Prologue - 2025

Three heroes met in a nondescript Paris warehouse. The sun outside the window had begun to set, washing the interior in deep oranges and reds. Marinette looked up from her tablet. "You know what to do, Adrien?"

Adrien paced in the darkening room. "Yes, Marinette… we've been over this plenty of times. I rescue you, and then younger you and I will go stop the Butterfly. Meanwhile, I can't let my younger self see me."

Bunnyx popped her bubble gum. "You remember where and when to be?"

"Yes. I'm to be at the Louvre at noon sharp two weeks after I arrive. You'll have a portal waiting for me on top of the pyramid." Adrien stopped pacing and let his arms hang at his sides, pasting a reassuring smile on his face.

Marinette walked over to her boyfriend and gave him a tight hug. "Don't miss me too much, loverboy." She pressed the Ladybug Miraculous into the smooth skin of his hand and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. She fussed with the collar of his shirt - always a white dress shirt over the dark t-shirt, even after all these years - and grinned.

"Don't miss me too much, I think you mean." He grinned back and put the spotted earrings into his ears. He twisted his familiar silver ring - the one he had worn for the past seven years - off of his finger and handed it to Marinette.

"You'll only be gone a few seconds as far as I'm concerned. Who knows who you'll be running around with in 2019 Paris?" She put the ring on her right hand and held it out, admiring it like the engagement ring she was hoping to receive once they were done with university.

"Alright, guys, let's get a move on," Bunnyx said, clapping her hands. "We've got work to do."

Marinette stepped back, annoyed at being hurried but knowing it was for a good cause. "Tikki, spots on!" Adrien called. A flash of pink light later, and he was transformed. "Plagg, be good to Marinette while I'm gone." He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders, muscles rippling under the suit like a cat. "I'm ready, Bunnyx." A large portal opened up in front of him, silhouetting him in bright white light. He gave a salute and walked through it.

Bunnyx closed the portal. "Hang tight, let me just get the coordinates… there." She waved her umbrella again, and another portal opened. She stood back, waiting for their friend to return.

This was it. Adrien would step back through the portal, and the nightmare that had taken hold of Paris for the past month would finally be over. Any second now… ten… twenty… thirty seconds elapsed. But there was nothing. It's been too long. He should have been back ages ago. What happened?

Bunnyx looked through the portal. Her eyes widened, and Marinette's stomach dropped. "Uh, Marinette… you're going to want to see this."

Hurrying over, Marinette poked her head through the portal.

Oh no.

Adrien!

"Plagg, claws out!" Magic flowed over her and she shuddered at the slightly off sensation: destruction, so unlike the creation magic she normally wielded. She shook off the disorientation and launched herself through the portal before the green light of her transformation had faded, only faintly aware of Bunnyx calling out to her.

"Wait! We don't know what we're getting into!"