Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The world looks beautiful beneath him, after what he’d been stranded in for the past few weeks.

“So this is what Paris looks like?” The white haired man asks the cat god.

“Yeah…” Plagg looks on with melancholy.

“We just need to make sure Chat Noir and Ladybug don’t know each other, and you’ll never have met me,” he says, a grin on his face.

“We have some time until Papillon akumatizes his first victim, go get me some camembert.”

Id laughs, jumping down from the building. He expects his bones to break or at least pop, but nothing happens. This new body of his… it’s interesting.

White hair, blue eyes, no need for food, or drink, nor even sleep. Is he still human? Plagg knows something, probably, but Id doesn’t really care.

“Should we step in this early, or would that make everything worse?” Id asks fluff, the chain of the pocket watch spinning around his finger.

He’s using Plagg’s transformation right now, just in case something goes wrong, but he’s none too concerned.

“I’d say not to, when the timeline worsens is a few months down the line. Perhaps show yourself by the third or fourth Akuma?”

“So we have time…” Id sighs, before reaching to the Fox Miraculous. “Trixx, how do you feel about fooling the world into thinking I’m a real person?”

“This is almost as interesting as the holder I had that you all refer to as the Pied Piper.”

Marinette looks as the new addition to her parents’ staff, a pretty boy named Id. White hair, startling blue eyes, a face anyone her age would swoon for.

He reminds her of Adrien, though, in a way that she can’t place except they have the same face, just different colours. Although, Id’s hair is longer, and he’s got a scar on his face, and his general vibes are so calm in comparison to Adrien’s constant upbeat.

She’ll keep an eye on him, not because he’s hot. He’s not not hot, though! She’s- she’s gonna stop talking. Who is she talking to? Anyway, haha-

Id lounges around, lying on the counter of the small apartment he’d rented.

“You act more like a cat than the last one,” Plagg mutters, resting on Id’s stomach.

“From what I’ve seen, Noir’s a tamed cat,” Nooroo says, “and Id is a stray cat.”

Duusuu laughs from across the room, an inside joke between the butterfly and the peacock.

Id sighs. “Is there anything coming up that I should know about?”

The mood of the room falls.

Then, it’s loud. Akuma-Luka-Chloe-Lila-Akuma-Style Queen-Queen Wasp-Kagami-CopyCat!

There’s so much, apparently.

“Okay! One at a time, please. What’s soonest?”

“CopyCat happens pretty soon,” Plagg says. “He’s an Akuma that looks like Chat Noir-” he pauses, looking at Id-” Identical to him, and wants to be him, I think.”

“I have a really funny idea-”

Adrien’s tied up by an Akuma who looks identical to him, which- well he always knew he had a thing for leather.

Anyway, the Akuma is monologuing, and Ladybug is late and- holy fuck.

Did that- that Chat Blanc just deck CopyCat in the face?

He’s awakening so many things tonight. He didn’t know he was bisexual.

Oh look there’s Ladybug.

Chat Blanc, for lack of a better name, is really good at fighting, it’s insane, and Ladybug is just supporting this time.

Marinette looks at the Chat Blanc, who’s standing on the top of a building nearby, waiting for them.

“Let’s go recharge before we question him,” Chat tells her, earning a nod.

She’s not surprised he’s still there when they’re charged up, she is surprised at how uninterested he seems.

He’s lying on the edge of the building like a cat would, his claws retracted and baton put away.

Chat Blanc has an air of I know what I’m doing, I’ve been doing this since forever. His outfit matches, not the skin tight leather of Chat and Marinette’s own suits, but rather what a motorcyclist would wear in a movie.

God he’s hot, she hates it.

“Who’re you? Why do you look like Chat Noir?”

Blanc yawns, flipping up onto his feet.

“Oh, I’m from the future,” he grins. “Everything goes terribly, I’m here to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

She can hear the gulp from Chat as he asks, “wh-what happened?”

Blanc’s smile becomes more genuine, “nothing that should concern you as long as I’m here. You two are kids, you should be allowed to fuck up, I’ll make sure you have the opportunity to.”

With that, Blanc disappears.

It’s a few moments before either bug or cat say anything.

“We fucked up so bad someone had to come back in time and it’s too bad to say it to our face?” Marinette says, close to a cry.

“My queen, I believe you should give my Miraculous to Chloe,” Pollen requests.

“Who?”

“Oh, my apologies, I’d forgotten that you do not know who my previous holder was,” Pollen buzzes. “My previous holder, Chloe Bourgeois, she’s the one most fit to my Miraculous in this day and age.”

“Oh, yeah sure, as long as that’s what you want.”

The new hero stands before Chloe, offering a Miraculous to her.

“Why me ? There’s no Akuma, there’s no danger, there’s no shortage of other people to choose. No one likes me, I don’t see why you would.”

Blanc taps on his lips, thinking of how to word his response.

“I’m from the future,” he shrugs, “and from what I’ve seen, as long as you keep your identity hidden, you will make a most wonderful Queen Bee. Chloe Bourgeois, will you accept the Bee Miraculous, which has chosen you specifically?”

There’s an agonizing wait in between his final words and Chloe’s acceptance that it’s not a trick, he’s not lying to her. This man from another time had seen her do well and, despite something happening leading him to going back in time, he decided she was still the best option.

“Yeah,” her breath shudders, “yeah, I accept this.”

“Hey Bunnyx,” Chat Blanc says before the rabbit holder even exits the portal.

“Blanc. It’s interesting, what you’ve done with your own timeline. I’ve never seen a timeline so astray.”

“Are you here to correct it?” Blanc’s claws pop out, earning a huff from Bunnyx.

“Neither of us are stupid enough to think I could beat you in a fight, you’ve got all- well, almost all, the Miraculi… You’ve given Chloe the Bee?”

Id looks at her, confused. “Of course I did, it’s what Pollen wanted.”

“... Oh. In my time, her half sister is the Bee holder.” Alix sighs, “I think you’ll do good, Adrien. Or whoever you are under that mask.”

Bunnyx disappears, leaving Id to his own thoughts. “Is that your name, Adrien?”

There’s some girl looking at him, face contorted with some facade of attraction.

He drives on, ignoring the shout of Adrien . He’s been mistaken as Adrien Agreste far too often, despite not looking too much like him.

There’s been this one persistent girl, though. Lyle or whatever, every time she’s approached him, Id just drove off. He’s got so much to do, and interacting with Chat Noir’s fans is not on that list.

“Adrien, why do you keep running away from Lila?” Alya asks, earning a questioning glance from the boy. “She says that every time she sees you outside of school you drive away from her.”

It takes a moment for it to click, and then he goes: “ Ohh , you must be talking about Id! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lila outside of school!”

It’s a long time until Id runs into Luka Couffaine, the soon-to-be second recipient of his Miraculous Gift Exchange (where Id gets nothing in return). Which isn’t that odd, they both do deliveries and neither of them run in the same social circle (because neither of them have a social circle).

“You’re Id, right?” Is the first thing Luka asks. He knows of Id, everyone in Paris does. The beautiful, incredibly attractive, almost-angelic Id who spends his time doing deliveries around paris instead of modelling for Agreste fashion. Luka’s mostly heard of Id from Juleka, her classes orbit usually intersects with his asteroid. He usually hears about how people keep mixing up Adrien Agreste and Id.

Id’s melody is… odd, it’s got two instruments that go together but they don’t play in harmony, both trying to over power one. It’s interesting, one of the most interesting Luka’s found.

“Yeah. And you’re Luka Couffaine, right?” Id asks, pulling Luka back to reality.

“You know of me?”

“Not too many other people who deliver shit all throughout Paris.”

Luka chuckles. “Yeah, I suppose so.”

Id’s phone pings. “Who the hell orders ten pizza’s down by the Sienne?”

“Oh, shit, that might be my sister. She and her class are throwing a party.”

Id stands up, pocketing his phone. “See ya later, Couffaine.”

Luka watches Id go, his disjointed melody fading into the orchestra that is Paris. When Luka goes to stand up, something tumbles out of his bag.

An ornate white, wooden box with an ouroboros etched into the cover.

“What the…?”

“I miss being an actual adult,” Id says, lying on the couch the definitely incorrect way.

“What could you do then that you can’t do now?” Wayzz asks.

“People would stop trying to make sure I am an adult, I looked my age. Now I look like I’ve never once stepped foot outdoors.”

Id sighs. “That’s probably accurate, Adrien’s rarely been seen outdoors from what I’ve heard.”

There’s two new superhero on the streets of Paris, one called Queen Bee and the other called Viperion.

“Hey, QB, could you answer some questions for the LadyBlog?”

“I suppose I have the time to answer your questions,” the blonde snarks, restraining herself from lashing out about how dare you think you’re good enough to ask me questions ?

“What led to you getting your Miraculous? From what I’ve seen, your first Akuma wasn’t all too difficult.”

“I was given my Miraculous because the Kwami wanted me, it’s as simple as that. From what I’ve been told, it’s lucky for Kwami to get entrusted to their chosen holder.” Chloe has to force the vitriol about this guardian down, else she ruins her image. Or Blanc decides that what she says means whatever version he believes in is impossible.

Alya huffs as she reaches Viperion, the second hardest Miraculous user to track down after the white-Chat Noir she’d seen in passing.

“Viperion! Viperion, do you have time for a question?” Alya gasps.

“... Sure,” Viperion says with a cool tone, the hair on the back of Alya’s neck rises up.

“I’m sure you’ve seen my last interview, with Queen Bee, so I’ll ask you the same question: Why did you get your Miraculous despite the relatively weak Akuma’s?”

Viperion contemplates, it’s obvious. She can see the gears turning, whether or not to lie.

“The person who gave me my Miraculous… From what I know about him, he’s seen something coming, and when that something come’s, I think he knows that it’s better to have allies who you trust than fight alone.”

Viperion’s calm and collected face turns pensive, worry shining in his eyes.

“I could have given the Snake back to him, maybe, but just like Queen Bee said ‘my Kwami wanted me , it’s as simple as that.’ Goodbye, LadyBlogger.”

Marinette sits on the rooftop with the three other heroes, Viperion, Chat Noir, and Queen Bee.

“So… what was Chat Blanc like in your opinion?” Chat Noir asks, a faint blush coating his cheeks.

“He was weird.” Queen Bee says easily. “Like, he saw through me, I’m such a bitch in my personal life and he still chose me. It was so… weird, I’ve never been treated like that before.”

“I can’t say my interaction was like that, considering when we met we were both out of the mask. He was very…” Viperion pauses, obviously trying to figure out how to word it. A sigh. “I think Blanc was very lonely, his mel- he just gave the vibe of someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“That tracks with what we know,” Marinette groans. “He told us that he’s from a future where Chat and I failed-” that earns QB sitting up and looking at her, and Viperion sighing like this was something he feared was happening- “and something really fucked happened.”

She continues, “Blanc knows all our identities. Oh we’re so fucked if he gets Akumatized. What if he does get Akumatized? Oh my god, Chat we’ll have to give up our Miraculous back to the guardian. Oh fuck fuck-” she’s cut off by Viperion coughing.

“From what I could tell, Blanc, despite disastrous mental state, is in no danger of being Akumatized. Even if he was , I think Papillon would’ve Akumatized him already.”

Marinette slumps down, her catastrophizing on pause for long enough to realize that Chat and QB have a hand on either of her shoulders, both blondes looking at her with concern.

“See, M’lady, we won’t have to give back our Miraculous,” Chat smiles. “And, hey! Even if we did , I don’t think Blanc’ll let us fall apart so easily. Remember what he said?”

“Huh? What he said- Oh… that we ‘should be allowed to fuck up’.”

Blanc looks down at the Turtle Miraculous, a faint smile as he listens to the Miraculous holders beneath him bond.

“Wayzz, you want to find your chosen?”

“I would love that. Thank you, I- Blanc.”

“Of course. I dragged you all into this mess, no?”

Chapter Text

Nino wakes up to a box being tossed onto his bed through the window, making a loud bang as it clatters to the ground.

“What the-” he scrambles, pulling on his glasses. Nino’s eyes narrow in on the still moving box.

He gasps, recognizing the design from Alya’s blog. A- a Miraculous! He wonders if it’s from Chat Blanc or the person who gave Ladybug and Chat Noir their Miraculous.

He looks out the window, only to see a saluting Chat Blanc jumping from the edge of his window.

“Longg, you said you had a person in mind?”

“Tsurugi Kagami. If you go to the Fencing Club at François Dupont tomorrow afternoon you’ll run into her.”

Kagami can feel the anger overtaking her.

Her pride was slighted by these people, by that boy who wanted a rematch-

Ow . What just hit her?

She looks down to see an ornate white box with a dragon on it. The sheer uncouthness of someone throwing a box at her shocks her out of her anger, reminding her of the Papillon bastard running around ruining the childhood of an entire generation.

She grabs the box, pushing herself into the limousine. She’ll open the box when she gets home, she decides.

It’s liberating to dance amongst the stars, she thanks whoever gave her this Miraculous for choosing her.

She’s crashed into by someone wearing way too much green. An Akuma? She glances over the boys outfit. No, he’s got too much of a sense of fashion.

“Are you another Miraculous user?”

“Yeah! Call me- call me Carapace! I have the Turtle Miraculous.”

“You may call me Ryuuko, Carapace.”

“Hey! You two, ‘re you some new Miraculous holders?”

They both jump away from the sound, looking around to see Chat Noir grinning with Viperion next to him.

“Yeah! I’m Carapace, she’s Ryuuko! Uh… I got my Miraculous from Chat Blanc, I got the white box,” the turtle shelled boy grins. He turns to Ryuuko. “Did you get your Miraculous from Blanc or the Guardian? Oh- or, was your box white or oak?”

Kagami shrinks away from his overenthusiasm, before saying. “White box, so I assume Blanc.”

Chat Noir exhales. “That means only LB and I got Miraculouses from the Guardian. I wonder what’s up with that?” He grasps Viperion by the shoulder, shaking him. “What if Blanc took the Miraculouses from the Guardian?!”

He earns a palm to the face. “I doubt he stole the Miraculouses. From this time, at least.”

“Eh? This time?” Carapace asks, and the two older heroes focus on them.

Chat Noir grins, “C’mon, let’s go meet up with the Bugs, we’ll catch you two up.”

“Luka, are you sure you wanna hang out with Id? Didn’t you call him a ‘fucking weirdo’?” Juleka asks, looking over Luka’s shoulder to catch sight of Id.

“I mean. Id’s not thaaat bad,” he says, making sure to drag the a.

“You know you’re not obligated to say that about him-”

“Nah, I’m serious, Jules- Oh, there he is, see you later,” Luka grins before stepping back, a car going incredibly fast almost hitting him.

Juleka catches sight of Id, his uncanny Adrien Agreste-esque face overlapping with some evil monster. He has such rancid vibes, and Juleka says as much.

“Luka, are you sure you want to hang out with him? We can go back home, you know. Or call the police. I don’t trust this guy.”

“That’s just how he is, ‘Leka. I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Luka grins as he goes off, to what Juleka is most assured, his demise.

“What’s the future like?” Luka asks Id as they sit in the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Id sipping on some bland drink.

“Bad. Imagine everything was cold but you were always hot, imagine the air being still but the wind is still stuck flowing through your hair. Imagine water rising as it freezes. Imagine being the only person alive through sheer luck.”

“How did you find the Cat Miraculous, then?”

“The Miraculouses found me if anything, I never went searching for the Miracle Box, instead I tripped on it. “

Luka takes a bite out of his cake.

“You ever smoke weed?” Id asks.

Chloe sits on the roof, the silence settling between her and Blanc is nice. She’s never had nice silence.

She has to break it, though. “What happened in the future? That you had to come back, but you still thought I was a good choice?”

Blanc tips his drink back into his mouth, thinking on the question.

“Chloe. The first thought I had when I picked up the Cat Miraculous wasn’t who would be good or who would be bad , it was who does the Kwami want . They’re sentient. I’ve mentioned that. I came back in time because the world didn’t just end, but everything did. Time itself, the universe, space. Nothing was left untouched.

“If all I had to do is make sure Chat Noir and Ladybug get to be teenagers and not have to worry about such a big disaster, then I would’ve killed Papillon by now.”

“Why do you go so far?” Chloe asks. “You barely even know us.”

“Chat Noir and Ladybug, and you and Viperion, and Carapace and Ryuuko, you’re all kids. And I’m sorry that I dragged you into this. Even if you guys didn’t become heroes, I would’ve let you all keep your Miraculouses.”

“I became a hero because you made me think I could be better, Blanc. Even if you didn’t intend for it to be this way, I wouldn’t undo being Queen Bee, and I would never stop being Queen Bee, so long as it’s my choice.”

“Bunnyx, what’s this about?” Marinette asks as she’s dragged through the burrow. The future rabbit miraculous holder- one not from the same future as Blanc- just stole her away during a patrol with no prior explanation.

“It’s about your friend, Blanc. I figured I should show you what his timeline is like and why he wants to destroy it so much.”

“It’s because me and Chat fucked up, I know.”

“Yeah, but the specifics . Your love ruins the world.”

That shuts Marinette up real quick.

The world Bunnyx drops her into is desolate . The water level is too high, the moon- oh god the moon, it’s ripped apart.

“I- what happened here?”

Bunnyx sighs. “Chat Noir got Akumatized because something bad happened to you. He became- Chat Blanc.”

“Wh- There’s no way Chat Blanc is Chat Noir! I- If Blanc is the Akumatized version of Chat, then how has Viperion seen him unmasked? If Blanc is an Akuma, why is he helping us? If Blanc is an Akuma, why did he give away the Miraculouses he had?”

“Marinette!” Bunnyx yells between her questions. “The Chat Noir that gets Akumatized and the Chat Blanc that you know aren’t the same person.”

“What?”

“Chat Blanc, the Akuma, cataclysms his memories. Then the Blanc you know died, and his soul entered Blanc’s body.”

“So Blanc got transmigrated? Into an Akuma. Okay. Sure. Why not? This is all so- I don’t know,” Marinette sighs. “I’m tired, Bunnyx. I want to go to bed.”

“So- Wait. Blanc and I look the same unmasked?” Adrien asks, looking up at Ladybug.

“That’s what Bunnyx said, yeah,” she nods.

“I. Hm. I never knew I was a narcissist.”

Queen Bee looks over at him, “I am going to Venom you and hit you with a car.”

“I will help,” Ryuuko nods.

“What the fuck?! I get QB, she has some weird idolization of Blanc but since when did you like him?” Adrien whines.

“You misunderstand me, I just find you cringe,” Ryuuko says, then looking at Carapace. “Did I use that right?”

“Yeah! Chat Noir is super cringe,” the turtle nods, barely containing his laughter.

Ladybug looks over at Viperion. “You knew Blanc was an Akuma, didn’t you?”

“I had a theory about it,” Viperion shrugs. “Name one person you’ve ever met who looks like that.”

“Id,” everyone says in unison. Then they all have a realization.

“Guy who appears out of nowhere one day,” Adrien says.

“Then Chat Blanc appears,” Carapace continues.

“They both have white hair and blue eyes,” Queen Bee nods.

“Both of them shouldn’t exist. Just legally in Id’s case,” Ryuuko agrees. Everyone looks at her, confused. “I’ve done my research on such persons of interest. Several people in my civilian life are interested in him for various reasons.”

“Is your civilian life a noir detective? Why do you talk like that?” Queen Bee asks.

“No? I am fourteen.”

“What?!” Is the following exclamation.

“Wait I’m fourteen too,” Carapace says.

“... Are we all fourteen?” Queen Bee asks.

“I’m seventeen,” Viperion shrugs.

“How much do you guys bet we’re all in the same school aside from Viperion?”

“Knowing our luck- actually, knowing Blanc it’s on purpose. No dice. We’re probably all in the same class.”

“Collège Françoise Dupont?” Adrien asks.

“Oh my fucking god,” Ladybug groans. “We are all in the same school. Wait! No, we’re not supposed to be figuring out each others identities!”

“I mean, truthfully, I have known all your identities since I became a hero,” Ryuuko shrugs.

“Same,” Viperion nods.

Ladybug rubs her palms into her eyes, “how .”

“Same vibes,” the two reptiles nod.

“Dude, why the fuck is Papillon so angry today?” Carapace asks. “This is the third Akuma today.”

“He tried to Akumatize Id and it just bounced off,” Viperion snorts. They watch as both Chat’s Cataclysm at the right moment. Noir’s Cataclysm swipes the Akuma off its feet as Blanc’s Cataclysm hits the object, and Ladybug shows up just in time to catch the butterfly.

“I should pick up smoking at this rate,” Blanc sighs.

“Don’t do that, you’ll be a bad influence,” Carapace tells him.

“Curse the LadyBlog and my supernatural charisma,” Blanc says, voice bland.

“I think you mean my charisma,” Noir jokes, arm falling around Blanc’s neck.

“ Our charisma at most, Noir. Just because we’re made from the same base doesn’t mean that you can pull it off as well as I can.”

Kagami doesn’t know what happened. It was a normal day, or rather, it should have been a normal day. There’s blood coating her boots, and a ring in her hand.

“Id?” She asks, voice quiet. She’s rarely ever talked to him, but she has seen his affect on her friends. She tries his other name, “Blanc?”

“Is he dead? He can’t be dead, right?” She’s interrupted from her spiral by the tugging of her shirt.

“C’mon kid, you’ve gotta get out of here and deal with the SentiMonster. Just get Ladybug to cast Miraculous Ladybug and Id’ll be alright,” the Black Cat says.

“R-right. Do I use your Miraculous or do I stick with Longg?”

“You can use both of us,” Longg answers, “just say our name and Unify .”

“Right. Plagg, Longg, Unify.”

RyuuBlanc explodes onto the scene like a wildfire, a dragon with white flames and cat-like attributes added to the natural reptilian features. She drops in like a lightning bolt, a swift Cataclysm takes out the SentiMonster’s Amok, followed up by her shocking the Akuma with a lightning bolt.

Chat Noir, ever adaptable, Cataclysm ’s the Akuma’s object, and Ladybug catches the Akuma.

“Good, you’re alive.”

“If I had a nickel for everytime I died and came back to life,” Id sighs, taking Kagami’s hand, palming the ring she slides into his hand.

“You need therapy.”

“We all need therapy, Kagami, yet I don’t think we’re ever going to get it. Not soon, at least.”

“We should go and kill Papillon,” is the first thing Ryuuko says when their meeting starts that night.

“I’m in,” Luka says. He’d heard Id’s chords snap, heard Kagami’s disharmony during the fight. He doesn’t really feel any remorse at the thought of taking Papillon’s life.

“Let’s do it,” Queen Bee shrugs.

“I’ve wanted him dead since day one,” Chat Noir shrugs.

“It’s not like I have anything better to do tonight,” Ladybug nods.

“I’ve been waiting for this!” Carapace comments.

“How are we supposed to find him, though?” Chat asks.

“Well…” Queen Bee says. “Blanc does have the Butterfly Miraculous in his collection. Which means he had to have found wherever Papillon was when his timeline ended, so-” she pulls out her phone, messaging Blanc.

They wait in bated breath-

“So you’re ready to kill Papillon?”

They all jump up, looking from Queen Bee to behind them, seeing Blanc picking at his claws.

“The Agreste Manor, that’s where I found both Peacock and Butterfly.”

“fuck.” Chat Noir says, and everyone turns to him. “My father’s Hawkmoth? What the fuck even is my life, man? Evil twin cousin, evil twin from the future, dead mom, evil dad, evil step-mom. My life is some convoluted anime.”

“Wait- your dad? You’re- you’re Adrien?” Carapace shouts

“Oh my god we really do all know each other in our civilian life,” Ladybug says as she slumps down on the ground.

“Why aren’t you surprised?” Luka asks Queen Bee.

“I figured Chat Noir was Adrien when the whole Id-future thing happened, and Gabriel being Papillon makes a lot of sense. They both suck.”

“So are we just all gonna reveal our identities by this point? Ryuuko, Viperion, and Blanc all know everyone’s identities and we all know both Chat’s identities.”

Ladybug looks down, contemplatively. “Yeah. I- I’m- Tikki Spots Off.”

“Wayzz, Shell Off.”

“Pollen, Buzz Off.”

“Plagg,” both chat’s say at the same time, “Claws In.”

“Longg, Rest the Storm.”

“Sass, Scales Rest.”

“So what’s the plan?” Chloe asks Id.

“I was just planning on Cataclysm ’ing his face off next time I see him in public.”

“Terrible idea, you’d get arrested. Next.”

“I could use the Fox Miraculous to cast an illusion on him so he doesn’t notice us stealing the butterfly.”

“This feels really anticlimactic,” Adrien says as he watches Chloe kick his father in the ribs, Viperion holding the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculouses.

“Did you expect an exciting, blood rushing, tearful conclusion?” Kagami asks.

“Honestly? Yeah. Papillon- My father ruined the future, I thought that he’d put up more of a fight.”

Kagami’s quiet for a moment, before: “You are taking this remarkably well, I do not believe most of us would take our guardians being a supervillain so well. I know that I would not.”

“Oh I’m not taking this well at all, I think I’ve just bottled it all up. I’ll have a breakdown later.”

“That is fair.”

“That was so easy, why didn’t you just take Papillon on yourself?” Chloe asks Id as they’re all sitting at the Dupain-Cheng bakery, mere hours after robbing the Agreste’s.

The eyes of the full group look at him, and Id sighs.

“It’s not that I couldn’t, but whatever would have come from it, would have been much worse. Bunnyx showed me a future where that happens, everyone’s very paranoid in that future, and the Guardian makes some bad decisions, leading to some unsavoury individuals getting their hands on a Miraculous.

“And if I didn’t do any of this, aside from making sure you don’t cause the end of the world, you guys would all have taken forever to beat Papillon. Then Chrysalis. And- I don’t even remember. I don’t know why Bunnyx thought that timeline was the best. Five years of trauma.”

“So this is the only timeline we both don’t fuck up or take forever?” Marinette asks, slumped over on Adrien’s arm.

“There’s probably at least one where you guys got done faster. Probably,” Id shrugs.