Chapter Text
A masked man stood alone in a dimly lit room, the lighting barely distinguishing his lavender suit against the cool walls surrounding him. He waited for a butterfly to flutter down to alight on his expectant hand, anticipation bubbling. He thought of his wife and the pain he felt knowing he might never see her again. The fear that he was failing his son leaked into his negative emotions, but he quickly repressed that. The Miraculous were all that mattered, and he would be reunited with his love once more.
Cupping his hands, he channeled his negative emotions into the butterfly, electric crackles racing as the once pure butterfly turned dark and corrupted under his influence. Standing patiently, he opened his mind to the emotions of his fellow Parisians. Sifting through the happy thoughts and vapid emotions of the general population, he focused on the deeper, and darker, thoughts. Someone who was angry at his civilian identity would not do, so he passed over the many employees and customers of Gabriel in his hunt. Slowly expanding his search from the affluent arrondissements, he found the perfect target for the akuma he had in mind. Someone who wanted to...escape. For a little while.
Twirling his cane he watched as sunlight illuminated his dark lair, blinking slightly. With a simple instruction of, "Fly away my little akuma, and shift this poor woman's reality!" he waited for the connection to begin.
He felt it soon, the ache of another's pain paling in comparison to his own barbed heart. "Paradigimation," he began. Always forceful, always in control. A tactic he used often in his civilian life. "I am Hawk Moth. I am giving you the power to visit new universes, and escape to happier horizons. All I ask in exchange, is that you bring me the Miraculous of the Ladybug and the Black Cat. Do you accept?"
He heard the tired response, "Yes, Hawk Moth." He felt her collapse into the purple sludge that transformed her into his latest and greatest champion. Ladybug and Chat Noir wouldn't stand a chance. Cackling, he returned to his civilian identity, Gabriel Agreste, in expectation of Paradigimation's triumph. He had some more designs to work on.
"Welcome to my opening act!" A violet-suited man exclaimed from the Crossroad's street. The people around him blinked owlishly as he waved a sceptor in their faces.
"Extras aren't giving me the effort expected of them, eh?" Dorama muttered to himself. Louder, he continued, "Perhaps a simple demonstration will prove me a fitting antagonist."
Brandishing his new scepter at the crowd around him, he exclaimed, "Behold, my prop, my Macguffin, the Lost Scepter of Repos!" The head of the scepter glowed, twin blasts of energy flowing out in the form of ribbons, one red and one green, wrapping around two residents of the Crossroads. As the crowd watched on, the two people that had been struck quickly patted themselves down, checking for any injuries in the absence of pain. Suddenly, they both let out a shriek, looking up at the other in astonishment and fear. One of them was with their Merlopian partner, who placed a hand on their shoulder, brushing their head against their partners', quickly asking, "Gunner, are you alright?"
Gunner recoiled, yelling out, "Don't touch me, creep!" backing away from the Merlopian, who looked hurt by the action. The other person that had been struck turned to them, "Ambaar, I'm alright. That's not me."
At that admission, the Crossroads erupted in panic as Dorama watched on in glee. "Ah, finally. We've raised the stakes, and the extras are acting accordingly. This may be my magnum opus."
Suddenly, Dorama heard the roar of thrusters from somewhere in the distance. The Crossroads let out a collective cheer as Dorama sighed, disappointed at the brevity of his performance. "Cue the uninvited guests, the ninja enter from the wings."
A flying ship flew over the Crossroads square. A mech carrying four people fell off the side of the ship, plummeting to the ground before gracefully landing in front of Dorama. Four tornadoes of light burst downwards after them. They slammed into the ground in front of Dorama, sending him into a coughing fit.
From the dust cloud, four differently colored hooded figures rose, brushing themselves off. The red one spoke first, "Now kids, what have we said about jumping headfirst straight into danger?"
Three groans chorused from the mech, though one voice excitedly exclaimed, "To jump in without hesitation!"
"Well done Wyldfyre!" Kai shot her a quick thumbs up before rubbing his shoulder as the blue ninja punched his arm.
"No, Wyldfyre. Always observe your surroundings before you jump. You never know when a foreboding villain might appear," the green one said.
The white ninja piped up, "Statistically, we have only waited to observe threats approximately 14% of the time, and jumped in without hesitation 46.01% of the time."
The blue ninja shook her head, rolling her eyes as Wyldfyre yelled, "See Lloyd?" at the green ninja smugly.
Dorama could not believe it. This was his stage, his showstopper! The ninja were treating him like a small time performer! A charlatan! Taking advantage of their distraction, he raised his scepter.
Frak felt like throwing up. When Lloyd had told him he'd ride down with Sora, Arin, and Wyldfyre he'd been eager, ecstatic even. Perhaps a little too eager though, as he was about to lose his lunch. Hurtling from the Bounty at terminal velocity while clinging to the exterior of Sora's amazing invention was...not fun. He and Cole really shouldn't have tried their fusion of pie and cake this morning before he left for the Land of Lost Things.
Kai's voice rang out, "Now kids, what have we said about jumping headfirst straight into danger?"
Frak joined Sora and Arin in groaning at yet another one of the ninja's lectures, before Wyldfyre yelled something, which Kai affirmed. Judging by Nya's punch to his shoulder, it wasn't something the younger ninja should've taken on board. He listened intently to Lloyd, the legendary green ninja was sure to impart tons of wisdom on this training mission, catching the middle of his sentence, "...surroundings before you jump. You never know when a foreboding villain could appear."
He suppressed a smile, glancing over as he heard Sora's small chuckle as she listened to Zane citing his internal records of their mentors' experiences at Lloyd's expense. From the corner of his vision, he saw Dorama raise his scepter. Shaking himself slightly, he called out, "Watch out!" as a ribbon of red wrapped around Kai and a matching ribbon of green wrapped around Nya, and a pulse of light flashed.
Kai and Nya quickly looked around in shock, turning to each other and taking a simultaneous step back. As they both simultaneously shook their heads in disorientation, the other ninja stared at them in concern.
Nya stared at Kai appreciatively, suddenly remarking, "Wow, I look good today."
Kai sighed as the rest of the ninja looked at Nya strangely, the red ninja muttering something under his breath. Whatever he was muttering about quickly left his mind as he quickly pushed Zane out of the way of another red rope of light, which wound around him. The green rope found Zane quickly after.
"This is disorienting," Kai said, glancing around.
"I'll say," said a shivering Zane, before he turned to the rest of the ninja, shudders slowly residing. "We need to get that scepter, fast. Before he switches someone else."
Frak watched as the ninja charged Dorama before another rope shot around Wyldfyre, the green one wrapping around Lloyd.
Dorama threw his arms in the air at the sight of most of the ninja stumbling, disorientated, "Now that your parts have been rewritten, I can star in my own conclusion!"
"Yes! That makes me the leader now, right?" Lloyd asked as he looked down at his green gi.
"No!" shouted everyone present.
"I am no stagehand!" cackled Dorama as he continued shooting red and green ropes of light around the Crossroads square, ignoring the ninja. "I am the lead!"
Frak, despite the advance warning from Zane-Nya?, was wholly unprepared to feel the sensation of being pulled somewhere, blinking and finding himself staring across Sora's head at...himself.
"Weird..." both Arin, now in Frak's body, and Frak, in his, said simultaneously.
Frak felt...empty. The comforting vibrations within his bones was gone, reminding him of back before he had powers, before the Merge.
Suddenly, the ground began shaking as Dorama cried out, losing his balance alongside the ninja, and the mech. Frak's face looked afraid, Frak's body jittering as Arin nervously flicked his tongue out repeatedly. "How do you turn thisss off!" Arin panicked as he looked around at Lloyd, Sora, and Frak.
Frak called to him, "Try to plant your feet and settle your gut!"
Arin quickly moved Frak's body into how Frak had instructed, and closed his eyes. Slowly, the tremors subsided.
Frak was brought back to the situation at hand at the sound of Dorama sulking as Za-Nya? and Kai stood over him, reaching for the scepter. "Fie! The heroes had just been felled, only for some contrived plot twist to upstage me." The threat apparently over, the newer ninja dismounted the mech.
Lloyd looked to Zane. "Lloyd?" he said, tossing Zane the scepter.
"Thanks Nya," Lloyd said as his titanium arms handled the scepter. "Now, how does this work?" he asked as he waved it around.
Dorama, from the ground, huffed.
"Let me try," Wyldfyre snatched the scepter from Lloyd. "The funny man with the hat-" Dorama made a sound of offence, "...was just waving it around," she mused as she waved it around the square.
He watched as Arin, in Frak's body, slowly stepped forward to Wyldfyre, raising his hands in front of him as he moved for the scepter. "Wyldfyre? I don't think you should be messing around with that."
Wyldfyre scoffed, before yelping as a green and red ribbon leapt out of the scepter. It wrapped around Arin and Frak, who now found himself back in his scales blinking in front of Wyldfyre, who said in disbelief, "That worked?" before catching herself, waving the scepter as she continued. "I mean...of course it worked, this is why I should be the one who touches dangerous objects."
As she continued speaking, the scepter shot out another red ribbon, finding Frak again. He watched as another red ribbon partner wrapped around Sora. They both closed their eyes. Knowing what the swapping felt like, Frak braced himself for the switch.
It never came.
Blinking his eyes open he quickly eyed Sora, seeing her look similar to what he assumed he did - confused and slightly relieved. He liked his scales, human skin felt weird.
"Wasn't me," said Wyldfyre, her casual dismissal sounding strange in Nya's voice. Wyldfyre threw the scepter back to Lloyd, in Zane's body. The scepter promptly let out another ribbon, swapping Wyldfyre with Nya, who'd been inhabiting Lloyd's body.
Lloyd sighed as he looked at the group gathered before him. "Okay, anyone who isn't...them right now could you line up in pairs and we'll swap you back one at a time."
Frak, Arin, and Sora promptly stepped backwards as the rest of the ninja shuffled around. Nya went to Kai's body, who waited for Lloyd to wrap them in ribbons. Kai, in his correct body, joined Arin, Frak, and Sora to wait impatiently, trying to impart his 'wisdom' on the 'youngest, most impressionable minds available'.
After everyone had swapped back, the sun was sinking, and no one had eaten in hours. The fault was largely Dorama's, as he couldn't stay put while they were swapping each other around. After repeated attempts to swap with one of the ninja "You will become the understudy to the greatest actor alive - ME!" they had finally let the authorities take Dorama to Krptarium. After a short flight back from the Crossroads on the Destiny's Bounty, they were home.
The Monastery of Spinjitzu's kitchen was usually a mess, according to Sora and Zane but, since Frak had joined the team, he had re-taught Arin his organizational and cleaning skills, right after baking enough pies to make themselves sick.
Zane, Frak, and Arin all piled into the kitchen to make the ninja's meals, somehow avoiding tripping over themselves and spilling ingredients in the process. Kai and Sora watched them work over a game of cards. Kai was slowly getting more and more frustrated, much to Sora's amusement. Frak watched the corners of her eyes crinkle with glee as she placed yet another card on top of his stack. Nya, Wyldfyre, Riyu and Lloyd were who knows where - though Riyu was probably in the dragon stables sleeping.
Without fail, their somewhat functional family could instinctively know when food was on the table, so they all showed up eagerly as soon as the plates hit the table - Riyu included. Frak rolled his eyes at the dragon as he sat down, trying to position himself close, but not too close to Sora. After Arin began raising his eyebrow at him before glancing in Sora's direction with a subtle tilt of his head, he'd decided to try and be less...hovering around her than he was. If the other ninja noticed he was acting slightly different around her, they hadn't commented yet. He still didn't know too much about her - the other ninja kept saying to ask her, but she was being quite cagey. The most he knew about her besides her bravery, stubbornness, sense of justice, and kindness after the ninja invited him to join the team after the Tournament of Sources was that she could bake physics-defying pies that could potentially melt skin, and that she liked cats. Which he was allergic to. And pink and white were her favorite colors, blue in third. And she was fun to harmonize with when he stumbled into her singing while she worked on a project.
He busied himself eating Zane's steak as he and Arin waited for their pies to bake in the oven for dessert, settling back to listen to the older ninja tell stories about their adventures. Frak liked to hear them, he and Arin were always big fans of the ninja, and he was still a child when the ninja went around saving Ninjago at large. Hearing about the Tournament of Elements, especially after participating in the Tournament of Sources, was incredibly interesting to him.
After the ninja had all finished their dinners and groaned at Lloyd's attempts to get them to do sunset training drills as well, he walked sluggishly to his room at the end of the Monastery. He didn't mind the longer walk though - he was the newest addition to the team and an entirely unplanned one, and he got to say goodnight to everyone as he walked past.
Opening his door, he busied about doing his nighttime routine: brushing his fangs, hydrate, and begin small vocal exercises to get ready to sleep. Curling up around the small heater Sora had built for him after he made a comment about being cold inside the Monastery, he closed his eyes and let sleep take him.
"Marinette! What is Newton's third law of motion?"
Marinette quickly raised her head from where it had been previously resting on the surface of her desk to look towards Ms. Mendeleiev expectantly glared. Marinette suppressed a groan as she wracked her head for what it was.
"Uh, force is mass multiplied by acceleration?" she offered up hesitantly, before cringing as she watched her best friend Alya subtly shake her head.
Her science teacher pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing before saying, "Marinette, it is quite clear that you haven't been paying attention. Don't make a habit of it, or you'll find yourself in the principles' office soon enough."
Marinette only nodded, returning her gaze to her unopened physics textbook.
The class droned on as Marinette thought briefly on why she'd been late.
"Okay Chat, I need you to go to the end of the courtyard and hold this up to the sun," Marinette said, under her guise as the protector of Paris. She held up a wardrobe mirror spotted with red and black dots. "When the vampigeons get here, you need to shine the light underneath the cloud!"
Chat immediately hoisted the mirror over his shoulder, and started sprinting to the other end of the courtyard. He called over his shoulder, straining slightly under the weight of the mirror, "I'm always happy to light up your day anytime, M'lady."
Ladybug suppressed a groan as she watched her partner cross the courtyard, briefly wondering if she should've called one of the other heroes. Chat's pigeon allergy was something Hawk Moth always seemed desperate to exploit, and Count Pigeon was no different. Luckily for them, there was always something that limited Hawk Moth's akumas to allow them to defeat them, either a weakness they could exploit themselves or her Lucky Charm would provide her a solution. That solution was currently being set up by Chat's deft hands as he maneuvered it into place, the din of pigeon wings filling the air as the vampigeons swarmed them, their leader protected under the mass of vampiric pigeons, who themselves were immune to the sun. Hawk Moth was getting desperate for Mr. Pigeon spinoffs.
"Now Chat!" she yelled as Count Pigeon got close enough to her that he couldn't dive off the edge before he could burn, or order his swarm to protect him.
Chat shot her a grin as he yelled, "This light hurt a little," towards their villain of the day as he uncovered the mirror, Count Pigeon screaming as he fell to the rooftop.
Ladybug rolled her eyes, taking her magic yo-yo from her side and gave it a few swings to build momentum before shooting it towards the necktie on Count Pigeon's attire - the only thing she could reasonably see that Count Pigeon could have been wearing before his akumatization. Snagging it, she retracted her yo-yo. The corrupted item fell nicely into her hands, where she then tore it with her super-strength, watching as the akuma housed within fluttered up into the air. Quickly capturing it in her yo-yo, she purified the negative emotions housed in the butterfly and released the now white butterfly into the wild. Count Pigeon was covered once more in purple sludge, which fell away to reveal Mr. Ramier. Holding on to the large mirror, she and Chat threw it into the air as she yelled, "Miraculous Ladybug!"
Swathes of ladybugs burst from the mirror, slowly vanishing into the cloud of ladybugs, before they surrounded the vampigeons still flying in the air. She could see some of the vampigeons become pigeons again, while others transformed back into people before the ladybugs whisked them away, back where they came from when the vampigeons pecked at them. All the damage they and Count Pigeon had caused was reversed, and all was right in Paris.
Quickly pounding her fist against Chat's offered one and saying their customary, "Pound it," to each other, they went their separate ways.
The class passed quickly without Mendeleiev calling on her again. Putting her textbook away, she risked a glance at Alya, who rolled her eyes and whispered, "Later," to her. Marinette shot her an appreciative look as they left the classroom.
"So dudes," Nino said, slinging his arm around Alya as they walked out. "Want to study for that physics test together sometime soon? Ms. M will kill me if I don't improve my grades since last time."
"I can tutor you Nino," Adrien piped up behind them all.
Nino opened his mouth to respond when an alarm sounded in the school, an automated message repeating, "Akuma Alert at Trocadero Plaza!" throughout the school.
Given that Francoise Dupont was nowhere near the plaza, the students mostly ignored it and continued to their next class. Alya and Nino also kept walking towards the library. Adrien however seemed to freeze, before calling out to the three of them.
"Sorry Nino, maybe another time. Nathalie just called, my father needs me for another photoshoot."
Marinette shrugged off the discrepancy that Adrien hadn't reached for his phone at all. Maybe Gabriel was trialing the new Tsurugi Industries invisible earpieces Adrien had been talking about two months ago? Unfortunately, that meant she wouldn't get to spend time in the library talking- watching- studying Adr- with Adrien! Regardless, she had somewhere she needed to be too.
Meanwhile, Nino eyes softened. "Man, your dad's assistant really needs to chill. I'll see you after break?"
Adrien muttered, "She's already cold enough," before speaking to Nino. "You bet! Later!" he called to the group as he dashed off towards the lockers to grab his things.
Marinette glanced around at the many students still milling around the halls before looking to Alya. "Sorry Alya I..." she trailed off, looking over to where Adrien had run off to, "...have to use the bathroom!"
Alya raised an eyebrow before smirking, nudging Nino and shaking her head. "Okay girl," she said, before warning, "Don't get the bathrooms mixed up again!"
Marinette groaned internally as turned, running to her own locker. "I won't!" she called over her shoulder as the snickers of both Alya and Nino wafted over to her ear.
Reaching her locker, she typed in the combination to find Tikki floating above her gym trainers. The small red sprite shared a wordless glance with Marinette before she flew out next to her, hiding amongst her hair, as they raced to find somewhere to hide. Tucking themselves into a small cleaning cupboard, Marinette turned to Tikki. Keeping her voice down, she whispered, "Tikki, spots on," before the small sprite raced inside her earrings and magic washed over her, transforming her into Ladybug.
Her senses as Ladybug were only minorly enhanced compared to when she became Lady Noir after the cat kwami, Plagg, had been swapped with her own. However, she was still able to hear the absence of footsteps or conversation around her - classes had most likely begun. She thanked the kwamis that it was a free period for once. Bursting out of the cleaning cupboard, she used her yo-yo to grapple to the roof and away she flew towards the Trocadero Plaza.
Marinette landed on one of the buildings overlooking the Plaza, Chat Noir already there watching the villain cause havoc. Cars were overturned, chariots and flying vehicles filled the streets and the sky, and numerous people littered the streets. The akuma was standing in the middle, shooting at anything and everything. Lamposts became lanterns, lanterns became L.E.D strips on the sidewalk, and people swapped places with other people.
A cry sounded throughout the throng of people, catching both Ladybug's and Chat Noir's attention. "Behold knaves! Peasants! Your ruler, King Darkblade the Eighteenth, venerable ruler of the French Realms and beyond, declare sovereignty over these lands posthaste!" An armored man strode confidently through the mass, slicing at various vehicles, trees, and people, before suddenly he was struck by a beam of energy, transforming.
Armand D'argencourt stood in his wake, blinking at the chaos surrounding him, before running away.
It didn't take long for the heroes to spot the akuma, standing leisurely in the middle of the stampede shooting beams of light in various directions from her visor. The white suit stood out sharply in the sea of colors. The akuma looked around, spotting Ladybug and Chat Noir atop the rooftop. "Ladybug! Chat Noir! I am Paradigimation! Give me your Miraculous!"
"That's a mouthful," Chat remarked as he jumped down, Ladybug following quickly after him. "So what do you do? Bring his furrmer akuma's back? Hawky's tried that one before, purrsuming he hasn't forgotten."
Paradigimation, visored as she was, only scowled before blasting a beam directly at Chat, who swiftly sidestepped. "Meowch, Hawk Moth can't take a bit of friendly name-calling?"
The beam shot a patch of grass, warping it into barren ground, stopping at the sidewalk.
"Wouldn't you like to know, alley cat?"
Ladybug observed as her partner led Paradigimation around the stampede, occasionally sidestepping the wayward car or chariot. Everything the beam struck changed in some way, but how?
Chat landed next to her, flippantly asking, "Figured something out yet, M'lady?"
Civilians would see him as silly or someone who didn't take protecting them seriously, but she recognized his question for what it was: he was struggling to dodge the lasers repeatedly given there was no visible indicator Paradigimation would shoot before the laser formed out of her visor.
"Not yet, I- CHAT!" Ladybug screamed as the beam struck her partner right next to her, watching as he was replaced by another cat miraculous holder.
"Good afternoon, M'lady." said the green-haired imposter, taking her hand unprompted and leading her back to the rooftop. "Is this the villain you called me to fight?"
"What, no! Where's Chat Noir?"
The other cat hero stared at her blankly. "I beg your pardon?"
Suddenly, another beam fired by Paradigimation struck him, and Chat Noir appeared in his place. It was Ladybug's turn to take his hand unprompted, swinging them both away a few blocks while he was unresponsive. He shuddered suddenly. "Phew, That Ladybug was pawsitively nightmarish." Coming out of his thoughts, he spotted Ladybug standing next to him. "Bugaboo!" he yelled, embracing her.
Ladybug hated that nickname, but she didn't notice it as she quickly embraced him, before telling him, "I think I know what the villain does, but I need to talk to Tikki quickly. Do you mind...?"
Chat quickly spun on his heel. "O-oh, yes. Absolutely. Talk to Tikki."
Whispering, "Spots off," under her breath, the magic light that transformed her into Ladybug washed over her once more, reverting her back to Marinette. Tikki spiraled out of her earrings, looking frantically around before finding Marinette and Chat, his back turned to them. Reassured that Marinette's secret identity and her safety was maintained, the kwami relaxed.
"Tikki," the kwami turned to look at Marinette. "Can there be more than one of the same miraculous in the world at once?"
The kwami hesitated to answer before replying, "No...there cannot be more than one miraculous in the world at once. Why?"
"Thanks Tikki, spots on!" Marinette said, transforming into Ladybug, turning to tap Chat on the shoulder. He turned around promptly.
"I think that she swaps people's universes," Ladybug said hesitantly, knowing it sounded silly.
Chat immediately nodded, "I trust you M'lady, it makes sense. Do you think the akuma is in her visor then? Sunglasses before akumatisation?"
"We need to get her talking," Ladybug said. "That tends to work on the newer victims. You're only here again because she hit the other you, so we can't risk going in to look for the object."
"Sounds like a plan bugaboo," Chat said, walking to the edge of the rooftop. "So, taunts and running it is today?"
"Yep," Ladybug replied. "And no jumping in front of the beam to save me, okay?"
She was met with his cheeky grin. "No promises!" he exclaimed as he pulled a silver baton from his back, pressing the pawpad on it to send him shooting off in the sky, towards Trocadero Plaza again. Exasperated, Ladybug followed with her yo-yo.
Luckily for the heroes, the people from other universes didn't seem too interested in fighting them, as they weaved through the many people walking throughout the square, Ladybug recognizing some of them as people she'd seen on the street walking to school sometimes. Those people stopped to cheer for them before quickly refocusing on avoiding the stampede. A younger version of Timetagger was spraying graffiti near Paradigimation, before she blasted him with a beam to reveal who Ladybug recognized as Nino's younger brother, Chris. Ladybug hoped that Ella and Etta weren't present with Chris, Alya would be distraught if her sisters were caught up in the attack - despite the widely known and accepted fact that Alya would be somewhere distant recording their fight with her loyal boyfriend and de-facto cameraman, Nino.
As Chat continued distracting her, Ladybug noticed an object on her back that pulsed purple before she fired her beam. Akuma. Launching her yo-yo, she cracked it.
A green butterfly flew out.
Slightly concerned by the sickly energy wafting from this akuma and whatever abuse Hawk Moth had done to Nooroo to corrupt butterflies in green, Ladybug ignored Marinette's inner fashionista raging at the color and general aesthetic of radioactive green (What was Hawk Moth thinking?) to capture it into her yo-yo. The akuma was purified, and a grey moth flew out into the air, as green sludge encased the victim, returning her to her civilian form that was lying on the floor.
"It's weird that I didn't need to use a lucky charm for this fight," Ladybug mumbled, looking at Chat uncertainly, who simply shrugged.
"Maybe we're just more awesome than usual."
The woman blinked and looked around, disoriented, before her eyes landed on Ladybug and Chat Noir.
"Where am I? Did I do anything?" she asked worriedly.
Chat crouched down, saying, "You're in Paris, at the Trocadero Plaza. You weren't at fault. Hawk Moth took advantage of your negative emotions." His words only seemed to confuse the woman though, rather than reassure her.
Suddenly, the woman's confused face was replaced by a visored face, annoyed.
"I was living the best life!" she whined as she pushed herself up, shoving away Chat and backing away. "There were no voices, there was no Richard, there were no worries! I was free to live for the rest of my days! What did you two do!"
Suddenly, a purple butterfly-shaped outline covered her face. Ladybug and Chat backed away themselves, knowing that this meant that Hawk Moth was communicating with whoever this was. The woman suddenly spoke up.
"Hawk Moth fulfilled his side of our deal, and now it's my turn. Give me your Miraculous!"
The woman's back, which Ladybug now recognized as a small pack, began pulsing with grey energy. Suddenly, her visor glowed a bright green before a laser shot out at Ladybug, who quickly dodged. The beam hit one of the streetlamps, returning it back to the familiar Parisian streetlights Marinette had walked under her entire life. "I guess it's time for a bit of luck," Ladybug thought as she glanced around, looking for Chat. Spotting him on the other side of the plaza, they exchanged a brief nod before Ladybug called her lucky charm.
With the shout of the summoning word, a red and black-spotted mask fell into her hand. Briefly sticking it over her own head, she could see that it didn't cover the eyes of the wearer, which was her first thought when she received the charm. Ladybug lightly put the heel of her hand to her forehead as she realized that she shouldn't be trying to blindfold what was clearly another Paradigimation, the akuma could just swap it with an alternate universe lucky charm. She needed to restrain her and then deakumatise her.
Another butterfly outline appearing across Paradigimation's face made her pause, waiting to hear what she said before telling Chat her plan.
Paradigimation was clearly interested by what Hawk Moth was saying, as she stopped shooting lasers at them, content to nod and hum. The outline vanished, as the akuma planted their feet.
"Hawk Moth has given me a new ultimatum! I can get your Miraculous from any universe in existence and live out my happiest life! I just need to get rid of the two of you before I do. In every universe with a Hawk Moth, another Paradigimation is running amok. I can swap with them, I just need to send you two to a universe where you don't exist!" The akuma cackled eagerly. "Then I can get your miraculous by swapping everyone in Paris until I find the civilian identities of a Ladybug and a Chat Noir!"
Ladybug and Chat exchanged worried glances. A universe where they didn't exist? What were the implications of her powers?
Paradigimation's formerly green visor changed to a blood red, and she began blasting in earnest.
The heroes couldn't find an opening, and Ladybug's five-minute timer was beeping as her earrings began to lose their spots. She was down to three spots. Quickly, she called to Chat, "New plan!" She held up her right hand and pointed to her fingers.
Chat's eyes widened in understanding before he dropped onto all fours, moving as a cat. Dodging the beams, he yelled out, "Cataclysm!"
As his right hand touched the floor, motes of black dust rose from the ground as a crack appeared in them. As the now uneven surface was difficult for Paradigimation to walk on, she faltered, leaving Ladybug an opportunity to go for her pack.
Once more cracking the pack with her fist, she waited for the butterfly to emerge.
Paradigimation quickly took advantage of the opportunity, twisting around and grinning as she charged a point-blank shot at Ladybug. Suddenly, a black blur shot towards them from the corner of Ladybug's vision, Chat throwing himself between the two women, pushing Ladybug back as Paradigimation fired. A red outline encased Chat Noir, and traveled down his outstretched hand to Ladybug, and they both braced themselves for whatever was coming next.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing?
Glancing at each other, at Paradigimation grinning in satisfaction, and the Trocadero Plaza looking like a ren faire and technology convention had a scheduling conflict, the two realized they were still here. Alive. In their own universe.
Thinking quickly, Chat grabbed Paradigimation's arms at the same time that Ladybug swung her fist at the woman's visor, cracking it. A familiar purple butterfly emerged, fluttering away into the afternoon sky. "Bye bye little butterfly," Ladybug said as she watched the usual purple sludge covered the unfortunate victim, revealing the woman they had seen before, but with a braided ponytail instead of space buns. Noticing Ladybug and Chat Noir, she sighed, picking herself up.
"I'm sorry, Ladybug and Chat Noir. For whatever I did." Looking around, Ladybug watched as the woman's face widened in shock at the environment. Remembering the lucky charm at her side, she brought it out again to stare at it. It was another lucky charm that hadn't helped with the villain fight. These were getting more frequent, and Marinette couldn't help but wonder if Tikki was trying to tell her something. Or the universe had decided that she wasn't the best Ladybug for the job after all. Stuffing those worries back down, she threw the mask in the air with a cry of, "Miraculous Ladybug!" The ladybugs reversed all of Paradigimation's damage, and swirled around all of the alternate universe objects. The ladybugs didn't pass near Ladybug, the woman, or Chat Noir. Ladybug was grateful, it meant that they really hadn't been affected by the akuma. Pounding her fist against Chat's, she bid goodbye - citing work, as she swung back to her school where Alya and Nino would be sure to be hurrying towards now that the fight had wrapped up.
Unknown to Frak, Marinette, Sora, and Chat Noir, the Scepter of Repos could do more than swap bodies. Inside the armored truck that was moving steadily to Borg Tower, the scepter glowed red as it was struck by a red beam of light. Its own green ribbon shot out into the Ethereal Divide, forming a link between itself and the origin of the beam. The scepter's red ribbon began curling towards the Monastery of Spinjitzu, as the green ribbon continued to search for the similar energy emanating from the strange world.
As the young ninja slept, the red ribbon wrapped around Frak's peacefully sleeping form.
In Paris, Adrien Agreste, masked as Chat Noir, leapt into his room at the end of the long school day. Hawk Moth usually only released an akuma every two or three days, but today he'd put out another one after Paradigimation already. He must have been fuming that she was defeated so quickly. Adrien was looking forward to a nice nap. After a quick, "Claws in," Plagg spiraled out of his ring and wordlessly flew straight into his Camembert fridge, phasing through the door. Adrien smiled, saying a quick, "Night, Plagg," as he collapsed onto his bed. Suddenly, a green string wrapped around his ankle, restraining him. He was pulled down, and down, and down, a sharp yelp being the only thing allowed to escape him as he fell.
Another scarlet ribbon wrapped around Sora's wrist, causing her to start in her bed - a light sleeper already from her time on the streets in the Crossroads. She watched as an unusual green ribbon snared her wrist, and suddenly she was restrained in a pink bedspread, hers and Arin's room completely gone. Foreign photographs stared her in the face of a smiling girl and a blond-haired boy.
Marinette woke up with a start. The shoji walls around her were decidedly not her room. For a brief second she wondered absently if Kagami had spirited her away to Japan as one of her 'getting to know you better' attempts, before her eyes found a black haired boy that she had never seen before sleeping soundly across the room from her. Quickly feeling for her earrings, she felt her bare earlobes that hadn't yet been pierced, unsettling her further. An akuma? And where was Tikki? Tremors rocked underneath her, causing her to jump. As she jumped up in the bed, suddenly, the room became awash with a pink glow. The lights flickered on and off, and some scrap metal lying on a table across from her began levitating. She screamed.