A Snap in Time

Chapter 13 (Adrien)

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Adrien attached the pendant around his neck, looking in the mirror at the clothes Fu had found for him. It seemed the one hundred and eighty six year old man didn't have the same kind of fashion sense as the model ... no, ex model ... no, wait, could be a model?

Adrien couldn't help but feel like he'd completely lost his identity. Who was he? He didn't know? He'd broken down plenty of times to Plagg hoping the kwami could give him some kind of help or support. Though Plagg tried his hardest to keep Adrien's hopes up, there wasn't a lot the poor kwami could say or do. They didn't know to what means they were here, or the reason why, all he could do was show support to his chosen and promise to stay with him. The poor boy had been let down enough so far in his life.

"After your introduction didn't go down too well, it seems you will have to take on another persona," Fu explained.

"What's one more?" Adrien scoffed. Once the pendant was securely in place, Trixx appeared in front of him. "Hi Trixx, I'm Adrien, holder of the cat Miraculous. Looks like you're going to be stuck with me and Plagg for a while."

Trixx looked at Adrien before turning to Fu, and finally, laying his eyes on Plagg.

"Nope, nu-er! No way!" The Fox kwami attempted to push himself back into the pendant away from the drama unfolding in front of him.

"I don't want to spend time with you either fox tails, but we have no other option." Plagg said, folding his arms over his chest.

"Where did you come from? You've been gone for years, how can I trust you?"

"Because I trust them." Master Fu stepped forward and placed a hand on Adrien's shoulder. "I can't give you anymore information at the moment Trixx, I'm just asking for your cooperation. He's our new cat holder," Fu looked up to Adrien, a slight smile on his face, "and I trust him."

"Epic speech Master, but I don't want to end up like Nooroo." Trixx crossed his own arms stubbornly across his chest, mirroring Plagg and standing their ground in a kwami to kwami face off.

"We've discussed this, and Plagg assures me the boy knows what he's doing. I trust Plagg to have made the right choice."

Trixx looked at Adrien, and Adrien couldn't help but shrink at the glare. Everything he knew and heard about Trixx was not this.

"What's my power then oh, knowledgeable one?" Trixx asked, obviously quizzing what Adrien knows.

"Illusion."

"Sass'?"

"Intuition, second chance."

"Kalkki?"

"Voyage." Adrien answered each question like a pro, firing back as soon as Trixx quizzed him. He watched as Trixx raised an eyebrow obviously under estimating Adrien and what he knew.

"Fine! But one foot out of place and I'll give you a big nose and fat ears."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Adrien held out his fist to Trixx who looked curiously back at him.

"Are you going to punch me?" The fox kwami asked, cowering back from Adrien's fist.

"No, it's a fist bump. You know, to say 'good work'." He placed his own next to the other and gave himself a 'pound it'.

"You're weird."

Adrien turned to Fu who was watching the exchange with amusement.

"So, what's the plan Master?" Adrien asked, swapping the top Fu had given him to another.

"It's simple really, I enrol you into school tomorrow as a forgein exchange student. We change your appearance and name. You've already interacted with your friends so we need to make sure they don't recognise you as the boy they met yesterday. You speak mandarin, correct?" Adrien nodded, slipping a shirt over the red tee he was wearing. Red tee, black shirt, very Ladybug.

"And ... What should I do as Chat Noir?"

"We'll hold back on that for now. I wont say you won't be needed in the future, but you will be used only as a last resort. Try not to interfere with any of the battles, unless you need to. I want to keep your appearance as low key as possible"

"I will agree to that," Adrien responded, "as long as you promise me that she won't get hurt." He stared Master Fu down, feeling the need to get his point across, he puffed his chest out and peered over him.

"I completely understand, Chat Noir, black cats are always protective of their bugs, but Viperion has never let her get injured yet. I promise she will be ok."

"She better, or I won't be accountable for my actions." Plagg flew down to Adrien and settled on his shoulder, obviously showing support for his holder. Adrien held a hand up and Plagg settled into it, rubbing his cheek against Adrien's hand.

"As you wish." Fu said, obviously knowing when a battle was over. A cat was fierce, loyal and protective and the more time Adrien spent with Fu, the more time his true colours were showing, his true cat colours. "Do you want to see if you can find your parents, or if you want to go back to the mansion and have a look around?"

Adrien sighed and moved over the sofa, settling down with his elbows on his knees, shaking his head in defeat. Did he want to contact his father, or try to find his father? No. What would be the point? Gabriel didn't care what Adrien did, and his mother wasn't around. He supposed he could look to find Nathalie and the Gorilla, or maybe his Aunt and cousin, but his heart wasn't in it. The main thing on Adrien's mind was getting his life back to where it was and defeating whatever villain had sent him here.

He looked to Trixx and Plagg before turning back to Fu.

"I need to look good for school tomorrow, so let's try on some looks."