Adrien Agreste's Cruelest Timeline Game

Season 0: Before

Adrien woke up standing in the middle of the street. He had no idea how he got there. He looked around, seeing the crowd around him looking up at the sky. The blonde turned his gaze to the sky as well, his eyes widening softly as he saw a cluster of Ladybug's magic bugs flying off into the skies. He tilted his head slightly, had they brought him here? Why? 

Adrien's eyes widened as he saw a pure white butterfly flutter around his head and alight on his ring. This did nothing to hell him feel any better. He was one of the few people who knew exactly what that butterfly was. A purified akuma. He quickly shook the insect off of his hand. A thought echoed in his head. The magic ladybugs. The akuma. His loss of memory. Had he been akumatized? Ladybug was nowhere in sight. He wracked his brain. There were two gaps in his memory now, united only by a time of similar confusion in between them. 

He decided that it would be best to head home. Adrien looked around, lost. Once he saw the bakery Marinette lived in, he went over and entered through the door. He got a flash from before the blank. He had come here as Chat Noir, but for what? 

Someone came in right after him, crashing into him from behind with a small but familiar yelp. Adrien turned around, pausing when he saw Marinette. She looked up at him, her face turning a light shade of pink. Adrien's expression softened a bit, glad to see a familiar face. Another flash, this time for the both of them. They had been talking about Marinette having to be saved, and then Chat had to leave. Adrien's brow furrowed, where had he gone after that? 

Marinette's mother came downstairs into the bakery, a worried look on her face as she said " I'm sorry, but we're closed-" stopping with a gasp as she saw the two teenagers. She rushed over to them, wrapping them both in a tight hug, " You're safe!" she cried gleefully. Marinette had been a bit startled by her mother's outburst, that was more of her father's thing.

Adrien was even more surprised than Marinette, completely unused to this level of parental care and concern. But despite this, he decided to speak up, " E-Excuse me, but what happened while we were gone? I can only remember a few things."

Marinette looked a bit surprised, " That's weird... I don't remember a lot either."

Sabine was surprised as well, " It's been just about two days since you both vanished into thin air. An akuma came around and then nobody could find any sign of you two." the small woman's expression changed, becoming etched with uncertainty.

Adrien was undoubtedly disturbed by this information. Two whole days? An akuma? What had happened, and why had it taken this long for the magic ladybugs to come around and fix it? What had happened to Marinette to make her go missing too? 

Sabine sighed, " That wasn't all that happened," she admitted, letting go of them, " Come upstairs and we can have you phone home." she invited, making her way to the upstairs door. Marinette followed behind her mother without hesitation, but Adrien hesitated a bit before doing the same.

Adrien stopped at the small landing outside the door, unsure if she should go in. He could see Marinette's father sitting on the couch through the open door, distraught before noticing that his daughter was there. He cried out in joy, lifting his daughter up off the ground and holding her close. A bit of Adrien's heart gently nudged him closer to them, but the rest of him told him that they weren't his family, that they didn't need someone else. 

He closed the open door to the small living space. 

It would have saved him, but he didn't know that. He took out his phone, realizing his lack of a wallet in his pocket. Maybe that was why he left? Adrien knew by heart his father's voicemail message, and decided to dial Nathalie instead. He waited for an answer, his mind still trying to piece together what had happened. 

" Who is it?" the assistant snapped, " Gabriel Agreste is very busy right now." 

" Nathalie, it's me." Adrien said. He felt like he was admitting it to her rather than simply telling her who he was. There was a bit of a pause.

" Adrien...? It's really you?" the woman asked softly, in disbelief.

" Yes." was all he said.

He heard a frantic shuffling of paper and cloth from the other end, and Nathalie shouting for his father. The ensuing conversation was too far for the phone receiver to pick up clearly, but Adrien could hear his father's voice.

In all honesty, he was a bit surprised that they cared so much. A stark contrast to the deep, pitch black pit inside him that told him that they didn't care about him.