Thanks for tuning in! Please enjoy the latest update of, Time's Up!
Previously…
Marinette and Adrien turned to see a blond young boy standing in the middle of the living room, his face white with shock. "U-um, I'm A-adrien Ag-greste—" and then he tumbled over.
Chapter 2
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Marinette and Adrien turned to look at each other, sharing a shocked look. They were both asking the silent question, how long was he standing there?
Marinette was first to react. She rushed towards the younger version of her husband, propping up his head and feeling his forehead. "He's slightly feverish, and ghostly pale…" she said worriedly.
Plagg suddenly floated above her, "I wonder why," he asked dryly. "You know, I tried to get your guys' attention, but you were both too busy flirting with each other to even notice!"
Tikki buzzed to her counterpart, shoving her hands in front of his mouth, "Plagg, be quiet! Alya and Nino are sleeping on the couch, you could wake them!" she whispered.
Marinette sighed, "I'm going to bring him back to Hugo's room."
Adrien bent down beside her, "Oh no you don't," he grabbed the young blond boy, trying to shake off the weirdness of this entire situation. "You need to rest. Please, Mari, I got this. Then afterwards, we'll talk with Tikki and Plagg."
"I'm fine, Adrien, I'll just go check on—" her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. "Oh no," she mumbled.
"What?" Adrien momentarily panicked.
"I wasn't asleep," she stood up, "I wasn't, I'm not—I need to check on her—me—er," she rushed towards the room, leaving a very concerned Adrien to bring himself to their son's room.
Marinette knocked softly on the door, "Hello?" There wasn't an answer. Which could be a very good thing, or a very bad thing. She prayed for good.
Opening the door, she found Marinette sitting up in the bed, looking blankly at the ground. "…Hey, you okay?" The elder one asked. She found that, since becoming a mother, asking vague questions will get more information sometimes. Besides, what else was she suppose to ask?
"I…I'm fine," the younger her looked up confused, "I heard some voices. I wanted to go out and check, but…" her eyes looked to her sleeping Kwami on the night stand. "Do you have any cookies?"
"You didn't hear what we were talking about, by chance, did you?" she asked.
The younger shrugged, "Nope. I wasn't really paying attention, anyway."
"Okay… well… I'll be back with those cookies. Promise," the older Marinette promised, closing the door and turning around. Adrien was leaning against the wall, his eyebrows raised.
Marinette waved her hands dismissively, "Okay, okay, I'll rest. Not that I need to," she mumbled that last part, "I just thought that maybe she'd heard what went on."
A muffled "I can still hear you," came from the other side of the door.
Adrien laughed, "Maybe we should take this into a different room? We'll talk with Tikki and Plagg," Adrien whispered. Before long, they found themselves in their newest room. The walls were a light grey and boxes filled the room. Along the farthest wall was a crib with multiple stuffed animals inside.
"I swear my parents will spend the rest of their retirement money on toys for our kids," Marinette sighed, picking up a teddybear.
Adrien smiled, "It's good that our kids have grandparents who love and spoil them," he said softly, his face masking hurt.
"Yeah," Marinette looked at her husband with a sad smile, "I guess it is."
"Listen, as tender as this moment is, we should really start talking," Plagg interrupted.
Adrien nodded, sitting on top of a box, Marinette doing the same. "You're right. And we've got lots of questions… Like, why don't we remember any of this?"
"The Miraculous Cure fixes it," Tikki says, "And it takes your memory as well. Knowing the future can be a dangerous thing, after all."
Plagg sighs, "But that might not be true," he looked at Tikki. "This is already unfolding in a different way than the last time did."
Adrien tilted his head, "What do you mean?"
"Last time, for starters, the younger you's injuries were worse. We had to bring him to a hospital because the miraculous cure never activated—thus he didn't heal. And secondly, both Tikki and I were awake when we found Nino. But instead, our past selves are both exhausted and sleeping," Plagg informed.
Tikki nodded, looking thoughtful, "Different times with different possibilities," she said.
"In other words," Marinette frowned, "The present we're in isn't a guaranteed future for them?"
"Yes," Tikki nodded. "From what little we've gathered already, nothing's to be expected."
Adrien frowned, "So, any mistake we make could potentially… ruin the future they're suppose to get."
Marinette grabbed Adrien's hand, shaking her head, "Who's to say we'll ruin it? We'll try our best to not share any information, but even if we do, it… might be for the best."
"For the best? Mari, us getting together was fairly destructive," Adrien pointed out. "We kept breaking the other's heart.
"And that's because we didn't know that we were doing it! If—if I would've known… then maybe I would've revealed myself to you a lot sooner." Marinette tightened her grip on Adrien's hand. He squeezed hers in return.
"But you said the Miraculous Cure would alter their memories," Adrien looked to Plagg and Tikki. "Will they even remember any of this?"
Plagg shrugged, "Infinite times, infinite possibilities. Time Hog could just come here and zap them back to the past, making them keep their memories. Anything could happen."
"So… we're just winging this?" Marinette asked, her voice withering. "This feels so impossible!"
"Relax," Adrien soothed, smiling despite his own worry. "It may be a little bit… bumpy, but we'll be fine. Remember, Time Hog is a weaker Akuma from the past. Not only are we stronger, but we've got more heroes on our side now."
Marinette sighed, "Speaking of… we probably need to get a hold of them."
"I'm sure Volpina and Queen Bee would appreciate that," Tikki laughed.
Plagg cringed, "Do we have to tell them? That fox and bee cause too much trouble."
Adrien scoffed, "Says you," he gave his Kwami a pointed look. Plagg chose to ignore him.
There was a knock at the door. "Umm, excuse me?" it was Nino, and his voice sounded very timid.
Adrien got up, and he was about to open the door before transforming. But luckily Marinette was able to silently signal for him to transform through a series of snaps and clumsy waves.
A green and pink flash filled the room before Chat Noir opened the door to Nino. It was strange to see his best friend in a younger body. "What's up, Nino?" he asked, flashing a grin.
"A-alya's up," he said, rubbing the back of his head, "And she's kinda freaking out."
Ladybug half-laughed and half-sighed, squeezing past Chat Noir and passing Nino to walk down the hall and into the living room where Alya had been sleeping.
Nino looked back to Chat with raised eyebrows. "You guys know each other's identities now?" he asked casually.
Chat nodded, "Of course we do," he crossed his arms confidently, "Knowing each other's identities helps us improve our fighting."
"Oh," Nino seemed at a lost for words. He wasn't only casually talking with a hero of Paris, but the hero of Paris in the future. "Cool…" he finished.
On the other side of a closed door near the two boys in the hall way, a young Marinette had her ear pressed to the door, listening carefully. Chat and I know the other's identities in the future? She wonder quietly, her heart beat racing. She could hear Chat Noir and Nino leave the hallway and she took that as her cue to leave the room, transforming before opening the door.
She walked down the hallway, observing the covered picture frames on the walls. A very large part of her wanted to uncover them, to figure out what they were hiding, what secrets they held. But she fought the urge. This was too important, she and Chat Noir couldn't know the other's identities.
At least, not right now…
It was for the best.
Suddenly, the door across from her opened slowly, revealing a timid-looking and young Chat Noir. Her Chat Noir. He waved, clearly relieved to see her. "Hello M'Lady," he said, looking around. "I had the strangest dream…"
She shook her head, "Do I even want to know?"
"Well, for one, you had shorter hair… and I was bigger. And there were two of me. Or… me and another me? I don't know, it's all kinda foggy," he admitted slowly, shivering. "I'm just glad it was a dream."
Before she could even correct him, a sudden scream sounded from down the hall. It sounded like Alya.
Both younger heroes rushed down the hall and halted when Alya was pointing an accusing finger at Ladybug and Chat Noir. And her hand at her side was holding a picture frame.
Ladybug could practically feel the older her's color drain from her face. "A-alya," the older Ladybug spoke softly, slowly, carefully. "I need you to take deep breaths…"
"Y-you!" she glanced at the picture frame in her hand, "Y-you're… how… you're her? And you're him?" Alya's eyes blew wide in shock. And suddenly, the younger heroes understood the gravity of what was happening. "You're Marinette and Adrien!" she shifted her finger to the younger Ladybug and Chat Noir who had just entered the room, dropping the frame. The glass shattered on the floor.
"This wasn't a dream," the young Chat mumbled, before fainting.
Both the older Ladybug and Chat Noir whipped around to see their younger counter parts.
This was for the best…
…Right?
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Thanks again,
-LovelySheree
