A Snap in Time

Chapter 24 (Adrien)

After bolting out the room with Alya, Adrien headed for the only place he could think of, Master Fu's. The smaller man opened the door with a look of concern as Adrien entered the home with a confused red head in his arms, his body still covered by his Miraculous armour.

Ten minutes later, the two teens remained staring at each other over Master Fu's low table, neither wanting to be the first to speak.

"How long shall we leave them Master?" Wayzz remained hovering at the side of his holder, quizzically staring at both Adrien and the newcomer waiting for one of them to speak. The sound of Adrien's ring beeping set a time limit on their start.

"Five minutes," Fu said, both teens remaining stubborn in their face off.

Adrien needed to know if it was his Alya. Everything was telling him it was, but he felt on edge. His recent discovery was at the forefront of his mind and his conversation with Marinette not exactly going the way he wished.

He looked over at who he believed was his best friend's girlfriend, his reporter friend, his superhero teammate Rena Furtive, his eyes suddenly widening as he looked from the fanny pack resting on her hip to the necklace around her neck.

"Where's Trixx?" If Alya had Trixx, where was his Trixx? Could there be two Trixx's in one dimension at a time? Would he still be able to wear his disguise? He needed to wear the disguise, he needed to remain at school, there was too much information he still didn't know.

He watched as Alya's hand shot straight up and grasped the necklace hanging down into her shirt.

"How did you know?" She gasped.

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. He knew about Rena Rouge but the Rena in his head was wearing purple not orange and he knew her. He knew who she was, but for some reason he couldn't place exactly how or why? "Master Fu?" He questioned.

"Master Fu?" Alya repeated.

"The guardian," Adrien replied.

Alya looked at the smaller man, before turning back to Adrien. "Ladybug's the guardian."

"Only when Master Fu relinquished the miracle box ... look, it's a long story and not important at the moment."

"Not important? Adrien you don't exist here! How is that not important!" At the mention of his name Adrien dropped the transformation revealing himself to Alya.

"How did you know?"

"I don't know! I don't know what's happening, and what was that with Marinette?" Alya jumped up onto her feet, marching around the room as Plagg settled in front of Adrien feasting on the cheese platter Fu had set up for him.

"Marinette isn't our Marinette." Adrien answered.

"Our Marinette? Then who is she? Where are we? The last thing I remember was being told to stay put, that you and Ladybug had it covered. Well, obviously you didn't! Not unless you wanted us to end in the Twilight Zone!" Adrien had never seen Alya lose it. She was always calm and to the point, but this was a girl on the edge. A girl on the brink of losing control.

Springing up, Adrien walked over to his friend and placed his hands on her shoulders, staring into her eyes in an attempt at cooling her down.

"Listen, I have no idea what is happening, but I'm not going to lie ... I'm so happy you're here with me."

"How long have you been here? In this dimension?"

"Two days!"

"Two days? Are we dead?" She asked.

"I don't know about you, but I have a feeling I am."

"What?" The sound of many voices echoed around the room, eyes glared and mouths dropped. Fu moved forward towards Adrien, his eyebrows pulling together and a frown taking permanent place.

"It's just," he rubbed the back of his neck, "I went by my house, well, my old house, and there was a crib with a feather in it and the crib was in my parents room. Felix and Chloe mentioned I hadn't been seen since I was a baby and I can't help but think ..." He trailed off, too afraid to finish the sentence.

"No," Trixx finally appeared from Alya's bag, only to be met by his counterpart that Adrien was wearing. Adrien looked between the two kwamis and noticed they looked different. It was only slight, but enough to confuse Adrien and Plagg.

"Hang on," Plagg flew up and into Trixx's face. He studied one then the other. "You both look different but the same?"

"We'll take that as a good sign for now. Maybe both can activate their illusions at the same time." Fu said, heading towards his grimoire and hopefully the answer to the question. "Continue your story Adrien." He encouraged Adrien to carry on as he searched the book for any information regarding space/time continuum.

"I think ... I might be, or, at least here, I was a sentimonster."

"Shut your mouth!" Roarr zoomed through the air and up to Adrien, an angry look on the kwami's face.

"We don't call them monsters, they're beings ... sentibeings! Duusuu would hate you for saying that. What he creates is beautiful and should be praised."

Adrien nodded, gulping down the lump in his throat. "Well, I think I might be a sentibeing. It just felt right when I saw the feather."

"Doesn't that mean someone is controlling you?" Alya asked, finally calming down a little from the news of the evening.

"Only if the object with his amok is here with him." Fu answered, still looking into the book.

"And if it's not?" Adrien crossed her arms over his chest glaring at the guardian for some sort of answer.

"You're free to do what you want."

A shock ran through Adrien, he'd never been free to do what he wanted before but here he was now in a different dimension with no father to tell him what to do, and if he's feelings were right, no amok to order him around. A smile spread across his face ... this could be good.

"What are you smiling at, Agreste?"

Adrien turned his head to meet Alya's glare. She had her arms crossed over her chest, the mirror of his stance. Her eyes were wide and narrowed in on Adrien.

"It's just, you know, no father to rule my life; no photoshoots, no commercials, no hanging around with Lila. It's just me."

"Okay, what you've just said will be discussed later but now we need to discuss Marinette. What is with her and Luka? Why are they partners, and why is she so weak? They barely made it out of the last akuma attack, if you hadn't turned up I dread to think what would have happened."

"It seems I was more important to her than I thought." Adrien said, shyly.

"You are, Chat Noir," Fu walked in between the two, "and I think it's time I train you in ways of the Guardian."