Ladybug and Chat Noir landed on the roof of a nearby building. They had managed to escape from Mothers Wrath and his small army, by the skin of their teeth, but they made it.
"Our transformation is almost over" Ladybug mentioned when she heard the beep coming from her earrings "Go recharge your Kwami and we'll meet in front of the Fronçoise Dupont in fifteen minutes. We will be needing help with this Akuma."
"Understood, my Lady" then he turned to look at Ladybug "be careful."
"Don't worry, kitty."
A few minutes later, Marinette was running through the streets of Paris. Suddenly, a light flooded the streets and Marinette recognized the warm feeling in her chest, it was the one Mothers Wrath had used earlier. At that instant, Mothers Wrath's voice echoed through the streets of Paris.
"Citizens of Paris, my name is Mothers Wrath, I have come to do no harm. Like any mother, I only want to protect my children, therefore, my protectors and seekers will scour Paris to bring before me those who have harmed our children, if you do not want to get hurt, do not interfere, we will only take those who need to be punished, but my seekers are instructed not to let anyone escape. Stay out of the way and you will not be harmed."
Mothers Wrath's statement made Marinette nervous. Something big was about to happen and Marinette didn't feel ready to deal with it.
"What should I do, Tikki? This is worse than I imagined."
"I know Marinette, but if anyone can beat this Akuma, it's you."
"I don't think I can do this" said Marinette worried, she looked around and saw her Lucky Charm still in her hands "At least not alone."
"You are the guardian now, all Kwamis trust you, I trust you."
Marinette felt her eyes watering, the trust Tikki and the rest put in her was sometimes overwhelming, but today, it was just what she needed to stand up and move on.
A few minutes later.
Ladybug and Chat Noir were on the roof of the Fronçoise Dupont school building. Chat still seemed a bit shaken from their last confrontation with the Mothers Wrath warriors.
"What's the plan my Lady?"
"We can't beat Mothers Wrath, not alone" Ladybug said seriously "I wanted to avoid using our temporary heroes as much as possible, but we have no choice, we need them."
"All of them?"
"All of them" Ladybug confirmed seriously "You get Rena Rouge, Carapace and Pegasus and I'll get the rest."
"My Lady, do you plan to bring Queen Bee? You know it's a risky gamble with her."
Ladybug thought about it for a few seconds, before smiling.
"I won't bring Quee Bee, but I will bring someone worthy of holding the bee's miraculous."
"Understood, my Lady, I trust you."
Ladybug started running across the rooftops, heading for the nearest shelter to the bakery, where Kagami and Chloe were supposed to be. As she moved forward, a few blocks before reaching the shelter, she noticed her two friends, in the middle of the street, looking for something.
"What are they doing here? They should be in a shelter." said Ladybug to herself. Shaking her head, she went down to where the two girls were.
"She has to be here somewhere, how did we lose her? "said Kagami frustrated.
"I don't know, this is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous "complained Chloe " Do you think the Akuma got her?"
"I don't think so, Marinette is smart and quite clever "said Kagami, while Marinette was touched by her friends confidence " At least when she's not being clumsy."
OK, not so touched after that, but she couldn't blame them, she was kind of (really) clumsy. Ladybug then landed in front of the two teenagers, both of whom were startled by her presence.
"Ladybug! What are you doing here?" Chloe asked when she saw the heroine.
"Chloe, Kagami, the Akuma we're facing is a tough one, I need your help to protect Paris." Ladybug said seriously "Can I count on you?"
"It's an honor that you consider us worthy, but right now we have to make sure that our friend, Marinette, is safe " said Kagami with utmost respect, moving Marinette again.
"Don't worry, I have made sure Marinette Dupain-Cheng is safe, after all this Akuma is related to her."
"Are you sure she is safe?" Chloe asked, still worried.
"As safe as she can be, considering there is still an Akuma on the loose."
Both girls seemed to relax a bit at the heroine's statement.
"So, can I count with your help?"
"Yes, I'd be honored to help you," Kagami answered resolutely.
"Then, maybe I should go " said Chloe shyly, but before she left, Ladybug stopped her.
"I'm going to need your help too, Chloe."
"But you said I can't go back to being Queen Bee."
"You won't be, you'll use the bee miraculous, but I already took care of creating a new identity for you."
"Can you do that?"
"Perks of being the guardian of the miraculous."
"That's utterly awesome!"
"Thank you!"
Ladybug proceeded to hand them their miraculous and smiled as she saw them greet Longg and Pollen, both of whom had missed their carriers.
"You know what to do," said Ladybug, interrupting the meeting, but that didn't bother the kwamis or the holders.
"Longg! Bring the storm!"
"Pollen! Buzz on!"
As she finished her transformation, in front of her stood Ryuko in all her glory. Next to her stood a new heroine, Ladybug knew it was Chloe, but anyone looking at her would not be able to connect her with her former alter ego.
Yellow and black were still predominant in her body- tight suit, but the pattern was different from Queen Bee's pattern, moreover, she wore her hair loose and adorned with a small crown with the bee's comb in the middle, placed on the right side of her head.
Chloe was quiet for a few seconds, which worried Marinette.
Then, she ran to the nearest glass case to look at her reflection.
Typical Chloe.
"I look divine! Queen Bee is back, baby!"
Once again, typical Chloe.
"I'm glad you like it, but you're going to have to think of a new name, the miraculous magic protects your identity, but if you keep using the name Queen Bee, you'll be easy to recognize."
"I understand! Thank you for this opportunity, Ladybug. I won't let you down."
"I know you won't." Ladybug said with a warm smile, then added seriously " Meet me outside the Françoise Dupont, I have to go get someone else."
"So be it " said Ryuko solemnly.
Ladybug smiled once more before leaving.
It didn't take her long to locate Kim and give him the monkey miraculous, which the boy took with enthusiasm, but not before getting into a silly argument with Xuppu. Ladybug instructed him to go to the Françoise Dupont, before leaving to find the last member of her team.
Within minutes she had reached the Liberty ship, but stopped, terrified to see what was happening in front of her.
Luka and Juleka were trying to stop Anarka, who had apparently been transformed into part of the Mothers Wrath army.
"Mom, please wait!" Luka asked desperately.
"Don't go! "cried Juleka, with tears in her eyes.
The protector, who had previously been Anarka Couffaine, turned to look at her children with tenderness.
"Calm down, children! All will be all right. Mother will bring justice for all those who mocked you. I will make sure everyone is safe."
"Mom!"
Ladybug came down as fast as she could to try to stop Anarka, but it was too late, she had already left with the other protectors.
"Ladybug! Please save our mom! "begged Juleka.
Ladybug hugged her and said:
"Don't worry, we'll fix this, for now go find shelter."
Juleka nodded and called Luka to leave together, but Luka refused.
"I have to make sure Kagami, Marinette and Chloe are okay, none of them are answering my calls. "Luka said as he guided Juleka inside the Liberty, seeing the worried look on his sister's face, he added " I'll be fine, I won't get away from Ladybug."
Juleka, still reluctant, accepted her brother's argument and entered the ship.
"I guess you need Viperion."
"How did you know?"
"A hunch."
Ladybug shook her head while allowing herself to smile, Luka was one of a kind.
"Then can I count on your help?"
Luka looked thoughtful for a few seconds.
"I would love to help," said Luka, cheering Ladybug up, "but I didn't lie. I haven't managed to communicate with any of my three friends today, I know they went out together to celebrate their friendship anniversary, but I haven't heard anything from them, and knowing Chloe, she should have uploaded some picture of the three of them together to her Instagram by now. That girl doesn't pass an opportunity to upload selfies."
OK, Luka was smarter than anyone gave him credit for, Marinette knew that, but to this level?
Wow.
"Don't worry about them, I know where they are, they haven't been attacked by the Akuma" at least not yet.
Luka stared at her and Ladybug knew he knew there was something else she wasn't telling him, however, he let it go, there were more important things to take care of.
Within seconds, Viperion was in front of Ladybug, ready for action.
Ladybug nodded and led him to the rest of the heroes on the roof of the Françoise Dupont. Ladybug noticed that Chloe seemed to want to hide from the gaze of Rena Rouge, who was excitedly asking questions to the new bee.
"I thank you all for your help " said Ladybug, calling the attention of those present " we are facing a combined Akuma, this is the first time that Hawkmoth managed to akumatize three people in a single villain, therefore, this battle will be tough."
"We still don't know what the akumatized object is, so we have to find it " Chat Noir added "anyway, we've worked together before, well, except for the new girl, so what's your name?"
Chloe fidgeted in her place, looking a little nervous, but then answered:
"You can call me Empress Abeille."
With the introductions done, Ladybug used her commanding voice again, drawing the attention of those present.
"We are facing a combined Akuma, those are always bad, but this is a triple one " said Ladybug seriously, while some seemed nervous with the information "We need to be careful, so far, we know that Mothers Wrath has two powers, although it could be more. One of her powers is the one that allows her to transform people into her followers, we don't know what conditions they must meet to become her pawns, but something tells me she is targeting mothers. Her other power, looks like some kind of hypnotism, be careful."
"Just so you know, that power actually feels kind of nice, don't let your guard down" said Chat Noir seriously.
"Right, thanks Chat " said Ladybug, remembering the warm feeling of the golden light emanating from Mothers Wrath "Viperion, be careful with Second Chance, something tells me we'll need it."
Viperion nodded resolutely, everyone looked nervous, but ready for battle. Rena Rouge raised her hand and Ladybug gave her the floor.
"Excuse me Ladybug, earlier I saw the Akuma take Lila Rossi, have you rescued her yet?"
Ladybug noticed how Ryuko and Empress Abeille tensed slightly, but no one else seemed to notice.
"Not yet, Mothers Wrath overwhelmed us when we tried to approach earlier."
"So, she's still stuck with that monster!?"
"Rena Rouge! I remind you that victims of akumatization are just that, victims. I will not allow you to speak ill of any victim." Ladybug said seriously, making her back down.
"But, Lila..."
"She will be rescued and the Akuma purified"
With that said, everyone prepared for the battle that was about to happen, Ladybug retreated for a few seconds, as she summoned a paper bird, a little trick she had learned in her guardian training.
"Find Master Su Han, give him my message, we may need him."
The paper bird flew away in search of Su Han. Ladybug didn't like to depend on him, after all Su Han and she hadn't had a good first impression of each other, but the grandmaster had proven to be trustworthy and had taken matters into his own hands in Marinette's training to be a proper guardian. He was strict, but fair, and even though he had told her that he specialized in fighting miraculous holders and not Akumas, something told Marinette that she was going to need him.
She felt that this plan, even with all the extra help, would go wrong: however, this was still the best plan she had, she had to choose between bad and worse. If she and Chat faced Mothers Wrath's army without help, she felt they would both lose their miraculous.
"Trust your instincts, they are the most finely tuned I have seen in centuries and your greatest strength."
The words Su Han repeated during their training sessions echoed in her head, giving her the push she needed.
All or nothing, the fight was about to begin.
A few minutes later...
Ladybug, Chat Noir and their improvised team were on the roof of a building near the park where the heroes had fought earlier. Ladybug was observing the situation at their side.
Mothers Wrath had recruited more mothers into her army. The number of protectors and seekers had increased threefold and their caretakers and punishers had doubled.
"OK, this will be complicated, Viperion, prepare "Second Chance", we'll need it, Empress, I need you to sneak up as close as possible to Mothers Wrath and paralyze her, Ryuko, protect her, Rena Rouge, I need illusions from Chat and me to distract the protectors, Carapace, do you see the children in that place?" she said pointing towards a kind of corral where children under ten years old were guarded by some women dressed in brown, the children seemed to be playing quietly, which was alarming.
Carapace nodded but looked pale as he recognized Chris and the twins Ella and Etta in the crowd of children "Approach as quietly as possible and protect them, do not let them be harmed by the battle. Pegasus will get them out of there with Voyage and King Monkey will protect them."
Before they could move, Viperion interrupted them.
"Wait!"
"What's wrong Viperion?"
"The plan will fail!"
"Did we do something wrong? The plan seemed good to me. "said Empress Abeille in a tone between incredulous and shy, yes, shy, either Chloe had taken acting lessons with her sister or this Akuma had also sent them to an alternate dimension.
"The plan is good, and everyone played their parts, but you know the saying "a mom has eyes in her back"? Mothers Wrath has eyes in her back."
Ladybug bit her lip, weighing the information Viperion had brought. She nodded her head, signaling Viperion to activate Secon Chance again.
"Ok, new plan, Ryuko will take the lead along with Chat Noir, Carapace will protect them, while Rena Rouge and Empress Abeille take care of getting the kids out of the pen, when Ryuko is in front of Mothers Wrath, use the water dragon as chains to cut off her movement, I'll attack along with Viperion and so..."
"It won't work! "said Viperion as he caught his breath.
"Are you serious? Again?"
"I'm sorry Ladybug, but the plan will fail."
Ladybug tried to contain her frustration and panic, this was getting complicated.
Ladybug instructed Viperion to activate Second Chance again, while she tried another plan... which would also fail.
This was no longer just desperate, it was terrifying, each of their plans failed, Viperion came back more and more affected by what was happening in the timeline they were avoiding, even trying to rush into battle and improvise resulted in failure. As they reached the ninth plan, they got a vital piece of information.
"The akumatized object is her necklace! "said Viperion trying to catch his breath.
"Are you sure? "Ladybug asked.
Viperion seemed to hesitate, which alarmed Ladybug.
"During the last attack, Ryuko reached out to touch it and Mothers Wrath reacted violently, even pulling back to protect the necklace, so we concluded that it was the Akuma.
Ladybug turned to look at the place where Mothers Wrath was, closed her eyes for a few seconds and when she opened them, they seemed brighter than before. A guardian's sight allowed her to identify miraculous, even if it was camouflaged, it also allowed her to see side effects caused by the miraculous, Marinette and Su Han had been working on awakening that ability and modifying it a little to allow her to locate the location of the akumatized objects, the guardian's sight was not accurate, but it was the best option to confirm Viperion's theory. She focused as much as possible and was able to notice the almost poisonous purple energy surrounding Mothers Wrath's neck.
"OK, let's try this, Ryuko, Chat Noir and I will advance towards Mothers Wrath, Carapace will come with us, but will stay hidden with one of Rena Rouge's illusion, while Pegasus is transported inside the playpen, King Monkey, I know stealth is not your thing, but I need you and Empress Abeille to take advantage of our attack to approach Mothers Wrath as stealthily as possible. When you are close, Empress will use Venom as a decoy and when Mothers Wrath tries to catch her, use Uproar to create a chance for us to take the necklace.
Everyone turned to look at Viperion, but he didn't seem to have returned.
"It looks like that plan will work, my Lady.
"It seems so " answered Ladybug, still a little doubtful.
This plan was more risky, there were too many elements that could go wrong, but Viperion had not returned. Still, Ladybug had a terrible feeling.
"Okay, let's proceed, but be careful."
Everyone got into position and advanced into battle.
Ladybug, Chat Noir and Ryuko were in front with Carapace behind them, camouflaged with the illusion of Rena Rouge.
As expected, the protectors grouped in front of them to defend Mothers Wrath, then the battle began.
The three heroes began to fight against the army of women, slowly making their way until they reached Mothers Wrath, who was watching everything, with a serene expression... which alarmed Ladybug.
"Calm down, nothing has gone wrong."
On the other side of the park, Pegasus had transported herself inside the playpen and had started to take out the children, who were looking a bit confused.
Ryuko and her wind dragon forced her to refocus on the battle. The three were closing in on Mothers Wrath, when a new wave of protectors attacked them, Carapace used Shelter and they kept moving forward like a tank.
Mothers Wrath began to move towards them as they continued to fight against the protectors. When she was about to reach them, Empress Abeille appeared from behind with her Venom already charged ready to paralyze Mothers Wrath, who only turned around and captured Empress Abeille's hand holding her power.
"I'm sorry dear, but haven't you heard that mothers have eyes in their backs?"
"I know, I was counting on that," said Empress smiling, as King Monkey appeared out of nowhere and activated his power.
Mothers Wrath didn't bat an eye until she felt Viperion and Ladybug reach up to her neck to grab her necklace. Then, she pushed the two heroes as far away as possible, while cradling her necklace. When she raised her face, the heroes could not contain the shiver that ran through them. Mothers Wrath was absolutely fuming.
So far, except for Lila's "punishment", she hadn't been particularly violent, but now the power coming from her was enough to know that things would get nasty.
"I didn't want to do this, you are all very brave children, but your lack of discipline leaves me no choice " she said while the fan in her hand glowed again, but this time it felt different, before, there was a relaxing and pleasant feeling every time she used her power, but now, the glow was different, it still had the same color but instead of feeling relaxed, the heroes started to feel guilty "Don't you see that I just want to protect everyone? Why don't you want to see that everything I do is for your own good? Paris has been suffering for a long time, I just want to fix things, don't you understand?"
All the heroes began to show signs of guilt and regret, why did they have to fight Mothers Wrath? she wasn't that bad. Ladybug shook her head, trying to free herself from the thoughts of guilt that Mothers Wrath was putting in her mind.
Ladybug managed to stand up, still feeling her heart squeezed by the artificial guilt created by Mothers Wrath, however, the others were not taking it so well, Carapace had tears in his eyes, Rena Rouge had recoiled, Pegasus was far enough away to not be heavily affected, but, still, he looked depressed, King Monkey and Empress Abeille were on their knees, unable to get up. Ryuko and Viperion seemed to be making a superhuman effort not to succumb to Mothers Wrath's powers, and Chat Noir....
Ladybug saw how her partner was unable to stand up and had started sobbing, Mothers Wrath had him closest so he was the most affected. They couldn't fight like this, the feeling of guilt prevented them from moving, she still didn't understand how it was possible to succeed now, but if Viperion hadn't come back it was a good thing, right?
"My children, I don't want to hurt you, hand over the miraculous and it's all over.
"Never! "said Chat Noir trying to hold back tears " We won't let Hawkmoth win!
"Don't you talk back to me, young man!"
Immediately, Chat Noir shut his mouth, Mothers Wrath's powers had forced him to shut up.
"Come here this instant and hand over your miraculous!"
To Ladybug's horror, they all felt a strong impulse to obey her, they all started walking towards her, and when Ladybug noticed that they started to reach for their miraculous, she knew they had to get out of there... She turned to look at Viperion, who seemed about to activate Second Chance, but was stopped by the chains of a pair of seekers. The plan would fail and there was no way to avoid it.
At that instant, a bit of her Ladybug luck and her guardian training kicked in and an-idea occurred to her. As the heroes advanced towards Mothers Wrath who waited for them impassively, like a mother waiting for her children to approach when called. Ladybug walked near Pegasus and began to recite in her mind the spell she would need.
There was something that had caught her attention as she studied with Su Han, there was a spell that guardians could use to override a holder's authority over a Kwami. Marinette had asked Su Han if that spell could be used to override Hawkmoth and Mayura's power over Nooro and Duusu, but Su Han had told her that that spell was only a sort of safeguard for holders in training, their guardian could use that to protect them, but the holder had to trust and respect their guardian. Ladybug hoped that Pegasus trusted her enough for this to work.
Approaching Pegasus as stealthily as possible, she began to recite the spell as quietly as possible, when they were barely three feet away, she grabbed Pegasu's hand, the moment they made contact, Pegasu's eyes behind his glasses took on a golden glow, she immediately shouted:
"Voyage!"
A portal opened and Ladybug, taking advantage of their captors' distraction, used the same golden thread to push them inside.
When they opened their eyes, they were no longer in the park, well, at least not in the same park.
"Where are we?"
Rena Rouge's question made Ladybug start to inspect the place where Voyage had taken them, wishing it was inside France. They were outside what had once been a mansion, but which appeared to be in ruins, in front of the mansion, they could see a park, unlike the building behind them, it appeared to be well kept.
"We are at the Chateau de Rothschild, it is just outside Paris " said Empress Abeille turning around " Why are we here?
Ladybug was not sure, but her instincts told her that there was something about the place that called her.
She started walking towards the mansion, while the others followed her, as she entered, the smell of old and abandoned filled her sense of smell, but she kept going.
"They're not going to scold us for being here, are they?" Carapace asked, a little worried.
"No, this place has been abandoned since World War II, it is now French property." Empress Abeille replied, Carapace relaxed, until she added, "Come to think of it, I think access is forbidden to intrude."
"Doesn't that make us criminals? Are we criminals?" Carapace asked with a hint of panic in his voice.
"Well, I'm sure an agreement can be reached with the French government, after all, they refused to provide any help to the situation in Paris, according to them they are not qualified. "said Empress with annoyance.
"I had no idea, how do you know that? "asked Rena Rouge.
Empress became nervous before answering.
"A friend of my family works for the mayor, he was there during the negotiations."
"Aren't those things super private?"
"Pretty much, he discussed it with my dad and I kind of maybe eavesdropped," said Empress blushing.
Ladybug smiled at Empress Abeille's non-lie, technically, Jean the butler was a friend of her family, technically he worked for the mayor and technically Andre did discuss the issue with Jean, asking his opinion on the matter.
Smart girl.
"Ladybug?"
"What's up Carapace?"
"Do you have a new plan to defeat Mothers Wrath?"
Everyone was in a tense silence for a few minutes, they were all afraid of Mothers Wrath, but they knew they had to beat her.
Ladybug closed her eyes, trying to organize her ideas, looking for a way to defeat Mothers Wrath... she couldn't think of anything.
She opened her yoyo and pulled out a suitcase she had prepared a few weeks ago in case of emergencies.
Like this one.
Ladybug took out nine bags with different kind of foods.
"There are several rooms in this place, everyone take one and feed your Kwami, then I will figure out what to do."
After they had recovered, they went out to battle with a different plan.
It failed again.
Meanwhile, Paris was still under the rule of Mothers Wrath.
The young heroes entered a cycle of fight and flight, each time with increasing difficulty. Ladybug had offered the temporary heroes to withdraw from the battle, but they all refused. After twenty- four hours, the siege of Mothers Wrath worsened, began to spread, more people were "punished" and their cries echoed through the streets of Paris. Apparently, anyone who had done anything against the son of any member of Mothers Wrath's army, anything at all, was being punished. By the second day, Ladybug had taken Chat Noir, Ryuko, Rena Rouge and Pegasus with her into battle while the others tried to regain strength, failing, she called in the rest of the team, but failed again.
Soon, the situation escalated much more, time passed and Ladybug fought with all her strength, but no matter how hard she tried, they could not win. The mothers of all the members of her team were captive and the emotional pressure was worse. By the sixth day, everyone, especially Ladybug who had refused to take any more breaks than necessary (not enough at all), was exhausted and on the verge of collapse. They had made the Chateau de Rothschild their lair and base of operations. After the last failure, they all landed in the corridor leading to the second floor rooms of the mansion. Ladybug made a superhuman effort to regain her composure and breath.
"Everyone rest, feed your Kwamis, we'll be leaving in an hour."
Everyone listened to her and when Marinette was alone in one of the rooms, she collapsed to her knees trying to keep the sobs at bay.
"What am I going to do Tikki, this is terrible!"
"I know Marinette, but we'll find a way."
"What if we can't?"
"Marinette..."
Marinette was exhausted, all her plans and strategies had failed, they had been fighting for a whole week already and honestly, Marinette had no idea how to win this battle.
"Why is this Akuma so powerful? Hawkmoth never gives them so many powers."
"I don't think Hawkmoth intended to make it so powerful, remember what happened with Robostus?"
True, Hawkmoth seemed annoyed that Mothers Wrath didn't get the miraculous, but he hadn't taken away her powers.
"They're waiting for us to get tired, everyone on the team is exhausted," said Marinette realizing Mothers Wrath and Hawkmoth's plan, but she still had no idea how to defeat her. "What do I do, Tikki? I don't know what to do."
"Well, it looks like you need my help."
Quickly, Marinette became wary of the presence in her designated room, until she saw the other person in the room, a man with Asian features dressed in traditional robes.
"Master Su Han.
"Marinette, I see you are in a predicament, I apologize for not coming to your call sooner, I was out of Paris, by the way, good use of the paper bird spell."
"Thank you, master, and thank you for coming. I don't know what to do, everything I have attempted has failed."
"I know, I am aware that this Akuma is stronger than usual."
"It is. We've been fighting her for a whole week! It's all been in vain! I don't know what to do!"
"I understand child, this is complicated, you're going to need another perspective to find the solution."
"Do you have any ideas? "asked Marinette hopefully.
"No, not at all " he said killing the girl's illusions, then he added " but I know where you can find the answer you are looking for."
"Where?
"The universe."
"Could you be a little more specific, master?" Marinette asked a little bit annoyed, she knew that Su Han liked vague answers, but that was already going too far.
Tikki, on the other hand, looked a little worried.
"Master Su Han, do you think she's ready?"
"It's no longer a question of whether she's ready, it's a question that, if she doesn't, Paris, and possibly the rest of the world, will fall at the hands of evil."
"But no pressure " said Marinette sarcastically " What should I do? What are you talking about?"
"Wang Fu made a lot of mistakes in his life, really a lot, one would say too many for a guardian..."
"Master Su Han " said Marinette with a certain tone of warning in her voice.
"I know, the point I was getting at was that his instincts for finding potential were unmatched, he chose the perfect Ladybug with just one interaction with her " said Su Han, making Marinette blush " and upon meeting you personally he knew you should be the next guardian, he could see a potential that I failed to appreciate in our first meeting. Marinette, you're not just a guardian in training, you're the next great guardian, you're able to understand the flow of the universe and communicate with it, and you haven't even realized it."
"What are you talking about? I've never done such a thing before! I haven't even finished learning how to be a guardian! I can't be a Great Guardian! I'm not ready!"
"Not yet, but you are already walking on the right path. The universe has been guiding you for a while now."
"How can I communicate with the universe without realizing it?"
"By using your Lucky Charm, the universe guides you, you knew which miraculous would fit each holder even before you met the Kwamis associated with them."
"But I was wrong, I almost lost the bee miraculous, plus, I tried to give the snake miraculous to someone who wasn't compatible with it on my first try. "
"But did you follow your instincts that time?"
"Well, I..."
"Marinette. Did you follow your instincts?"
She knew the answer, Marinette was desperate to be loved by Adrien, so she ignored her instincts that pointed to Luka and chose the guy she liked.
"No, I didn't " she admitted embarrassed " but what about the bee's comb?"
"Even though you had an oversight that could have been fatal, the bee miraculous was found by the right person, the time was not right and Chloe Bourgeois was not ready to carry the power of Pollen, but the universe knew that, eventually, that girl would mature to become the holder of the subjection."
That was true, in all of Paris, Marinette knew that the most compatible with Pollen was Chloe, she hadn't trusted her with the miraculous before because she wasn't ready, it took time and effort for the young blonde to understand that her miraculous was a privilege and a duty and that to deserve it she had to be the best version of herself, until she was. She deserved her miraculous when she stopped thinking about it and became the Chloe Bourgeois who was her best friend, who forgave her mother's abandonment, who made the effort to connect with her half-sister, who gave up her childhood love so he and her friend could be happy, who stood by Kagami's side when everything fell apart, who became one of her biggest pillars in a place that was beginning to reject Marinette because of Lila Rossi's lies. Marinette knew that, that's why she had started working on creating a new identity for Chloe months ago, but even when she was done, she didn't give her miraculous until this Akuma, because she wasn't ready until now, something was telling her, apparently, the universe was telling her.
"Why are you telling me this, how can this "universe talking to me" thing help me in this situation?"
"Because what you need to do, is to communicate with the universe and ask for its guidance."
Okay, this was already weird, not as weird as finding a pair of earrings in your backpack which linked you to a little goddess of creation and fighting a stone monster, but still weird.
"What do you mean, how do I do that?"
"Do you remember the meditation exercises we've been doing? Do you remember telling me how you felt like you were in a closed room? "
"Yes, I remember you telling me not to open that door."
"I need you to concentrate and open the door, that will give you access to the wisdom of the universe."
"Then why didn't you let me open it before? Maybe I could have found a way to defeat Hawkmoth."
"You were not ready, communicating with the universe is dangerous, many master guardians were unable to get out of the trance " then looking her in the eyes and reluctantly admitted " I am not capable."
"But I am capable? I find that hard to believe, master."
"I knew from our first meditation session, the energy of the universe enveloped you and I knew you could, I just wanted you to be ready."
"And now I am?"
"You have to be, if you don't, Hawkmoth will win, because there is no other way to defeat this Akuma."
Marinette almost stopped breathing, he was right, he had already tried everything to stop her with no result, if this gave them an advantage, then he would do it.
"What if I can't get out of the trance, or what if I don't understand what "the universe" wants to tell me?"
"Then Hawkmoth will succeed, this Akuma is the most powerful thing I've seen in centuries, if Ladybug doesn't come back, Paris will fall and possibly the rest of the world too " Su Han said seriously " Look on your hellish device what's going on."
Marinette frowned and pulled out her cell phone, connected to the news broadcast and what she saw made her blood run cold.
Mothers Wrath was heading towards Versailles. If she wasn't stopped now, her power and her army would grow. Marinette stood in horror and walked to the center of the room, she analyzed it for a few minutes, but when she looked up, she was determined. She advanced towards Su Han and handed him the earrings.
"I will, but if I don't succeed, look for a new Ladybug."
"That's not an option, you are the most compatible with Tikki, any other holder would fail to deliver."
"Just take the earrings!"
Su Han reached out and reluctantly took the earrings.
Marinette was calmer and sat down in the middle of the room and began to meditate, within minutes, the room around her had vanished. Instead, she was in a room filled with light. She had been there before, so it wasn't hard to find the door.
Opening it, she could see nothing but emptiness, Marinette took a deep breath and stepped forward, diving into the darkness of the void.
For a few seconds, she was afraid of being trapped, but this fear was buried when a gentle stream began to carry her along, whispering advice in her ear and making her feel comfortable.
It was so easy to just let go, for a moment she considered it, but she had responsibilities and she had to go back.
"How do we defeat Hawkmoth? "No one answered her verbally, but she could feel as if someone was making her understand that she wasn't ready, that something was missing, that it wasn't the time. Marinette felt the fury and frustration coursing through her body" What am I missing?! How much does Paris have to suffer before it's enough?!"
The universe did not answer her.
Marinette tried to calm down, it was frustrating to know that she had this power to talk to the universe, but she couldn't use it to take down Hawkmoth.
"What must I do to defeat Mothers Wrath?"
This time, the universe answered her and guided her to the solution of the problem, but Marinette didn't like it. She tried to negotiate with the invisible force, tried to propose another solution. But it was all in vain
"There must be another way! "begged the young guardian in tears.
But apparently, there was not, and Marinette knew it, to end this nightmare, sacrifices had to be made.
With a heavy heart and determination in her eyes, she opened her eyes to the real world.
Tikki immediately noticed the tears in her chosen one's eyes and rushed to comfort her.
"Do you know what to do? "Su Han asked seriously.
Marinette nodded heavily, proceeded to tell them what she had discovered. Tikki hugged Marinette's cheek, trying to comfort her chosen one, Su Han seemed indifferent, but Marinette knew he was worried.
"Tikki, Spots on " she said softly, after transforming, she went to the door " I'll talk to Rena Rouge and Carapace, I need to let them know, besides, I have to talk to Chat Noir."
"I don't think it's a good idea " Su Han said sternly " it would be better if you just do without telling anyone, the ways of the universe should not be tainted."
"No"
"Marinette, you have to think of the greater good."
"I said no! "Marinette said firmly in a commanding voice that allowed no retorts " I will do what I have to do, but my partner has a right to know!"
Su Han backed down in the face of Marinette's firmness, while Ladybug headed towards the room where Alya and Nino were.
"Rena Rouge, Carapace, I would like to speak with you."
💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Hello everyone.
Sorry for the delay, a lot of things happened to me these weeks. I lost my phone on the bus, and my laptop got ruined, one day I opened it to start editing, and a blue screen gave me a very unpleasant surprise.
I had to have it fixed and get a new phone. I got my computer back, but meanwhile I had nowhere to write.
Ok, enough of my personal misfortunes.
What did you think of the chapter?
Next will be the last chapter on Mothers Wrath and the conclusion of this arc. Then back to the Daminette in full force.
I know this deviates a bit from Maribat, but I really wanted to tell this story. I promise I'll get the new chapter out as soon as possible.
The thing about Marinette communicating with the universe is a concept I love, I don't know if anyone else has done it, but I like the idea that it's not something like a Power up per se, but a sort of guide.
Let me know what you guys think of that concept.
Well, I guess that's it.
Thanks for reading and commenting, I send you all my love.
💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖