History Obliterates
Adrien quietly poked his breakfast around his plate.
"You're not eating." Said Nathalie, looking down at Adrien's plate.
"It's been three months." Said Adrien, quietly.
"Three months since what?" Asked Nathalie, frowning.
"Since Marinette disappeared." Said Adrien, looking up at Nathalie.
Nathalie looked down at him, "That is not a good enough excuse for not eating."
Adrien sighed and started eating the food, finding the texture to be more like cardboard. Once he had finished, he got up and went to the car waiting to take him to school.
As soon as he set foot on the steps, he was almost barrelled over by Alya. Adrien looked over the top of her head, trying to spot Nino.
"W-what's wrong?" Asked Adrien, as Alya was breaking down.
"T-they found Marinette." Gasped Alya, as Nino approached the school.
"Really?" Said Adrien, delighted, "Where was she? How is she?"
"She's-she's-" Alya was struggling to get the words out, before breaking down again, everything she was saying becoming incoherent.
Nino and Adrien quietly guided her back into the school and towards the classroom. They got half-way there before a teacher told them to go to the assembly hall.
When they arrived, they were placed with the rest of the class, Chloe was checking her nails, Sabrina was holding Chloe's bags, Lila was regaling everyone else with one of her stories and everyone else was quietly talking amongst themselves.
Everyone went silent when a shrill whistle cut through the chatter. A police officer stood on the stage at the front of the hall, a whistle between her lip.
"Now that I have your attention," Said the Police Officer, her voice cold, "Perhaps we can get this over with."
Adrien felt the temperature of the room drop slightly.
"At 10:57 last night we discovered the body of a teenage girl, roughly three miles from this location," Said the Police Officer, "that body was confirmed to be one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a student that attended this school. The reason for this announcement is to inform you of our presence here for the duration of this investigation and as an appeal for anyone with any knowledge on why this may have happened to come forward."
Adrien lost all feeling, suddenly finding himself in history with the rest of his class.
Ms. Bustier wasn't making any attempt to teach, simply leaning against her desk, waiting for any kind of movement from her students.
"Is this how it's going to be?" Asked Alya, quietly, "Sitting here as if we weren't told one of our classmates is dead!" Alya's voice broke with the last word.
"I knew I shouldn't've ignored her phone call!" Cried Lila, getting everyone to look at her.
"Lila, what are you talking about?" Asked Juleka, her eyes narrowed.
"She phoned me last night, I ignored it because-" The Italian was cut off when Alya lunged at her.
"SHE CALLED YOU AND DIDN'T ANSWER?!" Screamed Alya, as Nino grabbed her waist.
"B-but she bullied me so much..." Simpered Lila, trying to turn the situation so she would get sympathy.
"YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HER AND YOU DIDN'T!" Alya screamed again.
"B-but-" Said Lila, before the classroom door opened to reveal the Police Officer from the Assembly Hall.
"You said there was someone who was contacted by the victim?" Said the Police Officer, looking at Ms. Bustier.
The teacher gestured over to a stilled Lila, her eyes wide and full of fear.
"Lila said Marinette called her last night." Said Ms. Bustier, leaning back against her desk.
The Police officer narrowed her eyes at Lila, "Ms. Rossi, if we may talk about said contact in private. You'll have one of your teachers with you." The last part was added when Lila opened her mouth to protest.
Lila was gone for little over half-an-hour, before she returned with her eyes red from crying. The Police Officer following behind her, looking thoroughly irritated.
"It appears Ms. Rossi was lying about the phone call, as well as a number of other things, including bullying, theft, sexual harassment of a colleague of hers and truancy. Her court date will arrive in the post and if you could send that on to her mother, since I now have no leads for this investigation." The Police Officer spun on her heel, before stopping.
She fished something out of her pocket and walked back over to Ms. Bustier.
"I don't suppose any of you recognise this?" Asked the Police Officer, holding out a bag with a silver and gold cufflink in it.
Adrien frowned, before getting out of his seat and getting a closer look at the cufflink.
"Huh, it looks like the one my Father lost a couple of days ago." Said Adrien, getting sharp look from the Police Officer.
"Did he tell where he bought it from?" Questioned the Police Officer, narrowing her gaze at Adrien.
"No, he said he had them custom made, that he had the only ones like that in the world." Said Adrien, before the realisation sunk in.
"Could you have him come here?" Asked the Police Officer, her eyebrows furrowed.
"N-no, he doesn't usually answer when I call." Said Adrien, getting a frown from the Police Officer.
The Police Officer left the room, leaving Adrien to numbly go back to his seat. Alya felt a jab in her side, with Trixx quietly looking up at her. Shortly after Marinette vanished all the temporary heroes had found the Miraculous they had been given amongst their belongings. While Alya would've loved for Rena Rouge to return, but since the incident with Miracle Queen, there was the silent agreement that each Holder would have a new suit and codename, as to distance themselves from the identity that was exposed.
The rest of the School day went quietly, or as quietly as it could with a murder investigation going on. Adrien was waiting on the school's steps, waiting for Gorilla to arrive, so far, he'd been waiting an hour and no one has shown. Adrien sighed, before moving across the road and entering the Bakery.
Mrs. Cheng was manning the counter when she spotted Adrien.
"Adrien," Smiled Mrs. Cheng, her eyes slightly red, "What can I get you?"
"Oh, nothing," Said Adrien, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, "I was wondering if I could wait upstairs until Gorilla arrives, it's been over an hour and it looks like it's going to start raining."
Mrs. Cheng, quetly nodded, "Alright, I'm sure Marinette-"
Mrs. Cheng froze, before hurriedly waving Adrien up the stairs, with the blond quickly moving to give Mrs. Cheng some time alone.
Adrien quietly made his way up to Marinette's room, he didn't know why he was being drawn to it, but his gut told him he needed to go up there. He carefully pushed the trapdoor open, he saw the room was in a disarrayed state. Adrien saw all the pictures of himself that Marinette had either taken from magazines or from group photos, he spotted the fencing sword Kagami had given her, he also spotted the red and black spotted miracle box laying open in a dark corner of the room.
Adrien froze, before looking at the box, there was no mistaking it, it was definitely the miracle box, he had last seen it when Ladybug became the Guardian.
But why was it in Marinette's room?
Adrien leaned forwards placing his hand on the floor, before hissing and drawing the hand back, finding two ladybug spotted earrings now embedded in his hand. Adrien's heart dropped, he stood up straight, accidentally knocking over a futon, causing several presents to spill out.
Adrien knew the thump of the futon would make Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng come up and, as a result of his snooping, get angry at him. Adrien spotted the name on one of the presents. It was his name, he carefully reached out for it.
"I'm sure she would've wanted you to have it." Said Mr. Dupain, making Adrien jump, "We hoped that if we left everything as it was, it'd all fix itself, with Marinette rush through the apartment saying she was going to be late."
Mr. Dupain bent over and picked up one of the presents and held it out to Adrien, "She made birthday presents for all of her friends. It doesn't seem right to leave them all here."
Adrien was quiet, "The Police Officer, she had something that was found with…"
"A cufflink, what about it?" Asked Mr. Dupain, his eyes curious.
"It looked like the one my father lost a couple days ago, the one he said was custom made and one of a kind." Said Adrien, "I-I know that it could be a coincidence, but I-I think he may have…"
"You think me might have killed Marinette." Mr. Dupain surmised, carefully looking at Adrien.
Adrien nodded, "I-I don't want to be right, b-but he always made sure that any help in finding her was a small and insignificant as possible and-"
"Son," Said Mr. Dupain, "Think, does he seem like the type of person to do such a thing?"
Adrien hesitantly nodded, "I-I don't think I want to go home, not if he…"
"I'm sure Sabine won't mind you staying in the guest room for a bit." Mr. Dupain gently led Adrien down to the floor below, the Ladybug earrings glowing slightly in Adrien's pocket.
The next day Adrien was the first one in Class, quietly waiting for everyone to arrive. He was gently playing with the Earrings he found in Marinette's room. Adrien looked up when the Classroom door opened.
Nino stood in the doorway.
"Did you see the news last night?" Nino asked, quietly.
"No, I didn't go home yesterday." Replied Adrien, as Nino dropped himself into the seat next to him.
"They had you're dad on file," Said Nino, looking down, "Apparently Mari was-was- UGH, apparently she was touched, a few times before she was offed."
"What Nino means," Said Alya, making Adrien jump, "Marinette was tortured, quite a bit and your dad's DNA was found on her."
"Did-did the Police get him?" Stuttered Adrien, as despair started to well up in him.
"No, he ran before the Police could get to him, your bodyguard and Nathalie have been arrested, the Police think that at least one of them were involved in it." Said Nino, before noticing the earrings Adrien was playing with, "Where'd you get those?"
"I went to Mari-The Dupain-Cheng Bakery yesterday, when Gorilla didn't show up." Said Adrien, "I-I don't know why, but something told me to see Marinette's room."
"Yeah, it's a mess." Said Alya, as more people started to file in.
"W-well," Continued Adrien, "You know that weird egg thing that Ladybug had?"
"The Miracle Box?" Asked Alya, her eyebrows raised.
"Y-yeah," Said Adrien, "I saw it in Marinette's room, next to these."
Adrien accidentally brushed the earrings, causing them to glow pink, before a Kwami shot out.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!" Screamed the Kwami, before she saw where she was, "Where's Marinette?!"
"Tikki?" Adrien asked, quietly, getting the Kwami's attention.
"Adrien!" Gasped Tikki, "Where's Plagg? I need his help finding Marin-er Ladybug, quickly."
"You don't need to." Said Adrien, as the Black Cat Kwami made his way out.
"I don't need to?!" Asked Tikki, enraged, "My Holder is missing and you're not going to take it seriously?!"
"That's not what he meant, sugar cube." Said Plagg, getting his other half's attention, "Pigtails has already been found."
Tikki froze, before a gasp drew her attention.
"Marinette was Ladybug?" Whispered Rose, as silence filled the room.
HO
Chat Noir ran along the rooftops, he could see the target trying to hop over a fence.
"Got you." Snarled Chat, grabbing the man by the collar and threw him over the fence, into the waiting hands of the Police.
"Gabriel Agreste, I'm arresting you for the assault and murder of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you have the right to remain silent, if you do not remain silent anything you may say can be used against you in a court of Law." A Police Officer instructed, quickly handcuffing the fashion mogul.
The entirety of Team Miraculous was giving Gabriel a glare that made him want to shrink. Chat Noir could only look at his father and think 'Why?'
"I'm gonna kill him for this." Growled Kagami, when they got home. Tom and Sabine didn't pay them any mind, too busy watching a video of a toddler sized Marinette chasing after a dog.
"Don't tempt me. I'm supposed to use my powers for good." Muttered Chloe, pollen resting on her shoulder.
Everyone's hearts broke as a red blur raced through the room and into Marinette's former bedroom, then they heard quiet sobbing coming from the room.
"I'll go talk to her." volunteered Adrien, heading up the steps and carefully opened the door. "Tikki…you okay?" He whispered, looking at the small creature.
"It's Joan all over again." She sobbed, as Adrien cupped his hand around her.
Plagg once told him that every single one of Tikki's chosen's never had a 'happy ending'. He quietly wondered why the universe was torturing the Kwami.
Tom and Sabine had all but adopted Adrien when Gabriel first went on the run. They actually told him that Marinette was in love with him. Adrien spent that night alternating between laughing his head off and full on bawling his eyes out. The twisted irony that he was being rejected for himself.
Adrien quietly felt like a world without Marinette in it wasn't worth living in or saving.
HO
Bunnyx collapsed against her Burrow, tears streaming down her face, "No, no." The Heroine muttered, her hand going up to cover her mouth. Bunnyx took a couple of shuddering breaths, before straightening up.
Ladybug told her that this would take a toll, and even told her that she could not take it if she wished. But Luka and Kagami needed to be there, Emma, Louis and Hugo needed to be alive.
Bunnyx took a deep breath and opened another time portal and dived through.