Chapter 17: Rogercop vs. RoboCop

(Quantic Universe Earth 139, Paris, France, April 18th, 2015, Steel Butterfly's voiceover POV as he writes in his Rorschach-inspired journal in his lair...)

Steel Butterfly's journal.

April 18th, 2015.

Today's the day of the Rogercop incident.

But with Plagg being more responsible and less gluttonous in this timeline, along with Chloe being more cautious and having been reformed, how will Roger Raincomprix become Rogercop this time around?

With the added bonus of Mayor Andre Bourgeois being less corrupt then he initially was in the original timeline and its many other divergents across this cartoon's multiverse, that's something else to take into account for this iteration of the Rogercop incident.

But all the same, I do wonder what kind of circumstances will force Roger Raincomprix to become Akumatized into Rogercop.

Not to worry; at least when he becomes Rogercop, I'll find out for sure.

Whatever the case may be, I will introduce my own RoboCop to the city when Rogercop comes to be, and I have the perfect design in mind for my iteration of RoboCop.

Ah, but all the same, I have a feeling that this iteration of Rogercop might have in store for us a more tragic backstory to be revealed as the true motivator for Rogercop to accomplish his goals.

I can only hope and pray that this won't be anything overly serious or overly tragic.

As much as I hate to admit it, I may prefer being serious all the time, but that doesn't change the fact that I draw the line of how much seriousness I can take in a day or in a year.

But in any case, I intend to make sure that Officer Raincomprix makes sure he knows that even though we appreciate his contributions to the Parisian Police Department, him harshly lecturing people like Xaiver Ramier and Gustav Campargue on Parisian laws continuously results in them getting Akumatized, and as a result, that calls for some serious punishment from my hand and from the Commissioner of the Parisian Police Department.

And the longer this trend continues without Roger genuinely learning his lesson, the more the chances of Roger getting fired after his trial only to serve a brief stint in prison increases a thousand fold.

But no matter if Roger will listen to reason or not is irrelevant; my point is, if Roger won't listen to reason, then I'm afraid I won't save his ass next time.

A little harsh, I know. But sometimes, even in a situation like Roger's averted third Akumatization in Startrain, he's going to learn the hard way that his actions have consequences.

But now, I must be off. To quote the great RoboCop, "Somewhere, there's a crime happening."

(Third person POV...)

At the Dupain-Cheng bakery, Sabine is preparing Tom for his Parent's Career Day presentation at the school.

Marinette is sitting on the back of the sofa with Tikki.

Marinette then asks, "Are you ready, papa?"

Tom replies, "As much as I'll ever be."

Tom and Marinette leave the house with Tikki hiding in Marinette's purse.

Sabine then says, "Happy Career Day, my darlings!"

Tom and Marinette make it to the school.

In Ms. Bustier's classroom, Tom is explaining his job to the class.

Tom explains thoroughly, "My day begins at 4 in the morning because the bakery opens at 7. One would think that the life of a baker is pretty much the same routine every day, making the same pastries, rolls, cakes, cookies, muffins, cups of coffee, and loaves of bread among others. But in reality, it's different every day. One day someone might order a cake in the exact same shape as the Eiffel Tower, and another day, someone else would order some cupcakes decorated with the French flag or even the American flag for a simple French holiday like Bastille Day or an American holiday like Independence Day. The basic gist of that last part, kids, is that sometimes our bakery tends to make different pastries and sweets by demand and when we receive the money in installments for good effort and timing, we can easily afford to buy more ingredients for more of our menu items, thereby repeating the cycle of me and my family doing what we're supposed to do to emphasize us being the best bakers in Paris."

Everyone is listening very splendidly, including Gabriel Agreste, who surprisingly attended the Parent's Career Day presentations for a change.

Gabriel muses in his thoughts, "Hmm... The life of a baker is a very interesting one, but I'm glad I don't have to worry about handling food or food ingredients that I might be allergic to."

Tom then states, "Marinette will come around and pass out some croissants that were baked fresh this morning."

Ms. Bustier then says, "Thank you, Mr. Dupain. Now, let's meet Alya's mom, who is the head chef at the Grand Paris Hotel, coincidentally owned by Mayor Bourgeois."

Marinette is passing around croissants, and surprisingly, Chloe has nothing to say, as a sign that due to her turning over a new leaf – that's what people say in reference to Chloe suffering under the Ghost Punisher's Retribution Gaze – Chloe decided to practice this simple saying: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

Marlena Cesaire then says, "Unfortunately, I don't have any dishes to share. But maybe Mr. Bourgeois will invite you all to the hotel and treat you to lunch!"

The students of the class start applauding.

Plagg stays in Adrien's bag, knowing that he could easily get Marinette in trouble despite not being gluttonous or acting of his own accord unless offered Camembert cheese.

Then, Ms. Bustier says, "Next on the list is Sabrina's father, a policeman, Officer Roger Raincomprix!"

The students applauded again.

Roger then explains, "I've been a police officer for fifteen years, and I firmly believe that every citizen is innocent until proven guilty."

After Officer Raincomprix finished, he was pulled over to the side of the class by Mayor Bourgeois as Gabriel went onto a long enough and short enough abridged lecture about his job running a fashion design empire. While coincidentally leaving out details of some of the things that tend to annoy him to no end, knowing that even Adrien wouldn't appreciate it.

Mayor Bourgeois asks, "Roger, do you know who this is?"

He holds up a WANTED poster for added emphasis.

The name on the poster was Edgar Boullogne.

Roger answers while keeping his cool, "Edgar Boullogne."

Mayor Bourgeois continues, "Word has it he's been spotted heading to an abandoned warehouse at the docks. It's vital you and the others make this collar."

Roger nods and goes over to Sabrina.

Roger whispers, "(Softly) Sweetheart, I'm sorry, but I have to go. Feel free to hang out with your friends before your curfew."

Roger immediately speed walks down the halls before reaching his car.

At the same time, since Gabriel has finished with his presentation, he also heads to his car and heads home to his lair so he can Akumatize Roger.

Once he gets inside his car and makes sure that nobody was paying attention, Roger angrily slams his fist on the dashboard before muttering, "That motherf***** will not get away this time! I'll make him pay for taking my wife from me!"

(Ten years ago, Raincomprix residence, third person POV...)

Roger and Hugette Raincomprix were having the time of their lives with their daughter, Sabrina Raincomprix.

Suddenly, the door is busted down as Edgar Boullogne and his crime family held the Raincomprixes at gunpoint.

Thinking quickly, Roger and Hugette throw a smoke bomb to blind Edgar and his men while taking Sabrina to safety.

Suddenly, as Roger and Hugette return to take the fight to Edgar due to both Roger and his wife being police officers, Hugette was gunned down by Edgar himself despite wearing a bulletproof suit of armor in case of an emergency.

Roger gets so furious that he guns down Edgar's thugs while managing to brutalize Edgar himself.

But before Roger can deal the final blow, several security guards restrain him due to the fact that Roger killing his wife's killer in cold blood would lead him to losing his badge.

Once the Parisian Police Department was called and arrived, Edgar was arrested while Hugette was rushed to the hospital with an armor-piercing bullet lodged into her heart.

But by the time the surgery to remove the bullet was about to be considered, Hugette flat lined.

Despite the doctors' efforts, Officer Hugette Raincomprix was pronounced dead on August sixteenth, 2005, at five fifteen p.m.

The entire police department of the city attended the funeral three days later.

Roger was inconsolable and so was Sabrina once everything was explained to her.

Once the funeral was over, Roger was given a few weeks off of work so he and Sabrina can grieve in peace.

At Edgar's trial, he was sentenced to life in prison, but then, his remaining syndicate members broke him out of the police transport carting him off to La Santé Prison.

Roger vowed from thereon that he would avenge his wife not through the strong arm of the law, but through the saying "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

In other words, Roger Raincomprix vowed to outright murder Edgar Boullogne in retaliation for taking Hugette from the Parisian Police Department, from the Raincomprix family, and from the world, regardless of the consequences afterwards and regardless of whether or not his comrades and the Commissioner of the Parisian Police Department would approve.

(Present day...)

In Hawk Moth's lair, Gabriel has just returned from the Parent's Career Day presentations and became the terrorist of the city.

As the window to his lair opens, Hawk Moth monologues, "Parent-child relationships can be so complicated, even with the loss of a child's mother. And I should know due to my experiences with losing my own wife. But nevertheless, this definitely is the perfect breeding ground for stress. When there's no more law and order, especially when the same criminals keep escaping from prison time and time again, there's only chaos left."

Hawk Moth creates another Akuma.

Hawk Moth sends it on its way as he finishes, "Fly away, my evil little Akuma, and take control of this policeman!"

The Akuma flies off to the 21st Arrondisment where Roger is preparing to leave.

The Akuma merges with his whistle.

Hawk Moth states, "Rogercop, I am Hawk Moth. This city needs a true ruthless righter of wrongs, and that is where you come in."

Roger/Rogercop replies, "Yes sir!"

Roger is transformed into Rogercop.

Hawk Moth continues, "Steel Butterfly, Ladybug, Cat Noir, Lion Hunter, Rhinocharge, Blueclaw, Corvo and Cat Knight must be destroyed if you want to attain ultimate retribution! You will seize their Miraculouses for me! Do we have an agreement?"

Rogercop replies again, "(Robotic voice) Affirmative. Steel Butterfly, Ladybug, Cat Noir, Lion Hunter, Rhinocharge, Blueclaw, Corvo and Cat Knight will be powerless against me, and justice will prevail in the streets of Paris."

Rogercop walks to the school.

He sees Ms. Mendeleiev throwing a piece of litter on the floor.

Rogercop grabs the litter and flies to where Ms. Mendeleiev is.

Ms. Mendeleiev asks bewilderedly, "Huh?!"

Rogercop states, "(Robotic voice) You're under arrest!"

Ms. Mendeleiev inquires, "What?! What for?"

Rogercop answers, "(Robotic voice) You threw litter on the sidewalk, jaywalked and crossed the red light."

Ms. Mendeleiev says in response, "Well, I suppose I did. But you can't arrest me! Who are you anyway? You don't look like a policeman!"

Rogercop throws laser handcuffs at Ms. Mendeleiev's wrists.

Rogercop declares, "I sentence you to trash duty."

He blows his whistle, which can control the handcuffs.

The handcuffs force Ms. Mendeleiev to put the litter in the trash cans.

Rogercop then says to himself, "Next mission: Seeking justice for Hugette Raincomprix."

Rogercop gets in his car and takes off in flight.

Meanwhile, in Steel Butterfly's lair, SB looks out at the entirety of the city as he muses, "So, Rogercop's come along to (Imitates Rogercop's voice) '"ensure that justice prevails in the streets of Paris,"' (Normal voice) huh? Well, Hawk Moth, two can play at that game!"

Steel Butterfly creates another Tenshi and says, "Fly off, my little Tenshi, and find myself a true RoboCop!"

The Tenshi finds a Parisian police officer by the name of Aurelien Azema and merges with his police badge.

The same colorful butterfly symbol appears as Steel Butterfly monologues, "RoboCop, I am Steel Butterfly. I'm granting you the powers and gadgets you need to ensure that crime goes to zero. But I also need your help in deakumatizing your Hawk Moth counterpart, Roger Raincomprix, aka Rogercop. Do we have a deal?"

Aurelien/RoboCop, "Yes, Commissioner. We have a deal."

Aurelien transforms into an exact replica of the original movie version of RoboCop and the 2014 RoboCop put together, but without the limited mobility from the original 1987 RoboCop. Partially due to the fact that thanks to Steel Butterfly's powers, the new Tenshized RoboCop is now a cyborg by human standards and a techno-organic by Transformers standards.

RoboCop summons his jetpack and takes off to rendezvous with Steel Butterfly at the Eiffel Tower so they can look for Rogercop.

Once RoboCop arrives at the Eiffel Tower, he asks his new "Commissioner," "(Robotic voice.) Where do you think Rogercop is, Commissioner?"

An explosion from the docks caught our attention.

Steel Butterfly remarks, "Bingo."

Steel Butterfly messaged Ladybug and Cat Noir to meet them there, in case it was Rogercop.

At the Parisian City Docks, Rogercop is having the time of his life by killing the same criminals responsible for helping murder his wife many years ago while sentencing the living ones into doing what he orders them to.

Suddenly, Steel Butterfly, Ladybug, Cat Noir and RoboCop appear in the sky as they descend.

Rogercop says, "(Robotic voice.) Steel Butterfly, Ladybug, Cat Noir, Paris has a new righter of wrongs. Your services are no longer required."

Steel Butterfly sneers in his demonic voice in response with hand signals for added emphasis, "HA! I beg to differ. Our services are no longer needed when I say they're no longer needed."

Ladybug rolls her eyes as she says to Rogercop, "We can't just let you go around accusing everyone of any little wrongdoing!"

Rogercop notices RoboCop and asks, "(Robotic voice.) Is that supposed to be... RoboCop?"

Steel Butterfly smiled demonically as RoboCop replies, "(Robotic voice.) I am most defiantly RoboCop. I am the only robot police officer here in this world as much as in my world."

The Heroes observe the damage and carnage Rogercop did and Steel Butterfly asks in a horrified tone, "Rogercop... WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?"

Rogercop replies, "(Robotic voice.) I avenged the murder of my wife Hugette Raincomprix."

Rogercop holds up the decapitated head of Edgar Boullogne for added emphasis as he finishes, "(Robotic voice.) This murderer took my wife from me ten years ago, so I took his family of crime and his friends from him. As they say, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Now, it is time for you to surrender your Miraculouses so they can be distributed to the right owner, Hawk Moth."

Rogercop prepares to fire his laser handcuffs, only for Steel Butterfly and RoboCop to cancel out Rogercop's handcuffs.

Ladybug states, "Listen to me! You're Sabrina's dad, and a good cop! Don't let the evil person who gave you these powers make an evil cop out of you! And you can easily lose your badge for killing your wife's killers in retaliation!"

Steel Butterfly adds, "(Normal voice.) Yeah, and besides, while I would've done the same thing for myself and for Corvo, Hawk Moth actually doesn't care about your problems; he only wants you to obtain our Miraculouses for him. And when he does get our Miraculouses and after he deakumatizes you, he'll not hesitate to kill you so that way you won't get in his way."

Rogercop looks confused until Hawk Moth's butterfly-shaped symbol flashes across his eyes.

Hawk Moth's disembodied voice rings out, "Don't listen to those liars! Take their Miraculouses! Their powers belong to me!"

Steel Butterfly rebukes Hawk Moth demonically in a booming voice as he states in response, "WRONG, HAWK MOTH. OUR MIRACULOUSES DO NOT BELONG TO YOU. AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO CALL ME AND LADYBUG LIARS?! HOW F****** DARE YOU, YOU F****** HYPOCRITE?"

Hawk Moth asks through Rogercop, "How the hell am I a hypocrite?!"

Steel Butterfly explains demonically, "You choose not to inform your son about what you're really doing just because you don't trust your son enough to know whether or not he would join you, you're afraid of the repercussions of telling your son who you really are, and the moment you bring your wife back to full health, you would literally have a full mind to choose to lie to your wife about your actions and to try silencing anyone who tries to contradict your lies in front of your wife. So, who's the liar now?"

Hawk Moth's butterfly symbol disappears as Rogercop is given back full control of himself. Rogercop then announces, "(Robotic voice.) Justice must prevail in the streets of Paris!"

Rogercop fires handcuffs at Ladybug and Steel Butterfly, only for Ladybug to dodge them and Steel Butterfly redirecting them thanks to his telekinesis.

Soon, everyone bore witness to the fight between Rogercop and RoboCop.

Despite Rogercop being an enhanced hand-to-hand combatant with robotic metal armor, RoboCop had over twenty-five years of experience combined with Steel Butterfly's knowledge of how to expect someone's next moves.

The fight continued for about ten to fifteen minutes, with Rogercop unable to fix his heavy damages.

Eventually, Rogercop resorts to shooting laser handcuffs and laser beams at RoboCop, only for RoboCop to bring out his Auto 9 and disable Rogercop's weapons with a few well-placed three-shot bursts of live armor-piercing ammunition.

Eventually, RoboCop shot Rogercop's whistle off his neck armor and Steel Butterfly purified the Akuma as quickly as possible.

Then, Steel Butterfly casts his own Miraculous cure, freeing people from Rogercop's control and turning Rogercop back into Roger Raincomprix.

HOWEVER, the criminal victims of Rogercop stayed dead because of the fact that Steel Butterfly's Miraculous Cure and Ladybug's Miraculous Cure are influenced by their own emotions.

It took quite some time, but everyone managed to comprehend that if it had been Steel Butterfly that turned Officer Raincomprix into Rogercop, SB would've had Rogercop do the exact same thing as he did while under Hawk Moth's control. But he also would've made sure that there were a few survivors in case the survivors didn't kill anyone.

So, plans were made to bury the dead criminals that Rogercop killed.

Thankfully enough, through some simple uses of Steel Butterfly's Absolute Persuasion, Roger Raincomprix was allowed to keep his badge while RoboCop was transformed back into Aurelien Azema and sent on his way with Steel Butterfly promising that he will call upon RoboCop's assistance again at some point in the near-future.

In Hawk Moth's lair, Hawk Moth growls as he monologues again, "Grrrrrrr... You and your heroes may have eluded me this time, Steel Butterfly, but one of these days, I'll be ruling the world! And neither one of you will be a part of it!"

The window to Hawk Moth's lair closes as Hawk Moth stews in his own anger.

The primary three Heroes of Paris went home to sleep for the night, thankful that they averted a complete disaster.

During morning patrol two hours before school started, Steel Butterfly informed Ladybug and Cat Noir about how the Rogercop incident played out in the original timeline.

To say the least, they were thankful that everything related to the original Rogercop incident didn't happen in this current timeline.

But then, Ladybug asks out of the blue, "SB, how exactly are we gonna ensure that Bunnyx doesn't turn rogue when she becomes the Time Guardian of the Quantic Multiverse just in case our plans fail?"

Steel Butterfly replies, "Regrettably, I'm gonna have to take Alix Kubdel under my wing so I can instill almost the same discipline and good sense of judgment her future counterpart had while also making sure that Present Day Alix Kubdel is made aware of the consequences of her actions. That way, we get the best of both worlds in terms of this: Alix doesn't turn rogue and we won't have to worry about her changing the past to preserve her future. Besides, before the Cat Blanc incident came along in my viewings of our multiverse, I had seen potential in Bunnyx, but because of what she did in the original timeline, that opinion has since soured. But we will all need to teach her the lessons of right and wrong in regards to having the ability to travel across time and space, and instill the same discipline and judgment skills I have in mind for her. Basically, it's like teaching a child right from wrong at an early age. Besides, my dear friends, the Book of Proverbs Chapter 22, Verse 6 of the Bible explicitly states, '"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it."' But in modern terms, if a child is taught in the ways of righteous actions at a young age and how to avoid the temptations to do bad things – the age requirement being that the child is able to understand what you say and being able to memorize everything – then that child won't disobey those teachings when they become older all the way into adulthood. BUT, if by any chance Bunnyx does turn rogue just because she found out about our plans and what I intended to do in the first place, I'll handle her."

Ladybug and Cat Noir asked their questions of concern about how Steel Butterfly will be able to handle Bunnyx, outside of violence. Especially because the Rabbit Miraculous grants its user the ability to freeze time, the ability to freeze people in any moment in time, the ability to accelerate and decelerate someone's aging to prevent that someone from revoking her of the Rabbit Miraculous, the ability to rewind time and fast forward time like a universal remote control, the ability to control people's actions within the active timelines, the ability to simulate supernatural reflexes, the ability to simulate supernatural speed, the ability to simulate teleportation, the ability to save a future moment in time and reset forward to that saved moment in time, the ability to perceive the probabilities of anything in general, the ability to possess irrefutable knowledge of dates and times, and the ability to summon temporal duplicates of herself among other time manipulation-related abilities.

Steel Butterfly revealed that among his contingency plans include tickle torturing Bunnyx – again – along with permanently erasing her memory of ever being a Miraculous holder, opening a door into Steel Butterfly's latest pocket dimension to show Bunnyx the consequences of her actions, inflicting an ancient curse that the Order Of The Guardians invented to prevent unworthy, disgraced former Miraculous users from using a Miraculous jewel again, keeping her imprisoned until she truly wishes to change, booby trapping his prisons three times as bad in case Bunnyx manages to avoid most of his original booby traps, and sending Bunnyx into the future to witness her final fate during Judgment Day at the end of days.

Ladybug protested against showing Bunnyx her final fate at the end of days since Bunnyx can easily try to abuse such foreknowledge, but Steel Butterfly asserted that, knowing the existence of God no matter the dimensional space, God always was and always will be all-knowing as a Supreme Being and a multiversal singularity. Therefore, should Bunnyx try to lie during her judgment, God will able to show Bunnyx's actions via ethereal holograms to refute any lie that comes out of her pie hole. But Steel Butterfly also says that should it come down to it, he'll easily wipe all of Alix's memories of being a Miraculous user permanently.

Soon, it was all systems go, especially because Master Fu and Wayzz thought that SB's plans were one hundred percent ingenious since they were the ones to come up with it in the first place.

Over the course of the next three months while time traveling into the year nineteen ninety-nine, Alix was trained to prepare for eventually getting the Rabbit Miraculous while being taught good judgment when it comes to whether or not anyone should be informed about an apocalyptic future about to take place, how to keep her emotions in check when viewing time portals of the past to learn how to erase apocalyptic timelines from existing, how to resist an Akuma and push it off, and being taught right from wrong in terms of which timelines in the Quantic Multiverse to preserve and which ones not to preserve.

In addition to that, Alix was taught everything about how time travel and the multiverse work, and how they don't work compared to what some people think or believe.

At the same time, Alix was shown via different time portals all of the wrong things her future self and Future Bunnyx's counterparts did to preserve their respective status as Time Guardian of the Quantic Multiverse, only to end up suffering the consequences and being shown the consequences of their actions. In addition to that, Alix was shown via time portals different counterparts of Bunnyx screwing up the timeline just because they were gonna be fired for anything even remotely close to lying to the other heroes about the future, especially because she was a coward dealing with the trauma of the Cat Blanc timeline and because of something unexpected in the timeline such as Cat Noir betraying the team just because his obsession with Ladybug after discovering her true identity had resulted in him being arrested for sexual harassment, aiding and abetting his terrorist father, and for abuse of magic power.

But the topping of the iceberg was showing Alix different counterparts of Bunnyx refusing to use her powers to ensure that Lila Rossi was arrested before she could cause irreparable harm, refusing to tell the other heroes who Gabriel Agreste's successor as Hawk Moth in the future really is, and completely disregarding the rules of time travel to make sure that timelines in which Bunnyx was revoked for siding with a naive Cat Noir and the entire team of temporary heroes in the event Marinette was Akumatized and had planned to use whatever powers she had to bring down all of her enemies. Including Hawk Moth, Mayura, Lila, Alya, Adrien/Cat Noir, and many others that were just as worse as them or twice as bad.

To say the least, Alix was horrified at all of the things her future counterpart and her various counterparts across the Quantic Multiverse did just because they all didn't want anything about their pasts and their futures to be permanently changed, even if it was for the greater good.

After another five weeks in the years 2001 and 2005, Alix Kubdel was finally gonna become the Bunnyx that Steel Butterfly molded her into being.

After a few weeks in the year 2010 of training with the Rabbit Miraculous, Present Day Bunnyx was ready for action.

BUT she was strictly ordered not to interfere with any timeline unless her actions are given the green light by either Steel Butterfly, Ladybug, Master Fu, or the Council of Time Guardians.

At the same time, she was also ordered not to abuse the Rabbit Miraculous to change the past in order to preserve her future just because she did something wrong and was gonna suffer the consequences. Unless she wants the Order and SB to inflict an ancient curse that prevents disgraced former Miraculous users from attempting to use a Miraculous jewel again. In addition to that, Bunnyx was also ordered to never question Steel Butterfly's orders, especially if Future Bunnyx shows up to get her revenge on SB for changing her past.

Soon, Alix was permitted to learn about Steel Butterfly with strict supervision so as to prevent fights from happening in case Bunnyx loses her temper.

When Alix found out about Steel Butterfly's original plans, she kept her cool as Steel Butterfly explained the reasons why he initially hated her and her future counterpart in the original timeline and in his home universe.

But, just as it looked like Bunnyx was gonna continue doing what her future counterpart did, she instead hugged the taller butterfly hero and she let it out.

After the whole thing was over, Steel Butterfly smiled evilly as he said, "Welcome to the French Miraculous Superhero Team. Welcome to the ranks, Bunnyx."

(Steel Butterfly's voice-over POV as he writes in his Rorschach-inspired journal the afternoon after the day of the Rogercop incident...)

Steel Butterfly's journal.

April 19th, 2015.

First and only journal entry tonight.

Everything went slightly well for me and my teammates.

Rogercop's Akumatization is officially undone.

However, what shocked me was that the circumstances leading to Officer Raincomprix becoming Rogercop was because of the fact that the man who murdered Roger's wife ten years ago was found at the docks and Roger wanted revenge without anyone getting in his way.

And even though I don't approve of officers killing killers, that doesn't change the fact that killers and rapists are among the various types of evil people who deserve to die.

And even though we were too late to stop Rogercop from getting his revenge, I still would've helped him out by using my own Penance Stare on Edgar Boullogne.

In any case, Roger was able to keep his badge, if only because I was very persuasive in that regard.

BUT, when Roger does do the things I saw him doing in episodes after Gorizilla and Captain Hardrock, I ain't going to save his ass again.

I might be a firm believer that people like Marinette, Adrien, Chloe, and so forth are innocent until proven guilty, but that doesn't change the fact that Roger's narrow-minded sense of justice causes him to go overboard, even to the point where he, for even absolutely no reason at all, hands out tickets to people he believes are breaking parking and traffic laws when they actually aren't. Especially including Adrien Agreste's bodyguard. Before and after Gigantitan, Gorizilla, and so forth.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Now that Rogercop has come and passed, the next Akumatization to prepare for was none other than Alya Cesaire's father, Otis Cesaire, also known as Animan, an animalistic supervillain who can shapeshift into any animal. Including dinosaurs and dragons. But even though I've already seen Animan transform himself into a dinosaur, I haven't ever seen him transform himself into a dragon. Not whatsoever.

In any case, I was undergoing training with Master Fu, and I secretly discovered something: as Dragon Butterfly, I actually have the power to transform into a giant armored dragon!

I was ecstatic, mainly because I liked heroic dragons like Saphira from Eragon, Toothless from How To Train Your Dragon, Dragonstorm from Transformers: The Last Knight, and so on. I like heroic dragons, guilty as charged.

In any case, my dragon mode will most certainly prove useful if I ever need it.

Of course, I couldn't help but reminisce a bit about many of the Miraculous Ladybug fanfictions from my Earth that I enjoyed.

Including the ones where Marinette and Adrien get called out on their mistakes, and they either have their Miraculouses revoked, they end up getting arrested, they get everything else taken away from them and so on.

I know that Marinette and Adrien are treated harshly in fanfiction stories because some people didn't like the way they behaved and their actions in general, but this dimension's Marinette and Adrien are much better than their counterparts thanks to Sabine, Tom, Master Fu, and me.

I just hope I can help them avoid making the same mistakes all of their counterparts had made all across their multiverse in the form of fanfictions from my Earth.

Now, in any case, I made sure that Roger Raincomprix kept his job because of two things. One, he needs to keep his job all the way to the near future. And 2, because that way, I can set in stone Roger being temporarily suspended from his job for taking the law into his own hands with Mr. Pigeon and Gorizilla, as well as making sure that he knows that interfering with magical superhero business is not going to be tolerated on my watch.

Along with that, Roger is going to learn both the easy way and the hard way that his actions have consequences, and when it comes down to it, Roger will eventually be fired if he chooses to go too far in his narrow-minded quest for justice. But Leppey, Wayzz, and Master Fu heavily cautioned me to take things slow because as long as Hawk Moth is actively terrorizing the city, he could easily make Roger as Rogercop twice as dangerous. Whether as a Rogercop 2.0. or as a Rogercop filled to the brim with rage and a desire for vengeance against me and the current head of the Parisian Police just 3 months short of permanent retirement, Claude Bardes.

Steel Butterfly approaches the gates to Cimetière du Père Lachaise, also known in English as Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Steel Butterfly walks past the open gates, and everyone goes slack-jawed at the sight of the butterfly hero coming onto hallowed ground.

Steel Butterfly approaches a grave with the markings of his great-grandfather's stone-writing signature from his Earth, and the grave reads the following:

Maxence Bittencourt.

January 21st, 1972 – December 25th, 1999.

Beloved police officer, killed by a corrupt police captain.

Beloved son, brother, cousin, grandson, nephew, and protector of the innocent.

Rest in peace.

Steel Butterfly scanned the minds of the passersby and realized that this Maxence was his true Quantic Universe Earth 139 counterpart.

Steel Butterfly stood still in front of the grave, crossing his arms in an X shape over his chestplate and his wings spreading broadly from his cape.

Even though Steel Butterfly could easily make it rain to make his paying respects more dramatic, he knew that people were expecting a clear, sunny day, so he chooses not to bother with turning the weather into a rainy day.

Steel Butterfly then kneels in front of the tombstone and bows his head like a Japanese sensei.

Even if I didn't know about my counterpart's death at the hands of a corrupt police captain based on what I read from the onlookers' minds, even the imprisoned police captain had a choice.

All of them had a choice. Good, bad, and neutral.

Even the former police captain could've followed the example of many great men and women who came from troubled but humble beginnings.

Such as Winston Churchill, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, President Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, President Washington, or any other famous person taught in American and French history classes that came from troubled but humble beginnings, saw most of the injustices from centuries long since passed, injustices that had to be corrected, and did everything in their power to help others. No matter their age, their military or police or first responder training, their country of origin, their gender, their skin color, or religious upbringing.

Those men and women of the past all sacrificed even their freedoms and their lives for the people around them, not just the people they loved. They all did it while also simultaneously making sure to not be tethered down by anything like romantical love for a few cases like Ms. Anthony.

But in any case, this former police captain could've followed in the footsteps of great men and women from the past who firmly held true to a day's work for a day's pay.

Instead, they followed the droppings and wastes of many a leecher who would stop at nothing to ruin what is good in the world, especially by ruining the reputations of many new men and women who would rise to heights of fame for their heroic accomplishments and legitimate, legal hard work.

And these scumbags didn't even know that the trail laid out for them led over a precipice until it was already far too late to turn back or to walk away so as to lick their wounds.

Nobody is going to tell me that they didn't have a choice because no matter where we come from, we always have a choice.

And I should know this, because in my time travel training, I had a choice on whether or not I should kill the minor to serious threats of the world in terms of normal criminals, rookie supervillains, mass murderers, mass rapists, drug dealers, black market dealers, Triads, ninjas, and so forth. And what did I choose? I chose to kill them.

Simply because, like Rorschach and the Ghost Riders before me, I believe that evil in all its forms must be punished, no matter the age of the evildoer, no matter how severe the punishment, and no matter if the evil actions includes white lies or illegal downloads.

In today's world whether it is on my Earth or in the Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir franchise, in New York City, Paris, Shanghai, Japan, Senegal, Africa, England, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, or anywhere else in the world, we have a choice on how we can accomplish great things.

We can either work very hard and do things the legal way for those great things, or we can take the easy way out by leeching off of other people who are working their butts off to get to the top.

Now, the whole city of Paris stands on the brink of a magical kind of World War III thanks to Hawk Moth, and the citizens are unknowingly staring down at Hell or staring up at Heaven.

All those who often don't practice what they preach, all those smart asses, all those sweet talkers... and now, just suddenly, they can't even think of a thing to say in response.

On Wednesday, a wanted murderer was decapitated by a robot police officer created by Hawk Moth as the next of his many Akumatized villains.

Nobody knows why.

Nobody knows except me and my team, including the now detenshized RoboCop.

This morning, when I interrogated a drug dealer on where I can find Maxence's murderer, it proved fruitless because he didn't know anything.

I'm known for not easily feeling depressed, but when I do get depressed, I just sleep all day and all night.

Why are so few superheroes from the early to late 1900s left active, healthy, able to exercise without hurting themselves despite being old, and without personality disorders?

As far as I heard, the father of the current Knightowl is living in a retirement home.

The predecessor of the current Sparrow is now the current Knightowl.

The predecessor of the Knightowl before the current one and before his father retired had passed away, turning out to be really old. My guess is that this previous Knightowl had had his time on Earth come to an end the natural way due to humans being mortal.

One of my Tenshized champions during World War II died in action, a victim of severe abuse as a prisoner to be tortured for information, only to die by firing squad.

One of my United Heroez contacts, Fallen Phoenix, was decapitated in a helicopter crash in '54.

Broad Guardian is in a mental institution up in Massachusetts.

Heavy Mongoose got his hang-gliding cape stuck in a revolving door where he got gunned down.

Scarlet King retired in disgrace, murdered eight months later by a minor adversary seeking revenge.

Doctor Juggernaut went missing in '75.

Voiceless Sentinel was murdered, a victim of his own indecent life style before the turn of the nineties.

Boler was thrown out of a fifteen story window in an office hold up gone wrong.

Impossible Girl was bisected by a serious adversary using a booby-trapped meat cleaver in the shape of a guillotine blade.

Ethereal Phoenix, Dark Omen, Quiver, Thundering Whisper, Purple Cat, Doctor Titanium, Karma The Hunter, Iron Bat, Fire Scorpion, Light Spirit, Saberleaf, Star Sentinel, Golden Hope, Orothos, Cleanser, Elemental, Phantom Archer, Wi-Fire, Mister Penance, Stareye, Black Phoenix, Nightquake, Broad Owl, Captain Atomic, Dragon Boy, Silver Owl, Warden Guardian, Crimson Trident, Cold Calm, Green Hammer, Mammoth Crane, Silver Shepherd, Green Moth, Jade Stranger, Silver Goliath, Night Sage, Fire Falcon, and many of the others amounting to more than ninety-nine octillion, eighty-eight sextillion, seventy-seven quintillion, sixty-six quadrillion, fifty-five trillion, forty-four billion, thirty-three million, two hundred and twenty-two thousand, one hundred and ten in total are still in hiding across the globe. Especially since one reason in particular is because they don't trust any of the remaining members of the Order of the Guardians, having been educated about the Order's overbearingly strict ancient ways and methods of recruiting heroes and assigning Miraculouses to only adults among other things that the Guardians have done ever since Su-Han became the Grandmaster of the Guardians and the Celestial Guardian of the Chinese Zodiac Miracle Box.

Even with onlookers, I paid my respects, even though I could've used the priest's scripture readings to further assist me.

Maxence Bittencourt.

Born in 1972.

Based on what I read, he was a detective. And a really good one at that.

He saw the world in black and white on an equal level to Rorschach.

Twenty-seven years a stone cold and hardened detective.

Died 1999, killed by a corrupt police captain who was immediately arrested soon afterwards thanks to eye witnesses and security camera footage.

Is this one of the many things that happens to us superheroes across the omniverse of fiction and real life?

A life full of violence, vengeance, justice, and death with no time for friends or family, no time for longer vacations, and no time for school or work or anything else in between, so that when this kind of life is finished, only our enemies and former colleagues leave roses.

Violent lives ending violently, and often in gruesome, brutal ways not unlike deaths described in the Bible or shown in horror films.

Fallen Phoenix, Broad Guardian, Heavy Mongoose, Scarlet King, Doctor Juggernaut, Voiceless Sentinel, Boler, and Impossible Girl among others... we never die of old age in bed at home or in a hospital.

Fate never allows it almost all the time.

Could it be something in our personalities?

Could it be some kind of animal urge to fight until we can't fight anymore or until we kill our prey, making us the people we are?

It could be.

But even if it was, even us superheroes do what we need to do and must do in order to survive.

I don't think I would understand it at all, and I don't think any of my protégés will understand it either. At least, not in the way The Comedian from Watchmen did, thankfully.

And yet, some of my other superhero contacts saw things in the twenty-first century a little differently than The Comedian. Specifically by looking at it from the roots of its problems.

No one else saw the roots of the problems in an almost symmetrical and perfected way like my other superhero friends before today did.

That's why they and I kept this information to ourselves; because just like with the Akuma Class not believing Marinette Dupain-Cheng about Lila Rossi's lies in the various timelines of the original Quantic Universe, nobody we told about the roots of the twenty-first century's problems believed us.

But since The Comedian saw the problems of his universe as a joke, I'll be honest in saying that I heard a joke once, but it wasn't the exact same one Rorschach told.

This one might be a bit familiar to you readers. There were two men locked in a lunatic's mental asylum, and one night, they decided that they hated the life in the institution.

So, they decided to escape and make better lives for themselves.

So, they made it up to the roof of the building, and once there, just across this narrow gap, they see rooftops stretching away in the moonlight across town, stretching towards total freedom.

Now, the first guy manages to jump across with no difficulty, but his friend? Oh-ho, no way. He doesn't dare to make the leap because he's afraid of falling.

So, the first guy gets an idea.

He says, "Hey! I got this flashlight with me. I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. Once I do, you can walk across the beam of light and join me."

But the second guy just shakes his head and replies, "What do you think I am, crazy? You would just turn it off when I was halfway across."

Ha.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Ah, good joke.

But in the same part of the Batman franchise the joke came from, I really wondered if it was true that all it takes is one bad day so traumatic to make someone snap and go insane with pure malice and evil.

As I saw in Miraculous Ladybug fanfictions like the one called Paris' Dark Halloween in which a hybrid Akumatized Marinette and Ladybug killed her enemies and prevented even Bunnyx from attempting to stop her, I realized that what Joker said in The Killing Joke was true, and like what I said above. All that it does truly take for someone to lose their mind and go insane is a single bad day extremely traumatic to the point where normal rules of right and wrong no longer apply to the mindset of the trauma victim in question.

And as I saw in the Sentimonster Ladybug episode before Scarlet Moth detransformed to check on Catalyst, that was true; when Marinette was one second closer to becoming Akumatized into Princess Justice and removing the Ladybug Miraculous from her ear lobes to theoretically hand over to Scarlet Moth, I knew that Marinette was gonna turn bad out of her total indominable will.

And as I also saw in the Elation episode of season 5 with Monarch almost successfully Akumatizing Marinette into Unmasker before Cat Noir puckered up and locked lips with Marinette to make her overcome the Mega Akuma, that was also true.

As one of the new guardians of time and space not unlike Vector Prime from Transformers, I can't and I won't allow any of that to happen, no matter if Ms. Bustier and Mr. Damocles are incompetent at their jobs or not. Especially when it comes to the matter of giving students accused of wrongdoing without evidence an expulsion trial.

And I won't allow any of it to happen no matter who believes Lila Rossi's lies or not. And especially no matter if Adrien chooses to expose Lila earlier than canon or not.

I got a lot to think about here.

But no matter what happens, no matter if Bunnyxes across the Quantic Multiverse presume that they're correcting my alterations to the timeline when they're really not, I'll make sure that my favorite heroes of all time have a much better future for themselves.

Only then will I truly retire and rest peacefully – and in terms of context, I don't mean in the dying way of resting in peace and ascending to Heaven.

Steel Butterfly produces an assortment of roses in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, and white before setting it in front of the tombstone.

Steel Butterfly spreads his wings broadly as a sign of respect for his dead otherworldly counterpart before leaving the cemetery.

Steel Butterfly sees someone coming and hides in the shadows with his lightness invisibility.

Steel Butterfly immediately recognizes the blind woman in question as Tomoe Tsurugi, one of the characters of seasons 2-5 that he started to hate to an extreme after she was revealed to be in cahoots with Monarch.

Steel Butterfly mentally growls, "Ugh. What an abusive, inconsiderate, boneheaded, overly blunt, consequence-ignorant, irresponsible, rude, blind in every manner of speaking other than physical disability, and downright b***-a**** pathetic excuse for a parent who wants what she thinks is better for her daughter just because of profits and just because of being in a long ancestral family line of samurai warriors."

Steel Butterfly silently makes his way to an alley, decloaks, and he uses shadow travel to teleport back to his lair.

Steel Butterfly then wills his detransformation, turning back into Miguel Guevara.

Miguel calms himself with a deep breath that he does in super slow motion.

Leppey then questions, "Tomoe Tsurugi is in Paris? What are we going to do, boss?"

Miguel answers, "The best thing that we can do right now is make folders and dossiers of Tomoe's crimes in the future to be released to the internet and handed to both Parisian authorities, Japanese authorities, and the Tsurugi empire's board of directors just in case we reach season 5 and in the event we are unable to apprehend Gabriel, Nathalie, and Lila on Heroes' Day this year. But at the same time, we will also make pamphlets for Kagami about how to recognize when someone like a parent or the legal guardian of someone she knows is abusive in most manners without being physically abusive. As well as how to recognize the signs that someone like her mother is in cahoots with a supervillain or a terrorist of different categories. Before and after the emergence of Hawk Moth and the Miraculouses in the Chinese Zodiac Miracle Box."

Leppey nods in understanding, and the twosome heads to Miguel's personal foreknowledge computer to get to work.

After a grueling half hour, the twosome manages to complete their task.

After having dinner, Miguel and Leppey rapidly digest their meal and they head off to bed.