marinette said. She pulled out her yoyo and fiddled around with it. It slid open, revealing the familiar menu. “Yes! It has a user’s manual just like on Earth!” She looked over every section of the yoyo, as Adrien tried to play around with his baton, to open his own manual. It slid open, and he analysed the content. “This might work,” he heard the bluenette say. “I think I have an idea…”

Marinette held her yoyo tightly. She closed her eyes and an angelic melody was heard. When she opened her eyes, she saw a clone of Adrien standing in front of her. Adrien inspected the clone carefully, making sure that it looked like him. “I’ll get the krabs attention and run away from the tower, whilst you deactivate the tower.” 

He nodded and she and the clone Adrien began to run away from the tower, rushing toward an open space. She knew that by using her powers, she only had fifty life points left, making her vulnerable and an easy target. She needed to stall for as long as possible. 

She ran, and turned to peek at the swarm of monsters following her. Majority of the krabs had followed after her, only leaving two krabs to defend the tower. I’m being followed by ten krabs? She didn’t know if she could even defeat that many, but defeating them wasn’t the plan, it was to keep them busy. 

Or at least, it was, until she looked ahead and saw the Scyphozoa waiting ahead of her. She swerved away, running around more desert structures. She held the clone Adrien’s hand as she instructed him. “You go left,” she said. “That should split them up even more. Then I’ll deal with the remaining group.” 

The clone looked lifeless but nodded, quickly dashing away from her. She saw several krabs follow after him, but no jellyfish. Weird. Where’s the Scyphozoa? She thought. 

She froze as she heard a strange, mellow screech. The Scyphozoa was behind her, its arms moved around her, grabbing her aggressively.

**********

The Sapotis didn’t look that frightening from the roof of the building. Chloe didn’t dare peek over the ledge, but seeing as how Nino was doing fine, she thought she ought to help him. He held a large plastic waste container in his gloved hands. Rena had dismantled a bicycle, and broke a broom in half. After a minute of assembling, she made a make-shift propeller that she hoped would suffice. 

Then Nino borrowed a bike and began running through the city, using a safety cone to project his voice through the city. “ Hear ye, hear ye!” he chimed. “Sapoti-Land, the amusement park of the future, is about to open! Mischief of all types are permitted in Sapoti-land! All-you-can-eat desserts! Fountains of orange juice! Big-kid movies and video games!” All the Sapotis stared at him in excitement, scattering around to follow. 

Rena watched from the rooftop, then as they approached, she played her flute, creating an intricate illusion to sell the idea. “Mirage!” 

Nino smiled. “Follow me, and I'll take you to Sapoti-Land! Where there's no bedtime! Where everything goes!”

“Sapotis-Land!” he heard the Sapotis yell. 

He jumped off the bike and into the alleyway the group had decided upon. He jumped over the propeller, which had been set low enough to gather the Sapotis’ hats, then dove into the building.

As they began to swarm through the alleyway, the hats were flung in the air, where Rena and Chloe caught them in the waste container. Nino ran to the roof of the building, panting as he trotted over to the girls to help them break each individual hat. 

This would be so much easier if we had Adrien’s Cataclysm, Nino thought, but didn’t dare to voice his complaint.

**********

As Adrien held his baton in his hands, several krabs fired at him. For some reason, the krabs had begun to come back to the tower, and out of the ten Marinette too with her, four came back. He started panicking, and became unsure of what to do, and most of all, he was worried about Marinette. Why had the krabs come back? Had they realised that this was all a trap? Had she been devirtualize? If so, she’d be in the lab? Was there more Sapotis in the lab? 

He stopped contemplating, when he felt a sharp pain on his back, another krab’s lazer had hit him without him realising, and now he was swarmed. Without much choice, he ran back to where Marinette went. He saw her lying on the floor, lifeless and for a second, he thought she was dead, before remembering that if she died, she’d have gone back to Earth. He Knelt beside her, shaking her shoulder lightly. She stirred lightly, then her eyes fluttered open and she looked around dazily. “Adrien?” she asked. She gasped, suddenly, then sat up. “The Scyphozoa!” 

“What about it?” he asked as they stood up. 

“It came after me.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s always coming after you, right? Well, today it came after me.”

“So it took something from you?” he confirmed. 

“I don’t feel any different though.” She pulled her yoyo and spun it casually. Then she tried to slide it open, except it didn’t work. “Why isn’t it working? I can’t access any of the other features of the yoyo!”

“How’s that possible?” Adrien asked. “Could the Scyphozoa have drained your abilities then?”

Marinette frowned, “that’s…” Her pupils were wide and her breathing became more erratic, her body slightly shivering. 

“Marinette,” Adrien said, grabbing both her shoulders and forcing her to look up at him. “With or without powers, you have something that XANA will never have.” She stared at his eyes, unsure of what that could be. “Your brain. You’re one of the most creative and smartest people I’ve ever met, and that’s something XANA can never aspire to have.”

She inhaled slowly, nodding slightly, “Thanks,” she murmured quietly. 

“Now, we just need to deactivate the tower,” he said. As the two headed back, they froze. 

The tower had deactivated by itself…

**********

Alya’s baton shook on her back. She saw that she had received messages from Marinette, and none of them seemed to be good. “Seems like Ladybug needs me. You’ve been a great help. Both of you,” she said to Chloe, patting her on the shoulder.

Chloe smiled. “Make sure to tell Ladybug what great help I’ve been!” 

Rena laughed awkwardly and waved as she jumped off a building. Nino ran away too, leaving Chloe stranded on a random rooftop. Nino sprinted down the flight of stairs and out the door, quickly sprinting towards the factory.  

“Nino!” he heard someone call after him. He turned and saw Alya sprinting towards him, phone in hand and panting hard. “Marinette said she can’t find Tikki.”

“What’d you mean ‘can’t find’? Don’t they go to Lyoko together?”

“Yeah,” she said. “They went into Lyoko together, but Tikki didn’t come out.”

“So it’s like every horror movie scene,” he murmured as the two got into the elevator and entered the lab. 

Inside, Marinette was pacing back and forth as Adrien frantically tapped on the keyboard. When the elevator door opened, Marinette rushed over to them, on the verge of tears. “Tikki’s gone! I think the Scyphozoa took her!”

“WHAT?” Alya and Nino said in unison.

“The Scyphozoa got me and took something from me! I think it might have been Tikki!” she said as she continued to weep silently. “XANA now has another kwami! It’s getting stronger and now we have less of a fighting chance.”

“Then you can’t turn into Ladybug anymore?” Nino theorised, to which Marinette seemed to crumble at. “Then… is XANA going after Adrien because it wants to get Plagg?”

Alya’s face paled. “And he might come after me to get to Trixx!” she whispered in realisation. “Then, it’s over.”

“Not yet,” Adrien said, in slight thought, standing up hastily. “There’s seven miraculouses, and we only know what happened to six of them.” He glanced up at everyone as he continued. “ We need to find the Peacock Miraculous before XANA does.”

Chapter Text

Alya smiled triumphantly as she, Nino and Adrien walked to Marinette’s room. “I’m so glad I backed up Gabriel’s diary onto the supercomputer before the Sapotis got to them. Can you imagine how bad that could be?”

“Is it though?” Nino asked as he knocked on her door. “It’s just that he talks a lot about how depressed and desperate he was. Would keeping the diary really make a difference?” Alya shrugged as she headed into the room.

The group crowded in Marinette’s room to brainstorm ideas. They had bought a cork board online and began piecing things together with red yarn that Marinette had intended to use for an embroidery piece. 

“So we know that Gabriel and Emilie both lived in the Hermitage, and were close friends or closely associated with Nathalie and Tomoe.” Marinette used her ruler to point at the two names. “They seem to be the answers to finding the last miraculous. Only problem is…”

“We don’t know who they are,” Nino said. “But we’ve been focusing on ‘Nathalie’ so much. Maybe we should focus on Tomoe?” 

Marinette nodded. Alya looked down at her phone. “According to the internet, Tomoe’s an anime character, and a feminine Japanese name.”

Marinette wrote it down on a card as Nino said, “so they're both women, or maybe it's a codename, and Gabriel was using anime characters to refer to them.”

“I don’t think he was a closet weeb and I’m pretty sure that anime wasn’t very popular ten years ago,” Alya chuckled as marinette pinned the card. “But it should narrow it down the search. Japanese women who lived in France ten years ago. Shouldn’t be too hard to find. I’ll do some digging around.”

“So what about the rest of us? We just sit around ‘til a clue pops up?” Nino looked around the room expectantly. They stayed silent, waiting for someone to suggest an idea. “Besides, is no one focused on the other thing that we could focus on?” The others stared up at him expectantly. 

“Fixing Adrien’s amnesia and his virus?” Marinette asked.

“The dance!” he said.

Marinette frowned, “Tikki would’ve loved the dance,” she murmured teary eyed. “She would have helped me create my dress and I would’ve made something for her to wear too.” She solemnly glanced at the mini bed she made for her, and the selection of mini accessories sitting on her table. 

Alya tapped her gently on the back, “we’ll get her back. I’m sure of it.” She gave Marinette’s shoulders a light squeeze before continuing. “So I take it you won’t be going to the dance? Anyone else planning on going?”

“Will you be going?” Adrien asked. 

“Yeah, it’s the last dance of the year, and I don’t want to miss it. Things always happen at these things. Like new couples, drama, and we have a few good DJs lined up.” She smiled at Nino. “I haven’t really done any journalism this past year thanks to XANA so once this is all over, I want to get into the journalism club and work on the school newspaper.”

“Right, you didn’t join any clubs after coming here,” Nino recalled. “Well, being one of the amazing DJs for tonight, I’ll be there too, so feel free to interview me anytime!” He grinned, earning a chuckle from Alya. “What about you, dude? You feelin’ like partying tonight?”

Adrien glanced up at the cork board, then back at Marinette. “I’m not sure. I’ve never been to a party.”

“You should come!” Nino smiled. “It’ll get your mind off everything. A well deserved rest after the non-stop XANA attacks and everything.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “that’d be great.” He and Nino headed to the door, as he turned back to look at Marinette and Alya once more.

**********

Alya frowned as she fell into her chair. She’d almost forgotten about Adrien’s Virus, the very reason they kept the supercomputer on in the first place! She didn’t even know where to start! At least when creating the materialisation programme she had Tikki, the kwami of creation, who could help her create a programme. Alone, she couldn’t exactly create a code from scratch. She considered asking Max, the class wiz, but that would reveal the existence of Lyoko, and there was also a chance that he would tell Kim, who for some reason had a thing for Chloe. That was a straight one way ticket to shutting down Lyoko. She couldn’t risk it. Right now her priority was getting Tikki back and finding the Peacock Miraculous. 

“You doing alright?” Trixx asked her as she sunk further into the chair. 

“I’m just… so exhausted.” She sighed as she straightened up. “What should I do, Trixx?”

The little fox kwami thought for a second, before sitting on her table, staring up adoringly. “You can start by going to the dance and forgetting about XANA! You’ve spent the better part of a year fighting XANA. You deserve a rest.”

“You think so?” Alya asked.

“Absolutely!” Trixx smiled, now hovering around her wardrobe. “Now let’s decide what you’ll wear!”

**********

Nino and Adrien stood by the entrance of the hall. “Adrikins,” Chloe said, as she noticed the duo waiting. “You’re going to the dance?” 

“Yeah. We’re waiting for the girls,” he replied. “You look… good.”

She proudly threw her hair back. “Of course I do! I got my mother to make a custom made dress all the way from New York!” 

“All that trouble for a school dance?” Nino asked. 

“Unlike you, I always have to look fabulous,” she said. “Save me a dance, alright?” He stared blankly as she walked inside. 

“Since when have you and Chloe been friends?” Nino asked. 

“Uh… Since the Zombie attack? But she doesn’t remember that. I guess since the Sapotis attack. She’s honestly not that bad.” Nino stared at him in disbelief.

“Not that bad?” he repeated. “Chloe is the queen of bad. She used to trash my music last year.”

“She’s changed,” Adrien said.

Seemingly not convinced, Nino nodded. “Anyway, I was hoping to ask for your help.” He looked around, like someone was eavesdropping. “I was hoping you’d help me with Alya.”

“Alya? What’d she do to you?”

Nino’s cheeks were dusted pink. “No… well… I was hoping to ask her to the dance earlier, but I chickened out at the last minute.”

“Like a date?” Adrien confirmed. Nino nodded shyly. “So how can I help?”

“I guess, keep Marinette company. She’s been through a lot and I think she really needs company,” he said. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. “Hello? Alya? Something wrong?” He frowned as he listened. “We need to go to the factory. It might just be time for us to end this.”

**********

Alya tapped furiously, Marinette watching from the side as the elevator door opened. “What’s the attack?” Adrien asked as he stood beside Marinette. 

“There is no attack,” Alya started. “But Marinette and I came up with an idea.” The boys stood expectantly around the computer. “What if we save Tikki like we saved Trixx.”

“By accessing XANA’s data from Sector 5?” Adrien confirmed. “Isn’t that… a little risky? Besides, we still have to go to the dance.”

“Well, yes,” Alya frowned. “But summer break starts tomorrow and we won’t see each other for weeks; this may be our only time to do it. And the sooner we get Tikki back, the better.”

“Now that it has Tikki, there’s no telling what it can or can’t do.” Marinette shuffled beside the blonde. “It could've gotten stronger overnight. It could’ve created new monsters, new threats, new problems that we can’t solve.” She solemnly stared at the ground. “And it’s all my fault.”

“We can undo it,” Adrien said. “But that’s a good idea. Get to XANA before it gets to us.”

“So we’re in?” Nino asked. He sighed as he pulled out his phone. “I’ll let our classmates know that we’re not going to the dance. But after this, we need to recruit new members to the group. We can’t keep doing dangerous missions as a quartet.” 

**********

Marinette evaded another laser. “Alya! Type the code!” She turned once more as the hornets surrounded them. The teleporter creeped up behind them, engulfing them in a blinding white light. 

“That was way too close,” Nino said as he buckled his shield onto his back. “It’s still not too late to go back.” He glanced at Adrien, who was seemingly still determined to see this though. “Dude, you know none of this is your fault.” The blond flinched, turning to Nino with a surprised look on his face. “Lyoko, XANA, Tikki. None of it was your fault. No one’s pinning the blame on you either.”

Adrien found himself turning to look at Marinette, who in response smiled softly. “But… if it wasn’t for me… you wouldn’t keep the supercomputer on. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be risking your lives and the world. If it…”

“We’re doing this because we want to,” Marinette said. She grabbed his shoulders, giving them a light squeeze. “You’re important to me.” Nino coughed slightly, making Marinette flustered. “To us! Important to us! All of us! There’s nothing we, all three of us, wouldn’t do for you! You’re such an important… friend ! To all of us!” She laughed awkwardly, as Nino gave her a knowing look. The walls of the dome stopped spinning, now opening to reveal the exit. 

As the trio ran inside, they were met with a familiar blue room. “You have three minutes to find the key and stop the countdown,” Alya said. 

Marinette pointed at the key, which is high on the wall. The wall itself doesn’t look easily scalable, but there are dozens of long beams sticking out from it. “I’ll go get it.” 

The wall on their right creaked open, revealing three creepers. The same thing happens on their left. The Creepers started shooting. Nino managed to block all the lasers on the left, covering the whole group skillfully with his shield. Adrien held his baton like a sword, deflecting and dodging the lasers as Marinette spun her yoyo, throwing it upwards. It latched onto one of the higher beams and she was launched into the air. She rolled as she landed on the beam, barely managing to stay on. “Seems like losing Tikki reverted me back to my usual clumsy self.” She jumped to her feet, quickly composing herself and beginning her climb to the key. 

She held her arm out, as she avoided any more lasers going her way, before hitting the key, causing the countdown to stop. When she looked down, she saw that the boys had dealt with the monster and now stood waiting for her to come down. 

She jumped down with the grace of a baby duckling, and fell onto Adrien. “Sorry for falling for you! I mean falling on you!” 

She clambered  onto her feet quickly as the room shifted. 

The ground stirred, shifting to reveal a pathway downwards. “What’s this?” Nino asked. 

The other two shrugged, with Adrien taking charge and going further down. When they reached the bottom, they stared in awe. “What’s going on?” Alya asked from within the lab. “What do you see?”

“Uh… well… There’s something shining over there.”

Adrien squinted his eyes, “that… looks like a person?” In the distance, was a person within a glowing orb.

“That… that looks like Gabriel,” Marinette said.

“My father,” Adrien murmured. “He’s been… here? This whole time?”

“Can we save him?” Marinette asked.

“I don’t know,” Alya responded.

“Can we try?” Adrien asked, almost like a whisper. “Can we save him?”

Chapter Text

After staring at it from afar for a moment longer, the three of them started running along the path. As they ran, a floating block moved towards the main platform, carrying a Creeper. They all slowed their running, but refused to stop. Nino unbuckled his shield, turned around and threw it with immense accuracy. It hit the creeper square in the face, causing it to explode, but that only seemed to anger XANA more. More platforms began to appear. Dozens of creepers began to fire at them from their moving platforms, slithering their way through the center platform toward the trio. 

“Go ahead!” Nino called. “I’ll hold them back!” 

As his running slowed and he turned to face the monsters, he held his shield defensively. He threw it again, this time dodging any laser that came for him as his shield spun around hitting three in a row before returning to him. He ran toward the creepers, jumping whenever one tried to hit his feet and pushed several off the ledge. He threw his shield again, hitting a creeper behind him, then jumped to catch the shield midair and positioned himself so that he stood it as he landed, crushing three more creepers in the process. 

Marinette and Adrien unbuckle their own weapons, throwing any monsters in their way off the edge of the platform. Adrien grabbed Marinette and  extended his baton upward, before immediately coming back down toward the ground and past the creepers. The monsters growled at them, turning around to chase after the cat and ladybug. 

The two heard a cry of desperation as they saw Nino get devirtualized in the distance. “All those creepers are going to come chase us now,” Marinette painted. “We’re going to need more fire power!”

“I know! I’m on my way!” Alya said. 

“In the meantime, I’ll stall for as long as I can!” Marinette said. 

“How? Without Tikki, you don’t have your creativity!” Adrien rebuked. 

“I still have my yoyo,” she said. “Not as effective as Nino’s shield but should stall until Alya gets here.” She stopped in her tracks as she changed her footing, skillfully spinning her yoyo. She threw it, and it surrounded several monsters. She tightened the string, then hurled the monsters off the platform. She retracted her yoyo before quickly doing the same thing again, this time an electric current went through the string and into yoyo head, causing the monsters to explode. 

Adrien jumped on the stairs and ran straight toward the glowing orb, only stopping when he heard a faint flute sound. He turned to see Alya standing in the distance, playing the flute, not to create a mirage, but rather to divert the monster's attention from Marinette to her. She began to charge forward,bashing any monster that came her way. Marinette tried to do the same, continuing to destroy or throw monsters so as to create a clear path that they could use to escape.

Adrien turned back to the glowing orb. He held his arm out, first touching the orb with his fingertips, fearing it might break if he touched it too hastily. He slowly held out both his hands as he held the large orb in his hands. 

It shattered.

The orb crumbled in his hands as he held it, falling like hail from his hands. 

The room shook like a tornado had hit it. Ceiling panels began to fall. The platform and stairs began to fall like the force holding them upright suddenly gave way. He saw a panel fall on Marinette crushing her and several creepers. Alya stopped running, trying to catch her footing. A creeper turned to her and without missing a beat, she was swarmed. A dozen creepers devirtualized her before the platform beneath them fell. 

Adrien stood alone on the platform where the orb hovered over. “What just happened?” he asked. “Nino?”

“Dude, you okay?” Nino asked. “Marinette and Alya are back… Look out!” Nino swore loudly, causing Adrien to turn around. 

He spun around quickly, to see the Scyphozoa before him. He stepped back as the jellyfish waved its arms around, trying to grab him. He tried to duck and run, but he faltered as he reached the edge of the small platform. 

**********

As the elevator opened, Alya and Marinette rushed in. Nino jumped out of his seat, relinquishing the position back to Alya. “No, no, no!” she cried. They stared at the screen as they watched in dismay as Aelita’s memory counter dropped lower and lower. 

“There’s got to be something we can do!” Marinette screamed. “Like creating a clone!”

“No time!” Alya shouted back, panicking. 

The sound of panicked keyboard claters filled the lab, and as the counter hit zero, they stood in silence. 

“Is he…” Nino began.

“Can’t be,” Marinette's Voice quivered. “He can’t be.”

The monoscan tab opened, showing that four towers were simultaneously activated. It left the group frozen, the air felt stuffy, the room too quiet. It was difficult to breathe, to say anything or even to move. They were frozen. XANA… XANA had won, and Adrien… Marinette felt herself wanting to cry, but her body seemed to completely shut down. Her legs gave way, and she fell to the ground. She heard Alya cry, sniffling loudly and burrowing her head in her hands. Nino had turned away seemingly not wanting to even think right now. 

Another panel opened up, showing the scanner status. Alya straightened up, quickly adjusting her glasses to check the screen. Marinette pulled herself back on her feet, as Nino peered at the screen.

“Someone’s in the scanners.” Marinette and Nino perked up, sharing a look, then dashing to the elevator, but Alya continued. “Wait! Something’s happening to Adrien!”

**********

“Father?” Adrien asked. He looked around, confused at where he was. He subconsciously moved. 

He was at the Hermitage, during its better days. He felt younger too. Someone picked up his younger self, and he laughed. “Father!” 

Gabriel smiled as he held Adrien close, “you’ll get hurt if you run like that. Come on, Nathalie’s come to visit.”

As Gabriel entered the house through the back exit, he plopped the young Adrien down, and the child began to run to the living room, where a lady with dashing dark hair, a single lock dyed red, sat on the sofa. 

“Nathalie!”

“Hello, Adrien.” She patted his head lightly, “you’re doing well.” He grinned as Emilie brought in a tray of biscuits, causing the young Adrien to perk up. 

“Come now, Adrien. Let’s have a little snack,” Emilie smiled. She placed the biscuits down as Gabriel came into the room, and hugged her lightly before sitting opposite Nathalie. Adrien munched loudly on a cookie as Gabriel began to talk.

“Thank you for helping us, Nathalie.”

“It was my pleasure,” she said. “At least now, you can be closer to Paris. Audrey will be overjoyed when she hears this.”

Gabriel and Emilie shared a guilty look. “We don’t plan on telling her.”

“She’ll be angry when she finds out.”

“Yes,” Emilie smiled. “But that’s only if she finds out.” Nathalie, seemingly satisfied with the answer, sipped her tea.

**********

The scene changed, now showing the same room, but more solemn. Adrien noticed a few changes, but the most prominent was Gabriel. 

Adrien stood by the doorway, peering into the room as Gabriel and Nathalie argued. “I have to!” he shouted. “I need to do this for Emilie!”

“With all due respect,” Nathalie countered. “If you fail, who will take care of Adrien? He’s only thirteen. He won’t have anyone if you leave too.”

“I’ll send him to Lyoko too. It’s the only way to protect him. He’ll be safe from reality and when the world is ready, we can come back, all three of us.”

“Surely you don’t plan on taking all the miraculouses, XANA already has a few.”

Gabriel hesitantly grabbed a box from his pocket and extended his hand to her. “ If XANA manages to get both Tikki and Plagg, then it can make a wish and escape the supercomputer. If anything happens to us, I want you to protect this. This will be the last resort. Nathalie Sancoeur, do you accept this Miraculous?”

Nathalie stared at him dumbfounded, but she nodded. “I’ll keep it safe until you return.”

**********

Adrien gasped awake. He panted as his eyesight cleared, and he looked around. He found himself in a scanner, with the others standing just outside. His legs felt like jelly, and gave out when he tried to step out. Marinette caught him, “Adrien!”

He stifled a little as he felt his eyes water. “Marinette,” he whispered as he held tightly to her arm.

When he composed himself, he broke away from her, and properly looked around the room. He found himself staring at a limp body and for a second he thought someone died. “He’s breathing,” Nino said. “But he’s not waking up.” 

Adrien stared at the man a little longer. “He’s…”

“Gabriel,” Alya confirmed. “Your father’s come back.”

Adrien stared in bewilderment. “But… but how? And why isn’t he waking up? It wasn't like this when I came back from Lyoko.”

Alya glanced at Nino and Marinette. “We’re not sure, but I’m thinking of taking him to the hospital as Rena Rouge.”

“More importantly, how are you doing?” Marinette asked. He finally noticed her trembling arms. 

“I- I remember. Everything,” he said. “I…” He shivered as he recalled them. He buried himself deeper into Marinette’s arms as he tried to calm his beating heart.

“Take your time,” she whispered, as she held him tight.

**********

Alya snuck into Marinette’s dorm. The dance was long over, and the rest of the school seemed to have gone to bed or sitting in their dorms. Marinette sat on her bed, whilst Nino leaded against the wardrobe. Both of them stared at Adrien who sat at her table solemnly. 

“Right. Would…someone please say something funny before I have a heart attack?” Nino said as Alya closed the door behind her.

“My father sacrificed himself for me. And we don’t even know if he’ll wake up,” Adrien murmured.

“Fine. Excuse me, while I have my heart attack,” Nino said as he lay flat on the floor.

“Gabriel freed you. You were never tied to XANA, but rather to Lyoko,” Alya concluded. “Giving back your memories, undid that. You’re free.”

“And so is XANA,” he said. “XANA never needed all seven miraculouses, it only needed Tikki and Plagg, the kwamis of creation and destruction. And now... it’s free.”

“Shutting the Supercomputer down is not gonna kill XANA anymore,” Nino said. “ What are we gonna do?” 

Marinette stood up, “XANA may have become more powerful, but I don’t think he’s invincible. If he attacks, we’ll counter-attack. We’ll find a way to get rid of XANA for good!” She turned to Adrien. “And your father will wake up. We can’t lose hope just yet.”

“You’re right… The fight has to go on. After all…fighting XANA is my job,” Adrien sniffed.

Marinette smiled as she held her hand out to Nino, who joined hands with her and Alya. “No, it’s our job,” Marinette said, holding her hand out. 

Adrien glanced at them. He nodded as he joined in, completing the circle.