“So am I,” Ladybug admitted. “Every single day. But we don’t become heroes because we’re brave. We become heroes because we’re scared and we do it anyway.”
“If you don’t,” Alix said softly, “the loop tightens. First London, then the world. Every morning will be yesterday. No growth. No love. No surprises. Just an eternity of 11:47 PM.”
He purred. “Deep. Also, my cheese is getting wet. Can we go?”
“Who are you?” Ladybug asked.
Alix gasped. “That’s… my handwriting. From 4,000 years from now.”
She explained quickly: In the original timeline, at 11:47 PM on a rainy London night, a young quantum physicist named Dr. Aris Thorne was supposed to die. His car, skidding on wet pavement, would crash into a lamppost. A tragedy.
Back on a rain-slicked rooftop, Ladybug handed the dented pocket watch to Alix Kubdel. “You have a long road ahead.”