When Adrien woke up in an unfamiliar setting, he immediately leapt out of bed, thinking an akuma had somehow attacked overnight. For the second day in a row, he crouched atop the plush comforter in the serene quiet of the morning, his sleep-addled brain taking a moment to process where—or when—he was. The guest room wasn't decorated with any personal effects that he could recognize; just a few tasteful paintings hanging on the walls to accompany the essential furnishings.

As he groggily recalled the previous day's events, Adrien settled back against the bed with a sigh. Regardless of whether or not he had anywhere to be, it seemed impossible for him to sleep in. Deciding he might as well get up, Adrien threw off the covers and went through his usual wake-up routine, eventually nudging Plagg awake so his kwami could join him in the living room.

Stretching both arms above his head as he moved through the quiet hall, Adrien glanced towards the bedroom at the other end. A beam of early morning sunlight peeked through the gap in the open doorway, meaning that at least one other person was already awake. He guessed it was his future self, since his habit of waking up early didn't appear to have changed over the years.

When Adrien turned into the living room and stepped toward the kitchen, he immediately froze, spotting Marinette slumped over the kitchen counter. With her eyes closed, a half-finished plate of toast and a still steaming mug sitting in front of her, it appeared that she had simply fallen asleep in the middle of breakfast.

Adrien's heart skipped a fearful beat, his thoughts immediately jumping to the conclusion that this was not a normal circumstance. Granted, back in his time the Marinette he knew was prone to sleeping in and ignoring her alarms, resulting in frequent tardiness, but for her to fall asleep at the table? Something seemed off.

"Marinette?" He scrambled over to her side and gently grabbed her arm, causing her to suddenly jolt awake.

"What!?" Her head whipped around in a panic, calming down only when her gaze settled on him. "Oh…" she groaned. "I fell asleep."

"Was it really just that?" Adrien eyed her plate with a worried look. Unless her husband had made breakfast, he found it hard to believe that she'd woken up to fix food and fallen back asleep before finishing it. "Or did you faint again?" he asked, brow furrowing in concern.

"No! No, I didn't faint." She smiled at him reassuringly, propping her head up against her palm. "I had a rough night and woke up tired, and the fatigue isn't helping. But since I'm at the end of the first trimester, hopefully it will ease up soon."

"It could also be that Marinette is not a morning person," a tiny voice added, and Adrien lowered his gaze in surprise. There, beside Marinette's elbow, he spotted a small grey kwami with a wedge of cheese clutched in his paws.

"Breakfast!" At Plagg's excited cry, Adrien instinctively reached out to try and grab his kwami before he caused a ruckus. Plagg simply dodged Adrien's attempt at capturing him, however, and phased into a covered tray of cheese further down the counter.

"Are you… Mullo?" Adrien asked hesitantly, not knowing if it was rude to assume. While he had met a few kwami aside from his own, Mullo's resemblance to an actual mouse was too obvious for him to be otherwise.

The kwami nodded happily. "Nice to meet you again, Adrien!"

"Oh—er, nice to meet you too, for the first time." Adrien grinned, then turned a questioning look on Marinette. "But I thought you said—Wait!" He quickly realized what Mullo's sudden appearance meant. "Does that mean Ladybug was here?"

Marinette chuckled as she reached up to her neck, brandishing the small medallion between her fingers. "Ladybug—or I should say Lady Noire—agreed that it was a good idea. With the enemy targeting me, it's better to have the mouse miraculous handy, just in case."

Adrien let out a relieved sigh at that, feeling a small weight lift from his shoulders. If Marinette did wind up in trouble, at least now she could transform and get to safety. "Where's adult-me?" he asked curiously.

"He's getting dressed, but he should be out soon." Marinette scooted the stool back as if to stand. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"That's okay, I can find it myself!" Adrien waved his hands wildly to try and get her to sit back down.

"Oh, you're up?"

Adrien turned toward the familiar voice to find his future self shrugging a jacket over his shoulders as he strolled into the room. Tikki hovered just behind him with an unusual frown on her face. "Good. I wanted to talk with you before I—" Present Adrien's words faded when his gaze landed on the kitchen counter. "Is that… Mullo? What's he doing here?"

"Ah… About that," Marinette started slowly, glancing back at Mullo and tapping her fingers together. "Lady Noire thought it would be a good idea for me to have the mouse miraculous."

"Oh? She did, did she?" Present Adrien's expression narrowed into an odd look as he crossed his arms. "Is that what that 'pregnancy thing' was about last night?" It was obvious from his stance and the annoyance dripping in his tone—present Adrien was not happy.

"It was my idea!" Adrien nearly shouted, and his future self turned to direct his stern frown at him. Shrinking away from his future self's disapproval, Adrien quickly explained, "She doesn't need to fight, but with Hawk Moth after her, Marinette can transform into Multimouse and escape."

Present Adrien stood silent for a moment before rubbing his head and letting out a defeated-sounding sigh. "It is a good idea, so I can't really argue with that." Though he appeared more at ease, there was still something tense in his expression. "And it's just the one miraculous, right?"

"That's ridiculous! Why would I need more than one?" Marinette blurted, letting out a stuttering laugh that didn't sound quite right. "I definitely won't be fusing any."

Tikki floated closer to the counter, still frowning. "Well, no offense, Mullo, but let's hope that Marinette won't find herself in a situation where she needs to rely on you."

"None taken!" Mullo squeaked in reply.

"If we're right about Foresight's powers," present Adrien began, pointing in Adrien's direction. "Then she can't accurately see the future with you here. While that doesn't guarantee anything, at least Marinette will be safest in the apartment." It looked like he wanted to say more, but a cell phone chimed in his pocket. Present Adrien dug it out and glanced at the screen with a curious look. "I don't like the idea of leaving you two, but Alix wants to talk before I have that meeting with the studio."

Marinette straightened up at that. "Does she have news about the time-line?"

"Possibly." Present Adrien shrugged, returning the cell to his pocket. "I'll fill you in if it's not too sensitive to text, but she specifically mentioned that you need to stay here with mini-me." He then turned toward Adrien, tilting his head slightly. "Think you can hold down the fort while I'm out?"

"Not a problem!" Adrien quickly called for Plagg, and a second later, stood before them in his suit, giving his older self a two-clawed salute. "If that Paon guy tries anything again, I'll be ready for him."

Present Adrien gave him a satisfied nod and then stepped up beside Marinette. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, leaning in to give her a gentle kiss. Adrien's heart definitely skipped a beat while he watched, his face quickly heating up a little when he realised and turned his gaze just slightly.

"Don't over do it," present Adrien mumbled against her. "Unless we wrap up early, I shouldn't be back before noon, so stay safe, Mousinette." He winked, and she giggled softly as he slowly released her. He eventually moved to the doorway, and with a final farewell, left them on their own.

"So." Adrien turned to Marinette. "It just occurred to me that your husband might still be pretty famous as a model, right?" He glanced around with narrowed eyes. "Should we, uh... be worried that the villains might know where you live?"

"Thankfully, they have no idea," Marinette answered, picking up her mug and taking a sip. "He might recognize the building if he follows the tabloids, but I doubt he could find our apartment without looking suspicious. Which reminds me..." She turned around on the stool and suddenly called out, "Francis!"

A small speaker set in the wall flashed blue around its rim before illuminating a section that pointed in their direction. The light must have been an indication that it was listening, because Marinette then asked, "Can you completely darken the living room windows?"

"Darkening living room windows," the robotic voice answered.

Adrien watched in amazement as the sunlight faded, and the large floor to ceiling windows turned more opaque, a shadowy hue covering the view of the city, but not completely blocking it out.

"The future is so cool." Adrien grinned as he sprinted toward the balcony and pressed his face to the glass.

"Francis can control anything electrical in the apartment as long as we program it in." Marinette stood up and strolled closer, Mullo floating diligently over her shoulder. "With the windows tinted like that, no one will be able to look in and see us," Marinette explained before turning a narrow gaze on the room. "Not that there's much to look at." She motioned at the nearby end table which, aside from the lamp sitting on it, was empty. "Mind helping me redecorate?"

Not really knowing what she meant, Adrien followed her out to the hall anyway. It wasn't long before Marinette stopped at a new door and glanced back at him.

"Can you turn around?" Marinette asked. "It's just storage, but there are still some things you can't see."

"Oh, uh, sure." Adrien turned his back to her and listened quietly as she opened the door and stepped inside. He heard the flick of a light switch, and then the muffled sounds of movement beyond the doorway. Adrien rocked a bit and hummed a patient tune while he waited.

All of a sudden, Marinette's shriek and Mullo's startled squeak broke the quiet, and Adrien nearly jumped out of his suit when the door slammed shut with a bang. "Marinette!?" He spun around and lunged forward, claws stretching out for the handle, but Marinette's voice through the door stopped him.

"I'm fine!" she yelped. He could hear shuffling from inside. "I just... tripped."

"Are you okay?" Adrien's claws hovered at the ready, wanting to jump in and help regardless of future spoilers or not.

Her voice devolved into quiet giggling. "The door, uh... broke my fall, so I'm okay. Are you still facing away?"

"Oh, yeah." He quickly stepped back and reluctantly returned to staring at the wall, listening to the sounds of Marinette sliding something over the hardwood right behind him. Then the door clicked shut.

"Alright," Marinette sighed. "It's okay to look now."

He turned to see a pair of boxes sitting on the floor with what looked like photo frames stacked up neatly inside.

"I figured since you know we're married now, I might as well put these back up." Marinette smiled, placing her hands on her hips.

"These are all photos?" Adrien asked, tempted to go through them, but he supposed he'd be able to look once they were all returned to their proper places in the apartment.

"And some things that my husband thought might have clued you in to me being your future wife." Marinette waved at a few other objects nestled inside. Among the many items, Adrien picked out a spool of yarn and what looked like a set of crocheting tools. "But that's not a secret anymore, so it doesn't matter now."

Marinette stooped to take up the larger of the two boxes, but before she could grab a hold of it, Adrien swooped in and snatched it up.

"I'll do the heavy lifting," he said, balancing the box easily on one hand. "You just tell me where it needs to go."

Marinette sighed, but she didn't argue, picking up the smaller box and directing him back out to the living room. They quickly fell into an easy rhythm. He would hold up a photo, Marinette would tell him where it went, and then he would stare at it, taking in every detail of the frozen moment in time before returning it to its original spot. None of them really gave him any details other than the fact that, in the future, they were just a normal, loving couple. He wasn't surprised when there weren't any photos with his father in them, but was delighted to find a few that included Marinette's parents.

Distracted by every picture he came across, it was no wonder that Marinette emptied her box first and quickly joined Adrien to help him.

"Okay, but why Carapace?" Adrien asked, lifting up a photo of his future self and Marinette attending a hero-themed halloween party. Marinette had understandably explained that they couldn't dress up as themselves, so they had to get creative. "Not that there's anything wrong with him, obviously," he quickly added, holding the picture beneath his chin and pushing his bottom lip out in a pout. "But you could have gone dressed as me."

Marinette laughed, probably from the overly exaggerated expression he was making. "And who would future-you go as? You couldn't take a chance and dress as Chat Noir or Ladybug, so I picked Carapace, and you went as Rena Rouge. Besides, your eyes wouldn't pop well with all that green."

Adrien turned the picture around and stared at it. "Aren't Carapace's eyes covered? You're wearing goggles in this."

Marinette waved her hand with a huff. "Details."

They somehow managed to get through the rest of the frames, some hanging on the walls, others scattered around the tables and set up in a particular way according to Marinette's taste. The only thing left in his box was a heavy, leather bound album.

"Where does this go?" Adrien lifted it in his claws and pointed at it, and when Marinette looked up from where Mullo was helping her arrange another set of frames, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Aah!" Marinette jumped to her feet and waved her hands wildly. "Don't open that!"

Adrien froze, but he couldn't stop his gaze from snapping back to the item in question. "Why?" he asked.

Marinette bit at her lip as she pondered over that a moment, her cheeks turning a curious shade of pink. "Because even if you know everything... you probably shouldn't see the bride before the wedding."

"Wedding?" Adrien blinked, then lowered his eyes to stare more intently at the book. Now he really wanted to look inside.

The opportunity to do so faded when Marinette took it from him, though she paused and stared at it with a contemplative look and let out a soft hum, as if considering what she might be able to show him.

While she hesitated, Adrien's gaze quickly flicked to her fingers to curiously peek at her wedding band. He had briefly glimpsed the one his older self wore and hadn't seen hers at all, but as his eyes moved over her right hand, he caught sight of a different piece of jewelry altogether.

The rose gold ring drew his attention away from her wedding rings, its surface shimmering a delicate pink. He immediately thought it matched Marinette's style, chuckling inwardly that it subtly complimented the color in Multimouse's suit.

Three rings, the mouse miraculous and a pair of earrings. Marinette had quite the ensemble of—

Huh. Adrien blinked when his gaze moved up to find her usual earrings missing. It was a tiny detail, but something about her appearance he'd just kind of noticed. When he thought about it, it didn't seem odd that they were missing, since it had been several years. For all he knew, she could have gotten rid of them some time ago.

Maybe she traded them out for the ring, he mused to himself. Marinette was stylish in her own way, so she might not have wanted to bog herself down with too many baubles.

"I'll just stick it in my desk for now." Marinette's voice drew him out of his thoughts. "Speaking of which, can you help me with more heavy lifting?" She moved toward the steps and pointed upstairs. "My work space is on the second floor."

Adrien then followed her and Mullo up to a balcony level that overlooked the living room. It was one of the places in the apartment he hadn't actually gone yet, even though he had seen glimpses of it due to the open floor plan. He'd avoided it mostly out of respect and to prevent accidental snooping, which might have been a good thing when they had tried keeping certain future aspects a secret.

Now that he was standing in the middle of what was essentially her office, Adrien could pick out the minute signs that told of Marinette's presence that his future self wasn't able to properly clean. They were hardly obvious, but with his vision, he could see particles of thread and tiny scraps of fabric stuck in the lone rug covering the floor.

Marinette moved around the work desk and pointed behind it, and Adrien followed to find a fairly large sewing machine with all kinds of fancy knobs, dials and levers sitting on the floor. "My husband thought it might be a good idea to hide this before, but now that the secret's out, it's not a big deal if you see it."

Lifting the machine was nothing, but he took his time to be extra careful, setting it up so that there was enough space left on the surface of the desk for Marinette to spread out her fabrics for large projects. While he was busy with that, she shuffled around behind him and arranged a few items back onto the bookshelves along the wall.

"Thanks, Adrien." Marinette smiled when he'd finished his task. "I wasn't sure if I should avoid any heavy lifting this early."

"Best not to take a chance with the baby!" Mullo squeaked out.

"Speaking of the baby," Adrien started, flicking away a stray scrap of thread that had hitched a ride from the sewing machine. "Have you picked out any names yet? That is, uh… If you can tell me." He leaned against the desk and tapped a single claw against it. "Do you even know the gender?" he tried to ask nonchalantly, unable to help his curiosity.

Marinette frowned while she adjusted a photo on the shelf. "We don't know the gender yet... Things were kind of hectic when we found out I was pregnant in the first place, so that was the last thing on our minds. But we've got a few names picked out either way." She tilted her head with a curious expression. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you."

"Really?" Adrien jumped up, his cat ears practically standing straight.

Marinette giggled behind her hand and nodded. "Hugo or Louis for a boy, and Emma if it's a girl."

"Emma…" Adrien repeated airily, immediately focusing on that name. "Is that because it's like... Emilie?"

Marinette smiled fondly and wove her fingers together over her stomach. "It's just a coincidence that I wanted a name so similar to your mother's... but I guess that's why you like it so much—older you, that is."

"It's perfect," Adrien breathed.

"If it's a girl," Marinette added with a wink. "For all we know I could have nothing but boys."

Adrien hummed absentmindedly at that. Honestly, he didn't mind either, but just to have that memory for his mother… He secretly hoped that there would be at least one girl to inherit such a perfect name.

"Would it, uh… be rude of me to ask about the surprise of it all?" Adrien said carefully. "You mentioned that you didn't plan on having a baby this soon…" He tilted his head when she didn't interrupt him. "So what happened?"

Marinette folded her arms and frowned, and without any hesitation answered, "Plagg happened."

Adrien blinked at her, his brain taking a second to process what she meant before he burst out laughing. He quickly tried to control it, as Marinette might not have thought it was so funny, even if it had resulted in a happy, ill-timed occasion. "Plagg…" he managed to wheeze out between his laughter. "H-how?"

"I was on birth control," Marinette started, the annoyance in her tone fairly obvious. "And while there's always a chance that preventatives can fail, some mischievous little kwami messed with my pills and didn't tell anyone. So when I thought I had already taken it, in reality, Plagg misplaced it." She dropped her forehead onto her open palm and shook her head. "And that's all it took."

"So it's all Plagg's fault." Adrien couldn't help the wide grin plastered on his face.

"It's all Plagg's fault," Marinette echoed as she lifted her gaze. "And he had the nerve to give me a list of name suggestions," she scoffed.

"Let me guess," Adrien said. "All cheesy ones?"

"Close," Marinette huffed. "I can tell you one thing, if I have a daughter, there is no way I'm naming her Brie-anna." Adrien tried to stifle his snickering behind his claws when Marinette quickly clapped her hands together. "Anyway, now that you've helped me get the apartment somewhat back in order, we can relax." She tilted her head, a mischievous look replacing her irritation. "What do you say to a game of Mecha Strike?"

Adrien jumped up and immediately shouted, "Absolutely!"

It was almost little like a twisted sense of déjàvu when Marinette booted up the game, because she promptly started kicking his tail with a skill that could only have been developed in her years of gaming. How he ever thought he might have stood a chance against her now... If the Marinette from his time was considered an expert, then this Marinette was a master that had reached max level and evolved into her final form.

"I should have known I wouldn't be able to beat you," Adrien sighed as he lowered his controller, the screen once again declaring Marinette the winner. Her mech barely even lost any HP during the entirety of the three rounds. At one point, she even beat him with full health.

"Well, I do have several years of experience over you." Marinette grinned playfully.

"Does future-me ever get to your level of skill?" Adrien asked.

"Maybe not up to my level, but he does manage to squeeze in a few wins every now and then," she answered as she set her controller down on the coffee table and stood up. "We can keep going if you want, but right now I—uhm… bathroom." She shyly pointed in the direction of the hallway.

Adrien leaned back on the couch and put his feet up while Marinette scampered out of the room, Mullo dutifully following after her to keep close by. While Adrien lounged against the cushions, he kept his senses on full alert. With his enhanced hearing, he could keep an ear out for Marinette in the bathroom, focusing on the surrounding area and making sure that nothing approached her.

Near the entrance and outside of the apartment, he caught the soft shuffle of footsteps in the hall, and Adrien tensed. Then the lock clicked softly, and he relaxed only a hair, because whoever was at the door had a key.

Regardless of friend or foe, Adrien stared at the doorway, muscles tense in preparation to spring into action at a moment's notice. All of that tension faded, however, when his future self strolled in through the doorway.

Adrien glanced at the TV screen, which, with the game paused, displayed the console's clock and gave the current time. Present Adrien had mentioned that he wouldn't get back until after twelve, but it was barely past ten o'clock. "Meeting end early?" he called out.

Present Adrien froze in the doorway, an odd look flickering across his face when he turned in Adrien's direction before his features smoothed out. Though it happened so quickly, Adrien wasn't certain what he had witnessed. "Yes. We got out sooner than expected." His eyes carefully scanned the living room. "Where's Marinette?"

"Still safe." Adrien grinned, lacing his claws together behind his head. "She just stepped out to the bathroom for a minute."

"Ah, good." Present Adrien closed the door behind him and moved past the couch.

At that moment, Marinette walked out of the hallway and spotted her husband, stopping in her tracks with a confused look. "Adrien...?"

Something in the atmosphere immediately changed, and Adrien could see Marinette's expression shift. In an instant, present Adrien closed the distance with a few long strides and reached out for her, but Marinette quickly jerked away. "Chat Noir!" she shrieked. "That's not Adrien!"

Adrien bolted up from the couch as her words registered in his brain, and he leapt over the carpet with his claws extended, expecting a sentimonster like the Ladybug-clone that had once fooled him. The look-alike nimbly rolled out of the way, his face contorting in fury as he cried out, "Duusu!"

Adrien landed and spun around, his mouth falling open in a stunned grimace, and his wide eyes frozen in place as he stared at the person he had assumed was nothing but a clone. Whatever—or whoever they were—transformed in a flash of light, the clothes identical to the ones his future self wore dispersing like a spray of mist; nothing more than an illusion created by some form of trickery.

Shocked by the implications, Adrien managed to quickly regain his composure when the man sprinted after Marinette, who had thankfully already escaped back into the hallway.

His heart pounding, Adrien grit his teeth as he hurled his baton toward the entrance of the hallway where it bounced off the wall and instantly expanded inside the frame, locking in place to create a horizontal bar across the opening. The man had no time to avoid it, and comically hit it at waist level, spinning to the floor with a crash.

While the enemy was stunned, Adrien leaped, his claws fully extended, only to be stopped when they connected with the fan the man brought up to shield himself.

He couldn't believe it. It was… Unimaginable! Despicable! Even though he had witnessed it with his own eyes.

A sentimonster couldn't possibly use the very miraculous that had brought it to life to transform, could it? No, that wasn't it. It wouldn't have needed an illusion to disguise its clothing. There was only one way a look-alike of his future self had managed to waltz into the apartment, and Adrien knew this because that same individual had imitated him like that once before.

Félix. Adrien's mind seethed in a silent fury. Félix has the peacock miraculous? And he's using it for Hawk Moth. But why? How!?

He tried not to let it distract him, but the thoughts relentlessly hounded him, even as the future version of his own cousin threw merciless punches his way. Adrien had to keep his head in the fight. He couldn't mess up here. Marinette's safety was on the line!

His attention torn, Adrien found himself without any of his usual quips as he simply tried his best to keep his cousin from reaching Marinette. Félix was trying to steal her away for one of Hawk Moth's nefarious schemes. Félix had hurt her and very nearly taken out his future child.

A fresh wave of fury rolled through him at that particular thought, and he lurched forward with a growl, slashing his claws wildly through the air. Despite his sudden onslaught, Félix swung his fist out and managed to catch Adrien in the chest, slamming all his weight into it and throwing him back into the coffee table. The glass beneath Adrien shattered, grinding against his suit as his limbs draped over the sides of the frame.

"How do you keep getting in the way?" Félix snarled as he plucked a feather from his fan.

Whatever his plan, Félix didn't get a chance to initiate it, because at that moment, the balcony door flew open with a sudden bang.

Gingerly lifting his body out of the dented frame of the broken table, Adrien looked up to see Marinette, clad in her Multimouse suit, whip her weapon across the room and lasso Félix's wrist. Before his cousin could react, she pulled the rope in an arc and flung him into the nearest wall with a crash.

When Marinette jogged closer and helped him to his feet, all he could think to say was, "Félix… He has the miraculous? How?"

"It's a long story," Marinette said with an understanding gaze and squeezed his hand. "Right now, we need to focus on the fight."

"Right, right," Adrien mumbled softly before blinking in confusion, as if seeing her for the first time. "Wait! Not you!" He pointed a claw at her and shouted, "You need to get out of here!"

"Tch..." Félix's groan pulled their attention back to him as he rolled into a crouch. "Is this really all the heroes have to throw at me? A tiny kitten and a filthy rat."

"Excuse me!?" Marinette twirled her whip, spinning it above their heads with a crack before lashing out and coiling around Félix's waist. He managed to grab a hold of it, but that didn't stop Marinette from flinging him through the air and right out onto the balcony. She slammed him into the railing where a planter balanced, and Marinette winced when the ceramic exploded into tiny shards of dirt and rose petals.

"Look at the mess you're making!" Marinette yelled. Adrien wasn't certain if she was chastising his cousin or herself, but he jolted in a panic when Marinette suddenly leapt after Félix without any restraint or hesitation.

"Wait, M—Multimouse!?" He quickly sprinted back to the hallway to retrieve his baton before scrambling out onto the balcony. Marinette was already in the thick of the fray, dancing backwards and dodging while Félix pressed forward, swinging his fan in quick slashing arcs.

Adrien's nerves jittered in agitation, like a million tiny sparks traveling across his skin. Now he understood present Adrien's cause for concern. No wonder he seemed so on edge about the idea of Marinette transforming if this was how she normally behaved when she was in hero-mode!

Raising his baton over his head, Adrien extended it in the same instant that he swung, slamming it down between Marinette and Félix with a metallic clang against the railing. Félix immediately jumped backwards, shooting Adrien a sneer before leaping over the balcony and disappearing from view.

"Well, that was easy," Adrien said as he ran to the edge and peered over it, watching Félix land nimbly on the slanted rooftop of a lower building.

"I don't think so." Marinette stepped up beside him, panting rather heavily. "He's trying to create a sentimonster!"

"Oh, right," Adrien groaned, wrinkling his nose while jumping onto the railing. "You stay here and call for backup!" he said to her as he brought his baton forward, extended it, and hopped off the balcony to vault after Félix.

The rushing wind pushed his hair away from his face as he catapulted to the adjacent roof, carefully landing on the tiled surface to ensure that he didn't slip and make matters worse. Félix stood a few feet above with his back turned to him.

"—yes, it's only two of them. A sentimonster should take them out." Adrien paused as it appeared as though Félix was talking to himself, but he knew better. He tilted carefully to the side and managed to catch a glimpse of the glowing outline of a mask before Félix let out a soft bark of mock laughter. "Fine. Whatever you say, Farfalla."

Farfalla? Adrien repeated the unfamiliar name in his head before he suddenly straightened up in shock. Wait. Not Hawk Moth!?

While he was distracted by that shocking discovery, Félix obviously noticed him, because in the blink of an eye, he appeared beside him on the roof and swept his fan out toward him. Adrien, though taken by surprise, nimbly ducked and darted away.

"All of this trouble just to kidnap Marinette?" Adrien huffed, raising his baton and twirling it threateningly. "What do you even want with her?"

"How are you evading Foresight's powers?" Félix countered, ignoring his own questions.

"Cats are slippery like that." Adrien shrugged, getting back into the feel of his usual dialogue during a fight. Though there was a tiny, distracted part of his mind as it tried to ignore the fact that this was his cousin he was facing. Family or not, years had passed from his current time-line. All he needed to know was that this man before him was a threat to Marinette's safety.

Félix was never one for long conversations, because he suddenly darted forward, sending a swift kick aimed at Adrien's head. Adrien ducked beneath the first swing, but the second one came as a surprise when Félix followed through in a roundhouse spin, slamming Adrien right in the stomach. Though his suit protected him, Félix's own enhanced super-strength put the enchanted material to the ultimate test, one that it failed when Adrien nearly collapsed from the hit to his gut as the breath was knocked out of him.

The force tossed him backwards, and Adrien tumbled over the edge of the tiles. Luckily, he only fell a short distance, landing heavily on the flat surface of another rooftop. Adrien tried to right himself, but the world spun, filling his vision with white-brick chimneys and orange pipes.

While Adrien fumbled to reorient himself, Félix jumped down after him, but he didn't make it far. A pink rope cracked against the roof between them, and Félix stumbled to a halt, turning and sprinting away when Marinette leaped down into Adrien's line of sight.

"Chat!" Marinette barked out, sending one end of her weapon his way.

Marinette had a plan, and through his haze, Adrien managed to figure it out with only a simple look. Catching the rope in his claws, he immediately followed her lead, dashing past Félix in a wide arc. The weapon tangled around his legs in a spectacular move, because when Marinette pulled her end taut, Félix crashed to the roof, his fan skittering over the roof as it popped right out of his hands.

Adrien felt a glowing warmth in his core, a sense of pride that the pair of them worked in such tandem with one another. Their moves were already so in sync—probably because she was used to fighting as a team with his future self. If he didn't know any better, he'd say it was just as fine-tuned as his partnership with Ladybug.

A sudden clatter against the roof caused his cat ears to straighten to their full height, and he turned in Marinette's direction to see what had happened, surprised to find her weapon sprawled on the ground. A cold chill washed through him when he noticed she was holding her head, her legs sagging as if she were having trouble keeping herself upright.

And then she stumbled. Adrien immediately flew to her side, catching her wrist before she could completely collapse against the concrete. He stopped her from falling, but Marinette still dropped to her knees, one hand pressed against the roof, while the other clutched at his arm for support.

Any possible strategy was lost to the thoughts of panic racing through his mind, his eyes desperately searching for where she'd been hit. When had she been hit at all? He didn't remember Félix making contact… And shouldn't the suits be able to protect them better than this? He'd taken a beating, but he'd been able to recover pretty quickly...

"Multimouse?" Adrien yelped, his focus entirely on her. A grave mistake, he realized all too late, because he had forgotten about the foe before them.

Félix appeared in a corner of his vision, and Adrien shifted in an attempt to dodge, but Félix's fist caught him in the throat and launched him back across the roof, landing a dangerous distance away from Marinette's side. Ignoring the dull ache in his neck, Adrien scrambled to his feet, and then suddenly froze as a familiar beeping noise reached his ears.

And it was coming from... from Marinette…?

Adrien's eyes widened as he stared at her miraculous, watching in stunned shock when one of the small mouse prints flickered and disappeared.

"Is this seriously happening?" Félix growled, sounding affronted as he loomed menacingly over Marinette's crumpled form. "You're nothing but children who can't even keep up your transformations!?"

Marinette's own expression mirrored Adrien's surprise and confusion, which suggested that her miraculous' early countdown was not a normal situation. She tried to crawl away, but with Félix standing right there, he had no trouble reaching down and grabbing her by the neck.

"NO!" Adrien shouted as he dove after them, brought to a halt when Félix swung his leg out and slammed it into his still-aching stomach. While the suit took the brunt of the blow, Adrien still felt the air leave his lungs as he crashed against the cement with a groan.

He was only on the ground for a second, pain reeling through him, when he heard Marinette's strangled cry, and a second wind of determination willed him to move. Claws biting into stone, he fought against the shock and stumbled to his feet, his mouth contorted in a silent snarl as he met the sight of Félix choking Marinette in a headlock. Through it all, her miraculous let out another shrill beep, faster than any had ever counted down before.

Time often flew by in a fight against an enemy, but this was ridiculous! What was even going on!? Marinette hadn't used her power, as far as he knew... And besides that, she was an adult! She was strong enough to keep her kwami charged without needing to refuel!

Adrien grit his teeth, spinning his baton as he tensed every muscle in his body in preparation to spring and free her from Félix's grasp before it was too late—but he froze. To his horror, he had already run out of time. Marinette's miraculous immediately beeped again, the frantic, high-pitched warning of the final signal.

"Let's see who's beneath the mouse, shall we?" Félix hissed right when the mouse's symbol faded to black. Marinette's eyelids fluttered shut, and her hands fell limply to her sides, the pink light washing over her as her transformation dropped right there in the enemy's clutches.

Félix's expression widened in surprise a split second before a sinister smile broke across his face. In an instant, he slid his arms beneath Marinette to scoop her up and lift her unconscious body.

Adrien darted forward, his heart pounding as a wave of sickening terror sped through him. Not her! Not her!" NOT HER!"The scream ripped from his throat as he moved faster than he ever had in his life, reaching his claws out, as if he could grab a hold of her over the distance, while Félix slipped further and further away.

If he couldn't catch up, then Marinette was lost. Her identity was already gone. She would never be safe.

Félix launched himself over the lip of the roof, and Adrien's heart froze as time seemed to slow down. Every heartbeat pounded in his ears like a heavy drum.

He was vaguely aware when a shout split the air behind him, and with it, Adrien's vision erupted into white.