#firetip

photographs by Bill Berthet

Photo 1-4 by bsullend, 5 by momoto-erick, 6 by cpalomera, 7-8 by francisco3_, and 9-10 by tonycbz

It was worrisome when Red Admiral was sucked into another universe. It was more problematic when she learned the Moth Miraculous was being misused here. Even when the heroes of this universe (not to mention others) were getting defeated with ease by multiple of these “akumas,” she gritted her teeth and pushed forward. But when Tenace Renard (who was supposed to be in jail for life) showed up with the other heroes’ villains, the stress became too much. Unable to access her abtal, Red Admiral stuck to joining the other heroes in close-up combat. Daggers did good work. As soon as Hawkmoth had learned of the other villains’ arrival, he surprisingly joined Ladybug and Chat Noir’s side. “I know the villain behind this group,” he had growled, “and its goal is to destroy all of the Miraculouses and all of the universes that contain them. That monster is why I needed your Miraculouses, Ladybug and Chat Noir. For now, however, we will have to team up to survive.” With a young ravenette named Mariposa, a cowboy-sounding young adult named Papilio (who claimed to wield a butterfly-themed Miraculous instead of a moth), a somewhat-bratty blonde named Phalène, and even a humanoid-dinosaur creature with a cannonlike mouth named Swallowtail, Red Admiral joined Hawkmoth to fight these evils while Ladybug and her universe’s allies kept the home turf safe. After the “Flying Hearts” (as nicknamed by Chat Noir) defeated their first villain as a team - a scientist who put more focus into her powers of light and dark than making other people villains (aside from hypnotizing people to be her test subjects) nicknamed Leamhan - she dissolved into pure dark energy. Hawkmoth confirmed that this was the work of Wàngjìle - the monster who he’d mentioned earlier. According to him, Hawkmoth’s wife had been afflicted by Wàngjìle’s power when she put on a cursed peafowl Miraculous (Red sensed Chat Noir still over the intercom), and he desired Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculouses to cure her. “Yeah, that’s nice, but does that excuse you hurting others?” grumbled Red Admiral, having had enough of the elder’s sympathy-raising speech. Astounded, the current universe’s Moth wielder turned to her. “Sorry, bucko,” added Papilio, “I don’t know about your wife, but if you brought me back from the dead because you loved me that much, I’d be more freaked out than flattered!” Phalène quietly snarked something about how she’d probably end up divorcing his (insert word not to be said around children here) if he wasn’t so scary. Hawkmoth remained mostly silent throughout their time fighting the next few fake versions of their villains - Papilio’s enemies Tortue Cerveau, Miss Fortune & Chat Blanc were the second group to battle them, and Tenace Renard followed after. Even the traitorous Mayura could not defeat the Flying Hearts. She might have been possessed, actually, but the curse had claimed Mme. Sancoeur before the Flying Hearts could figure that out. Eventually, with the help of the Guardian, Red Admiral and company were able to access the world containing Wàngjìle. The tradeoff was that only one of them could face the creature of universes if the rest of them wanted to go home. Thankfully, Fu and his trainee Carapace created multiversal communicators to make sure everyone got home safe. As Red Admiral walked through the portal home, she couldn’t help but wonder what would become of the others. Years went by, and Alix eventually yielded her Miraculous to a young man she trained herself. She had almost finished training the hero and musician when some young Moth wielders named Greyling, Rabbler, Brick, Gothic, Foxglove and Firetip showed up in her Paris with their enemies in pursuit. This time, however, she knew what she needed to do. It was time to enter the Mothverse once more, and as Alix (armed with a bat and something akin to armor) and Death’s Head plunged down toward battle, Alix could not help but shout…   “What’s up, danger!”

photograph by Kahio Mazon

photograph by Pamela Sai

photograph by Dr. PC Lee Hong Kong Butterfly Association

photograph by Victor Chow

Photograph by Bill Berthet