Hi, it's me again, and this time, I got another prompt to add to my "Universal Theater" and "Universal Oblivion" AU prompts.
But this time, it's a prequel to the "Universal Theater". Why didn't I think of this before is a question I am not interested in finding the answers for :)
Contains the beginning of Cosmic Actress (neopronouns: nix/nix/nix/nixself) and nix Amok Natasi (called Time-Clock at first, then changing the name to Natasi soemetimes later. uses the pronouns clo/loc/locs/clockself, used the same as she/her/hers/herself)
TW: character death (Gabriel and Nathalie, also André Bougeois, if you want to add more, do so, ESPECIALLY rich and abusive assholes:) )
Adrien salt (because the events happen in the canonical universe first).
Rjalker here. This is my favorite prompt ever. Here is my reaction throughout the entire thing:
[ID: A screenshot from The Good Place show, showing a demon grinning widely, saying excitedly, while laughing, "This is so exciting!" The rest of the dialoge has been covered with a black line. End ID.]
====
"I'm... Tired of... All of this!"
Alya watched in horror as Marinette's expression looked murderous as she spit the words with venom.
The reason was not just because Chloe was the one that started the whole situation by calling her father.
It wasn't just because André basically tried to blacklist Tom and Sabine from ever opening their bakery again and kick them from the city because he felt like it, and because Chloe became more bold since her betrayal.
It also wasn't just because Marinette literally punched André multiple times in a fit of pure rage and knocked him out, as everyone looked with horror as he fell on the ground, a nasty bruise on his face and several broken teeth, Marinette's.
No, what made her terrified was the purple outline on Marinette's face, making it clear that Hawkmoth was corrupting her friend in front of her.
"Yes..." Marinette says, responding to whatever Hawkmoth is saying to her, "Giving people chances is all but useless! If being the good person is such a torment, let's see how things are from the other side!" Marinette states with fury, throwing away her earrings away in anger, no doubt, Hawkmoth's magic twisting her thinking process for his goals.
And Alya hates that she could do nothing to stop it.
The same purple bubbles appear, covering Marinette for a moment, before dispersing.
What stood in her place was a figure with a similar face and a different set of clothes. The eyes of the Akuma cold and uncaring.
Another figure appear alongside the Akuma, looking similar to nix, with a large circle behind loc. The circle had the numbers from one to twelve written in Roman.
"I am Cosmic Actress, and the one... who will teach you what it means to suffer." the Akuma stated with cold rage.
Alya knew at that moment, that her friend is no longer there.
====
Rage.
Hatred.
Desire to destroy.
These were the things that Cosmic Actress felt when nix was... born.
Born from Marinette's rage and hatred towards how her life was being destroyed, feeling like she was always going towards self-destruction no matter what she chose. As if her purpose for being born was to suffer.
Cosmic Actress understood that these feelings were Amplified and twisted. Twisted by the misused Butterfly Miraculous.
But nix didn't care about that.
These feelings gave birth to nix. Nix couldn't just abandon these feelings so easily. Not when they burn so painfully in nix heart.
Nix wants to hurt the idiots that harmed Marinette. Nix wanted them to see how it feels when they were the ones who have the choice stripped from them.
Nix felt as Time-Clock came to existence. The amok born of Marinette's lament at the many choices she was forced to make, the many things she had to sacrifice in the name of a responsibility that was never hers to do in the first place. A being capable of resetting and travelling through time and manipulating space as clo wishes.
A being under Cosmic Actress's full control, from what Mayura stated just one second ago.
Nix couldn't hide the repulsed expression showing on nix face.
Nix doesn't want to control another being! It was disgusting!
Even more, that was part of why Marinette had to suffer, because someone will always try to (and often succeed in) decide her choices for her!
Cosmic Actress immediately pointed a hand towards Time-Clock's Amokized object, the red hair ribbon that was now black.
"Shattered Chains." Nix intoned.
Like shattered glass, the black color shattered as the ribbon became red once more.
And nix could no longer feel the connection between nix and loc.
Neither could Mayura, the villain losing the connection to Time-Clock as well.
Clo is truly free from loc binding now.
"Hey! What did you-!" Mayura started to protest, but Cosmic Actress was already pointing nix hand at nixself before Hawkmoth and Mayura started screaming in nix head at what nix did next.
"Shattered Chains."
The voices of the villains were cut short along with their connection to nix.
The butterfly miraculous was no longer shackling Cosmic Actress. Nix power and freedom now truly belong to nix. Hawkmoth won't be able to hurt nix and rob away nix power like he did to the many previous akumas that disobeyed him.
Now that the little nuisance was dealt with for now, Cosmic Actress took a moment to look at the terrified looks of the escaping citizens, before looking towards where André Bourgeois' unconscious body was being lifted by his most-definitely very underpaid employees.
Now that won't do.
"Please leave. You are not my target." Cosmic Actress said to them, then looked at the Amok as loc looked neutrally at nix. "But if you want to stay, just don't get in my way." Nix added.
Clo gave a smile at that, and said, "It's fine. In fact, I would like to help you. Marinette's emotions gave me life. I want to avenge her as well. It's the least I can do for her. Even if I no longer have to obey someone else's orders." Clo answer was sincere, and loc voice was somehow neither high nor low, but somewhere exactly in the middle, perfectly gender-neutral.
Cosmic Actress nodded and accepted this answer, and focused nix attention towards the mayor once more. The underpaid employees had moved him, but that didn't matter, nix could still sense him.
He was not far away, only a few houses separating them.
Cosmic Actress and the Amok moved at the same time, easily jumping high enough to fly and avoid the buildings. And getting a good look at the still-unconscious mayor that was right below them, the underpaid employees having set him down, exhausted from carrying him. They were standing far enough away that they wouldn't be hit, luckily for them.
Nix raised a palm, energy condensing in front of it. "Oblivion Orb."
The orb rapidly hit the mayor and him alone, erasing his body in an instant.
And with that nuisance dealt with, Cosmic Actress pondered on who to select next.
From Marinette's memories, Chloe was a big source of suffering, but Hawkmoth and Mayura are worse because nix can deal with a weak civilian. Supervillains will be much more threatening.
And of course, another major nuisance is that bratty cat guy, Chat Noir. Nix will make sure to eradicate that bastard for his constant sexual harassment of Marinette. Marinette was forced to allow him keep his ring because of things out of her control and because she was guilt-tripped into doing so. But not Cosmic Actress. Nix will destroy him for what he did, and for being a horrible human in general.
There were also lesser sources of rage, like the populations' inability to understand that Ladybug's "NO" means "NO", not "maybe".
"..."
Supervillains and Chat Noir it is then.
Decision made, nix moved to search for the villains.
Clock-Time decided to help by using loc control over space and time to feel search for them.
The miraculouses have a slight effect on space and time around them thanks to them being powered by a concept (as far as nix and clo know for now) and that effect is what clo is searching for.
"... Not there... Close... No that's probably Tikki's Miraculous... Ah, in that direction!"
Nix followed as clo jumped towards the source.
And ending up in front of one large mansion belonging to one Gabriel Agreste.
Nix frowned.
"Agreste? you're sure? I don't doubt you but didn't Marinette investigate him?"
Clo thought for a moment, "But that was before Mayura appeared so..."
The point was clear. Gabriel had Mayura akumatise him to cover his tracks as Hawkmoth.
"After all, he can't be so stupid to akumatise himself without Mayura, right? I mean, that would be monumentally stupid."
Yes, that would be very stupid and nonsensical.
"By the way, before we start, I want to ask you- uhh, do you like the name Clock-Time, or... do you want to change it?"
For the first time in nix short life, nix felt awkward and unsure.
The name Cosmic Actress was in a way fitting for nix, and nix had chosen it nixself, but nix wasn't sure if the same applied to the Amok and wanted to make sure.
Clo blinked for a moment before smiling.
"Oh! Thanks for the concern! And... yeah. I don't like the name very much. So I will call myself... Natasi!"
"Natasi." nix repeated the name.
"Yes! Pronouns are clo/loc/locs/clockself! Used the same way as she/her/hers/herself."
Nix smiled at loc enthusiasm.
"Natasi, nice to be friends with you. I think I will keep naming myself Cosmic Actress, pronouns are nix/nix/nix/nixself."
Both smiled for a moment before focusing on the goal.
Natasi once more used loc power to get the exact position of the villains, then opened a portal directing to them.
Both were met with the sight of the two supervillains inside their lair, shocked out of their minds.
"You!" Hawkmoth yelled furiously as he raised his cane.
No doubt that he was so angry and frustrated at how easily the two broke from his and Mayura's control.
On the other hand, Mayura felt more... subdued. She looked just as angry, but it felt like she was only trying to.
'No doubt because of using a broken and damaging miraculous.' Cosmic Actress pondered.
Not that their anger meant anything. They both were no match for Natasi and Cosmic Actress.
Natasi simply pointed a finger at Mayura, and a portal opened in front of her so she could not escape, and was sucked into the portal.
"What did you-!" Hawkmoth's yell was cut short as nix punched his head with a force that would have exploded a normal human. Only his defensive suit protected him from the worst of the damage and he ended up being dazed for a moment as his body easily shattered right through the walls and he fell to the ground outside the mansion far below, making a crater in the pavement.
"Well, he is not dead yet. His suit is too strong to die from something insignificant like this. By the was, where is Mayura?" Cosmic Actress said as both jumped down on the ground to finish him off.
"Somewhere in the universe, probably dead already. Don't worry, I can get her miraculous back just fine. These things will not be scratched even by a black hole." Natasi told nix.
Reaching the ground as Gabriel was trying to stand, clutching his head from pain, nix raised a palm, ignoring the fleeing and screaming bystanders.
"Oblivion Orb."
The orb hit Gabriel head-on, and he screamed as he was forcefully detransformed, his suit unable to withstand that amount of damage. It did one thing right, though, it let Gabriel survive it.
With a flick of Natasi's hand, the butterfly miraculous was teleported into loc hand.
"Y- you...! How dare-!" Gabriel started to shout, but both ignored his furious screams, and Cosmic Actress just killed him.
"Good riddance." Nix stated as Natasi opened a small portal and extended loc hand, and bringing from it the Peacock miraculous. Nathalie's body was long destroyed by the forces of the cosmos, apparently.
With this, they only need to make a show and wait for the heroes to appear to get their miraculouses.
So both quickly went to the highest point of the Eiffel tower and nix spammed large Oblivion Orbs and with the help of Natasi, guided them towards a few more people.
There was Audrey, that rich abusive woman, Andre the icecream guy because he was a creep who can't take a "NO" from his customers and doesn't let them pick what they want, and most likely a queerphobe as well.
There was also that racist dude who basically went out of his way to cause trouble to Marinette's mother, and so is that cop, Rogers.
In fact, nix decided to just murder all the cops. They literally did nothing but obey a fascist mayor and solidify his rule. Plus, they were racists anyways. They deserved death.
After a minute or so of mass-killing unrepentant racists and jerks with large orbs of energy, the heroes finally appeared.
Well, the only ones Natasi and Cosmic Actress qualified as heroes were Carapace and Viperion along with Pegasus and Ryuko. Cosmic Actress wasn't so sure about the Ladybug-themed hero, but nix can vaguely recall that she is the former Rena Rouge since she was Marinette's confidant. Scarabella was her Ladybug-themed name, right?
Chat Noir is still not here. Not like it's surprising at this point. Nix recalls from Marinette's memories that th riche brat was starting to shirk his duties even more and being only a show for the sake of harassing her and enjoying her tormented look.
Oh wait, he is actually appearing. He jumps alongside the other heroes looking angry.
Did Cosmic Actress trouble him somehow for him to be this annoyed? Or maybe nix killed someone he actually cared about?
Oh no, nothing to worry about. He just started being passive-agressive to Scarabella because his "bugaboo" isn't here. The other heroes were at least paying attention to Cosmic Actress and nix friend even while telling him not to worry about Ladybug for now, because the villains are the real concern, but Chat Noir is not even looking. His is focusing his attention at Scarabella.
"As much as I can enjoy your excellent 'bonding experience'," Cosmic Actress started to call, the sarcasm heavy in nix voice. "I have other things to do right now. So give me your miraculouses and I will leave you alone. Except Chat Noir. We hate you personally." Nix stated in a matter-of-fact tone with the heroes getting even more tense at nix words.
Chat Noir apparently thought it was a great time to joke about the situation as he put his hand on his chest looking like a kicked puppy. "Meowch! This hurt me, Marinette! Am I really this unbearable to a girl like you?"
It took a great deal from both nix and Natasi not to just immediately and violently throw him into the sun.
Nix looked at him coldly.
"First, I am not Marinette. I am Cosmic Actress. I am also not a 'she'. I don't have a gender. I use the pronouns nix/nix/nix/nixself, remember them. I expect you to have at least some memory capacity in your head for things other than Ladybug. As for being unbearable, it's more like hating you for being a sexual predator incel."
It was very satisfying to see how his jaws dropping along with the rest of the group.
"What!?" He screamed angrily with his eyes narrowing.
Natasi just blinked as clo spoke with a smile, but what was coming from loc mouth was anything but gentle or sweet: "But what else can you call a guy who constantly asks for kisses and dates when a girl explicitly tells him to stop and refuses to stop, when he keeps attempting, and even succeeding in violating her boundaries?" Clo asked, "Remember when Gigantitan attacked and Ladybug was busy holding back the akuma, only for you, Mr. Totally-A-Gentleman, to decide to go for a kiss?" Clo pretended to think about it, then added, "Oh wait, that was also when thanks to your great help, Ladybug lost focus and the akuma destroyed Marinette's room and you only laughed at how funny the whole thing was! Who knew that watching someone you called a friend almost dying is so hilarious?
"Or maybe, you want us to talk about the times you were a very understanding partner by refusing to help Ladybug fighting an akuma because she didn't want to date you? You know? Like what happened when Frozer and Glaciator attacked? Oh wait, didn't you also try to guilt-trip Marinette into shipping you and Ladybug in the middle of the night when Glaciator came?
"Yeah, how romantic you are. Especially when Mayura almost stole your ring by using a fake Ladybug who only said that 'she' loves you and was about to kiss you. Such a shame that you were unable to see the trickery. Truly, Sentibug was a master at fake-acting and totally acted like Ladybug and not like your sick and twisted version of her that you want her to be~! So, is there any recent romantic actions Ladybug did for you? I mean, the last thing I can recall is her throwing you in the trash, which I guess was technically very romantic from your perspective, since she didn't just rip away the ring from your hands when she was the literal Guardian and had every right to find your identity or retire you completely."
Natasi and Cosmic Actress were both smiling at the shocked expression of the heroes, all of them horrified.
Because none of them knew of how Chat Noir acted when they weren't there. They never knew what he did when Ladybug, his victim, was the only witness.
Viperion and Scarabella looked horrified the most, and Cosmic Actress didn't know why, and wouldn't care right now.
But Chat Noir? He was also pale, and his body was shaking as he clutched his staff tightly. And nix could feel it.
Rage.
Rage at being called out and insulting his so-called love for Ladybug.
"TAKE THAT BACK!" He rushes with vengeance as his staff extends.
"Chat Noir, don't!" Viperion yells in warning, he tries to move and stop him. He can feel the danger. but it's useless.
Natasi raised loc hand-
And both Chat Noir and Cosmic Actress vanish from the tower.
Natasi looked down at the heroes neutrally.
"You don't need to worry about your... teammate. I am sure he will find himself in good company with Cosmic Actress."
Viperion doesn't hesitate on what to do. He will fix this mess! He'd already set the timer before he got here!
He slid the snake bracelet.
"Second Chance!"
...
Nothing happened.
He couldn't feel himself go back in time.
The rest looked at him in surprise.
"What? Why!?"
He looked in shock at his bracelet.
Natasi just sighed.
"Sorry, Viperion. I like you since you were supportive of Marinette but... I am not letting you interfere with this. So I just stopped time from being rewound by your miraculous. Sorry." Clo shrugged.
"And if you are wondering about where they were sent off, well..."
A sound of a large explosion reached their ears, from the direction where the Agreste mansion is located.
"There they are." Natasi finished.
======
"How dare you!?" Chat Noir snarled as Cosmic Actress ducked under another swipe from his staff, which easily destroyed another wall of the Agreste mansion.
Nix opponent looking vengeful.
"I dare, because I have basic decency. And basic decency says that you are a harasser!" Nix stated, anger clear in nix tone before blocking the staff with one arm, taking no damage.
"I love Ladybug! She's my love!" He roars angrily, "Cataclysm!"
Cosmic Actress felt nix blood boiling as Chat Noir kept saying he loves Ladybug, and he is even trying to kill nix most likely.
"Chat Noir. Do you really think yelling that phrase over and over will make me believe it!?" Nix shouted back, avoiding the Cataclysm and giving the so-called hero a kick that threw him to the wall. "If you really loved her, you would have accepted her feelings and stopped asking for kisses and dates! You would have stopped calling her names she didn't like! You would have respected her boundaries that she had made clear a hundred times by now!"
Chat Noir was already standing back up, but Cosmic Actress was already above him.
"It seems that for you, the word 'love'...!" nix yelled as nix fists hit Chat Noir, throwing him away so hard out of the mansion, the same way his father had been thrown earlier.
"Ugh!" He quickly stood up again only to find Cosmic Actress in front of him once more.
"It seems like 'love' is just a valid reason for sexual harassment as far as you are concerned! Right?!"
Nix threw an Oblivion Orb that hit his Cataclysm, and wasted his power as the two spells collided and the Oblivion Orb overpowered and wiped out the Cataclysm.
"Even when Ladybug lost her voice...! Even when Mayura made a fake Ladybug...! It seems that it doesn't matter how much time you spend with your 'beloved', since you only care about your twisted version of her that can only exist to be tormented and mocked by you! But this nonsense ends now!"
The last sentence was accompanied by Cosmic Actress' arms holding Chat Noir as nix looked at him with venom that made his eyes show shock and fear.
Nix hand easily ripped away the Ring, detransforming him.
Cosmic Actress eyes widened in shock as nix recognized the person who was hiding behind the mask.
"Adrien Agreste..." Nix said numbly.
=======
It felt ridiculous. So ridiculous.
The guy that Marinette fell in love with, because he was nice to her.
The guy that she suffered a lot for his sake. Where she had to allow her own birthday gift for him to be stolen and never tell him the truth because she wanted him to be happy. Where she felt ashamed of celebrating the leaving of her long-time bully because this insensitive brat loved Chloe his childhood friend so much more than he cared for any of her victims, including Marinette, the one who loved him because he was nice to her once...
And he is her harasser.
And Chat Noir... is what he is in the dark. When no one is looking.
Chat Noir is how he really wants to act. When there is no fear of repercussions and responsibilities to negatively impact him.
Cosmic Actress doesn't know what to feel; Horrified? Disgusted? Angry? Numb? Tired?
In the end, pure rage and hatred won.
"YOU...." Nix gnashed nix teeth from wrath. "DIE!"
A blast of energy came to existence, obliterating everything around nix.
Adrien along with the Agreste mansion and the surrounding houses ceased to exist.
All what was left was Cosmic Actress trying so hard to calm nixself back down. Nix body was shaking, and nix expression was still wrathful. Nix wanted to just obliterate the whole world, but barely, nix controlled nixself.
It would be several long minutes later that Cosmic Actress managed to calm down enough, and decided to deal with Scarabella and the rest.
Then nix will see if the Wish can help nix in attaining nix desires.
======
The battle with the rest of the heroes was basically a cake-walk.
There was nothing they can do.
Just Cosmic Actress was more than enough, but with the help of Natasi? It was basically like a level 999 monster fighting a newbie in all but name.
No matter how much they tried, it was all useless.
It didn't matter how much they resisted.
Defeat was the only option.
As nix wore both the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculouses along with the Butterfly and the Peacock, Cosmic Actress breathed.
"Natasi. I am going to use the Wish. Do you really want to follow me still? It might be dangerous." Cosmic Actress asked nix friend.
Natasi only smiled. "I'm sure. I want to be with you. Please grant this selfish request of mine."
Cosmic Actress could only shake nix head. Maybe having a friend with you in a rewritten universe will not be so bad.
Nix can only hope.
Nix breathed once more.
"Okay then. Tikki, Plagg, unify! I wish that---------!"
With that, the world turned into a rainbow as reality shuddered...
And changed.
=========
END...
For now.
=========
Well, this is it. the beginning of my AU.
Chronologically, this is the first one.
The second one is actually another prompt that I did not write yet. Would have written it as part of this prompt but I felt that the tone will be messed up way too much for my liking. Don't worry though, I will write it someday:) I hope.
tumblr won't actually let me update this post properly, so this only contains Universal Chaos, Theater, and Oblivion. There's a new version of this post that is properly updated.
You can click the links below to go to the individual parts, or click here to see the newest updated compliation.
Universal Chaos, Scars, Theater, Oblivion, submitted by Anonymous.
Here's an archived version of this post just in case. (because I'm still not over the fact that tumblr suspended my account for literally no reason and then gave it back but didn't explain why they suspended it in the first place lol)
This is intended to be a writing prompt for Miraculous Ladybug, but it can also be used as inspiration for an original story!
Akumatized and Amokitized Marinette.
Neopronouns used:
Cosmic Actress: nix/nixself. Nix is an Akuma, who spends most of nix time with nix friend, Natasi. Nix is hardly ever alone by nixself.
Natasi: clo/loc/(locs)/clockself, used in the same way as she/her/(hers)/herself. Clo is an Amok who spends most of loc time with loc friend, Cosmic Actress. Clo is hardly ever alone by clockself.
Trigger warnings:
-Discussion of sexual harassment,
-Character death: Gabriel, Nathalie, André Bougeois
-Unreality / fourth wall breaking
-Cosmic / elderitch horror
-? (Please let me know if you feel any other warnings need to be listed, no matter how specific / "unusual"!)
Total word count: 9k+
===========================
Part one:
Universal Chaos
===========================
“I’m… Tired of… All of this!”
Alya watched in horror as Marinette’s expression looked murderous as she spit the words with venom.
The reason was not just because Chloe was the one that started the whole situation by calling her father.
It wasn’t just because André basically tried to blacklist Tom and Sabine from ever opening their bakery again and kick them from the city because he felt like it, and because Chloe became more bold since her betrayal.
It also wasn’t just because Marinette literally punched André multiple times in a fit of pure rage and knocked him out, as everyone looked with horror as he fell on the ground, a nasty bruise on his face and several broken teeth, Marinette’s.
No, what made her terrified was the purple outline on Marinette’s face, making it clear that Hawkmoth was corrupting her friend in front of her.
“Yes…” Marinette says, responding to whatever Hawkmoth is saying to her, “Giving people chances is all but useless! If being the good person is such a torment, let’s see how things are from the other side!” Marinette states with fury, throwing away her earrings away in anger, no doubt, Hawkmoth’s magic twisting her thinking process for his goals.
And Alya hates that she could do nothing to stop it.
The same purple bubbles appear, covering Marinette for a moment, before dispersing.
What stood in her place was a figure with a similar face and a different set of clothes. The eyes of the Akuma cold and uncaring.
Another figure appear alongside the Akuma, looking similar to nix, with a large circle behind loc. The circle had the numbers from one to twelve written in Roman.
“I am Cosmic Actress, and the one… who will teach you what it means to suffer.” the Akuma stated with cold rage.
Alya knew at that moment, that her friend is no longer there.
====
Rage.
Hatred.
Desire to destroy.
These were the things that Cosmic Actress felt when nix was… born.
Born from Marinette’s rage and hatred towards how her life was being destroyed, feeling like she was always going towards self-destruction no matter what she chose. As if her purpose for being born was to suffer.
Cosmic Actress understood that these feelings were Amplified and twisted. Twisted by the misused Butterfly Miraculous.
But nix didn’t care about that.
These feelings gave birth to nix. Nix couldn’t just abandon these feelings so easily. Not when they burn so painfully in nix heart.
Nix wants to hurt the idiots that harmed Marinette. Nix wanted them to see how it feels when they were the ones who have the choice stripped from them.
Nix felt as Time-Clock came to existence. The amok born of Marinette’s lament at the many choices she was forced to make, the many things she had to sacrifice in the name of a responsibility that was never hers to do in the first place. A being capable of resetting and travelling through time and manipulating space as clo wishes.
A being under Cosmic Actress’s full control, from what Mayura stated just one second ago.
Nix couldn’t hide the repulsed expression showing on nix face.
Nix doesn’t want to control another being! It was disgusting!
Even more, that was part of why Marinette had to suffer, because someone will always try to (and often succeed in) decide her choices for her!
Cosmic Actress immediately pointed a hand towards Time-Clock’s Amokized object, the red hair ribbon that was now black.
“Shattered Chains.” Nix intoned.
Like shattered glass, the black color shattered as the ribbon became red once more.
And nix could no longer feel the connection between nix and loc.
Neither could Mayura, the villain losing the connection to Time-Clock as well.
Clo is truly free from loc binding now.
“Hey! What did you-!” Mayura started to protest, but Cosmic Actress was already pointing nix hand at nixself before Hawkmoth and Mayura started screaming in nix head at what nix did next.
“Shattered Chains.”
The voices of the villains were cut short along with their connection to nix.
The butterfly miraculous was no longer shackling Cosmic Actress. Nix power and freedom now truly belong to nix. Hawkmoth won’t be able to hurt nix and rob away nix power like he did to the many previous akumas that disobeyed him.
Now that the little nuisance was dealt with for now, Cosmic Actress took a moment to look at the terrified looks of the escaping citizens, before looking towards where André Bourgeois’ unconscious body was being lifted by his most-definitely very underpaid employees.
Now that won’t do.
“Please leave. You are not my target.” Cosmic Actress said to them, then looked at the Amok as loc looked neutrally at nix. “But if you want to stay, just don’t get in my way.” Nix added.
Clo gave a smile at that, and said, “It’s fine. In fact, I would like to help you. Marinette’s emotions gave me life. I want to avenge her as well. It’s the least I can do for her. Even if I no longer have to obey someone else’s orders.” Clo answer was sincere, and loc voice was somehow neither high nor low, but somewhere exactly in the middle, perfectly gender-neutral.
Cosmic Actress nodded and accepted this answer, and focused nix attention towards the mayor once more. The underpaid employees had moved him, but that didn’t matter, nix could still sense him.
He was not far away, only a few houses separating them.
Cosmic Actress and the Amok moved at the same time, easily jumping high enough to fly and avoid the buildings. And getting a good look at the still-unconscious mayor that was right below them, the underpaid employees having set him down, exhausted from carrying him. They were standing far enough away that they wouldn’t be hit, luckily for them.
Nix raised a palm, energy condensing in front of it. “Oblivion Orb.”
The orb rapidly hit the mayor and him alone, erasing his body in an instant.
And with that nuisance dealt with, Cosmic Actress pondered on who to select next.
From Marinette’s memories, Chloe was a big source of suffering, but Hawkmoth and Mayura are worse because nix can deal with a weak civilian. Supervillains will be much more threatening.
And of course, another major nuisance is that bratty cat guy, Chat Noir. Nix will make sure to eradicate that bastard for his constant sexual harassment of Marinette. Marinette was forced to allow him keep his ring because of things out of her control and because she was guilt-tripped into doing so. But not Cosmic Actress. Nix will destroy him for what he did, and for being a horrible human in general.
There were also lesser sources of rage, like the populations’ inability to understand that Ladybug’s “NO” means “NO”, not “maybe”.
“…”
Supervillains and Chat Noir it is then.
Decision made, nix moved to search for the villains.
Clock-Time decided to help by using loc control over space and time to feel search for them.
The miraculouses have a slight effect on space and time around them thanks to them being powered by a concept (as far as nix and clo know for now) and that effect is what clo is searching for.
“… Not there… Close… No that’s probably Tikki’s Miraculous… Ah, in that direction!”
Nix followed as clo jumped towards the source.
And ending up in front of one large mansion belonging to one Gabriel Agreste.
Nix frowned.
“Agreste? you’re sure? I don’t doubt you but didn’t Marinette investigate him?”
Clo thought for a moment, “But that was before Mayura appeared so…”
The point was clear. Gabriel had Mayura akumatise him to cover his tracks as Hawkmoth.
“After all, he can’t be so stupid to akumatise himself without Mayura, right? I mean, that would be monumentally stupid.”
Yes, that would be very stupid and nonsensical.
“By the way, before we start, I want to ask you- uhh, do you like the name Clock-Time, or… do you want to change it?”
For the first time in nix short life, nix felt awkward and unsure.
The name Cosmic Actress was in a way fitting for nix, and nix had chosen it nixself, but nix wasn’t sure if the same applied to the Amok and wanted to make sure.
Clo blinked for a moment before smiling.
“Oh! Thanks for the concern! And… yeah. I don’t like the name very much. So I will call myself… Natasi!”
“Natasi.” nix repeated the name.
“Yes! Pronouns are clo/loc/locs/clockself! Used the same way as she/her/hers/herself.”
Nix smiled at loc enthusiasm.
“Natasi, nice to be friends with you. I think I will keep naming myself Cosmic Actress, pronouns are nix/nix/nix/nixself.”
Both smiled for a moment before focusing on the goal.
Natasi once more used loc power to get the exact position of the villains, then opened a portal directing to them.
Both were met with the sight of the two supervillains inside their lair, shocked out of their minds.
“You!” Hawkmoth yelled furiously as he raised his cane.
No doubt that he was so angry and frustrated at how easily the two broke from his and Mayura’s control.
On the other hand, Mayura felt more… subdued. She looked just as angry, but it felt like she was only trying to.
‘No doubt because of using a broken and damaging miraculous.’ Cosmic Actress pondered.
Not that their anger meant anything. They both were no match for Natasi and Cosmic Actress.
Natasi simply pointed a finger at Mayura, and a portal opened in front of her so she could not escape, and was sucked into the portal.
“What did you-!” Hawkmoth’s yell was cut short as nix punched his head with a force that would have exploded a normal human. Only his defensive suit protected him from the worst of the damage and he ended up being dazed for a moment as his body easily shattered right through the walls and he fell to the ground outside the mansion far below, making a crater in the pavement.
“Well, he is not dead yet. His suit is too strong to die from something insignificant like this. By the was, where is Mayura?” Cosmic Actress said as both jumped down on the ground to finish him off.
“Somewhere in the universe, probably dead already. Don’t worry, I can get her miraculous back just fine. These things will not be scratched even by a black hole.” Natasi told nix.
Reaching the ground as Gabriel was trying to stand, clutching his head from pain, nix raised a palm, ignoring the fleeing and screaming bystanders.
“Oblivion Orb.”
The orb hit Gabriel head-on, and he screamed as he was forcefully detransformed, his suit unable to withstand that amount of damage. It did one thing right, though, it let Gabriel survive it.
With a flick of Natasi’s hand, the butterfly miraculous was teleported into loc hand.
“Y- you…! How dare-!” Gabriel started to shout, but both ignored his furious screams, and Cosmic Actress just killed him.
“Good riddance.” Nix stated as Natasi opened a small portal and extended loc hand, and bringing from it the Peacock miraculous. Nathalie’s body was long destroyed by the forces of the cosmos, apparently.
With this, they only need to make a show and wait for the heroes to appear to get their miraculouses.
So both quickly went to the highest point of the Eiffel tower and nix spammed large Oblivion Orbs and with the help of Natasi, guided them towards a few more people.
There was Audrey, that rich abusive woman, Andre the icecream guy because he was a creep who can’t take a “NO” from his customers and doesn’t let them pick what they want, and most likely a queerphobe as well.
There was also that racist dude who basically went out of his way to cause trouble to Marinette’s mother, and so is that cop, Rogers.
In fact, nix decided to just murder all the cops. They literally did nothing but obey a fascist mayor and solidify his rule. Plus, they were racists anyways. They deserved death.
After a minute or so of mass-killing unrepentant racists and jerks with large orbs of energy, the heroes finally appeared.
Well, the only ones Natasi and Cosmic Actress qualified as heroes were Carapace and Viperion along with Pegasus and Ryuko. Cosmic Actress wasn’t so sure about the Ladybug-themed hero, but nix can vaguely recall that she is the former Rena Rouge since she was Marinette’s confidant. Scarabella was her Ladybug-themed name, right?
Chat Noir is still not here. Not like it’s surprising at this point. Nix recalls from Marinette’s memories that th riche brat was starting to shirk his duties even more and being only a show for the sake of harassing her and enjoying her tormented look.
Oh wait, he is actually appearing. He jumps alongside the other heroes looking angry.
Did Cosmic Actress trouble him somehow for him to be this annoyed? Or maybe nix killed someone he actually cared about?
Oh no, nothing to worry about. He just started being passive-agressive to Scarabella because his “bugaboo” isn’t here. The other heroes were at least paying attention to Cosmic Actress and nix friend even while telling him not to worry about Ladybug for now, because the villains are the real concern, but Chat Noir is not even looking. His is focusing his attention at Scarabella.
“As much as I can enjoy your excellent 'bonding experience’,” Cosmic Actress started to call, the sarcasm heavy in nix voice. “I have other things to do right now. So give me your miraculouses and I will leave you alone. Except Chat Noir. We hate you personally.” Nix stated in a matter-of-fact tone with the heroes getting even more tense at nix words.
Chat Noir apparently thought it was a great time to joke about the situation as he put his hand on his chest looking like a kicked puppy. “Meowch! This hurt me, Marinette! Am I really this unbearable to a girl like you?”
It took a great deal from both nix and Natasi not to just immediately and violently throw him into the sun.
Nix looked at him coldly.
“First, I am not Marinette. I am Cosmic Actress. I am also not a 'she’. I don’t have a gender. I use the pronouns nix/nix/nix/nixself, remember them. I expect you to have at least some memory capacity in your head for things other than Ladybug. As for being unbearable, it’s more like hating you for being a sexual predator incel.”
It was very satisfying to see how his jaws dropping along with the rest of the group.
“What!?” He screamed angrily with his eyes narrowing.
Natasi just blinked as clo spoke with a smile, but what was coming from loc mouth was anything but gentle or sweet: “But what else can you call a guy who constantly asks for kisses and dates when a girl explicitly tells him to stop and refuses to stop, when he keeps attempting, and even succeeding in violating her boundaries?” Clo asked, “Remember when Gigantitan attacked and Ladybug was busy holding back the akuma, only for you, Mr. Totally-A-Gentleman, to decide to go for a kiss?” Clo pretended to think about it, then added, “Oh wait, that was also when thanks to your great help, Ladybug lost focus and the akuma destroyed Marinette’s room and you only laughed at how funny the whole thing was! Who knew that watching someone you called a friend almost dying is so hilarious?
"Or maybe, you want us to talk about the times you were a very understanding partner by refusing to help Ladybug fighting an akuma because she didn’t want to date you? You know? Like what happened when Frozer and Glaciator attacked? Oh wait, didn’t you also try to guilt-trip Marinette into shipping you and Ladybug in the middle of the night when Glaciator came?
"Yeah, how romantic you are. Especially when Mayura almost stole your ring by using a fake Ladybug who only said that 'she’ loves you and was about to kiss you. Such a shame that you were unable to see the trickery. Truly, Sentibug was a master at fake-acting and totally acted like Ladybug and not like your sick and twisted version of her that you want her to be~! So, is there any recent romantic actions Ladybug did for you? I mean, the last thing I can recall is her throwing you in the trash, which I guess was technically very romantic from your perspective, since she didn’t just rip away the ring from your hands when she was the literal Guardian and had every right to find your identity or retire you completely.”
Natasi and Cosmic Actress were both smiling at the shocked expression of the heroes, all of them horrified.
Because none of them knew of how Chat Noir acted when they weren’t there. They never knew what he did when Ladybug, his victim, was the only witness.
Viperion and Scarabella looked horrified the most, and Cosmic Actress didn’t know why, and wouldn’t care right now.
But Chat Noir? He was also pale, and his body was shaking as he clutched his staff tightly. And nix could feel it.
Rage.
Rage at being called out and insulting his so-called love for Ladybug.
“TAKE THAT BACK!” He rushes with vengeance as his staff extends.
“Chat Noir, don’t!” Viperion yells in warning, he tries to move and stop him. He can feel the danger. but it’s useless.
Natasi raised loc hand-
And both Chat Noir and Cosmic Actress vanish from the tower.
Natasi looked down at the heroes neutrally.
“You don’t need to worry about your… teammate. I am sure he will find himself in good company with Cosmic Actress.”
Viperion doesn’t hesitate on what to do. He will fix this mess! He’d already set the timer before he got here!
He slid the snake bracelet.
“Second Chance!”
…
Nothing happened.
He couldn’t feel himself go back in time.
The rest looked at him in surprise.
“What? Why!?”
He looked in shock at his bracelet.
Natasi just sighed.
“Sorry, Viperion. I like you since you were supportive of Marinette but… I am not letting you interfere with this. So I just stopped time from being rewound by your miraculous. Sorry.” Clo shrugged.
“And if you are wondering about where they were sent off, well…”
A sound of a large explosion reached their ears, from the direction where the Agreste mansion is located.
“There they are.” Natasi finished.
===========================
“How dare you!?” Chat Noir snarled as Cosmic Actress ducked under another swipe from his staff, which easily destroyed another wall of the Agreste mansion.
Nix opponent looking vengeful.
“I dare, because I have basic decency. And basic decency says that you are a harasser!” Nix stated, anger clear in nix tone before blocking the staff with one arm, taking no damage.
“I love Ladybug! She’s my love!” He roars angrily, “Cataclysm!”
Cosmic Actress felt nix blood boiling as Chat Noir kept saying he loves Ladybug, and he is even trying to kill nix most likely.
“Chat Noir. Do you really think yelling that phrase over and over will make me believe it!?” Nix shouted back, avoiding the Cataclysm and giving the so-called hero a kick that threw him to the wall. “If you really loved her, you would have accepted her feelings and stopped asking for kisses and dates! You would have stopped calling her names she didn’t like! You would have respected her boundaries that she had made clear a hundred times by now!”
Chat Noir was already standing back up, but Cosmic Actress was already above him.
“It seems that for you, the word 'love’…!” nix yelled as nix fists hit Chat Noir, throwing him away so hard out of the mansion, the same way his father had been thrown earlier.
“Ugh!” He quickly stood up again only to find Cosmic Actress in front of him once more.
“It seems like 'love’ is just a valid reason for sexual harassment as far as you are concerned! Right?!”
Nix threw an Oblivion Orb that hit his Cataclysm, and wasted his power as the two spells collided and the Oblivion Orb overpowered and wiped out the Cataclysm.
“Even when Ladybug lost her voice…! Even when Mayura made a fake Ladybug…! It seems that it doesn’t matter how much time you spend with your 'beloved’, since you only care about your twisted version of her that can only exist to be tormented and mocked by you! But this nonsense ends now!”
The last sentence was accompanied by Cosmic Actress’ arms holding Chat Noir as nix looked at him with venom that made his eyes show shock and fear.
Nix hand easily ripped away the Ring, detransforming him.
Cosmic Actress eyes widened in shock as nix recognized the person who was hiding behind the mask.
“Adrien Agreste…” Nix said numbly.
===========================
It felt ridiculous. So ridiculous.
The guy that Marinette fell in love with, because he was nice to her.
The guy that she suffered a lot for his sake. Where she had to allow her own birthday gift for him to be stolen and never tell him the truth because she wanted him to be happy. Where she felt ashamed of celebrating the leaving of her long-time bully because this insensitive brat loved Chloe his childhood friend so much more than he cared for any of her victims, including Marinette, the one who loved him because he was nice to her once…
And he is her harasser.
And Chat Noir… is what he is in the dark. When no one is looking.
Chat Noir is how he really wants to act. When there is no fear of repercussions and responsibilities to negatively impact him.
Cosmic Actress doesn’t know what to feel; Horrified? Disgusted? Angry? Numb? Tired?
In the end, pure rage and hatred won.
“YOU….” Nix gnashed nix teeth from wrath. “DIE!”
A blast of energy came to existence, obliterating everything around nix.
Adrien along with the Agreste mansion and the surrounding houses ceased to exist.
All what was left was Cosmic Actress trying so hard to calm nixself back down. Nix body was shaking, and nix expression was still wrathful. Nix wanted to just obliterate the whole world, but barely, nix controlled nixself.
It would be several long minutes later that Cosmic Actress managed to calm down enough, and decided to deal with Scarabella and the rest.
Then nix will see if the Wish can help nix in attaining nix desires.
===========================
The battle with the rest of the heroes was basically a cake-walk.
There was nothing they can do.
Just Cosmic Actress was more than enough, but with the help of Natasi? It was basically like a level 999 monster fighting a newbie in all but name.
No matter how much they tried, it was all useless.
It didn’t matter how much they resisted.
Defeat was the only option.
As nix wore both the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculouses along with the Butterfly and the Peacock, Cosmic Actress breathed.
“Natasi. I am going to use the Wish. Do you really want to follow me still? It might be dangerous.” Cosmic Actress asked nix friend.
Natasi only smiled. “I’m sure. I want to be with you. Please grant this selfish request of mine.”
Cosmic Actress could only shake nix head. Maybe having a friend with you in a rewritten universe will not be so bad.
Nix can only hope.
Nix breathed once more.
“Okay then. Tikki, Plagg, unify! I wish that———!”
With that, the world turned into a rainbow as reality shuddered…
And changed.
===========================
End Part one.
===========================
Part Two:
Universal Theater
===========================
“And, done!”
Chloe, the user of the Ladybug miraculous, going by the name Roselina, breathed as she defeated the duo of Amok and Akuma, purifying them and fixing the damage.
“Finally we defeated this duo, huh?”
Chloe looked at her childhood friend, Adrien Agreste, the wearer of the Snake miraculous going by Do-Over.
With them, the other protectors of Paris were feeling happy that they finally defeated this threat.
The group constitued of Kagami, weilder the Fox, with the name Kyubi.
Alya, the weilder of Bee, called Honeymoon.
Nino, weilder of Black Cat, called Destructo.
And Ivan, weilder of Turtle, called Protector.
“So,” Kagami started “Did any of you have any sudden flashbacks, like usual?”
The teenage heroes frowned at that, and they nodded.
Chloe had no idea of what’s happening in the world, but ever since she started superheroing, she was having some weird feelings of deja vu, that slowly turned into flashbacks.
She didn’t believe the flashbacks at first because, well, she was the daughter of a therapist and a nurse who took it on her shoulder to help people, as she felt her father and mother are good people and she felt pround of going on their path.
She really didn’t get why she saw visions of her being cruel to others, being spoiled rotten by her father, or abandoned by her mother.
The others had similar visions, except most of them had more adjusted lives and morals than her version in the flashbacks.
Adrien was also weirded as he was just the son of gentle and nice normal fashion designers, not the son of an abusive billionaire who tormented that Ladybug heroine like the flashbacks show him.
“And about that mysterious figure, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, did any of you get to know about her?”
Marinette Dupain Cheng was a mystery to the team.
Not only did she not exist here, as Thomas and Sabine stated that they don’t remember having a kid, but they stated that they feel a strange feeling of pain and loss every time they think of the name “Marinette”.
It was as if the girl’s existence was erased out of nowhere.
“I think I do, let me remember for a minute…”
Alya concentrated, trying to remember any new detail, and she saw it.
A girl crying in rage, screaming to the world, just as black and purple aura covered her, before the entire world became nothing more a myriads of colors, and then everything went dark.
Alya gasped and dropped to her knees, as her teammates rushed to her side.
“I- I remember a little more! She- she was Akumatised, maybe also Amokized as well!”
The entire team paled.
The Akumas and Amoks in their flashbacks might not be the most creative or subtle, but the fact is that they needed to go to the timeline where the Akuma/Amok was made to find the very important answers needed to deal with their situation.
It would have been so simple to fix using the Rabbit miraculous, if not for the fact that time travel was risky, and deadly as well.
Sabrina, the Rabbit heroine with the name Eternity, had warned them of the dangers of messing with the timelines.
For whatever reason, there existed some deadly Akumas and Amoks who live between the timelines, called Time Deletors, and who attack anyone trying to mess with the timelines.
The only reason they even survived their first timeline travel was because Sabrina held them back, and even then, she was so hurt that she could have died without immediate help.
They became better with the next atempts, but it was always a close thing.
“Th- then, you kno-”
Chloe’s attempt at moralizing the group was cut off as a portal appeared, and Sabrina exited from it.
“Yes, you know, and you will have to face her.”
Sabrina’s tired voice resounded, and she warned the heroes.
“But, you have to know this, this timeline travel mission is going to be a lot harder, since as far as I was able to see, this girl’s Akuma and Amok were never defeated. At all.”
The grim tone of hers made the rest feel fear.
This mission might be their last…
After few days of relaxing and calming themselves down, they were prepared, and Sabrina opened the portal, and they entered.
And immediately, things went wrong, as the group were immediately and magically pulled towards a black hole that appeared out of nowhere, and Sabrina screamed along with the group.
Slowly opening their eyes as they realized that they are not dead, they saw that they were in some dimension where there is nothing but colors.
“Took you long enough to visit me.”
An unfamiliar voice brought their attention, and they looked to the source of the sound, only to see a blue-haired person, wearing civilian clothes, wearing a blue brooch, and a purple necktie on nix, who was actually sitting on a table, and drinking a cup of milk, in here.
Their instincts warned them. Nix is dangerous.
None of them knew how they knew that this person’s pronouns were nix/nixself, but they knew it was true.
“It is actually quite amazing to see how different you are now, than how you were before everything ended.”
Nix gentle smile fooled no one, and they brough their weapons to face nix.
“Well, I have to introduce myself, I am Cosmic Actress, but you may know me as my previous name, Marinette Dupain Cheng.”
Nix simply kept smiling at them, sensing their fear.
“How? How can you exist? Or not exist? How can someone paradoxical like you exist!?” Sabrina, being connected to time, was panicking.
This person, nix exists, and yet, Sabrina’s power tells her that at the same time nix doesn’t.
It was maddening.
The akuma simply chuckled at them.
“It’s obvious, dear, after all, I was the one who had your role, Chloe. Or should I call you Roselina?”
“WHA- HOW!? And what do you mean!?”
The heroes were shocked by nix statement, and confused by everything nix said.
The akuma sighed.
“Le me ask you this. Do you know what theaters are? Okay, dumb question, you do. But think of this, what does this have with this whole situation?”
Nix pointed at the area they are in, much to their confusion.
“"You see, life, and universe themselves, are like theaters, everyone gets a role, a job to do, and they are forced to obey it, and do what they are told to do with no complaint.’
“I, was the ‘hero’ of a previous ‘story’, you can say. I was a normal teenager, got dragged to the supernatural, had to deal with a magical terrorist planning on using my miraculous and my partner’s for evil, all while having to deal with my crush.”
Everyone looked at nix weirdly, because nix description sounded exactly like a story from a magical girl cartoon.
“Yeah, I know, sounds cliche, but you see, I never liked how I was treated.”
Nix smirked in a horrifying fashion.
“Being punished for trying to know my crush better, being humiliated for wanting to get a straight answer from him, being bullied and gaslighted for years from childhood, losing sleep due to my double life, being always anxious and afraid of being taargeted by the villain, being harassed by the person who I thought was my partner, and having any attempt at fixing my life turn into a nightmare. Until; I finally stopped feeling, becoming more of a machine than a human, simply acting as if programmed, with no will or emotions, until I finally lost it.”
As nix kept talking, the heroes were paling more and more as black tears flowed from nix eyes.
“It was at that moment, I realised, I am not going to be happy, I am not going to be granted closure or happiness. I was fated to be tormented by a world who forced me to become it’s punching bag. Which is why, I abandoned my role as a hero. I gave it up. I hated it, and hated being in this pathetic story, and killed the villains who thought they can control me.”
She slowly calmed down.
“But, the universe is just like a cruel movie producer, or writer. I didn’t like being a hero, therefore, the world was reset so I am the villain, and other people had their lives changed to accomodate their new roles.”
Nix just shook nix head.
“This is the truth, heroes; You either die a hero, or you become a villain. This is why I will keep this world as it is. Why I would not give you a chance to defeat me. Maybe I am not allowed to win as a villain, but I can stop you from defeating me and ending my story.”
Nix stood up, a black aura coating nix body.
“Now, let’s fight. You win, and you get to fix all the damage I caused, and maybe you can free me from this painful fate I was bound with. I ‘win’, and the world gets reset so we can repeat this process all over until you win. Either way, you are the ones who are lucky.”
===========================
End part two.
===========================
Part Three:
Universal Oblivion
===========================
You know, people always speak that the reality is stranger than fantasy.”
Cosmic Actress sighed as nix spoke.
“Well, to me personally… I have to disagree.”
Nix shook nix head.
“In fantasy, the heroes triumph. No matter how hard the battles are. No matter how strong their foe is. The power of friendship will always save the day! It doesn’t matter how smart and creative the villains are, no matter how outnumbered and outclassed the heroes are, the Good will win!”
Nix raised nix hands as if to emphasize nix point, nix face mockingly gleeful, before the expression became one of boredom.
“But, that isn’t how reality works. At least to me. Reality is never so kind. Or at least, it rarely is.” Again, nix shook nix head.
“In reality, a hopeless battle will still be hopeless. In reality, there is no way for you to defeat someone who is both stronger and smarter than you. Especially when they can easily hide and have minions that can change the fabric of reality as we know it.” Nix sighed again.
“So, how do the heroes win in this scenario? How do they rise to the realm of fantasy, and surpass all these insurmountable odds? Simple. Have the universe give them unfair advantages. Give them inexplicable power-ups. Hit the villains with the Idiot Ball, if that’s what the trope is called in this reality. Or maybe, some sudden interference out of nowhere, without any proper reason for it to occur. Do you understand, heroes?” Nix looked at the heroes facing nix.
None of them were in a good state.
Kyubi, Honeymoon, Do-Over, Destructo, Eternity, Protector and Roselina.
All of them were barely standing, some of them had their protective armors literally damaged and cracked, even though it should have been impossible.
They were trying their best to not fall or lose focus despite the pain.
Because they were not even sure if they would not faint and not wake up for days.
What was worse for them was the fact that the Akuma in front of them…
Nix wasn’t even serious. Not even trying.
No matter how many combos they tried, no matter how many time resets via the Snake miraculous, no matter what kind of power they used to attack.
It all was useless.
Venom barely stopped nix. If it even hit nix at all, that is.
Shelter was casually broken with a finger.
Mirage was basically useless, and even a Mirage with of light as bright as the sun itself it was worthless.
The Cataclysm, the power of Destruction, that they hit her with by sheer mistake and mental exhaustion from the battle, was useless. Nix defenses and regeneration were too high to do much other than cause nix a slight annoyance.
Even the Lucky Charm was useless. No object could help them from the absolute power that was facing them.
They could only watch as nix literally ran circles around them, and defeated them soundly.
It’s only thanks to the Akuma suddenly deciding to monologue that they were even given enough room to breathe properly.
Cosmic Actress looked at their state and sighed again.
“What I want to say is; I am not being… nerfed.” Nix explained, “Back when I was Ladybug, when I was a hero, even when the universe was against me, the reality went out of it’s way to not let Hawkmoth just win. Unfortunately for you, I am immune to all of these machinations of the cosmos. The only rule that applies to me is that I cannot truly win. I cannot use any of the Miraculouses in a way that allows me to free myself from this cosmic thread that is suffocating me.”
Nix directed a single palm at them, and a large orb of chaotic energy came to existence.
“Me trying to do so will only cause a time reset. That also means that you… are not going to face me in the ‘Easy’ difficulty. Oblivion Orb.”
With that, the orb rapidly sped towards the exhausted heroes, who could only watch as darkness consumed them all.
===========================
Chloe woke up with a killer headache.
She clutched her head, trying to stop the pain, as Tikki’s voice suddenly rose next to her on her pillow, the little kwami screaming wordlessly as if having a nightmare.
“Wha- where am I?” Chloe asked, the overwhelming sense of confusion overriding even her concern for Tikki.
She took a moment to look around, trying to fight through the helpless confusion, as Tikki’s frantic screams stopped, her eyes opening wide.
The same room, the same bed. But something was missing…
She wondered if she was having memory problems.
“Tikki, why were you screaming? Did you have a nightmare?” She asked her companion gently.
The poor kwami took a large breath before speaking. “Yes. I dreamed that you and the rest were fighting an Akuma and it- it wasn’t even a contest! You all were…!”
Chloe could understand the meaning of her unfinished sentence and tried to calm her down. “But, an Akuma that powerful to easily ki-”
Words stuck in her mouth as she looked at the large mirror on the wall.
There, instead of her and Tikki’s reflection, the figure of another being was showing.
A figure her mind immediately remembered. Just as she remembered the fight.
“C- C- Cosmic Actress!?”
The Akuma ignored the girl’s paling, terrified face along with Tikki’s.
“We need to talk. I, you, and your teammates. Meet me at the Eiffel Tower in an hour. Your team is being spoken to.”
Just as suddenly the akuma appeared appeared, nix had disappeared.
Chloe shakily breathed and calmed herself.
She called her team and they all stated they faced the same thing.
And she knew that there is no other choice but to do as the Akuma told.
===========================
Time flew rapidly as the hour ended.
Chloe was on the top of the tower along with the rest of the team.
Only Sabrina decided to hide in the Burrow just in case things went south so there might be something to save… Or someone.
They couldn’t argue against that.
Now, they impatiently waited for the Akuma nixself to appear.
It didn’t take too long as only a minute later, space and time twisted beyond recognition, finally taking the form of a circle in front of Adrien, and Cosmic Actress appeared from it.
For a moment, Adrien could have sworn to have seen a humanoid figure peeking from the portal besides the Akuma, but the portal closed before he can make sure of what he saw.
“Now that everyone is here – Well, except Sabrina – I will talk. You cannot defeat me. Absolutely. And definitely not directly.” Nix tone was as if nix was stating a fact.
And nix was stating a fact.
The heroes know it also.
“You said that you also can’t win.” Kagami spoke to the akuma.
Nix smiled. “Yes. I can’t. I am not allowed to win because I am the villain. That is why… I am raising the white flag.”
Adrien blinked. “The… white flag? Wait. You will give up!? After all that, you will just–!” He cut off his words in sudden horror in fear of enraging the akuma.
Nix only kept smiling. “Oh, I am not giving up. I am simply not going to fight you in particular anymore.”
“… What?” Alya asked in incredulity.
The akuma is not giving up, yet, she will not fight them?
“It’s really simple.” Nix starts explaining. “You are not able to defeat me so, I just need to wait for the next generation of the Miraculous holders to stand up to me instead.”
They can’t believe nix.
“It’s the perfect plan, really. If we go by the principle of the younger generation surpassing the older one –which I assure you is very true for the Miraculous holders by the way–, all you need to do is to train the younger generation to make the world a better place, and maybe, in the distant future, there will be someone or a group of people able to truly defeat me. And free me from this cursed fate and save the world at the same time.”
The heroes look shocked at the plan. Even more was the utter conviction in nix voice.
But the surprise disappeared too fast and turned into dread as Cosmic Actress’ smile turned into a cruel smirk.
“Of course, this is if you are ready to face the fact that this universe… Is already marching towards Utter Oblivion.”
A shiver ran across their spines at the words.
“Oblivion?” This time, it was Nino who asked.
“Yes. And since this might be the last time I meet you, I might as well tell you everything.”
Cosmic Actress took a breath. This will be a little long.
“Now, let me ask you a question. How many times has it rained in Paris this year?”
Needless to say, that was not the question they expected. It was just too random.
“Rained? Really?” Even Chloe couldn’t comprehend the randomness of the question.
“Just answer me. Let me guess. Only once or twice?”
As they tried their best to recall, they found out that nix was correct. But it still doesn’t explain anythi-
“Even in the winter and the autumn? Only once or twice?”
That-
Now that Alya thinks of it, it is indeed strange, but it is not enou-
“What about the fact that Alix, your friend, had never dyed her hair again? She had just dyed it once and the dye just… stayed there?”
Okay, that too was-
“Or maybe the fact that none of you, that no one in this city, ever changes their everyday clothes? As if you only have copies of the same outfit for no reason?
"Or maybe that, even with Paris being known as one of the biggest centers of fashion, the very designs are plain or are too similar to each other?”
They couldn’t refute nix.
And as they ponder more, they realize that things are not normal.
“I will tell you why these things happen. It is all thanks to…” Nix pointed at them. “The very jewels that allow you to transform.”
“Uhh, what?” Adrien’s voice resounded.
Nix stopped smiling as nix looked at them.
“Didn’t you find it strange? That the sources of the power for your Miraculouses are literal deities? Doesn’t it sound even more ridiculous then, that the kwami, who are supposedly governing the universe, cannot refuse a holder’s order? That their power can be used against the kwami’s will? If the kwami are such powerful beings, why then, did they not erase me and the many other supervillains right away? Why didn’t any of them decide to just not transform without their will?”
The dread and horror return to the heroes as they absorb nix speech, and the meaning behind it.
“That’s right, the kwami, the fragments of the literal concepts, are slaves. Shackled by the Miraculouses. And what is happening to Paris, from the weather, creativity, and the rest… is because of that.”
“No, no, no nonononononnono! It can’t-!”
Just as they started to mutter and scream in denial as the reality slams itself on them, Cosmic Actress simply pointed at them.
Their high and raging emotions ceased to exist. They literally couldn’t feel panic anymore, and they dropped from the shock.
“You can get shocked later. I still need to finish my talk. So, anyways, it’s because of the kwami being enslaved that the world is marching toward it’s annihilation.”
Nix continued speaking casually. As if nix was talking about weather. And maybe, nix was literally like talking about weather from nix viewpoint.
“When the… Order of Guardians” they can hear the venom in nix voice when nix said that name. “Created the Miraculouses to enslave the kwami, they made a disastrous mistake in their arrogance and greed. They broke the concepts. They broke the universe’s balance. The universe itself was no longer the same from the very attosecond a fragment of the concepts was enslaved and separated from the cosmos. The universe could no longer move the flow of causality in a natural way.
"The concepts are shattered, none of them can ever work in the natural and proper way they should. In some places in the universe, they work better, in others, they are unstable and annihilate everything that exists. Nothing is truly created or destroyed anymore. Nothing can be truly illusionary, Time and space are so twisted that it is impossible to understand. Even worse is that the universe can’t sustain itself or heal the damage in any way. Its will is spread too thin and it cannot do anything. It can’t simply act unnaturally. But the cracks in its existence do. They are slowly growing and widening. The universe as you know it is the equivalent of a person on life support against an illness that will kill them regardless.”
Nix shook nix head as it stopped speaking for a moment as the group absorbed nix words.
“The kwami are, in a way, a better version of the will of the cosmos. They have an ego and their will and ability to think is much higher if only because they are literally a large mass of a concept shackled in a very small area and in a very tiny form. Their will is not spread too thin. But it is the same with the cosmos. They are shackled, and their powers are severely limited by the Shackles you are wearing. At the rate this is going, a millenia or two will be the most generous estimate for how long this universe will hold, before it collapses on it’s own and it simply… ceases to exist.”
Silence was deafening.
No one could speak. The revelations are too much.
It’s only because Cosmic Actress made them unable to feel terror or panic that they are not having a mental breakdown.
“… Can’t this be fixed? If the kwami being shackled and separated from the universe is the problem, then shouldn’t breaking the shackles help?” Ivan asked this time.
The akuma shook nix head.
“No. It’s too late for that to just fix everything. Far too late. Had that been done just a few days, or at best, a few years after the enslavement of the kwami, that might have been fixed with little problems. But today, it’s been centuries if not millenias since those idiots at the Temple shackled the kwami. The universe can no longer fix this level of damage freely. Trust me. I know. I tried doing that before. At this point, if you do that right away, it will be like like taking a broken vase and having a literal toddler do the fixing. The universe as you know it will be completely unrecognizeable. And it won’t stop the kwami from being enslaved again. The Order of the Guardians will still exist, they will still get the idea of enslaving literal concepts, and the universe will still want things to happen naturally so it won’t stop them. And no. Time travelling to stop them is impossible. The laws of causality will not allow that to happen. Even I almost died and had my literal soul almost erased when I tried in one of the many time resets I’ve lived through.”
“Is there no way to fix that?” Chloe asked.
“… To be honest. I don’t know anymore. I’ve exhausted all my options through my long life. Teaming with other heroes. Creating subordinates to do it for me. Freeing the kwami right after they are enslaved. Even in timelines where I allowed the heroes to defeat me, another version of me will still exist in another timeline, still undefeated. Nothing really worked for me. I don’t know if it’s because of my position as the 'Final Villain’, or because of any other reason. All. Failed.”
For the first time since Cosmic Actress spoke, tiredness and resingation seeped into nix tone.
They could understand that.
It just sounded so hopeless.
“There’s only one last options that I did not really try until now. It didn’t really seem plausible to me, but I guess I must gamble here.”
Nix took a breath as Chloe and the rest held theirs in anticipation.
“The only option left to me is to… gamble on the coexistence of the Theory of Narrative Causality and the Protagonist-Centered Morality. And that you are the protagonists of this era.”
“I don’t follow.” Adrien told nix sincerely. All of them can’t really understand nix words.
Nix rubbed nix forehead, feeling the headache resulted from explaining this. “Look, you people have media entertainment. And sometimes in the show, things happen because and I quote, 'because the plot says so’. Sometimes characters act in a different way only to justify the plot. Got it?
"This is exactly the reason why Hawkmoth, or rather, the former villain, Gabriel Agreste- not the current one, this reality’s Gabriel is a good person somehow–didn’t just win. He could have overwhelmed Marinette and the 'original’ heroes by spamming Akumas every hour until they dropped from exhaustion. He could have made a tracking Akuma, or any of the other ways for him to win easily or solve his problems. He didn’t do that because the universe, or at least the not-so-healthy area of the universe made it so.
"The same thing happened with Marinette and the many problems she had. She could have easily defeated Hawkmoth many times over, rescued herself from her partner’s harassment (literally take the ring away with no guilt), forced people to respect her boundaries even if it required violence, stopped people from shipping her against her will, made better choices in her life. But the choice was basically stripped from her. In fact, me coming to existence was because the universe was stable for a moment and suddenly Hawkmoth couldn’t magically ignore her negative emotions being unleashed like it happened many, many times before.
"And here we come to her partner. Your previous counterpart, Adrien Agreste.”
Nix pointed at him much to everyone’s surprise.
“You might be a good person in this reality, but in Marinette’s reality, you were one of the most horrible people I’ve ever seen. You were a two-faced brat with no morals and with no care for anyone but yourself. You never cared that your classmates were threatened by an akuma, you casually joked in the most inappropriate times, you contstantly sexually harrassed Marinette as a 'hero’, and you abused your power over her to stop her from dealing consequences to those that hurt and bullied her. You were all but literally given everything on a silver platter. You had the easiest and stupidest test to be a superhero, your classmates liked you instantly despite apparently never having time to bond with them. You all but have gotten a harem of girls fawning over you for the most nonsensical reasons, and somehow no one in Paris could see that you were literally harassing your partner. But of course, when someone does the slightest thing that you didn’t like, it’s suddenly the most horrible act ever. You were literally an embodiment of the Protagonist-Centered Morality in all but name.”
Adrien was paling, but he didn’t refute nix.
He’d seen them, the memories of what he did in that timeline. He knew just how horrible and disgusting the previous him was. It still didn’t make it any less painful to hear it told to his face so bluntly.
But Cosmic Actress was still not over.
“Not like the rest of you were spared either from being Narratively Right or Narratively Wrong either, but it will take too long to talk about every little thing that you were tangled with. So I will just sum up that your entire behaviours as being a bunch of racist stereotypical caricatures, and existing to woobify the rich. I mean, how else would Chloe’s pervious counterpart stay a billionaire or how her father didn’t get murdered because he didn’t even punish his daughter for crashing a train and basically committing to aiding a literal terrorist? Of course we can’t also ignore forcefully trying to shove someone into a relationship simply because the relationship in question sounded 'cute’, even if the person in question is making it clear they are not happy or comfortable.”
The whole team was shaking, horrified by the pictures nix was painting.
Nix waited for them to calm down, feeling drained nixself. What nix was saying were things nix had wondered about for a long time, and never spoke to anyone else (except nix Amok and friend Natasi) so it felt a little liberating to voice them out.
“Okay, but what is our role in that? What can we do to fix all of–” Adrien spread his arms as if ponting to the world around them. “–This?”
Nix looked at them.
“Honestly, at this point I only have assumptions to go with.” nix admitted “But the only thing that might work is you using the so-called favouritism of this broken universe for your benefit. If you are really the Heroes of this Reality, the Protagonists, then maybe, just maybe, if you desired to get rid of the shackles put on the kwami, wished so hard to fix this messed-up reality, you might bend the broken will of the universe for you and make it give you the results you desire. You may even allow for the current versions of you to continue existing, instead of being erased or reset to that of your original selves.
"Of course, this is not even a 50/50 chance for success, it might even be a one in a trillion or less in your favour. But at this point, I am more than satisfied by this infinitesimal chance of success. I really have nothing to lose either, except losing my sanity and memories as I continue living forever.
"But you do have a lot to lose. If you don’t stop this, the entire universe might cease to exist, or the world will be reset, and you will be erased anyways, along with all your loved ones.”
That was it. That was the whole message. A long speech about how messed-up the whole reality is. Nix has nothing else to tell them.
A portal opened behind Cosmic Actress, and nix glanced at the heroes for the last time.
“The choice is in your hands. Will you gamble on this one chance to give everyone their happiness? To free the kwami and fix the damage while simultaneously making sure that the history will not repeat itself? Or will you abandon all Hope, and succumb to the Despair? From this point, I am leaving this little war between us. You are also free from your responsibility to fight me. Do whatever you want in your lives. If you want to live normal lives, go for it. If you want to prepare the world for the worst, go for it. If you want to risk everything for a possibly nonexistent chance of happiness for you and the world as a whole, go for it. You are the only one who can decide what to do from now on.
"Farewell. We might never meet again, Heroes. Regardless of what you choose, I hope you live contently… Until your last breaths…”
With that, the portal closed, with what seemed to be a final farewell.
Only the superheroes were still there on the tower, processing the whole speech.
“Just… what should we do now? If this was true, what can we do…?” Alya asked, doubt clear in her voice.
“I don’t know, Alya. I don’t know…” Ivan told her.
None of them knew what to do.
The weight of the knowledge of their world’s impending end hangs heavily, and there are not enough answers to how they can even start untangling this cosmic web that is hanging on every living being.
