Imperfect Future [ON HOLD]

chapter five | the bad guy

He stood there, staring back at Marinette, while Marinette stared back at him. Her gaze finally went off of him when the three kids walked inside the kitchen, jumping on top of him as they wrapped their tiny arms around him. "Daddy, you're finally back!" Emma screamed out with the hugest smile on her face. As they embraced each other, Marinette couldn't move any single bit of her body, feeling frozen to the floor. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him, the way he resembled the young Adrien so much, yet at the same time, looked different. His aura didn't seem to have changed though, as he still looked like the sweet, awesome Adrien he was back then. It was nice to know that even after his own father was Hawk Moth, he was still living healthily.

She still couldn't take in the fact that in the future, she and her crush got married with three kids. Walking inside the living room and looking around for real now, she could see the pictures of herself, Adrien and the kids all together in the family photo. Marinette remembered her older self saying that if she tried changing a few things, other things could change as well. If she saved Alya from dying. . .would she and Adrien still end up together in the future?

Marinette started walking over to her older self once she got the chance, seeing as Adrien was with Chloe and Aimee while the kids had ran upstairs to play. "Um, excuse me for asking, but-"

"Yes, I know. You're pretty shocked to see that your own crush actually ends up with you in the future," Older Marinette smiled a tiny bit as she faced her younger self. "Alya actually managed to convince me to confess to Adrien, so I went ahead and did so. He admitted to me that even though he had small feelings for me, he actually liked someone else. This all happened in 2020. When we released our identities to each other, we finally figured out that the other girl Adrien had said he had feelings for was actually still me. . .only. . .the other side of me.

"Wait, what?!" Marinette interrupted. "Adrien had feelings for Ladybug? W-What about Kagami?"

"Adrien did have feelings for her too. . .or at least, he thought he did. He kind of only got together with Kagami to forget about me as Ladybug, but when Kagami figured out and confronted it to him, they broke it off. I, being the idiot I was, actually had no idea they were together because they had been keeping it a secret from the media, but when Adrien and I got together, he told me about it. Adrien and I really just managed to get together at 2021, because we were busy dealing with Hawk Moth crap to even have time. And, someone got us on video, sharing it with everyone and making everyone see that we had gotten together. I can still remember it like it just happened yesterday."

"What about Kagami though?"

"At first, it seemed as if Kagami was ignoring me, so I kind of started staying away from Adrien because I was afraid she hated me. She then confronted me and told me that I didn't have to do that, so I took her word for it."

"But Kagami isn't a part of your miraculous team," Marinette frowned.

Older Marinette sighed. "She. . .moved away from Paris, after she gave up her miraculous. 2021."

Marinette backed away, shocked with what she was hearing. "The good things that happened. . .were they really worth it?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, you lost so many people, and. . .it doesn't really seem like you care."

"What?! Of course, I care. I'm just trying to forget. I'm just trying to move on!"

"You gave up! Is this really the kind of person I turn into?!" Marinette backed away again, before turning around and racing out of the bakery. "Excuse me!" The door shut behind her, but Marinette didn't stop there. This wasn't exactly the kind of future she had expected. Sure, she wasn't delusional at all to think her future would be all rainbows and ice cream, especially with the fact that it was Paris, a place where villains of all kinds existed, but she never expected this. Why did it kind of seem like her older self got lazier, or at least, just didn't care about the past anymore. It took just 7 months to forget all about Alya? And what the heck did Nino think about that? Kagami left, and she didn't care, all because she finally got Adrien together with her?

Where were even the rest of her classmates? The rest of the Miraculous holders? Where was Master Fu? Where were everyone she knew, and why was this future so messed up?! She continued walking, not even sure on where she was going anymore. She wanted a future with all of her friends in it, whether or not Adrien was together with her. A future where it didn't seem as if she forgot all about Kagami's happiness just because she finally got what she wanted. Where was that girl who took care of people's problems first, before coming to her own problems? That girl who made sure everyone were okay before dealing with her own happiness? And what did Adrien think of all this?

"Of course, I care. I'm just trying to forget. I'm just trying to move on!" Why would you try to forget your own best friend? Or maybe I'm just thinking too much. Maybe I'm just being too much. She was about to enter the park when she heard her name being called. Turning around, she caught sight of her future self running towards her. She finally reached over and stopped running. Marinette felt like walking away from her, wanting to convince herself that she wouldn't really turn out this selfish in the future, but she didn't. She stood there and waited.

"Listen, you're right. Everything that happened made me become an even worse of a person, someone who didn't even deserve to keep the miraculous anymore," she started, getting Marinette to frown. "Things got worse, and it began with my family. Or at least, it started with my identity being exposed. I wasn't being too careful, and Lila caught me transforming back to Marinette after this fight that had happened. I begged her not to tell anyone, and she promised she wouldn't, although I didn't really believe her. I knew it was all over for me. I thought the very next day, everyone were going to look at me and knew I was Ladybug. But a week passed, and nobody knew a thing, and I really believed that Lila had kept her promise. . .at least, that's what I thought.

"Lila was working for Hawk Moth. She even admitted it to me one day. She didn't release my secret to anyone else but him. He started attacking my civilian life, first started with my parents by trying to break them apart. It worked. My father had been framed of cheating, with all these fake prove that showed it. It was just Volpina who had created illusions, although I didn't have a way to prove that to them. The bakery shut down. After that, I became even more determined to find out who Hawk Moth was, and to do so, I had to start with Lila, but Lila wasn't letting me have a chance.

"I then heard the news of Adrien and Kagami being together, which I absolutely do not know how that happened, and although I already had a feeling it was going to happen, although I told myself not to worry about it, I just. . .couldn't control my jealousy. With even more stalking, I found out Adrien liked Ladybug and used that against him by transforming into Ladybug and being around whenever he was. Kagami figured out about it, and like I said, talked to him about it,  and dumped him for it, before moving out of Paris. Alya wasn't even the one who convinced me to confess to Adrien. Adrien came to me as Ladybug and confessed to me, and I said yes."

"That doesn't make you a good person either!" I still felt angry. "You turned into the opposite of what Ladybug was supposed to be. You turned into a villain; the bad guy!"

"I know. But I promised myself I'd never do it again. I learnt from my mistakes, Marinette."

"What else did you lie to me about?"

"Nothing else, I pro—" The woman stopped short and looked around, eyes wide. "Uh oh. Everyone's staring." Marinette looked around as well, seeing she was right. Everyone who had stopped to stare at them looked so shocked, and that was when Marinette realized both of their faces were fully exposed to the entire world. She quickly grabbed her hood and pulled it back, before turning away from the woman again and walking off.

"I'm not going to be like you!" She muttered under her breath. "I'm changing everything, whether you like it or not. I'm not letting Hawk Moth get to me, I'm not letting Lila find out about me, I'm not going to crush someone else's happiness just for my jealousy! I'm not letting Emilie and Alya die. I'm not getting Rena Rouge replaced, and. . ." She thought back to the kids and Adrien. "We'll see how that all ends up."