Marinette headed straight for her parents' place after leaving the rooftop with the other heroes, already having a plan in mind. She would simply stay with them for however long she needed, as they may have turned her bedroom into a guest room once she had moved out, it was still a place that she could call home.
She landed in an alley to transform back, and when she arrived at the bakery, her parents were surprised, but more than happy to accommodate her, even if she did have to reassure them that she and Adrien were not having any marital issues.
Marinette explained everything away by saying that they were worried about her health. A quick story about some black mold found in the basement of their building was enough to convince them. Their apartment was extravagant, but it was still old, and could occasionally succumb to old-building problems.
In the process of talking with her parents, they realized that she didn't bring anything with her. Luckily, they accepted the excuse that she had been rushed out, not wanting to inhale spores and suffer any ill-effects. They looked up a few of the symptoms online out of curiosity, and after her medical-scare that morning, were more than insistent she not go anywhere near the apartment until it was deemed safe.
So they all took a quick trip to the store to pick up a few extra things, and Marinette eventually flopped back onto the guest bed later that afternoon, sighing contentedly while Plagg disappeared downstairs to see if he could nick some cheese bread.
Marinette pulled her phone out of her purse and discovered she had a few texts from Adrien. With all of the rushing around she had done, she must not have noticed when her phone buzzed.
Adrien: So what's your plan, milady?
Adrien: Did you think of a place to stay? Are you somewhere safe?
Adrien: looks like mini-me is settling in.
Adrien: But he knows we know each other's identities.
Marinette paused at that one, but thinking it over, it didn't feel like anything to actually worry about. As long as he didn't know her identity, their future was safe. No Chat Blanc is going to happen ever again, she thought.
Her eyes moved back over the bubbles of text.
Adrien: Nathalie surprised me with a visit.
Adrien: She wanted to give you something, but she saw mini-me.
Adrien: Don't worry! I let her know the akuma situation, but not too much.
Marinette sighed. At least Nathalie understood akuma attacks. That wasn't new or anything to be concerned about.
Adrien: Forgive me, bug, but mini-me found out we're married.
Marinette blinked at that before jolting up with a shouted, "What!?" That was the last text sent from a while ago. She immediately typed out a reply.
Marinette: What happened!?
Adrien: I was getting worried, Marinette. Are you okay?
Marinette: Sorry. I'm fine. I'm staying with my parents tonight.
Adrien: Good!
Marinette: Adrien? Mini-you? What happened?
Adrien: oh sorry.
Adrien: It should be okay. He doesn't know we're the ones married.
Adrien: I forgot to take off my wedding band and he saw it. He just knows I'm married to someone but not who it is.
Marinette's eyes flicked to her own band, which was nestled right next to her engagement ring. Both of them had been a part of her for a while, and aside from the occasional worry that they might slip off, she wouldn't have even thought to consider hiding them in that situation. She sighed and typed out her response.
Marinette: It's okay. I probably would have forgotten too.
Marinette: We're both hopeless.
She then laid back on the bed, stretching her phone above her head.
Marinette: What's past-you up to?
Adrien: Playing foosball.
Adrien: Past-Adrien VS Tikki!
Adrien: Match of the century!
Marinette giggled softly, then waited as the dots came up to indicate that he was typing again.
Adrien: I am super glad plaque is with you, because I don't know if I could handle two of him.
Adrien: Plagg*
Marinette: What's he doing?
Adrien: He's trying to convince me to go out and buy some camembert
Adrien: And I can't tell him why I'm not doing that.
Marinette hummed softly to herself, checking around to make sure their Plagg wasn't in the room before typing a reply.
Marinette: It's okay. You can pick up a little for him.
Adrien: You sure?
Marinette: Just open all the windows to air the smell out before we get back.
Adrien: Okay!
Adrien: g2g
Adrien: Say hi to Tom and Sabine for me!
Marinette was about to respond, when her phone went off with a call from Alya. She quickly answered, "Hello? Anything wrong, Alya?"
"Just wanted to check in with you," Alya replied. "I was also curious as to where you wound up staying."
"I'm at my parents' place,'' Marinette said, scooting up along the bed to get a little more comfy. "They may have turned my old room into a guest room, but that doesn't mean I can't use it. Speaking of… How's your guest settling in?"
"Perfectly fine," Alya chirped. "If the rest of the team doesn't find that akuma tonight, Nino's already claimed the couch while mini-Marinette and I share the bed."
"Alya..." Marinette started, but her friend's voice interrupted before she could finish.
"Don't you dare apologize!" Alya said sharply. "Mini-Marinette already did enough of that, even when it's not either or your faults. Besides, it's basically like our sleepovers from when we were teens."
"I'm not—err... She's not taking up too much space, is she? I know your place is a little, uh, tight."
"C'mon, Marinette. A fifteen-year-old you?" Alya made a raspberry-sounding noise. "It's like tossing a drop in a bucket."
"Ha-ha," Marinette said in a monotone voice. "So you're all comfortable?"
"We are." Alya's tone changed a bit at that. "Although we may have forgotten some items when trying to hide stuff, so umm... Past-you found out about a few... teeny-tiny things."
Marinette felt a dropping sensation in the pit of her stomach as she asked, "Like what?"
"Our engagement photos," Alya groaned. "We didn't take down the ones in the hall. So mini-you knows we're getting married." She sighed. "I wish you could have heard the sound she made when she found out."
"Well, that's not too terrible." Marinette winced before lounging back on the pillows, trying to situate herself for what could be a lengthy conversation. "You know, our little kitten found out that he's married now, just not to whom." She heard Alya gasp. "Besides that, it isn't really a surprise after seeing you two together for so long."
"There's... one other thing." Alya's voice sounded hesitant.
Marinette pinched her nose, feeling like they were already starting out with too much information leaking. It hadn't even been a whole day! "What?"
"So yeah... Nino kind of... Challenged her to a game."
Marinette blinked in surprise. She tried to find a reason as to why that might be bad news, but couldn't think of a way that it could be. "Okay… What about it? That sounds fun actually, and right up my alley."
"Not at first," Alya continued. "But it took us about five minutes too long to realize that Ultimate Mecha Strike IV hasn't been released in her time yet."
"Oh." Marinetted frowned, looking toward her hatch when Plagg slipped back into the room with a partially eaten piece of cheese bread in his paws. "I'm sure that won't hurt much... Remember all the online rumors? No one was surprised when it was finally announced."
"Probably not," Alya lightheartedly agreed before her voice took on a dramatic tone. "But it gets worse."
"There's worse?" Marinette narrowed her eyes in suspicion, seeing as the last two things weren't too concerning.
"Yeah!" Alya let a laugh escape. "She totally kicked Nino's butt!"
The two of them burst into laughter at that, Marinette only winding down when her stomach started to hurt. She managed to gasp out words in between her giggling. "Wait, wait! So Nino challenged past-me to Ultimate Mecha Strike IV—"
"A game she's never played before," Alya interjected.
"And lost?" Marinette finished. In the background of Alya's apartment, she heard an indignant cry, which only set the two women laughing again. When they finally quieted down, Marinette cleared her throat. "So... Who ended up taking up the search tonight for you-know-who?"
"Juleka and Rose are doing pretty well," Alya answered in a cryptic way. Past-Marinette must have been close enough to hear the conversation. "It's been a while since I've talked with them, so I could do that in a minute and call back if they have any news to share."
"Sounds good."
Marinette's tone must have seemed off when she responded, because Alya quickly asked, "Is everything alright?"
Marinette hesitated, eyes on Plagg as the kwami floated up quietly to land on the bed next to her. She reached a hand out and gently scratched at the base of his ears. He practically melted against the sheet and let out a content sigh. "I just feel like we should have more people out there to cover more ground."
"Marinette, no."
"What?" she asked innocently.
"I know what you're thinking," Alya started. "And you shouldn't go out there in your condition!"
"What condition, Alya?" Marinette huffed, pausing with her fingers resting against Plagg's fur. She continued after he let out a disappointed whine. "I'm not sick! I was just… I overheated thanks to that obnoxious akuma."
"Your suit would have protected you under normal circumstances," Plagg purred out as he closed his eyes. "So it wasn't the akuma."
Unable to hear his explanation through the phone, Alya said at the same time, "You fainted. Which wasn't fixed by the lucky charm. You had us all worried, girl."
"I know, I know." Marinette sighed, moving her arm to rub her forehead. Plagg followed her hand before quickly losing interest and plopping down on top of her bangs. "The adrenaline might have been too much, or I wasn't paying enough attention to myself. I was just thinking that it would help the search if they could see in the dark."
"Juleka is fine on her own!" Alya laughed. "You know she can be pretty 'catty' too."
Marinette sighed. "You really are hanging around Adrien too much."
"Hey, I'm just being creative here!" Alya cried indignantly before lowering her voice. "Mini-you is only so-so distracted by gaming and might hear something we both wouldn't want her to know."
A sudden shout in the background surprised her, and Marinette jolted up, wincing as Plagg yelped when she accidentally catapulted him over the bed. "Is everything alright over there?"
"Fine!" Alya chuckled. "That was just Nino's wail of defeat." She then gasped excitedly. "Hey! I've got a great idea! Do your parents still have a console at their house?"
"One that can run Ultimate Mecha Strike IV?" Marinette responded, following Alya's train of thought and giving Plagg a silent apology when he shot her an annoyed look from the floor.
"Yes! You should totally fight Mini-Marinette in an online match!"
"That is a great idea!" Marinette jumped up, moving toward the hatch. "Papa has one set up in the living room. I'll be on in five!"
oOo
Alya thought it would have been more stressful on her teenage friend to be stuck in the future, trying to avoid anything that might ruin both of their time-lines. Of course, they just had to forget about their own engagement photos. That one wasn't Marinette's fault.
And then there was the small issue of her knowing about the release of Ultimate Mecha Strike IV, but as Marinette expertly fired off another combo attack, Alya found it hard to be concerned about that specific detail. Her miniature friend was concentrating too much on the match to seem worried about future woes and current stresses.
"It's getting close..." Nino murmured on the couch next to Alya, but Marinette's attention did not stray from the TV screen on the wall of their living room.
Marinette's bot was down to a sliver of health, but so was her opponent's. They had been stuck on this stand-off for the past half-hour.
In a split second, everything shifted. Alya could see her go in for the kill, right as the other mech fired off a combo and completely destroyed the remainder of her HP. Marinette sat back with a sigh and lowered the controller.
"Whoo!" Nino flung his arms over his head. "And another victory for Future-Marinette!"
"I still think that's weird." Alya flicked her eyes in Nino's direction, managing to tear her gaze away from the screen once the fight was over. "Our Marinette is in her current time, so shouldn't we be calling this one Past-Marinette?"
"Well, Mini-Marinette here called her that, and it kinda stuck first," Nino pointed out while Alya's phone gave off a small chime with a text notification. Trixx pounced over it on the coffee table before she could look for herself.
"I'm kind of partial to Mini-Marinette." Alya smiled, turning to Trixx as her kwami read through the message. "What's up, Trixx?"
"Marinette says she's calling it a night," her kwami announced.
"What? But it's too early!" Nino cried out as he looked over at the clock. "What's the final score?"
Wayzz peeked out from behind the notepad he held, Tikki helpfully carrying the pen for him. "It was very close to an even split. Mini-Marinette won seven, while our Marinette won eight."
"Pfft. Of course she'd quit when she's ahead." Nino laughed. "Even with more experience though, it looked like Marinette had a tough time getting an edge over herself."
"Looks like she had to do some impromptu shopping earlier." Alya read from the phone as Trixx held it up in front of her. "It must have worn her out."
"Just from shopping?" Mini-Marinette turned around with a confused look.
"Well, she did just get out of the hospital this—OOF!" Nino had started to explain when Alya elbowed him in the ribs.
"I'm pretty sure that falls into the realm of 'too much information,'" Alya said with a narrowing of her eyes.
"I know I shouldn't ask about anything," Marinette started hesitantly. "But is this something I should be concerned about?"
"What? Oh, uh, no way!" Nino blurted, looking a bit panicky. "She's just, uh, caught a little bug!"
Alya rolled her eyes, not certain if he'd said that on purpose or by coincidence. "It's nothing to worry about, just a bit of a scare with an akuma from this morning."
"Hey! Let's do one more round!" Nino suddenly jumped up and grabbed the second controller, joining Marinette on the floor. "The night's still young!"
The music for a new match started up, and Nino surprisingly held his ground as he avoided an early attack from Marinette. While trying to counter though, they both managed to knock a good chunk of health off of each other's robots.
"After that battle, Nino, can you do me a favor and start dinner?" Alya glanced at the clock on her phone. Almost 8:00 PM. "I need to make a call soon."
"Sure thing, babe," Nino answered quickly. He lifted his controller to the side while Marinette's fingers flew over the buttons. "But this fight is pretty heated, so it may take us a while to—" Nino's HP disappeared with an explosion from Marinette's bot, and the screen immediately declared him the loser.
"Alright, I'm done." Nino dropped the controller to the carpet while Marinette grinned innocently. "I'm tired of getting beaten by a kid."
"Hey!" Marinette whipped her head around. "I'm not a kid!"
"You are so a kid." Alya chuckled. "To the rest of us, anyway. We haven't been fifteen for seven years."
"Whelp, kid or adult, I'm ready for some grub." Nino stood and started shuffling toward the kitchen. "Who's up for pasta?"
Marinette got up and moved after him, Tikki and Wayzz following in her wake. "Is there anything I can help with?"
While those two got dinner ready, Alya made her way down the short hall and into another small room. While it had a filing cabinet and a tiny table pushed off in the corner to use as a desk, it was more like a closet than anything, but they took what they could get.
The sleek, stylish screen against one wall was the only thing that stood out; a gift from Adrien, modified by Max to help with their in-home communication.
"Ready to go, Trixx?" Alya turned to her kwami companion as she closed the door.
"Whenever you are!" Trixx wriggled.
"Alright then! Let's pounce!" Alya transformed in a flash of orange light, and Rena Rouge soon stood within the small space. She took out her flute and held it up to the screen, popping open the small communicator to press a button on it.
The TV flashed to life, and Alya used the larger touch screen to navigate the menu until she pulled up her contacts. Small red dots spun around before Rose's face, concealed behind a mask, finally came up on the television.
"Rena!" she greeted as the glowing scenery of Paris at night flashed along behind her. Rose didn't even sound winded while she kept sprinting over the rooftops. "I didn't know you were joining us tonight!"
"Just looking for some quick intel before dinner." Alya smiled. "I was wondering if you've had any luck tracking the akuma."
Rose shook her head with a small frown. "Sorry, the trail's gone cold. They did too good a job covering up her tracks!"
"I'm surprised Foresight hasn't reappeared tonight." Alya shifted uneasily on her feet, eyes flicking past Rose when she spotted a figure flash along a slanted rooftop, but as it moved closer, she noticed it was only Juleka jumping in the background. "You think this means Farfalla's up to something?"
"She's always up to something," Rose answered with a nod. "But yes, it's never a good sign when she goes quiet like this."
"I figured," Alya grumbled, her fingers impatiently tapping against her hip. "With this akuma from the past, doesn't that mean she can strike with two at once?"
"Oh no!" Rose gasped, her eyes growing wide. "That sounds awful! But I think you're right. Even more of a reason for us to find them as quickly as possible."
"Fighting more than one akuma at the same time would be troublesome," Alya agreed. "But you two shouldn't stay out all night if they're not showing."
"Speaking of the akuma, I heard you have some guests?" Rose finally came to a stop, and Juleka's masked face appeared over her shoulder on the screen. Alya rolled her eyes with a smile at the unbridled emotion that she practically saw emanating from Rose. But Juleka? It had always been hard to read that girl, even more so when she had on a mask.
"Technically we only have one. Chat—err, Mister Bug has the other."
"I want to meet them!" Rose squealed while bouncing up and down. "Can I meet them? Please, Rena?"
"Sorry, girl," Alya said with a gentle tone. "You likely can't. Mini-bug is safe because she knows Carapace and I from her own past, but according to what we learned, she hasn't chosen any of the others; including you."
Rose's expression widened in surprise. "Is this little bug not the guardian?"
"That disaster was a recent event, so she only just inherited guardianship, AND—" Alya lowered her voice. "She's not even dating Chat Noir yet."
"WHAT!?" Rose's shriek was enough to wake the dead. Alya laughed and steered the conversation back on track, but there wasn't much left to say about the akuma other than the fact that Foresight seemed to have disappeared.
They would reconvene at another time and figure it out. For the moment, they all required rest.
Because their enemy was plotting something, and they needed to be ready.