Chapter 26: Snap!

"Must you go?" Marinette's mother asked. Worried seeped out of her voice.

They stood in the back of the bakery. Marinette had her backpack on her shoulders. Heavy books were abandoned in her room. Her teachers would understand. She had gotten ready as best as she could that morning before making her way to the bottom floor.

"I'll be okay, Maman! I can't afford to miss any more school. I've…my grades have been getting affected these days."

"Grades don't matter when you're hurt, love." She truly loved her parents. It's just that she needed to be at that schoolhouse today. If she couldn't perform her hero duties, then she might as well pretend to be a normal girl and at least fix her grades. Her heroics had cut into her study time and her class president activities. Now was the best time to catch up.

"I know, I know. I still want to go. I promise I won't do anything reckless, honest!" Her mother tilted her head. Not buying her claim. "Allen's going to walk me there!" she blabbed out. The boy had promised to watch over her. And he had stayed at her home this whole time. She even tried to invite him in for food a few times. The offer tempted him greatly, yet he turned her down each time. She told him of her plans to continue going to school. He didn't try to stop her like her mother had but promised to escort her properly.

Her mother's face immediately broke into relief. "Well…if he's taking you then, I guess it should be fine."

At that moment a chime was heard at the door. Marinette's father, who was manning the front while her mother tried to stop her, made a loud yet happy sound. Both of them glanced around the corner. Right on time, it was Allen Walker. He was eyeing the various goods displayed but kept his composure. She had yet to see him eat a single thing. Either he only did so when she slept or the boy was running on empty, yet was trying to stay focused on his task. She commended his effort. But eating is still better in the long run.

"If it isn't my favorite hero! Welcome! What can I do for you?" her father gleefully welcomed him.

"Ah…I was just coming to escort Miss Marinette to her classes." she immediately slipped around the corner.

Her father turned to her and looked over her. "Are you sure you're feeling well enough? The doctor-" she cut him off.

"I'll be fine! The doctors advised against physical activities. I'll just be sitting at my desk all day anyway. It's going to be okay! I promise." her parents shared a glance before sighing.

The girl beamed and walked across the store floor. A few customers in the store were browsing and eavesdropping on the whole affair. Allen smiled politely at her before extending his arm. Elbow and all like a proper gentleman. She held back a snort. She'd never been genuinely escorted like a lady before. It felt a little silly. Bravely, she linked arms with him.

"I'll be heading out now. I'll be back."

"Please be careful." her mother's look of worry did not fade. She nodded and they went on their way.

Outside the bakery was a crowd of curious onlookers. Customers had seen Allen enter the establishment and couldn't help but be curious. It was awkward before the crowd parted for them and stared as they left. She just knew they would be following after them. Acting all nosy and everything. It was the one irritating thing about civilians. Well one of them. Their badly timed cheers of encouragement while they were sneaking up on a villain were just as, if not more, annoying. Don't get her wrong. She loved these people. She fought for them. But would it hurt for them to better time things or just know not to shout their names out when they were sneaking up on someone? They walked to her lovely school. Oddly enough. It seemed that Allen didn't know the rules of the road! Never had she had to make sure that someone had to obey traffic laws. Allen didn't know what a traffic light was. His lack of knowledge of these obvious things was astonishing. It was like he'd lived under a rock all these years.

When they arrived, she heard the bell ring. Meaning she had missed the first period. She had hoped to be able to get there without having her classmates see her with Allen. She sighed and turned to him. He was gazing in awe at the structure.

"Is anyone in there an Akuma?" she asked since he had the power to tell who was what.

"Nope. I don't see one." That made her relieved. That means none of her friends were secretly killing machines. "Would you like me to accompany you inside?"

"No, It's fine." She couldn't just waltz in with him. That would cause a scene and raise suspicion. If it was the first day, then it would be easier. All he would need to do was walk in and blend in with the other new students. If only…

"Well! What's this?" she heard the unmistakable sound of her principal.

She focused her attention on the large man in front of them. She noted the students looking around him and at him, as well as the kids that were pressed against the windows. All staring at her.

Her principal always reminded her of an owl. Even his office was filled with owl pictures so it was too farfetched. He was a stout man with amber eyes. He always wore a brown dress jacket with a white button-up undershirt and a tie that was a lighter shade of brown than his suit. His pants were a darker shade of brown than his jacket, and his shoes were brown loafers. She wondered if his favorite color was brown since he wore so much.

Mr. Damocles eyed them, especially Allen, before speaking once more. "Marinette, I see you're late as usual. And you've brought a guest."

"O-oh I was just escorting her to her classes, Sir." ever the polite one was he.

The principal hummed, "I see. Say, why don't you come in. It's always an honor to have a superhero come to our school." he turned his body to the side and extended an arm towards the front doors.

"Ah well…" he looked at her, expecting her to make the final decision.

"Well, there's no helping it. The closer you are, the better," she whispered.

"Okay, sir."

"Excellent! Come in. Right this way." They all walked through the doors and she watched as everyone stared their way. Some were awed. Others were disgusted. And most if not all were confused as to why she brought him here. "I'll give you a tour while Marinette goes to her class."

Allen gave her a sheepish smile before plucking Tim off his head. The creature was relaxed and still in his hands. Allen handed him off to her and whispered. "Just in case something happens and I can't get to you in time, take Timcanpy."

She nodded her head. Unknown to her, her trio of friends were staring at the exchange. Alya had a glowing grin on her face though. Despite seeing him the day prior, it's obvious they were not expecting him to show up at her school with her in tow. The two went their separate ways and even though she wasn't around him she could still feel the stares of her classmates. She made her way over to her friends, who she noticed were observing her. She saw the twinkle in her friend's eye before Alya approached her. The girl ran at her like a bullet. Alya slid to her side. Her cat-like smile caused her to feel uneasy.

"Wow, a gentleman's escort! Also! When were you going to tell me that he—" she pointed to Allen's retreating form. "—was the one who gave you the stuffed animal?"

"Uh…" Timcanpy was relaxed in her arms. He turned only slightly to look up at Alya, yet the novice reporter immediately took note. Her loud gasp stopped her in her tracks.

"That just moved! You didn't move that—That!" as if something had taken over her, Alya covered her mouth to stop. She eyed her and Tim. "Oh my god."

"Yeah, it's his—er pet?" she looked down at Tim. Explaining that it was a recording/communication device was not something she wanted to do right now. That would open an entire can of worms she did not want to deal with.

"Fascinating." Alya marveled.

"Strange." Nino piped up. The boy had followed his girlfriend to her side. She hoped no one else had noticed Timcanpy's liveliness.

"Anyway!" Her eyes never left Tim. "Why the escort? Did something happen this morning?"

"Well we…ran into each other at the bakery and I didn't want to walk about alone after what happened." Her best friend looked at her with sympathy.

The girl sighed, "That makes me feel better honestly. I'm glad you're here, but are you sure you're well enough? You were in the hospital only a few days ago."

"I know, but I'll be fine! I have a doctor's note against physical activity. I'll be fine."

"If you say so."

School was a foreign concept to Allen.

Having been in the circus for a good portion of his life, he never had the opportunity to go. Even after he was taken in by Cross, he was never sent to school. Why would he? When you're fighting a war that's been going on since before you were born, you don't think much about education. Sure he learned the basics. He could read, write, and do basic math. He even had a few languages under his belt from traveling with Cross. But, as he was shown around the large school, he felt a little intimidated. The man in front of him was off spouting things about this classroom or that one. That teacher or the other one. He mentioned classes that he never heard of at all.

Another thing that made him feel out of place was the children around him. They all stared at him. Some were glaring and others had adoration in their eyes. It was strange and uncomfortable. Some even had those strange things—cellphones—pointed his way. Speaking of phones, Lou Fa had recently obtained one of those devices. A wondrous invention if he was honest. He was sure that the crew back home would've loved to tear it apart and figure out everything about it. He felt a pit in his stomach. How he missed him so much.

"—One of our best teachers here, Mlle. Bustier." The owl man pulled his attention to a classroom. Inside the unnecessarily large windows, he saw a redhead woman. Her hair was tied in a bun and she wore white. He could also see Marinette and other children in there. Some of them were staring back at him through the window. Especially a blonde boy. A very familiar blonde boy now that he thought about it. Where had he seen that face before?

"—to sit in?" the owl man asked.

"Huh? What? Yeah sure." Allen didn't know what he just agreed to but it made the man smile so he guessed that it wasn't so bad.

The man moved and opened the door. It made the lady inside stop speaking and direct her attention towards him. "Oh! Monsieur Damocles! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Mlle. Bustier, if it's not too much trouble, I would like you to allow this young man to sit in on your class. So he can see how wonderful our classes are!" The man seized him by his shoulders and pushed him forward. Allen stumbled a bit before getting his bearings.

The woman directed a polite smile towards him. "Of course!"

"Great!" he was pushed further into the room. "Have fun!" with that the door closed behind him.

The woman, Mlle. Bustier, beckoned him closer. "Why don't you come up here and introduce yourself?"

Awkwardly, he walked to the teacher and stood beside her. She gestured to students and he turned towards them. Upon seeing all of them, he noted that half of them were glaring at him while the others seemed happy to have him. He placed his hand on the back of his head and shifted his feet.

"U-Uhm, well…I am—"

"He doesn't need to tell us who he is. We all know his name." the blonde girl scoffed. She seemed uninterested in everything.

"True, it is on the Ladyblog." someone, a girl with pink hair, added.

What is the ladyblog?

"Girls please, let's let him tell us his name anyway, alright?" Bustier seemed to sigh. The girls rolled their eyes and focused their attention back on him.

"I am Allen." he placed his hand over his heart and bowed towards them out of politeness. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

There was a loud silence and he grew nervous. Was the bow too much? He thought that was the polite thing to do. Did they not do that here? Suddenly, a female voice spoke up.

"I like him. He knows how to bow to proper royalty."

He lifted his head and saw the blonde girl smirking. Royalty? He felt his blood pressure spike. He hadn't interacted with royalty much back home. It was more of a distance type of thing. His upbringing didn't make him too fond of the ultra-rich. Not that he'd let that affect any of his work.

He stiffened his posture back up. "I deeply apologize for my lack of awareness. I hope my common greeting hasn't caused your Highness any offense."

Almost like a small ball of light, She grinned. A huff escaped her as she flipped her hair, "Of course I—"

"She's not royal at all." the whole class deadpanned.

The girl scoffed. "My daddy is the mayor! I'm the closest thing to a royal that this dump has!"

"More like a royal pain in the ass." the redhead in the back mumbled after he said that the whole class started laughing minus the Mayor's Daughter. Allen simply sighed and relaxed only slightly. She was just a politician's child. Still, not one to be trifled with normally, however, the ease that the group of children had at offending her made it seem like she had little to no pull at this location. Still, it doesn't hurt to be cautious.

"Calm down class!" the teacher made them quiet down before turning back to him. "Why don't you sit next to Ivan? Ivan. Raise your hand."

A large boy raised his hand. He had black and blonde hair. The blonde part was hanging down in front of his forehead and he wore a black shirt. His facial expression reminded him of Kanda when he wasn't trying to glare at someone. Allen smiled sheepishly and walked towards the small set of stairs in the room. He walked up them carefully until he got to Ivan's spot. The boy shifted over in his seat and allowed him some room.

"Ah, thank you." the boy grunted a response.

Yep, so like Kanda. Allen carefully slid into the seat. Seeing the classroom from this angle was a lot stranger than he expected. He took his time to explore the room around him as the teacher began her lesson. They seemed to be talking about the story of Hamlet. A play about a boy who tries to kill his uncle but ends up murdering others in the process. Or at least that's what Lavi had told him. Of course, he ended up zoning out of the whole lesson and ended up staring out the window. He wondered what the others were up to. He had been sending updates every so often via Tim these past few days. It wasn't something he necessarily had to do. They were not as far away as he thought. It was simply a habit from his missions. It was still just them alone in this Era. He didn't want to cause the guys to worry. Well…He allowed himself to be honest. He didn't want Lou Fa to worry about him. At the thought of her, his mind started to buzz and he felt his cheeks heat up.

He'd grown used to her presence. Even the sound of her voice became unforgettable. His eyes glanced at the large windows. Did she have to go to her—What was it? Photoshoot? His muscles tensed up. The last time she was out and about did not go well. Now she's all alone. A tiny voice told him he was overthinking it. He knew that his comrades wouldn't have let their defenseless one go alone with Akuma and Noah around. Yet he felt that if he didn't see her safety first hand then it wasn't happening. He watched the clouds roll by. He felt a tug in his heart. He squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment. How silly of him to miss someone who he's only gone without for a few days. It wasn't like he wasn't going to see her again. Stupid, why am I acting like this? He remembered that nosy girl's silly question and shook his head. He ignored the staring the children were giving him. Allen did what he did best. The boy buried whatever small thought or feeling down and smothered it quietly. Now was not the time to be ridiculous. He was on a mission.

"Huh? That's strange, it was just here…Okay kids! It seems I left the assignment in my office. I'll be right back!" Bustier strolled out of the classroom.

The whole class waited until she was completely out of sight before jumping up from their seats and turning towards him. Like moths to a flame, they immediately surrounded him. Completely encircled, all he could do was stare up and around him.

"Um…hello?"

All at once, the room exploded with voices. They seemed to be asking him something or yelling at him for something else. I should've just posted up outside the school and waited until the day was over. They questioned everything about him. From his "last season" gloves to his scar. Impersonal things such as his power. And personal things such as his love life, his... Sign? where he was from, etc. They questioned every little thing. He didn't even have time to answer one question before five more were thrown at him.

"Hey! One at a time! Give him a chance to breathe!" he heard Marinette speak up over the crowd. His tiny saving grace successfully got them to calm down. Finally, he could breathe easier.

"Alright! You're strong right!?" a boy with hair like Ivan asked, yet his bangs were spiked upward.

"I guess?" he answered modestly.

"Of course you are! You, me strength test in the gym today!" He was fondly reminded of those pirate children who had him do various tests to get Tim back. Fun times.

"Please Kim, don't torture Allen with your challenges." Marinette huffed.

"What? He can handle it!" Kim whined.

"This is the panther all over again." he heard someone mumble.

"I agree with Marinette on this one!" he felt something curl around his left bicep and pull him back. He turned his head and found a girl clinging to him. She had olive eyes and long brown hair. The way she fluttered his eyes reminded him of the women Cross wooed. "I think the hero should spend a day with me~!" He grimaced.

He wiggled his arm but before he could pull away or retort someone else had stepped in. "Why should he spend the day with you, Lila?" the blonde girl argued and grabbed his other arm with a tug. "He shouldn't hang around liars."

"Liars!? Ha! Look who's talking! Everyone knows your track record, Chloé." The girl did not let up and tugged him back.

The feeling of being deeply uncomfortable was beginning to settle in. Allen didn't care for physical touch at all. It was hard to give out hugs to his friends sometimes due to this. He knew he could just rip himself away, but these were little kids practically. A gentleman was never rude to women or children. The combination of both made him feel stuck. But did he have to just let them have a tug-of-war with him? He didn't have time to debate this within himself for long before he was yanked on again.

"At least I don't need to lie about how amazing I am!" the blonde girl snapped.

The other, Lila, had growled before yanking his arm hard. Allen ended up hitting the back of the last desk. He only just stopped his chair from slipping out by stretching his foot out to fix himself in place. The Chloé had been pulled forward by this yet she seemed even more determined. But the girl retaliated by pulling back. He had enough of this and kept himself firm. They tried to pull him which way again, but he had not budged. He began to speak but was cut off before he could get the first word out by a loud slam. Standing up was Marinette. She was glaring at both girls and had her left arm slammed on the table.

"That's enough! Don't act like—" She froze and her eyes grew wide. That's when he noticed she was leaning on her injured shoulder. Like she had touched fire, she recoiled immediately and grabbed her elbow. Her breathing seemed to have picked up a bit. She sucked in a deep breath before starting up again. "Don't…act like children, you two. He's not a toy."

"Are you okay, Marinette?" he saw her friend, a blonde boy whose name was escaping his memory. The boy had stood up immediately and seemed to want to leap to her side.

The girl looked at him and blushed furiously. Like magic, her voice turned to mush as she rushed out how she was fine, but not as fine as him not that she wasn't fine and and—it was a mess to try and keep up with what she was saying. The boy looked confused but smiled. Worry was still in his eyes, however.

Chloé, the Politician's daughter, seemed to be the more sensible one of the pair that were trying to rip him in half. He saw it, only briefly, a flash of worry crossed the girl's face before she huffed and released him. The other, Lila, kept her grip and was going to retort when the door swung open.

"Okay kids, I'm back and—What is going on!?"

Marinette slumped down on the wooden benches in the courtyard. Because of her injuries, she wouldn't dare try to participate in the gym with the rest of her classmates. Thankfully, she had a legitimate excuse with her doctor's note. And even if she hadn't had one. Everyone knew by now that she had been attacked by an Akuma. Her teachers were a bit strict at times but they weren't cruel.

Allen was SUPPOSED to be sitting out with her. It seemed her teacher wasn't going to let him sit this out. Guest or not. She made him participate in class that day. Because of it, their scheduled Dodgeball game was postponed for a ridiculous military-like course. Needless to say, no one was happy. Alya was cursing under her breath, Nino was sulking, and Chloé was glaring daggers at everything and everyone. The only ones who seemed carefree were Adrien, Allen, and Kim. The two seemed excited. Rightfully so if she thought about it. Allen was a "Superhero" technically. So he was fitter than the rest of them—not counting herself. It would make sense if he likes exercising to a certain degree. Adrien did basketball and fencing! He and Kim were top athletes. Of course, they would be okay with this.

At least I'll be able to see him in action. She sighed dreamily.

"Alright!" the woman directed the class' attention. "I think it's pretty obvious what you have to do, but for those who don't understand, Allow me to demonstrate!" the woman instructed and began to go through the course.

Marinette's eyes scanned the course. It was obvious that the woman was purposefully trying to make it harder than necessary. It started rather easy. They first had to build up speed by running through a path of inflated tires. Then up a ramp and leap over to another ramp. Jumping across a ditch of some sort. Only to be faced with a tall wall. The idea there was to quickly run at it and use your feet to propel up it. On the other side was a net to climb down from. What came after that was a low balancing beam that ran right into another beam. The other was higher and turned in the opposite direction. This gradual increase in height continued one more time until they came face to face with a horizontal ladder. It was longer and the gaps were wider. They were then faced with another net. This time it had a beam at the top to climb over to land on a suspended path of evenly spaced beams to go across. It led to a rope, that swung towards a wall with a hole in it. Like a window. On the other side of the window was a mat for landing. After which was a stand with a cheap buzzer on it. Signaling the end. She wanted to roll her eyes. She had seen videos of an American show similar to this. To think her teacher had this at the ready this entire time. What even was the school budget for this silly thing?

"We'll go two at a time. It'll be like a race!" The teacher cheerfully added while everyone groaned. She started to name off the pairs that were facing each other. Nino was stuck with Kim—the latter was a little pouty. Considering his challenge from earlier. She guessed that Kim had wished to pair up with Allen. Alya was facing off against Chloé. Adrien and Allen were left to be placed together. Neither of them seemed to object to the pairing.

"Oi! Hero," the teacher addressed Allen condescendingly, "You gonna run in that?" she gestured to his outfit. She did not hide her disapproval of Allen at all. Seems like the entire improv-to course was created with some ulterior motives in mind.

"Uhm…yeah? It's fine right?"

"Ha! Dupain-Cheng! You should lend him your uniform! He seems short enough!" at the jab at his height the class broke out in giggles and Marinette frowned.

It seemed like Allen had been annoyed as well but smiled through it. At least Adrien hadn't been laughing at the poor boy's expense. The pure model seemed as displeased as her.

The first pair to go first was Alya and Chloé. As predicted, the blonde failed the course. She dodged every tire and refused to climb the wall. Alya went on strong. Perks of chasing after her and Chat, she assumed. Yet she stumbled on the horizontal ladder. She let go halfway. After were Nino and Kim. Nino did better than she expected but he was no match for Kim. The athlete hit the buzzer and finished in 2 minutes and 3 seconds. Making him the fastest one to complete it so far.

When Allen and Adrien were up, she found herself wiggling eagerly in her seat. She couldn't wait to see Adrien run through the course. With the wind in his hair and his skin glistening with sweat. It was a dream come true. However, she felt a tad bit guilty for cheering him on over the man who had saved her life recently. She hoped he wouldn't take it personally.

"Are you ready!?" the teacher bellowed.

They glanced at each other and nodded.

"On your marks!" The two fixed their stances and prepared to run.

"Wipe the floor with him Adrikins~!" Chloé cheered.

"You got this Dude!" Nino shouted.

"Get set!"

"Marinette!" Alya ran up to her. "You've gotta record this for me! I would but my phone is in my locker!" She nodded and pulled out her phone. The girl quickly accessed her camera and switched to video-taking. She focused it on the two and gave the thumbs up to her friend.

"GO!"

They were off like lightning. She was thankful for the camera because she was sure that she would miss half the things they did if she blinked. Adrien was fast. Thanks to the sports he did. But she didn't realize exactly how fast he could be. She could proudly say that he could give Chat a run for his money. I'll just keep that to myself. Allen, however, was still ahead of him. The boy moved like a well-oiled engine. Neither of them broke a sweat. Something she was a little disappointed to see but it didn't bother her as much. The first to hit the buzzer was Allen. Coming in at 1:10:57 minutes while Adrien came in at 1:14:43 minutes. Barely 5 seconds between them.

She glanced over at the teacher. The woman was dumbfounded. Her mouth hung wide open as she stared at the time and them. There was some obvious pride and upset at the outcome shining from her. She turned her attention to Kim. The boy's eyes were sparkling with admiration that made her look away. Everyone else was shocked beyond belief.

Adrien approached Allen and had a tight smile. "Woow! How'd you get so fast, Mr. Hero?" the way he said it seemed odd like he was being sarcastic. She shook her head. Adrien was such a pure soul. There was no reason that he would be sarcastic towards Allen. She figured that she was just hearing him wrong.

Allen shrugged. "Lots of training and field work."

That gave her an idea. They were out-experienced and out-skilled compared to the exorcists. They didn't work that well as a team last time due to the skill gap and communication failures. If they spent some time together or trained together even, then they could improve. They could even find a way to properly take down the beast that was stalking her city. She'd have to bring this up—a sharp pain was felt in her arm. It was still sore from her leaning on it from earlier. She would bring up the idea after she healed.

Chat Noir leaped and landed gracefully upon a series of apartment rooftops. The air had taken a sharp turn. The cold winds weaved through the city along with soft bits of snow in the breeze. He had his light blue scarf wrapped around his neck to shield him from the hard wind. The snow was leaving the smallest blanket across the city.

His gaze turned towards the Seine. The hero crouched down and observed the late strollers along its bank and the last-minute ferries that drifted down it. No one had seemed to be relatively suspicious. He hummed and sighed. He thought about what Lavi had explained to him a few days prior. It was unbelievable. A monster that takes the soul of a dead person and starts to kill other people by turning them into dust. It was something for straight fiction.

"But Ladybug said it was different…"

God, how he missed her. The saying, time apart makes the heart grow fonder, was never more true than now. With a flick of his wrist, his baton appeared and showed the small picture he had of his partner. The call button seemed to shine with temptation. He knew he shouldn't. Ladybug was probably asleep and recovering from whatever injuries she sustained. If I knew who she was then—He shook his hand and slapped his cheek. No, rules were rules for a reason. It still killed him inside. Life would be so much easier for them if he just knew who she was outside the suit.

A fond smile appeared on his face as he imagined that. He'd be by her side and tending to her wounds. She'd scoff at his fussing and would shoo him away to make him Patrol without her. To which he'd remind her of the other heroes they had. She'd have a comeback for that as well.

Chat stood up straight. It was time to move on from this spot. That was when he noticed a civilian below. It was an older man in a festive shirt. A light coat was draped over his shoulders and he held a cane in his hands. He stood still and was staring right up at him. Chat flinched. The man's demeanor seemed odd. It was as if he was seeing right through him. Where have I seen that face before?

They held each other's gaze before the man turned and slipped out of his sight. Ladybug's warning rang in between his ears. Chat approached the edge of the building and hesitated. He bit his lip before jumping down. The hero landed and turned his head sharply. Chat's eyes locked onto the man's retreating form. He stood straight and kept a distance from him. The elder suddenly turned down an alleyway sharply. He did not hesitate before barreling down at him. He turned the corner just in time to watch one of the side doors close. He smirked and crept down the alley towards the door. Chat placed his hand upon it and gave a brief pause.

"Contact us if you do see it"

"Promise me you'll stay away from it"

"Sorry M'lady." he pressed open the door and stared down a dimly lit hallway. It had a small pink, reddish trim along the base of it. There were a few doors but only one stood out to him. It was a wooden door with bamboo motifs on it. There was a small sign next to it that read: "Master Fu's Massage Parlor".

He slid over and grabbed the handle. Chat didn't pause this time and flew the door open. Inside was a room that was littered with Chinese designs. There was a divider off to the side, a dresser with a gong to the other side, and scrolls along the walls. In the center was a futon where the Man sat. His legs crossed and he was smiling up at him. Chat took note of the desk that was directly behind him. It had an old Gramophone on it. Now that he was close, Chat could see the man's face much clearer. His mind went back to when he first tried to go to school. He recalled an older man who had fallen on the sidewalk corner.

"You're—"

"Greetings, Adrien."

Chat felt his throat constrict and he stood tense. A thousand thoughts ran in his mind. His ring pulsated suddenly. Without his command, his transformation fell. Plagg flew gracefully out in front of him as he gaped. There was no way. He hadn't used his skill and—

"Kid…Meet the Guardian of the Miraculous."

Emerald eyes shifted and he gasped. The Guardian. The one that Ladybug was keeping a secret from him. She had said that he would only reveal himself when the time was right. He felt his heart race. The time had finally arrived. The man simply motioned his hand in front of him in Invitation. Adrien carefully sat cross-legged in front of him. Plagg floated beside him yet he had a grim expression.

"We finally meet." Adrien breathed.

There was a stillness before he cracked a smile. "For the second time." Adrien's shoulders relaxed and he reflected that smile at him.

"You know me, but I.." he trailed off with an expectation.

"You may call me Master Fu. I'm sure you have quite a few questions." Adrien shifted excitedly onto his knees. That was the understatement of the century. Before he could open his mouth for the first question, Master Fu held a hand up to stop him. "But, I have a pressing concern that we must handle right away. Those questions will have to wait, I'm sorry."

"No, No, It's okay…I too am feeling concerned lately."

Master Fu hummed before sighing. A grim expression settled on his face. "Ladybug is injured and unable to perform her duties. I have only observed the Exorcists this time. Their unfamiliarity makes it hard for me to place my trust in them. A monster, that I hoped I would never have to encounter, is now terrorizing this city."

Adrien's ears perked up at the last sentence. Did that mean that the Guardian knew of it? "You have experience with this Akuma?"

Fu avoided his gaze, "I have not fought one of these before, but I know of them."

The man suddenly stood and walked away. Adrien observed him as he opened a drawer in the desk against the wall. He came back with a Large book. Adrien's eyes widened in recognition. His father's Book?! But I lost it, how…Fu knelt back down and put the book in between them. It took only one motion for it to open to a specific page. On the aged page was a diagram of a large balloon-like creature. It was horrifying and…Wait. It had large cylinders—Cannons—on its body and a face that looked like it was screaming in agony. It had been forever ago, but the dream he had come back in full force. There was no way. That would make this the third time that something he had just dreamt up turned out to be true. This was too suspicious to be a case of déjà vu.

"They're creatures that take the form of the dead and hunt down humans. I've only ever seen one."

"How can we take it out, Master?" Adrien leaned forward with anticipation. He had been told by his crush and by strangers that he was better off avoiding it. That only the exorcists could destroy it. Their power alone was the key. And yet, he wanted to hope that maybe, he would find another way.

Fu's smile came back, "Why, Chat Noir this is your time. You must now step up in defense of all you hold dear."

"But…Only Innocence can stop it. How could I—"

"Do you not know your power, my boy?" Adrien blinked. His power. His heart spiked as hope rushed through his veins. Of course, he knew. Fu leaned forward and grasped his shoulder tight. "I give this mission to you, Protect your Ladybug by ridding this city of that Akuma, Chat Noir!"

Now this was an order that he could get behind.

During her time with Allen Walker, Marinette came to realize one thing. It was hard for her to get away long enough to become Ladybug. Sure, no Akumas had attacked in the last few weeks—odd, but she still had other duties to attend to like Patrolling. Her arm had scabbed over properly and felt better. Her ribs didn't sore too badly anymore. She wasn't completely healed but she couldn't keep still for too long. She tried to sew it away but the nagging in her mind kept her up at night. She wanted to go back to swinging across Paris. One can't do that if they have a guard dog. It's not like she regrets asking for his temporary protection, but maybe she should've thought about it a little bit more.

Currently, the only time she could get away from him would be at school. After the first day of being surrounded by billions of students, she suggested that he wait outside the premises. He had no reservations about that idea whatsoever. So now, he stayed outside while she attended her classes. She had no idea where he went. He didn't sit on the stairs and wait nor did he lounge on one of the benches outside. But, whenever the day ended he seemed to magically appear. It was strange, but considering the current situation she was in, she didn't think much of it.

Fleeing the school as Ladybug would be a great idea if she did patrols in the morning. Which she didn't because she needed to be in class. Her grades weren't getting better at all. The fear and paranoia made it hard to concentrate. It felt that every time she thought for an extended period, she would end up thinking about the attack. Her eyes would rake the room at her classmates, suspecting but never sure. She knew that Allen had walked through the school with her and his eye didn't detect anything. She knew that. Yet she couldn't stop herself. What if it was defective that day? What if its range was too short for him to truly know? It's not like she knew these things.

There's also that fact about Sabrina.

It came as a shock to all of them. Plastered on the news, every window, door, wall, and post was a missing sign for their classmate. Sabrina had been suspiciously absent all this time. Now there were missing pages about and the news ran her face every 5 minutes. She knew her father was the lieutenant, but it was odd how they covered it. Almost as if they were looking for a suspect. Besides that, the Akuma was still at large but it seemed to have slowed its killing down. It was…unnerving. It now took days for people to find its victims. Like it was making an effort to hide its deeds. Before they left them out for the world to see. Now, a poor wife, child, or employee would end up finding someone they knew in like a closet or worse a trashcan. Something as crazy as that. It was like it became aware and intelligent. She shivered at the idea of it being able to think for itself. If it could do that and still commit atrocities, she didn't want to know what it would do if it got a hold of her or her friends.

Speaking of…

Marinette lifted her bluebell eyes up and next to her. As usual, Alya was scrolling through her phone. On the screen was the usual red and black pattern. A symbol of the hero Ladybug. The heroine looked up at the board where the teacher was instructing then back at her friend. Alya had always been the perceptive one in their friendship. Maybe that's why she was so good at being a reporter. Regardless, the girl was giving Allen a tough time. She had hounded after him even more when he had escorted her. Marinette didn't have any resistance from him when she suggested that whenever Alya was around, Allen would keep an unreachable distance. It seemed he didn't want to be the next feature on the LadyBlog again.

When the news wasn't running Sabrina's face, it was blasting clips from the LadyBlog about Allen and his friends. The newest Athletic video went viral overnight. It was silly but wasn't as bad as the other rehashed clips that kept running around him. It seemed the news had wanted to behave more like a gossip blog than actual journalism. Every day was a new theory on the new "heroes" and their personal lives. Screenshots of Allen and poor Lou Fa together were pulled from the first video and slapped with heart emojis and other messy stuff then people wrote about it. "Hero's Lover, EXPOSED!" and "Mystery hero's girl revealed!?" were just a few of the clickbait titles she came across. Hell, there were even a few surrounding her! Both in and out of uniform. Honestly, it was all extremely rude in her opinion. Why did the press have to poke at other people's lives? It made her uncomfortable each time. She knew that Romance sold well, but it didn't make her happy about it at all. She couldn't help it though. Romance was just too popular.

Another thing that is popular lately…

Her eyes trailed down to the school-provided tablet in her hand. On the screen was a digital design magazine. Usually, Marinette only looked at one of two magazines. The ones where Adrien was the sole center and model and others where they were just a huge mash of this year's styles. Both were for inspiration of course. But lately…someone else has exploded on the scene. Her usual mash magazine, which usually only featured one item from the company Moonlight Velvet, now had a few more pages featuring their newest Model. It seemed that her popularity was rising. She wasn't on Adrien's level, but she became more noticeable. And to think the girl they're shooting is connected to their new mystery heroes. Talk about right in plain sight. It seemed no one had made the connection yet.

Wonder how long that'll take.

The sound of the bell rang in between in ears and like routine everyone slipped up out of their seats and headed for the door. Casually she and Alya strolled down the steps until tragedy struck in the form of Lila. The Italian slipped an expensive boot in front of Alya's legs. Making her trip. What came after seemed to occur in slow motion. As Alya fell, her phone soared through the air. The phone slammed into the corner of the teacher's desk before plummeting to its doom. She could hear the fragile screen shatter. Oh no…

The fakest gasp imaginable came out of Lila's mouth. "Oh no! I'm so sorry Alya! I can replace that for you! I'm friends with the owner of—"

Chloé decided to cut her off. "Hah! Pu-Lease! As if some lying loser from Italy has any connection with anybody here. Quite the act!"

"I'm sorry, would you run that by me again? I couldn't hear it over your Daddy complex! You Spoiled Brat!"

Chloé stomped up to Lila, trampling Alya's phone with her heels. "Excuse me, You bitter hag—"

Ignoring the fight, Marinette directed her attention to Alya. The girl had scooped up the remains of her phone. Placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, Marinette tried to soothe her best friend.

"Don't worry Alya as long as that thing—er memory card is intact all your stuff is safe." The silence she was met with made her begin to sweat. "Alya?"

Suddenly, with a smile radiating like the sun Alya nodded, "Yeah…and I need a new phone anyway! So this works out!"

Even though her response was positive and strong, Marinette couldn't help but be concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! This is like a blessing in disguise! Maybe I'll get a phone with more room on it?"

She couldn't help but smile at the girl's ability to make the best out of every situation. Like when Hawkmoth attacked for the very first time. Marinette just hoped that it was truly okay and that Alya wasn't just hiding her anger away.

The icy wind gently blew through the air. Tiny shards of ice that floated in it felt as if they were able to slice through rows of skin. The sky was washed with grey. The sun's watery light illuminated thin patches to brilliance. It is here, on this cold afternoon, under the shining sun, Alya walked through the crowd. Her boots clicked over the cold sidewalk. The temperature plummeting around her settled in the change in the season. November had been oddly rainy, but it seemed that Winter was truly here. On her face was a small smile as she stared down at the phone resting in her gloved hands.

Blowing a brownish-red strand of hair out of her face, the teen turned the phone around. Inspecting each part of it. It was a bright yellow phone with a strange green cross symbol framing the camera lens. She remembered that the clerk had mentioned that the design was an error on the company's part. However, because of that error, the phone's price was lower than it would've been if she had chosen something else.

Besides…I kind of like it.

The phone, other than the design, was odd in itself. It felt strange in her hands. Like it didn't-no like it had ALWAYS belonged with her. The anger over the destruction of her old phone had been washed away once she laid eyes on this one. Even when the clerk tried to sell her a better-looking one, she denied them. Experiencing such feelings only for a short amount of time, she was well aware that the phone must've been special in its own way. She just didn't know what type of way yet.

Bringing the device alive, she instantly turned on the camera and scanned the world around her with it. Feeling giddy, she took a few test shots and was amazed at the perfections that stared back at her. During her scan, her eyes came upon a duo walking through the cold. One was yellow like her phone, the other had hair like the orange in a fall sunset.

"Sabrina?" the girl addressed only one of the two.

The yellow girl scoffed, "Ugh, Alya. What are you doing here? Shopping for a new wardrobe? I think I saw a trashcan back there for you."

Alya rolled her eyes and unenthusiastically replied, "Hello to you too, Chloé." She turned her attention to the girl beside her. "Sabrina? Is everything alright!? Where have you been? The news—"

Sabrina cut her off sharply, "Everything's fine. Father is overreacting. I tried telling him that I needed time away. It's hard without…" The girl turned her gaze away.

"Oh, it's okay! I understand that. Just know that everyone's worried sick about you."

The smile she was given made her feel uneasy. "Thank you!" Sabrina's eyes—which were looking strangely vacant—flickered to her phone. "Oh! You got a new phone?"

"Yeah some…people," Alya gave Chloé a sideways glare. "destroyed my old one. I was currently just taking some pictures of the scenery to test the camera function."

Deciding to not be ignored any further, Chloé spoke up, "Scenery? The only thing worth taking pictures of is me."

"Like I would ever take a picture of you, Chloé."

"That's not how you felt about my locker. Remember that?"

"Oh, I remember all too well." The girl practically growled and rolled her eyes.

While she had rolled her eyes, Alya spotted something on her screen. She glanced down at it and nearly dropped her phone. She looked up back at Sabrina before going back to the screen. What she witnessed was unlike anything she had ever seen. And she had witnessed the things her Heroes had fought. All around the ginger was an otherworldly aura. It was black. Pitch black. The girl's eyes were that same black. They felt like two black holes that were trying to drag her in. Her skin was a sickly gray and she saw the outline of a star on her forehead. Unbelieving, Alya shook her head and tried blinking but the image was the same.

"Is everything okay, Alya?" the way Sabrina had said her name gave her chills.

Masking her discomfort, she smiled at the girl. "No, everything's fine! I just—" she slyly captured the picture "—thought I read a filter option wrong."

"I see…"

"Well! I really must be going! An idea just sprang into my head for a post on my Ladyblog! I recommend checking it out!" and like the lie that escaped her lips, Alya quickly rushed from the scene.

She pulled the picture up and found that it was still showing that horrible image. It was like something from another world. Like…a demon. She wasn't naive. The news was running Sabrina's image so frequently for just a missing person's case. It felt more like a suspect had escaped than that. Maybe…this had something to do with it. Her reporter instincts pushed her to pursue this, but…another feeling, one that came from her gut, told her the opposite. That the only smart and safe thing she can and should do is leave this be.

But when did I ever care about safety?

Adrien's Mission has been Decided! Will he succeed despite everyone telling him otherwise? Find out next time!

Apologies for the time skipping. I originally wanted to go about this section in a more day by day approach, but I was stuck on how to work through that this entire time on it. It felt too slow and boring. I was eager to move this arc along. So we're skipping around a bit here.