So life got a little too complicated and too adult for me, so I did the reasonable thing and began watching cartoons, and this was born.

If anyone here wants the time-travel-to-a-specific-moment-in-time-and-relive-life-after-that-moment-by-moment fic, this isn't it. This is primarily focused on just the akumas, thanks to the what-if portion of my brain that made me a writer in the first place, and since this is such a shipper fandom (which I may or may not love), I should warn that as much as I am a massive Adrinette shipper, I don't really write romance that much...

Also, if anyone here was waiting on my Halloween week stories... sorry. I didn't have a good internet connection, so...

Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. All rights to their respective owners.

Chapter 1: The Unclocker, Part 1

"Alya is going to kill me," Marinette muttered.

"I'm sure she'll understand," Tikki replied. "After all, you do sound sick. If you call her now, she might just believe you."

Marinette nodded and started searching for her phone.

She wasn't sick - as far as she knew - but the latest akuma, Blasto, had been tiring. Marinette had only barely made it back to her room before detransforming, and she doubted Chat Noir had even made it that far.

Marinette sighed as her phone went to voicemail. "Alya, I'm so sorry, but I'm feeling really sick right now - cough cough - so I'm going to have to pass on tonight. Tell Adrien that I'm sorry to miss him. Oh, and Alix too. Sorry."

"I'm sure she'll understand," Tikki said, cuddling on Marinette's chin. Marinette smiled and petted her head.

"I know," Marinette replied. "But tonight was supposed to be so huge. I mean, Mr. Agreste was going to be there, and Alya and Alix are both wearing my dresses - and that took forever to convince Alix to wear a dress - and..."

"Marinette," Tikki chided. "It's fine. You need the rest."

Marinette sighed. "Yeah. You're right. Besides, they'll be other opportunities."

"Exactly!"

Marinette closed her eyes, and just as she was on the verge of falling asleep, her phone buzzed.

With a groan, Marinette opened her eyes and checked to see what it was.

And an akuma notification popped up.

Adrien collapsed against the wall, exhausted but relieved.

The second Nathalie saw him, she cancelled the party. His father didn't excuse him from events for much, but health was an issue he took very seriously - and both he and Nathalie could tell when Adrien was feeling sick or not (which is why Adrien could never get away with lying about a cold, not that he had ever wanted to).

Plagg was already asleep, worn out after the battle. Adrien was close to falling asleep himself. Blasto had been a tough battle, especially for him, and while Ladybug's powers cured the bruises his muscles still ached. He had detransformed mid-battle and had been forced to hide in the ceiling of the small shop the akuma had trapped them in, and had used up his cataclysm almost immediately after transforming back. On top of that, he had been forced to walk back home, since his transformation had worn off quickly and the subway hadn't reopened yet after Blasto's attack.

Adrien was ready to fall asleep right there and then, but then his phone beeped.

"Another akuma? Already?" Adrien asked.

With effort, Adrien pushed himself off the floor and walked over to the bed, where Plagg was curled up around a half-eaten piece of cheese.

Adrien poked Plagg awake. "You better finish eating that cheese, because we need to transform."

Alya eyed the purse by her side. How to get to it?

It seemed silly to reach for her phone in the middle of a crisis, but she knew she had to blog this. Ladybug had no doubt heard of the akuma already, but if she didn't know what the akuma was...

Chloe, to Alya's surprise, followed her gaze down to her purse and made a short nod. Neither girl - nor Alix - had their hands tied, unlike everyone else in the building, but they were pretending to so they could fly under the radar. The akuma was powerful, but the party was large and there was no way the akuma would notice three teenage girls cowering in the corner.

Chloe kicked Alix's ankle, grabbing her attention away from the akuma, and tilted her head towards Alya's purse. Alix frowned for a moment, but soon realization dawned in her eyes and she slowly started adjusting her position so Alya was blocked from the akuma's view. Alya smiled in thanks and very slowly reached for her purse.

"What do you think you're doing!"

Alya froze as she found the akuma's glare directed at her.

"She's reaching for her purse, can't you tell?" Chloe snapped back.

The akuma snarled. "And why would you do that?"

"Because..." Alya stammered out. "My... my inhaler is in here. And I need it. I can't breathe-" Alya faked gasping for breath. One of her sisters had asthma, so it was easy to do. "Please I... I think I might be having an attack."

The akuma snarled but kicked Alya's purse towards her. Alya made a big show of struggling to reach it through her hands-supposedly-tied-behind-her-back, and the akuma walked away.

Alya found her phone and dropped it behind her back before twisting herself around and pretending to use an inhaler.

Alix scouted another hair over and Alya picked up her phone again.

Alya quickly glanced at her phone to find the app, but resigned herself to do the rest behind her back. She easily found the live-stream button, and then slowly brought the phone around.

"No!" The akuma shrieked, snatching the phone out from Alya's hand. The akuma raised the phone, but paused as a butterfly mask appeared around her face.

"Is this still recording?" The akuma asked. Alya nodded. "Good."

Ladybug received the live-stream notice just as she landed on the rooftop of the hotel.

The camera at first showed the back of the dress Marinette had designed for Alya before the angle changed and Ladybug could see the akuma.

She looked to be about 20, though it was hard to tell with akumas. The girl had a vampire-white face with gold lips and heavy gold eyeshadow, and long jet-black hair braided into pig-tails. She wore a long-sleeve, knee-length puffy black dress with gold accents, and thigh-high laced black boots. Around her neck, she wore a bright gold necklace.

She had on gold silk gloves, and a bluish-black wristwatch on her right hand.

She shrieked when she saw the camera.

Ladybug turned from the video as she felt her partner land next to her.

"Ready for another fight?" Ladybug asked.

"I'm always ready," Chat Noir replied. "Who are we up against?"

Ladybug gestured to the video, and Chat Noir leaned in to watch.

The camera angle changed, and the akuma's face appeared in the center - as if she was now holding the phone.

"Hello, Ladybug. I am The Unclocker, and I want to play a little game."

Life tip: when life makes you adult, watch younger, simple, brightly-colored cartoons.