A Snap in Time

Chapter 19 (Adrien)

As soon as the screaming subsided and the stamping of feet ceased to be heard, Adrien opened the door and stepped out of the janitor's closet. Closing the door he couldn't help but wish he could transform and run straight to Marinette, to protect his lady.

He was still shocked by the way she'd recited his commercial. He made a mental note to see if a fragrance with a similar slogan existed, who knows perhaps 'Felix the fragrance' was all the rage.

Adrien made his way to the locker room door and noticed the stillness of the collège around him. Peering through the window he couldn't see a soul. Not one single person was in the corridors or hanging around in the atrium. This was his chance to escape.

As he began to make his way through the corridor he couldn't help but wish he had a phone. Just something that could keep him informed of what was happening. His mind was swirling with thoughts about Marinette. Was she okay? Had she made it there on time? Was Viperion looking out for her?

His mind was clouded with worry as he left the building in a hurry, jumping down the bottom three steps and coursing around the corner. He found an empty alleyway not too far from the building and made his way into its depths.

"How are you holding up kid?" Plagg floated in front of Adrien, watching as his eyebrows turned down.

"Trixx, let's rest." In an orange blur, Adrien was no longer Lee Fu. His blonde hair reappeared along with his hoodie jumper and blue jeans, he quickly covered his hair, making sure the golden stands ceased to exist.

"We need to see Master Fu," Adrien stuck his head out around the corner to look out for other people, or anyone who he'd need to worry about, he was quite sure bumping into Felix could be a bad thing. Even with his hair covered their faces were almost identical and he was sure his cousin was smart enough to see that as something fishy. The streets were empty so he made his move, directing himself to his temporary home and his temporary 'Guardian'.

A scream sounded from a couple of blocks away and Adrien sped up into a run. If Luka and Marinette struggled they'd continue to reset the time meaning he'd get nowhere. He couldn't stand just hanging around here waiting.

"Plagg, claws out." Grabbing the baton from his lower back, Adrien, who was now Chat Noir, extended himself onto the rooftops and began to run the remaining route to Master Fu's home. From his additional height, Adrien could clearly see the akuma. Desperada.

"Look, Maman, a big kitty." The small voice startled Adrien, causing him to stumble and trip on the roof. He dropped down onto the street below, and continued his run, giving the young girl a salute on the way.

A speedy left and hairpin right, fully accomplished by an army roll, he was prying open the door to Master Fu's and closing it quickly behind him.

"Claws in."

"Adrien?" Wayzz flew over to Adrien's face, a panicked look all over.

"Where's Master Fu?"

"I'm here."

"They need me," Adrien breathed out.

"I've told you, young one, you can't transform."

"You don't understand," Fu had walked back into the room holding what looked like a bowl of noodles. Adrien followed him as he turned on the television and went to sit on his cushion on the floor. Adrien flicked his head between the set and the Guardian, teeth clenching as the old Guardian sat there slurping on his noodles.

"Is this what you do when there's an akuma? You just sit here and watch?" Adrien couldn't believe what he was seeing. The guardian of the miracle box, sitting around on his butt without being out there to help them.

"There's nothing else I can do."

"What if they need additional help?"

Fu just shrugged and continued to eat his noodles, as Adrien stalked around the room, both Trixx and Plagg followed him.

"We need to do something, they need cataclysm."

"Adrien, as much as you probably don't want to believe it, they have coped fine without the powers of the black cat for quite a substainstal time now. Yes the amount of times time gets reset can cause some underlying issues, but they complete the mission and work well together."

Adrien growled and stalked over to Fu's bookshelf, trying to find something to keep him occupied. He scanned over the spines of the books, finally landing his eyes on one. One that looked very similar to what he'd seen in his father's safe. Pulling it gently, he began to leaf through the book, looking once more at the designs of each Miraculous and information regarding their powers.

He looked over at Fu again and the man was still just eating and staring at the television, looking like an older retired man watching his favourite soap opera. He remembered how angry he got when Ladybug had kept this man and his identity from him, but now he knew he hadn't missed a thing. Ladybug had proved a more worthy Guardian than this man ever had.

Moving to a reclining chair, Adrien opened the book and began to skim read what he could of the mandarin, picking up words and incations here and there. A suddenly loud 'boom' stole his attention as he watched Ladybug be thrown into a chimney at full aggression. He'd never say he was perfect, heaven knows there were a couple of times he was late to a fight and she'd gotten hurt, but if he was there he'd put himself in front of the Akuma time after time after time.

"What's Viperion doing?"

"What did you say?" Fu turned to look at Adrien before noticing the book in his hands. His eyes widened and he stood up, moving quickly to take the book from the young blonde. Adrien stood and stretched his arm high, restricting the guardian from reaching the book.

"That's for guardians only." Fu exclaimed.

Adrien's peripheral vision caught Ladybug being hit once again. He felt like he'd already seen it and lived through it. Then it happened again, and again, and again.

"They're repeatedly using 'second chance' and the same outcome is happening over and over again. You need to let me out there."

Fu stopped his expedition to reach the book and stared at Adrien, "how do you know?"

"He read the incantation out loud," Plagg flew over in support of his holder and slipped the book from Adrien's fingers. "But he messed up a couple of translations due to the update in the language."

Adrien stood stock still as he watched Ladybug hit the chimney again and again. How many times has it been? Six? Seven? Fu turned to look at the television screen, frown lines taking shape amongst the others on his forehead.

"This shouldn't be happening," Fu claimed, taking the book from Adrien's hands and reading the incantation he had just read. "Do you know what words he mixed up, Plagg?"

"No," the small kwami said, floating onto Fu's shoulder to look over the text. "But I know, he's just destroyed going through a time loop."

"I - I - don't understand," Fu scratched the top of his head as the loud 'boom' echoed through the room one more time.

"Master Fu, please, let me go."

The slight nod of his old master's head was all the indication he needed.