A fanfic
(also on Ao3) made by RockSunner, for Miraculous Ladybug.
Unlike his Smart Adversaries AU for that series, this is not an Alternate Timeline that branches off from a different decision made by a Ladybug villain.
Instead, it branches off a different decision by Ladybug: she thinks it would be safer to take back the Miraculous from Flairmidable and return "Adrien" to the train before going back to fight Strikeback.
This is a multi-chapter work and it is still in progress.
This fanfiction work contains examples of:
- Adaptational Name Change: Anticipating a name change that will be revealed in an upcoming special, Shadow Moth will take the name "Monarch" in this AU.
- Alternate Universe Fic: A What If? with the change that Ladybug decides Adrien might be missed off the train by Nathalie and Lila, so she wishes to return him there immediately. (She still wants him on the team long-term, but not for the current mission.)
- Face–Heel Turn: From Marinette's point of view, Adrien turns evil — Félix overpowers her while she is detransformed and steals her Miraculous.
- Fix Fic: Instead of losing all but the Ladybug and the Cat as in canon, Marinette only loses the Ladybug, Rabbit, Snake, Monkey, Pig, Goat, and Horse. All the others were still in use by her team.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Gabriel finds himself forced to defeat Strikeback and use the Miraculous Cure to restore the city, once he finds out that Adrien was still in Paris instead of on the train.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Believing that Adrien is guilty, Marinette finds it easy to suspect that Gabriel is the Big Bad and Adrien is working with him. She thinks that Adrien being spared by Risk is another clue, which is also incorrect. She does get one clue right: it is significant that Adrien was sent out of town right before the attack.
- The Unmasking: Félix learns the identity of Ladybug. However, he keeps this knowledge to himself and gives Shadow Moth a false description.
