Akuma Flashpoint

The Vigilante

Marinette stared after Adrien's disappearing figure, still dumbstruck with his attitude. It was so unlike him to be hostile, even with his own father, who was a supervillain. There wasn't something wrong.

Everything was wrong.

She stared at her surroundings. It was like the world was completely unaware of how wrong it was. People were walking past her, going about their business like any other morning. Speaking and texting on their phones. Drinking hot beverages. Rushing past, bumping her shoulder, with a croissant in their mouth.

A teen rode by in a bicycle at the edge of the street, past a puddle, splashing Marinette with dirty drain water. The woman raised her knee fruitlessly, for the damage was done. Her baby blue pajama pants were soaked.

Was she in a nightmare?

Marinette took a deep breath, attempting to regain some semblance of control. Yes, Adrien walking away rattled her, but she had to figure out how to fix this. And in that moment, there was only one being who was willing to talk hiding in her own jacket.

In a blink of an eye, she was running across the sidewalk, looking for the nearest alley, while trying two more phone numbers. She found an alley, but there was a couple making out in it. She ran further, until finding a dirtier one, next to an abandoned building. She sat down next to the vandalized trashcan and finally opened her jacket. The kwami immediately fluttered out into the open.

"What is going on?!" Marinette whispered yelled.

"What is going on with you?" Tikki shot back. "You're acting more deranged than usual."

"Since when do you call me deranged? No, I got a better question: since when are you so huffy with me?"

"Did you drink something new when I wasn't looking?"

"I feel like I'm stuck in some nightmare reality." Marinette held her arms. "Nothing is right. Alya is not answering her phone. I can't find Nino's or Chloe's phone numbers anywhere, Luka and Kagami won't pick up either, and worse, Adrien and I are not together, apparently."

Tikki stared at her again, much like she did back in the strange apartment.

"Nino?"

"Yeah, Nino. You know, Carapace." Marinette shrugged. "I can't get a hold of my team. And so many of their phone numbers are missing. And you said this phone is mine!" She grabbed the phone again. "But I tried to find Alix, and she's also missing. I mean, this has to be some time travel thing, right?"

"Marinette," Tikki said slowly, "did you get hit with a memory loss akuma or something?"

The woman thought for a moment. What was the last thing she remembered before this morning? She had been, in fact, fighting an akuma, right? But it wasn't a time travelling one. Or memory one. In fact, they had just figured out their power, right? Her power. It had been a her. All they knew about her was that her name was The Genie. She claimed to make wishes come true.

Marinette's eyes widened.

"I was fighting an akuma," she said out loud. "The last thing I remember was that I was trying to distract her from Chat Noir. He was off his game because it was the day before Gabriel's sentencing, and we didn't expect for him to break out for a last hurrah. But," her brows furrowed, "she suddenly went after me. Genie held me against a wall and told me I was predictable. I didn't even say anything before she said that my wish was her command. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a strange apartment, alone, with you not even talking to me."

Tikki seemed even more bewildered.

"What did you wish for?" she asked.

"I can't..." Marinette racked her brain. Why couldn't she remember wishing something? Unless she didn't exactly wish it on purpose. She gasped. "I didn't directly wish it, but I was thinking it."