the next holders//mlb fanfiction

9//riddles

Lady Noire isn't sure how long it has been, she has no idea how many riddles she has answered correctly, but she's tired and she knows she can't keep up those good answers much longer.

"Next question, you will have eight minutes to answer. On a Sunday morning, the oldest girl in a family was murdered. The police start to investigate and ask everyone for their alibi. The father says he was reading the paper. The mother claims to be in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. The girl's brother says he was playing video games in his room. Her uncle was visiting and claimed to be getting the mail. Who murdered the girl?" Usually, Lady Noire finds the answer to this easily, but her head feels like mashed potatoes and she can't seem to find a fitting answer.

"Someone murdered. Reading the paper, cooking breakfast, playing video games, getting mail. Something doesn't add up." She mumbles. Could the dad be reading the paper when the uncle was getting mail? He probably could, since the paper doesn't come with the mail.

"Is it possible for me to ask for a hint?" Lady Noire asks, which makes the owl laugh again.

"No no no no no, you are not allowed to ask me for a hint." Lady Noire is getting frustrated, but she's too tired to show it. How long has it been since they started? Is she allowed to ask that?

"You have one minute left. Hurry hurry or you'll lose." The owl says in a teasing, childish voice. It's a shot in the dark, something doesn't add up, but she doesn't know what. The mom and older brother seem to be clear, so it will be a fifty-fifty chance when she chooses the dad or the uncle. "The uncle killed." Lady Noire guesses, her voice sounds confident. The owl seems to get frustrated again, "That is correct again."

"Before you start the next riddle, may I ask you for how long we've been playing?" Lady Noire starts, she doesn't care if she gets an answer. She just has to buy some more time, solving riddles won't go well much longer.

"It has been seven hours, thirty-four minutes and eighteen seconds since we started." Seven and a half hours, no wonder she's this tired. Yet, it will only take a little longer until Ladybug shows up. News has already gathered on the ground, so once Ladybug wakes up, she'll see it and she'll come.

"Next question." The akuma says, a grin appearing on his face that creeps Lady Noire out. "You have one hour to answer." For none of the riddles before did she need one hour, she's scared of what's coming. "You are driving a bus. When you begin your route, there is an old woman named Mrs. Smith and a young boy named Tom are on the bus. At the first stop, the old woman leaves, and a salesman, named Ben, enters. At the next stop, Jack and his sister Jill get on, as well as three women with shopping bags. The bus travels fifteen minutes, then stops and Tom gets off and a man and his wife get on. Next, a woman with a bird in a cage gets on the bus. What is the name of the bus driver?" Lady Noire starts laughing a bit, she already knows this answer, she doesn't need an hour. Yet she wants to wait a little longer before answering, she suspects Ladybug will be here before the hour ends.

Lady Noire was right, forty minutes after the riddle was asked, Ladybug arrives at the scene. But when she tries to get to Lady Noire, she bumps into something, it feels like a wall, but she can't see one.

"Ladybug arrived, that means the game is over. I win, so give up your akuma!" Lady Noire commands.

"No no no no no, you will have to finish the game you started. You will win if you answer this last riddle correctly."

"Well then, the answer to your last riddle is that — since the bus driver is me — the name of the bus driver is the same as mine." Lady Noire is ready to leave, when the akuma stops once again.

"No no no no no, you have not answered my question correctly yet. You have to tell me your full name and reveal your identity to prove it is the correct answer." Lady Noire feels anxious again, how is she supposed to get out of this situation?

"I won't reveal my identity to you, or anyone for that matter!" Lady Noire shouts. Even though she's tired, she's getting fired up now.

"Then you lose, which means that I win. So you have to give your miraculous to me."

"That's not gonna happen either! I solved all your stupid riddles, so give up your akuma!"

"If you want my akuma, you have to come and get it. But I doubt you have enough energy left to do so."

Lady Noire knows the villain is right, she doesn't have enough energy left to properly think, let alone fight. And besides that, Ladybug can't help her since they're separated by that stupid invisible wall. Yet, Lady Noire isn't planning on giving up this soon. She stands up, her legs are shaking, but she tries to ignore it.

"For how long have you been stuck there?" Ladybug asks from the other side of the wall.

"For about eight hours, but don't worry, I'm fine. You just wait there and purify the akuma once I release it for you." Lady Noire says, running towards the villain with the little energy she has left. During the past eight hours, she's thought about the possible places the akuma might be in. She has one chance, if she fails now, she doubts she'll have enough energy to get up and try again.

Lady Noire jumps, using her cataclysm on the string which is wrapped around the owl's left wing. Once she sees she managed to touch it, she falls down, not having enough energy to get a safe landing, and blacks out.